| 1. |
- Naghavi, Mohsen, et al.
(author)
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Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
- 2015
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In: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 385:9963, s. 117-171
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specifi c all-cause and cause-specifi c mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) we estimated yearly deaths for 188 countries between 1990, and 2013. We used the results to assess whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries. Methods We estimated age-sex-specifi c all-cause mortality using the GBD 2010 methods with some refinements to improve accuracy applied to an updated database of vital registration, survey, and census data. We generally estimated cause of death as in the GBD 2010. Key improvements included the addition of more recent vital registration data for 72 countries, an updated verbal autopsy literature review, two new and detailed data systems for China, and more detail for Mexico, UK, Turkey, and Russia. We improved statistical models for garbage code redistribution. We used six different modelling strategies across the 240 causes; cause of death ensemble modelling (CODEm) was the dominant strategy for causes with sufficient information. Trends for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were informed by meta-regression of prevalence studies. For pathogen-specifi c causes of diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections we used a counterfactual approach. We computed two measures of convergence (inequality) across countries: the average relative difference across all pairs of countries (Gini coefficient) and the average absolute difference across countries. To summarise broad findings, we used multiple decrement life-tables to decompose probabilities of death from birth to exact age 15 years, from exact age 15 years to exact age 50 years, and from exact age 50 years to exact age 75 years, and life expectancy at birth into major causes. For all quantities reported, we computed 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We constrained cause-specific fractions within each age-sex-country-year group to sum to all-cause mortality based on draws from the uncertainty distributions. Findings Global life expectancy for both sexes increased from 65.3 years (UI 65.0-65.6) in 1990, to 71.5 years (UI 71.0-71.9) in 2013, while the number of deaths increased from 47.5 million (UI 46.8-48.2) to 54.9 million (UI 53.6-56.3) over the same interval. Global progress masked variation by age and sex: for children, average absolute diff erences between countries decreased but relative diff erences increased. For women aged 25-39 years and older than 75 years and for men aged 20-49 years and 65 years and older, both absolute and relative diff erences increased. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the prominent role of reductions in age-standardised death rates for cardiovascular diseases and cancers in high-income regions, and reductions in child deaths from diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal causes in low-income regions. HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy in southern sub-Saharan Africa. For most communicable causes of death both numbers of deaths and age-standardised death rates fell whereas for most non-communicable causes, demographic shifts have increased numbers of deaths but decreased age-standardised death rates. Global deaths from injury increased by 10.7%, from 4.3 million deaths in 1990 to 4.8 million in 2013; but age-standardised rates declined over the same period by 21%. For some causes of more than 100 000 deaths per year in 2013, age-standardised death rates increased between 1990 and 2013, including HIV/AIDS, pancreatic cancer, atrial fibrillation and flutter, drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and sickle-cell anaemias. Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, neonatal causes, and malaria are still in the top five causes of death in children younger than 5 years. The most important pathogens are rotavirus for diarrhoea and pneumococcus for lower respiratory infections. Country-specific probabilities of death over three phases of life were substantially varied between and within regions. Interpretation For most countries, the general pattern of reductions in age-sex specifi c mortality has been associated with a progressive shift towards a larger share of the remaining deaths caused by non-communicable disease and injuries. Assessing epidemiological convergence across countries depends on whether an absolute or relative measure of inequality is used. Nevertheless, age-standardised death rates for seven substantial causes are increasing, suggesting the potential for reversals in some countries. Important gaps exist in the empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India are available for the past decade.
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| 2. |
- Wang, Haidong, et al.
