Proposal summaries
B3513 - Record Linkage to support Covid-19 Research in ALSPAC Immediate Covid-19 research objectives - 24/04/2020
ALSPAC is well-placed to contribute to the national/international Covid-19 research effort given it has an extensive archive of data about participants health and wellbeing and circumstances prior to the Covid-19 outbreak and is now collecting data specifically related to Covid-19. These data can be used with our biobank and genetic data.
This project seeks to enhance these data with NHS and other Covid-19 records. These will bring timely information about symptoms, help-seeking and care and disease outcomes. It will allow ALSPAC to look at Covid-19 specific health (i.e. the health of those with the virus) and wider general physical and mental health (which may be impacted by stretched NHS resources during the outbreak, or due to the 'lock-down' and social distancing).
This data will sit alongside the other health records ALSPAC have collected. The same security mechanisms will be used to keep the data confidential, and ALSPAC will not extract records from participants who have objected to this use of their data.
The records will be sourced from:
1) A new NHS national (English) repository of Covid-19 data (GP records, Hospital Records, Pharmacy data, NHS 111 call records, Ambulance Records, Mortality Records, Covid-19 testing records).
2) Respiratory care records from databases at NHS University Hospital Bristol Trust and NHS North Bristol Trust hospitals.
3) Records from the 'Zoe' symptom tracker app.
ALSPAC will immediately use the data to help understand more about the factors that influence the susceptibility and severity of Covid-19. We will also examine whether Blood Group and the FUT2 gene (and other genes) are associated with Covid-19 susceptibility.
B3511 - Environment DNA methylation and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia a novel two-sample MR study - 24/04/2020
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children. Whilst a range of genetic abnormalities have been identified as crucial in disease initiation, these abnormalities alone are not sufficient for transformation. Maternal exposures during pregnancy such as smoking, or folate intake have the potential to impact on offspring DNA methylation. This epigenetic mark has also been shown to be altered in ALL. We have previously identified 5 CpG sites that have altered DNA methylation due to maternal smoking and folate intake and we aim to identify whether changes to DNA methylation at these sites affects risk of ALL.
B3504 - The role of children and school closures in the transmission of COVID-19 - 30/04/2020
School closures have been a central component of many countriesâ response to contain COVID-19; however, we donât know:
⢠What children do during unplanned school closures
⢠Whether children are infectious
⢠Whether other strategies could be equally effective.
Much of the policy is based on influenza, which does affect children more than SARS-CoV-2 [1].
Preliminary evidence suggests that children are able to become infected with SARS-CoV-2, but are either asymptomatic or show mild symptoms, with a minority of cases progressing to disease [2]. The role of healthy children in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 remains uncertain. It is of interest to define how many children do/donât experience COVID-19 symptoms and have evidence of having had SARS-CoV-2 infection, this may have implications for transmission dynamics and policy decisions. Along with many European countries, the UK decided to close schools from March 23rd in an effort to slow SARS-CoV-2 transmission - only some vulnerable children and those of key workers remain in school. We do not know what childrenâs contact patterns are during this unplanned school closure, but there is evidence that contacts inside and outside the home might continue, especially for older children and where parents donât agree with closures [3]. We propose to deploy a survey to G2 ALSPAC children to capture data on symptoms and contact patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well determine evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection through saliva antibody detection methods.
B3509 - Effects of feeding practice on childrens eating behavior and weight growth - 20/04/2020
Children born with the ability of self-regulated cues of hunger and satiety. During early life, this ability is developed in a good way will facilitate healthy eating behaviours, which may be associated appropriate weight gain. In the first two years, milk feeding and complementary feeding are main feeding aspectsï¼which could have impact on childrenâs self-regulation of hunger and satiety cues. Previous studies showed that breastfeeding duration and timing of solid food introduction were associated with childrenâs eating behaviours(eg. enjoyment of food, food fussiness, picky eating, eating slowly, overeating and so on) and weight growth. For example, Samantha L. Rogers found that breastfeeding duration was related to slower weight gain during 1 to 6 month and 1 to 12 month, and that breastfeeding duration was associated with slowness in eating at 12 m. Wang jing found that introducing complementary foods before 4 months of age compared to at 4~6 months was associated with and increased risk of being overweight and obesity during children. These findings indicated that infant feeding practice may exert an important role on development of childrenâs weight health However, the evidence about the relationship between concrete feeding mode such as bottle feeding, breast feeding, feeding on demand and childrenâs eating behaviors and weight growth were limited. Whether childrenâs eating behaviors and related gene variant play a mediated role on the relationship between feeding practices and weight gain also deserves exploring from a longitudinal perspective.
