Generation R is a prospective, population based cohort study from fetal life until young adulthood in a multi-ethnic urban population in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. [1] The study is designed to identify early environmental and genetic causes of normal and abnormal growth, development and health. [2] Eventually, results forthcoming from the Generation R Study have to contribute to the development of strategies for optimizing health and healthcare for pregnant women and children. [3]
The study focuses on five primary areas of research:
The children form a prenatally recruited birth cohort that will be followed until young adulthood. In total, 9778 mothers with a delivery date from April 2002 until January 2006 were enrolled in the study. Of all eligible children at birth, 61% participate in the study. A large part of this study cohort consists of ethnic minorities.
Data collection in the prenatal phase included physical examinations, questionnaires, foetal ultrasound examinations and biological samples. In addition, more detailed assessments are conducted in a subgroup of 1232 pregnant women and their children. At the age of 5 years, all children were invited to visit the Generation R research centre for detailed assessments. This was repeated at the age of 9 years.
A list of publications from the Generation R study.
Homocysteine is a non-proteinogenic α-amino acid. It is a homologue of the amino acid cysteine, differing by an additional methylene bridge (-CH2-). It is biosynthesized from methionine by the removal of its terminal Cε methyl group. In the body, homocysteine can be recycled into methionine or converted into cysteine with the aid of certain B-vitamins.
Alcoholic beverages are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 1 carcinogen. IARC classifies alcoholic beverage consumption as a cause of female breast, colorectal, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity, and pharynx cancers; and as a probable cause of pancreatic cancer.
Psychiatric epidemiology is a field which studies the causes (etiology) of mental disorders in society, as well as conceptualization and prevalence of mental illness. It is a subfield of the more general epidemiology. It has roots in sociological studies of the early 20th century. However, while sociological exposures are still widely studied in psychiatric epidemiology, the field has since expanded to the study of a wide area of environmental risk factors, such as major life events, as well as genetic exposures. Increasingly neuroscientific techniques like MRI are used to explore the mechanisms behind how exposures to risk factors may impact psychological problems and explore the neuroanatomical substrate underlying psychiatric disorders.
The Rotterdam Study is a prospective, population-based cohort study. The aim of the Rotterdam Study is to investigate factors that determine the occurrence of cardiovascular, neurological, ophthalmological, endocrinological, and psychiatric diseases in elderly people.
Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4, also known as melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (MCSP) or neuron-glial antigen 2 (NG2), is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan that in humans is encoded by the CSPG4 gene.
Neurexin-3-alpha is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRXN3 gene.
Formin-binding protein 1-like is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FNBP1L gene.
BMP-2-inducible protein kinase is an enzyme in humans encoded by the BMP2K gene.
UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-5 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the UGT1A5 gene.
Transmembrane protein 126B is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TMEM126B gene. TMEM126B is a mitochondrial transmembrane protein which is a component of the mitochondrial complex I assembly complex. The TMEM126B gene is conserved in mammals. The encoded protein serves as an assembly factor that is required for formation of the membrane arm of the complex. It interacts with NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] 1 alpha subcomplex assembly factor 13. Naturally occurring mutations in this gene are associated with isolated complex I deficiency. A pseudogene of this gene has been defined on chromosome 9.
James William Bruce Douglas was an eminent social researcher. Douglas was responsible for the National Survey of Health & Development that in turn led to other national birth cohort studies, such as the National Child Development Study, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study.
Zinc finger protein 408 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ZNF408 gene.
Frank B. Hu is a Chinese American nutrition and diabetes researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Nutrition and the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.
Ligand dependent nuclear receptor corepressor like is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LCORL gene.
Albert Hofman is a Dutch clinical epidemiologist. He is currently the Stephen B. Kay Family Professor of Public Health and the chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
HBS1 like translational GTPase is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HBS1L gene.
Nephronectin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NPNT gene.
Transmembrane protein 57 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TMEM57 gene.
Ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 Q2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UBE2Q2 gene.
Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology, abbreviated CHARGE, is a consortium formed to facilitate meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies of aging and cardiovascular traits, and the replication of genotype-phenotype associations identified in such studies. CHARGE was initially launched in 2008 as a voluntary collaboration between five prospective cohort studies: the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES) in Iceland, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, and the Framingham Heart Study in the United States, and the Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands. Other cohort studies have joined the consortium since its founding, including the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. The organization of the consortium consists of a Research Steering Committee, an Analysis Committee, a Genotyping Committee, and roughly 35 phenotype-specific working groups.