(author)
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Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
- 2016
-
In: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 388:10053, s. 1459-1544
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Improving survival and extending the longevity of life for all populations requires timely, robust evidence on local mortality levels and trends. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2015. These results informed an in-depth investigation of observed and expected mortality patterns based on sociodemographic measures.METHODS: We estimated all-cause mortality by age, sex, geography, and year using an improved analytical approach originally developed for GBD 2013 and GBD 2010. Improvements included refinements to the estimation of child and adult mortality and corresponding uncertainty, parameter selection for under-5 mortality synthesis by spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, and sibling history data processing. We also expanded the database of vital registration, survey, and census data to 14 294 geography-year datapoints. For GBD 2015, eight causes, including Ebola virus disease, were added to the previous GBD cause list for mortality. We used six modelling approaches to assess cause-specific mortality, with the Cause of Death Ensemble Model (CODEm) generating estimates for most causes. We used a series of novel analyses to systematically quantify the drivers of trends in mortality across geographies. First, we assessed observed and expected levels and trends of cause-specific mortality as they relate to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary indicator derived from measures of income per capita, educational attainment, and fertility. Second, we examined factors affecting total mortality patterns through a series of counterfactual scenarios, testing the magnitude by which population growth, population age structures, and epidemiological changes contributed to shifts in mortality. Finally, we attributed changes in life expectancy to changes in cause of death. We documented each step of the GBD 2015 estimation processes, as well as data sources, in accordance with Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER).FINDINGS: Globally, life expectancy from birth increased from 61·7 years (95% uncertainty interval 61·4-61·9) in 1980 to 71·8 years (71·5-72·2) in 2015. Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa had very large gains in life expectancy from 2005 to 2015, rebounding from an era of exceedingly high loss of life due to HIV/AIDS. At the same time, many geographies saw life expectancy stagnate or decline, particularly for men and in countries with rising mortality from war or interpersonal violence. From 2005 to 2015, male life expectancy in Syria dropped by 11·3 years (3·7-17·4), to 62·6 years (56·5-70·2). Total deaths increased by 4·1% (2·6-5·6) from 2005 to 2015, rising to 55·8 million (54·9 million to 56·6 million) in 2015, but age-standardised death rates fell by 17·0% (15·8-18·1) during this time, underscoring changes in population growth and shifts in global age structures. The result was similar for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with total deaths from these causes increasing by 14·1% (12·6-16·0) to 39·8 million (39·2 million to 40·5 million) in 2015, whereas age-standardised rates decreased by 13·1% (11·9-14·3). Globally, this mortality pattern emerged for several NCDs, including several types of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, cirrhosis, and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. By contrast, both total deaths and age-standardised death rates due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional conditions significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, gains largely attributable to decreases in mortality rates due to HIV/AIDS (42·1%, 39·1-44·6), malaria (43·1%, 34·7-51·8), neonatal preterm birth complications (29·8%, 24·8-34·9), and maternal disorders (29·1%, 19·3-37·1). Progress was slower for several causes, such as lower respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies, whereas deaths increased for others, including dengue and drug use disorders. Age-standardised death rates due to injuries significantly declined from 2005 to 2015, yet interpersonal violence and war claimed increasingly more lives in some regions, particularly in the Middle East. In 2015, rotaviral enteritis (rotavirus) was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to diarrhoea (146 000 deaths, 118 000-183 000) and pneumococcal pneumonia was the leading cause of under-5 deaths due to lower respiratory infections (393 000 deaths, 228 000-532 000), although pathogen-specific mortality varied by region. Globally, the effects of population growth, ageing, and changes in age-standardised death rates substantially differed by cause. Our analyses on the expected associations between cause-specific mortality and SDI show the regular shifts in cause of death composition and population age structure with rising SDI. Country patterns of premature mortality (measured as years of life lost [YLLs]) and how they differ from the level expected on the basis of SDI alone revealed distinct but highly heterogeneous patterns by region and country or territory. Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes were among the leading causes of YLLs in most regions, but in many cases, intraregional results sharply diverged for ratios of observed and expected YLLs based on SDI. Communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases caused the most YLLs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with observed YLLs far exceeding expected YLLs for countries in which malaria or HIV/AIDS remained the leading causes of early death.INTERPRETATION: At the global scale, age-specific mortality has steadily improved over the past 35 years; this pattern of general progress continued in the past decade. Progress has been faster in most countries than expected on the basis of development measured by the SDI. Against this background of progress, some countries have seen falls in life expectancy, and age-standardised death rates for some causes are increasing. Despite progress in reducing age-standardised death rates, population growth and ageing mean that the number of deaths from most non-communicable causes are increasing in most countries, putting increased demands on health systems.