B3508 - A robust micro-assay to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in the general population using capillary sample collect - 24/04/2020
The Diabetes and Metabolism Unit at Southmead has a long history of measuring antibodies. Over the last three years we have focused on a particular type of assay which works on very small samples of blood. We have also good systems for sending small tubes by post which allow people to take a small blood sample from their finger and post it safely back to the laboratory for antibody testing. Since the recent COVID-19 pandemic we do not know how many people have been infected by the virus and this is a very important question. We have been working closely with a research group in Milan who have developed a test to work out who has been infected with Covid-19 because they have antibodies to the virus. Initial tests suggest that this assay works well on very small blood samples. We are now setting up this assay in Bristol and are requesting to access some samples from ALSPAC for
1. a University of Bristol study to test different assay platforms using the same samples
2. to prospectively and safely collect low volume samples by post and use the assay to estimate the infection rate in the general population and link this to questionnaire based data regarding symptoms.
This study should allow us to work out quickly and reliably how many people in the ALSPAC population have had COVID-19.
B3510 - Developmental Origins of Health and Disease as mediated and moderated by social determinants within the family - 28/04/2020
The proposed study aims to identify biomarkers (DNA methylation and measures of health) of stress and early-life adversity that indicate risk and resilience for health, and the potential mitigation of health risks by family-related social factors. We want to explore this within the child, and investigate the possible intergenerational transmission of maternal experience to child health.
B3505 - Maternal iodine status in pregnancy and association with social/behavioural disorders in offspring - 17/04/2020
Iodine is essential during pregnancy as it is required for fetal brain development. It is known that low iodine status in pregnancy is linked to lower IQ and reading ability scores. In some other cohorts mild-to-moderate deficiency or subtle impairments of maternal thyroid function has been linked to conditions such as ADHD and autism. We now want to explore the relationship between mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency in UK women with social/behavioural disorders in children.
B3506 - Examining patterns and predictors of mental health during and in response to COVID-19 - 17/04/2020
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had and will continue to have an unprecedented effect of daily living for the foreseeable future. Aside from the obvious effects of COVID-19 on physical health, this pandemic is also likely to have a profound effect on mental health. The knock on effects on mental health could be far reaching and long term especially if not understood and managed.
In addition, it is likely to exacerbate existing inequalities and the costs are likely to be felt disproportionately to the already most vulnerable ( those with a history of mental illness, job and housing insecurity , poor neighbourhoods , single parents and those in abusive relationships).
A number of rapid surveys have indicated an initial perceived rise in depression and anxiety symptoms. However, without pre-pandemic information, an accurate indication of the change is not possible. This is essential for modelling projected risk which needs to be taken into account when planning further policy regarding social distancing and lock down enforcements.
Longitudinal data is thus crucial. It is also important to identify at risk groups who could benefit from immediate help and planning for currently unknown policies for recovery stages. This project will use the unique data hosted by ALSPAC to examine how and why mental health changes as a result of the public health policies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
B3503 - The impact of public health measures adopted to control the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of parents and children risk and - 17/04/2020
The impact of the public health measures adopted to control the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of parents and children is unknown but is likely to vary by existing vulnerabilities and social inequalities. New information is vital to inform future policies and recovery. A number of rapid cross sectional surveys have started to collect data on adult and young peopleâs mental health during the COVID-19 crisis. However, such designs lack important information about mental health preceding the pandemic to more accurately understand changes and risk or resilience to showing a rise in emotional and behavioural problems. Thus, data in longitudinal studies is especially important. There are over 800 ALSPAC next generation children ranging in age from 0 â 11 years, with the majority at the younger ages of under 8 years. This is also an age range which has not been included in existing efforts nationally, with existing surveys focusing on school age or above. In ALSPAC-G2 children and their parents have already provided data from their parents before and during pregnancy and in the children from birth. Pre-pandemic measures include mental health in parents (and grandparents) and emotional and behavioural problems in children. By re-contacting families at this time and sending a brief online questionnaire to repeat emotional and behavioural problems scales, as well as COVID-19 specific worries matched to other national surveys, we can understand the immediate impact of this crisis on children, the extent to which this is linked to the impact on parents and possible protective strategies such as keeping routines, as well as track this as the cohort grow up.
B3507 - Alcohol 18 to 30 - 24/04/2020
Alcohol is the leading cause of ill-health in young adults in the UK and Europe and is the fifth leading cause across all ages in the UK population and is estimated to be the seventh leading cause globally . There are over 1 million alcohol related hospital admissions and nearly 25,000 alcohol related deaths a year in England with trends, in stark comparison to other major causes of death, not yet decreasing.
