Periconceptional maternal vitamin supplementation and childhood leukaemia: an uncertainty analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies in childhood cancer suggest that maternal vitamin supplementation may reduce the risk of leukaemia, neuroblastoma and certain types of childhood brain tumours. For example, a previous study found a significantly reduced risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) but not acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in children with Down syndrome whose mothers reported any vitamin supplement use prior to knowledge of pregnancy (ALL OR adjusted for confounders 0.51, 95% confidence limits (CL): 0.30, 0.89; AML OR adjusted for confounders 0.92, 95% CL 0.48, 1.76). Recall of exposures, including maternal vitamin supplement use, however, may be difficult and subject to error. Epidemiologists are encouraged to quantitatively adjust for systematic error in study results, but often do not. METHODS: The impact that misclassification of maternal vitamin supplement use may have had on the observed ORs in this study was quantified. Uncertainty analysis was used to calculate ORs adjusted for inaccurate reporting of vitamin supplement use under assumed probability distributions for exposure misclassification parameters. RESULTS: Given our assumptions, adjustment for exposure misclassification yielded ORs that were predominantly more protective for ALL than the crude OR. CONCLUSIONS: Uncertainty analysis can give important insights into the magnitude and direction of error in study results due to exposure misclassification.

Phosphate diester hydrolysis by mono- and dinuclear lanthanum complexes with an unusual third-order dependence.

A series of mono- and dinuclear lanthanum complexes of 15,31-dimethyl-3,11,19,27,33,35-hexaazapentacyclo[27.3.1.1.(5,9)1,(13,17). 1(21,25)]hexatriaconta-5,7,9(33),13,15,17(34),21,23,25(35),29,31, 1(36)-dodecaene-34,36-diol (24RBPyBC, L) have been defined in solution. Their ability to hydrolyze bis(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate, a phosphate diester, was studied. The various metal-coordinated hydroxide nucleophiles that form in solution attack the substrate in the hydrolysis reaction. The dihydroxo dilanthanum complex, L-2La-2(OH), is the most effective catalyst. Its rate constant is 75 times larger than the rate constant for the monohydroxo dilanthanum complex, L-2La-OH. The mononuclear complexes are not as successful as the dinuclear complexes because they have fewer metal ions per complex to act as Lewis acids. They also cannot generate hydroxide nucleophiles at low pH values like the dinuclear complexes can. The reaction has an unusual third-order dependence on the catalyst concentration which is valid for the dinuclear complexes as well as the mononuclear complexes. This implies a mechanism where a metal-coordinated hydroxide nucleophile attacks the phosphorus of the substrate on the side opposite the negatively charged oxygens.