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| 3. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Joshi, Peter K, et al.
(author)
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Directional dominance on stature and cognition in diverse human populations
- 2015
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 523:7561, s. 459-462
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Homozygosity has long been associated with rare, often devastating, Mendelian disorders, and Darwin was one of the first to recognize that inbreeding reduces evolutionary fitness. However, the effect of the more distant parental relatedness that is common in modern human populations is less well understood. Genomic data now allow us to investigate the effects of homozygosity on traits of public health importance by observing contiguous homozygous segments (runs of homozygosity), which are inferred to be homozygous along their complete length. Given the low levels of genome-wide homozygosity prevalent in most human populations, information is required on very large numbers of people to provide sufficient power. Here we use runs of homozygosity to study 16 health-related quantitative traits in 354,224 individuals from 102 cohorts, and find statistically significant associations between summed runs of homozygosity and four complex traits: height, forced expiratory lung volume in one second, general cognitive ability and educational attainment (P < 1 × 10(-300), 2.1 × 10(-6), 2.5 × 10(-10) and 1.8 × 10(-10), respectively). In each case, increased homozygosity was associated with decreased trait value, equivalent to the offspring of first cousins being 1.2 cm shorter and having 10 months' less education. Similar effect sizes were found across four continental groups and populations with different degrees of genome-wide homozygosity, providing evidence that homozygosity, rather than confounding, directly contributes to phenotypic variance. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples, no evidence was seen of an influence of genome-wide homozygosity on blood pressure and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases may not have been.
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| 6. |
- Kanoni, Stavroula, et al.
(author)
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Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis.
- 2022
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In: Genome biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1474-760X .- 1465-6906 .- 1474-7596. ; 23:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genetic variants within nearly 1000 loci are known to contribute to modulation of blood lipid levels. However, the biological pathways underlying these associations are frequently unknown, limiting understanding of these findings and hindering downstream translational efforts such as drug target discovery.To expand our understanding of the underlying biological pathways and mechanisms controlling blood lipid levels, we leverage a large multi-ancestry meta-analysis (N=1,654,960) of blood lipids to prioritize putative causal genes for 2286 lipid associations using six gene prediction approaches. Using phenome-wide association (PheWAS) scans, we identify relationships of genetically predicted lipid levels to other diseases and conditions. We confirm known pleiotropic associations with cardiovascular phenotypes and determine novel associations, notably with cholelithiasis risk. We perform sex-stratified GWAS meta-analysis of lipid levels and show that 3-5% of autosomal lipid-associated loci demonstrate sex-biased effects. Finally, we report 21 novel lipid loci identified on the X chromosome. Many of the sex-biased autosomal and X chromosome lipid loci show pleiotropic associations with sex hormones, emphasizing the role of hormone regulation in lipid metabolism.Taken together, our findings provide insights into the biological mechanisms through which associated variants lead to altered lipid levels and potentially cardiovascular disease risk.
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| 7. |
- Palmer, Nicholette D, et al.
(author)
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A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.
- 2012
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In: PloS one. - San Francisco : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:1, s. e29202-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P<0.0071), were directionally consistent in the Replication cohort and were associated with T2DM in subjects without nephropathy (P<0.05). Meta-analysis in all cases and controls revealed a single SNP reaching genome-wide significance (P<2.5×10(-8)). SNP rs7560163 (P = 7.0×10(-9), OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.67-0.84)) is located intergenically between RND3 and RBM43. Four additional loci (rs7542900, rs4659485, rs2722769 and rs7107217) were associated with T2DM (P<0.05) and reached more nominal levels of significance (P<2.5×10(-5)) in the overall analysis and may represent novel loci that contribute to T2DM. We have identified novel T2DM-susceptibility variants in the African-American population. Notably, T2DM risk was associated with the major allele and implies an interesting genetic architecture in this population. These results suggest that multiple loci underlie T2DM susceptibility in the African-American population and that these loci are distinct from those identified in other ethnic populations.