Since our previous grant (ALSPAC Alcohol at 24) there have been several important changes to our understanding of the risks of alcohol, patterns of drinking in the population, and UK response to preventing alcohol related harms.
First, levels of drinking reported by adolescents in UK and many other countries have fallen, corresponding with a fall in alcohol related hospital admissions in those under 18, but not yet resulting in any measurable decline in alcohol related harms in young adults . The motivation, reasons (and potential modifiable factors) causing the decline are not yet known but under investigation. In adults in the UK there is some evidence that changes in alcohol use has been differential with greater reductions in low level drinkers and no change in heavier drinkers with subsequently little overall impact on alcohol related harms. At the same time harmful alcohol use has been recognised as an important contributor to the âdeaths of despairâ that have reduced life expectancy â especially among poorer and more marginal populations - in North America.
Second, in large well powered genetic studies (and against decades of observational data) the cardio-protective effect of alcohol has been shown to be false â and instead likely to be due to non-causal factors all along (such as confounding, selection bias and reverse causation). This implies that there is no compensation of low levels of alcohol use improving morbidity and mortality and no absolutely âsafeâ or ânon-riskyâ levels of drinking â and clear benefits from reducing average consumption. The UK in line with other countries issued new guidelines on safe drinking levels â which are now the same for men and women â though evidence is unclear whether there have been any changes in the UK population as a result of the new guidance. Policy changes also are underway â notably in Scotland - based on economic models that show how introducing and raising minimum price of alcohol can reduce future alcohol related morbidity and mortality. [There have been other advances in use of MR and genetic markers to identify new targets for drug discovery, compare the impact of interventions, and test for interactions between behavioural exposures â but in European populations MR of alcohol use and AUD have been limited by lack of robust markers.]
Third, it is argued that alcohol related health harms may be under-estimated in part because cohort studies under-represent heavier drinking marginal populations but also because of an under-appreciation of the interaction of alcohol with other exposures. The burden of alcohol is greater in poorer communities, alcohol combines with other exposures to increase risk of liver disease, and alcohol can act as a âsnareâ increasing the persistence and halting the resolution of antisocial behaviour. This has led to a renewed focus on understanding how adverse alcohol trajectories develop and interact with other exposures to increase health and social harms to strengthen the evidence base ultimately for policy-makers but also for alcohol policy models that can show the impact of alternative prevention strategies.
B3501 - Alcohol use in the late 20s - 14/04/2020
Data collection
B3502 - Adult peak Circulatory capacity Mechanisms and Exposures ACME - 14/04/2020
Cardiovascular disease remains a major cause of ill-health and death. Maximum aerobic capacity (VO2p), a measure of circulatory capacity, is a strong predictor of future cardiovascular (CV) disease and general health. Most inter-individual differences in VO2p are established by age 30 and VO2p subsequently declines with age. The factors responsible for differences in peak circulatory capacity at maturity are not understood and we will identify them by studying participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a birth cohort of over 15,000 individuals who have undergone detailed studies since before birth. This study will provide a unique insight into the determinants of peak circulatory capacity in adults and identify potentially modifiable factors for improvement of future cardiovascular health.
B3497 - Investigating the Genetic Architecture and Risk Factors of Epilepsy - 07/04/2020
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects one percent of the population. Genetic factors play a role in epilepsy, but the full spectrum of the genetic architecture for this disorder is unknown. Previous work indicates that rare variation may contribute to epilepsy risk, but large sample sizes are required to increase the likelihood of identifying new risk genes or variants. The goal of this project is to investigate the genetic components of epilepsy in a large, well-characterized epilepsy cohort, in collaboration with Epi25, a consortium of over 50 epilepsy investigators. Whole exome sequencing (WES) data from epilepsy samples generated at the Broad Institute will be analyzed with ALSPAC WES data and other locally available or dbGaP-sourced controls to identify genes or variants associated with epilepsy. The inclusion of the ALSPAC data will be a valuable contribution to increase power in downstream analyses.
B3500 - Examining the association between childhood bilingualism and cognitive functioning in adulthood - 07/04/2020
For the last 20 years the effects of bilingualism have been extensively studied in experimental psychology. Despite numerous well-designed studies and meta-analysis there is no consensus whether or not there are executive functioning benefits in those who speak more than one language. Potentially small sample sizes and retrospective data collection are the cause of this.
