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- Röckert Tjernberg, Anna, 1975-
(författare)
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Celiac disease and Infections
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy affecting about 1% of the population worldwide. CD is triggered by ingestion of gluten in genetically predisposed individuals but additional factors (e.g. infections) are required for the disease to develop. CD also seems to be associated with infectious complications.Aim: The main objective of this thesis was to increase the knowledge about the associations between CD and infections.Methods: Epidemiological and laboratory approaches. Studies I-III used a data set consisting of small intestinal biopsy reports. The biopsies were taken in 1969-2008 and collected in 2006-2008. A total of 29,096 individuals with CD, 13,306 with inflammation and 3,719 with potential CD were identified. Each individual was matched with up to 5 controls from the general population (n= 228,632). Through linkage of the data to the Patient Register study I examined the risk of hospital visits due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children <2 years prior to onset of CD. Study II used the Patient Register and Cause of Death Register to assess whether CD affects the outcome in sepsis. Study III linked the data to microbiological data bases and the Public Health Agency to estimate risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in CD. In study IV children with CD and controls were recruited from Kalmar County Hospital. Complement activation (C3a and sC5b-9) in plasma were analysed after incubation with pneumococci.Results: Study I found that children with CD were more likely than controls to have attended hospital due to RSV infection prior to diagnosis (odds ratio 1.46; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.02-2.07). CD did not seem to influence survival in sepsis (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.10 95%CI=0.72-1.69) (study II). Study III indicated a 46% risk increase for individuals with CD to acquire IPD (HR 1.46; 95%CI=1.05-2.03) but study IV did not reveal any differences in complement response in regard to CD status (p=0.497and p=0.724), explaining this excess risk.Conclusion: This thesis supports associations between CD and infections preceding and complicating diagnosis. However, CD does not seem to influence the outcome in a severe infection like sepsis and altered complement function is unlikely to be responsible for the excess IPD risk in CD.
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| 2. |
- Röjler, Lovisa, 1983-
(författare)
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Eosinophilic esophagitis and disease complications : register-based studies
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis presents four studies on Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE). The overall aim is to grasp the basics of epidemiologic research and use this understanding on EoE disease complications. EoE is a fairly new inflammatory disease with clinicopathological diagnosis that increases in prevalence. It is considered a relatively mild disease, but the evidence concerning mortality and morbidity is scarce. Although EoE has a prevalence peak in childbearing age, pregnancy outcomes are poorly examined. In Study I, a random portion of 131 patient charts from the cohort werecollected for a diagnosis validation through a patient chart review. EoE was found in 99 patients, which corresponds to a positive predictive value of 89%. The cohort was predominately male, and the most common symptom was dysphagia. Study II examines mortality in EoE individuals compared to matched reference individuals using survival analysis. We performed sibling analysis to adjust for intrafamilial (genetic and environmental) confounding. We found no elevated risk for death. Study III uses a similar method to find higher risk of psychiatric comorbidity among EoE patients compared to matched reference individuals. Mean follow-up time was 4.03 years, and there were 106 events of psychiatric disease in the EoE-group, which corresponds to an elevated risk of 50% compared to reference individuals. Study IV investigates outcomes of pregnancy in EoE females versus comparators. The main outcome is premature birth; in secondary analyses, we examined both maternal and fetal outcomes. The only elevated risk was low birth weight; although a significant finding, it was still based on a small sample size and should be interpreted with caution.
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| 3. |
- Sundelin, Heléne E.K. 1965-
(författare)
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Comorbidity and complications in neurological diseases
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Neurological diseases are complex and many share etiology as well as comorbidities. Epilepsy, a brain disorder characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are considered to be associated, but the connection is still not fully uncovered. Cerebral palsy (CP), a lifelong, nonspecific, non-progressive disorder of posture and movement control, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder, both have many consequences for health and wellbeing throughout life.Aims: The aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of comorbidity and complications in neurological diseases and EDS. The objective was to gain information on the nature of the connection between epilepsy and ASD, if EDS, ASD and CP have consequences for pregnancy outcome, and the risk of traffic accidents in individuals with epilepsy.Materials and methods: The studies are all historical observational population- based cohort studies with prospectively collected data from national registers. The risk of ASD was analysed in 85,201 individuals with epilepsy and compared with 425,760 controls as well as for their firstdegree relatives. In a cohort of 1,248,178 singleton births, 314 births to women with EDS, 2,072 births to women with ASD, and 770 births to women with CP, pregnancy outcome was explored. The risk of traffic accidents was estimated in 29,220 individuals with epilepsy and 267,637 matched controls.Results: There is an increased risk of; ASD in individuals with epilepsy and their relatives, moderately preterm birth and pre-eclampsia in maternal ASD, of preterm birth in maternal CP and transport accidents in individuals with epilepsy. There is no increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome in women with EDS.Conclusions: This thesis found proofs of a bidirectional association between epilepsy and ASD, that ASD and CP have consequences for pregnancy outcome and epilepsy is a risk factor for traffic accidents.
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