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| 8. |
- D’Orazi, Valentina, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : tracing the Milky Way’s formation and evolution through RR Lyrae stars
- 2024
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711. ; 531:1, s. 137-162
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Stellar mergers and accretion events have been crucial in shaping the evolution of the Milky Way (MW). These events have been dynamically identified and chemically characterized using red giants and main-sequence stars. RR Lyrae (RRL) variables can play a crucial role in tracing the early formation of the MW since they are ubiquitous, old (t ≥ 10 Gyr) low-mass stars and accurate distance indicators. We exploited Data Release 3 of the GALAH survey to identify 78 field RRLs suitable for chemical analysis. Using synthetic spectra calculations, we determined atmospheric parameters and abundances of Fe, Mg, Ca, Y, and Ba. Most of our stars exhibit halo-like chemical compositions, with an iron peak around [Fe/H] ≈ −1.40, and enhanced Ca and Mg content. Notably, we discovered a metal-rich tail, with [Fe/H] values ranging from −1 to approximately solar metallicity. This sub-group includes almost 1/4 of the sample, it is characterized by thin disc kinematics and displays sub-solar α-element abundances, marginally consistent with the majority of the MW stars. Surprisingly, they differ distinctly from typical MW disc stars in terms of the s-process elements Y and Ba. We took advantage of similar data available in the literature and built a total sample of 535 field RRLs for which we estimated kinematical and dynamical properties. We found that metal-rich RRLs (1/3 of the sample) likely represent an old component of the MW thin disc. We also detected RRLs with retrograde orbits and provided preliminary associations with the Gaia–Sausage–Enceladus, Helmi, Sequoia, Sagittarius, and Thamnos stellar streams.
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| 9. |
- Jin, Shoko, et al.
(author)
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The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE : Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation
- 2024
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 530:3, s. 2688-2730
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, saw first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-deg field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366-959nm at R similar to 5000, or two shorter ranges at . After summarizing the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organization, science drivers, and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for similar to 3 million stars and detailed abundances for similar to 1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey similar to 0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects, and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey similar to 400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionized gas in z < 0.5 cluster galaxies; (vi) survey stellar populations and kinematics in field galaxies at 0.3 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 0.7; (vii) study the cosmic evolution of accretion and star formation using >1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; and (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z > 2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.
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| 10. |
- Lind, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)
- 2021
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In: eLife. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.
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| 11. |
- Ström, Kristoffer, et al.
(author)
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Genetic variation at RAB3GAP2 and its role in exercise-related adaptation and recovery
- 2021
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Skeletal muscle fiber composition and capillary density influence physical performance and whole-body metabolic properties. ~45% of the variance in fiber type is heritable, which motivated us to perform a genome-wide association study of skeletal muscle histology from 656 Swedish men. Four independent variants were associated (p
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Berndt, Sonja I., et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture
- 2013
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:5, s. 501-U69
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 4 new loci (IGFBP4, H6PD, RSRC1 and PPP2R2A) influencing height detected in the distribution tails and 7 new loci (HNF4G, RPTOR, GNAT2, MRPS33P4, ADCY9, HS6ST3 and ZZZ3) for clinical classes of obesity. Further, we find a large overlap in genetic structure and the distribution of variants between traits based on extremes and the general population and little etiological heterogeneity between obesity subgroups.
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| 16. |
- Bixby, H., et al.
(author)
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Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults
- 2019
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 569:7755, s. 260-4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.
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| 17. |
- Blomberg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Chronic Airflow Limitation, Emphysema and Impaired Diffusing Capacity in Relation to Smoking Habits in a Swedish Middle-Aged Population.