The bilingual advantage is embedded in the theory that bilinguals constantly inhibit a non-target language when speaking; strengthening a non-specific cognitive domain inhibitory control mechanism resulting in benefits on tasks that require inhibition. By investigating cognition (in particular inhibitory control) throughout a childâs life alongside their exposure to a second language and other confounding variables we hope to finally gain consensus on whether bilingualism can affect cognition.
The bilingual advantage has been thought to have a protective effect over dementia and cognitive decline in older adults. By establishing that there is a bilingual advantage that could be protective of dementia has the potential to be a major public health advantage.
B3496 - Understanding the intergenerational transmission of risk for offspring mental health cognitive and educational outcomes - 20/04/2020
Parental risk factors are among the strongest early predictors of offspring mental health, cognitive and educational outcomes. This transmission of risk across generations hinders social mobility. Interventions targeting parents may thus appear promising. However, such interventions can only succeed if the relationship between parental risks and offspring outcomes are causal, which remains unclear. Here, we propose to use genetically informed design to better characterize the intergenerational pathways underlying risk transmission.
B3494 - Metabolomic association studies of cortical thickness and microstructural properties of the brain in children and adolescents - 06/04/2020
B3493 - Pervasive vs Situational ADHD Mechanisms Trajectories Comorbidity Gender Differences and Long-Term Outcome - 06/04/2020
ADHD is a condition marked by symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity persistent over time, present and causing impairment in at least two contexts, such as in the school and at home. However, the degree to which symptoms are present across situations varies from individual to individual. At one end of the spectrum, children may show severe symptoms in several contexts (that is, pervasive ADHD) while others show severe symptoms only in one context (that is, situational ADHD). What underpins the pervasive and situational manifestations is not well understood, and the impact of pervasive and situational dysfunction on future outcome (such as mental health, occupation, and educational status) needs further investigation. Different underlying mechanisms may relate in specific ways to the degree to which ADHD is expressed pervasively or situationally in the school or home setting. In the current study, we focus specifically on the role of executive functioning (that is, goal-directed behavior), emotion processing, and aspects of the family environment, in this matter. We will examine how pervasive and situational ADHD symptoms evolve over time, mapping possible underlying mechanisms, gender differences, and long-term outcome in a large community sample. The findings will have implications for our understanding of the etiology, maintenance, treatment, and prevention of the diagnosis.
B3495 - 3D whole body scans - 06/04/2020
The aim of this project's initial phase is to determine the feasibility of batch converting existing 3D whole body scans data into a generic file type so that they can be readily analysed. This is to support the development of future funding bids to use the scan data to investigate genetic determinant of body shape and its cardiovascular consequences.
B3498 - Body muscle and metabolism in middle age - 06/04/2020
Higher body fatness is a likely cause of heart disease, but how the harms of body fat compare with the potential benefits of body muscle â another metabolically active body compartment â is unclear. This project aims to use data on body scanning and metabolism from ALSPAC parents in mid-life to determine which aspects of body muscle â whether higher volume based on body scanning or higher strength based on hand grip tests â most strongly influence a set of detailed traits related to adult heart disease susceptibility. It also aims to determine how the cardiometabolic profile of body muscle compares with the profile of body fat. Together with results from complementary studies, these results should help clarify which aspects of body composition are most important to target with limited public resources in order to prevent the onset of heart disease.
B3499 - Characterising trajectories and transitions in tobacco nicotine and cannabinoid use and their relationship to mental health - 10/04/2020
Tobacco and cannabis use are key public health concerns. Both tobacco and cannabis are consistently associated with the development of common mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Prevalence of mental illness in the UK is rapidly increasing, and has increased particularly among adolescents and young adults. Tobacco and cannabis use appear to be plausible targets for intervention to improve mental health. However, there are a number of challenges that have hindered understanding of this relationship, and which have implications for how interventions should be targeted. Firstly, substance use and common mental disorders both tend to have onset in adolescence, so it is difficult to establish temporality in this relationship. Secondly, substance use and mental health share common risk factors through genes and early-life events, so it is difficult to establish whether the relationship is causal or due to shared confounding. Thirdly, the effect of substance use on mental health may not be a direct effect. It is plausible that this relationship is mediated by the social and economic adult role transitions following adolescence, or that substance use itself may be a mediating factor between early life exposures and mental health. Finally, the effects of the aforementioned changes in tobacco and cannabis products on substance use patterns and mental health are currently unknown.
We propose to investigate key questions regarding causality and opportunities for intervention in the relationship between tobacco use, cannabis use (and their constituents) and mental health.