- 2024
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In: Annals of the American Thoracic Society. - 2329-6933 .- 2325-6621.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- RATIONALE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes respiratory symptoms and chronic airflow limitation (CAL). In some cases, emphysema and impaired diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) are present, but characteristics and symptoms vary with smoking exposure.OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of CAL, emphysema and impaired DLCO in relation to smoking and respiratory symptoms in a middle-aged population.METHODS: We investigated 28,746 randomly invited individuals (52% women) aged 50-64 years across six Swedish sites. We performed spirometry, DLCO, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and asked for smoking habits and respiratory symptoms. CAL was defined as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second divided by forced expiratory volume (FEV1/FVC)<0.7.RESULTS: The overall prevalence was for CAL 8.8%, for impaired DLCO (DLCOCONCLUSIONS: In this large population-based study of middle-aged people, CAL and impaired DLCO were associated with common respiratory symptoms. Self-reported asthma was not associated with CAL in never-smokers. Our findings suggest that CAL in never-smokers signifies a separate clinical phenotype that may be monitored and, possibly, treated differently from smoking-related COPD. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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| 18. |
- Choi, Seung Hoan, et al.
(author)
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Six Novel Loci Associated with Circulating VEGF Levels Identified by a Meta-analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies
- 2016
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In: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 12:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic and neurotrophic factor, secreted by endothelial cells, known to impact various physiological and disease processes from cancer to cardiovascular disease and to be pharmacologically modifiable. We sought to identify novel loci associated with circulating VEGF levels through a genome-wide association meta-analysis combining data from European-ancestry individuals and using a dense variant map from 1000 genomes imputation panel. Six discovery cohorts including 13,312 samples were analyzed, followed by in-silico and de-novo replication studies including an additional 2,800 individuals. A total of 10 genome-wide significant variants were identified at 7 loci. Four were novel loci (5q14.3, 10q21.3, 16q24.2 and 18q22.3) and the leading variants at these loci were rs114694170 (MEF2C, P = 6.79x10(-13)), rs74506613 (JMJD1C, P = 1.17x10(-19)), rs4782371 (ZFPM1, P = 1.59x10(-9)) and rs2639990 (ZADH2, P = 1.72x10(-8)), respectively. We also identified two new independent variants (rs34528081, VEGFA, P = 1.52x10(-18); rs7043199, VLDLR-AS1, P = 5.12x10(-14)) at the 3 previously identified loci and strengthened the evidence for the four previously identified SNPs (rs6921438, LOC100132354, P = 7.39x10(-1467); rs1740073, C6orf223, P = 2.34x10(-17); rs6993770, ZFPM2, P = 2.44x10(-60); rs2375981, KCNV2, P = 1.48x10(-100)). These variants collectively explained up to 52% of the VEGF phenotypic variance. We explored biological links between genes in the associated loci using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis that emphasized their roles in embryonic development and function. Gene set enrichment analysis identified the ERK5 pathway as enriched in genes containing VEGF associated variants. eQTL analysis showed, in three of the identified regions, variants acting as both cis and trans eQTLs for multiple genes. Most of these genes, as well as some of those in the associated loci, were involved in platelet biogenesis and functionality, suggesting the importance of this process in regulation of VEGF levels. This work also provided new insights into the involvement of genes implicated in various angiogenesis related pathologies in determining circulating VEGF levels. The understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which the identified genes affect circulating VEGF levels could be important in the development of novel VEGF-related therapies for such diseases.
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| 19. |
- Dunder, Linda
(author)
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Exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) and Metabolic Disruption
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Metbolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, liver lipid disorders and metabolic syndrome are increasing rapidly and have largely been attributed to genetic background and changes in diet, exercise and aging. However, there is now considerable evidence showing that other environmental factors, including environmental chemicals, may contribute to the rapid increase in the incidence of these metabolic diseases. Of particular growing concern is low-dose developmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The developing period is an extremely sensitive window of exposure to environmental stressors, including EDCs, and early life exposure has been linked to metabolic disorders later in life. Consistent with hormones, EDCs can act at very low serum concentrations and even small changes in the endocrine system may lead to extensive effects. The overall aim of this thesis has been to investigate potential metabolic disruption following exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), which is a known EDC. The experimental animal study demonstrated that male and female rat offspring generally exhibited differential susceptibility to developmental exposure to BPA (0.5 µg/kg BW/day or 50 µg/kg BW/day). The main results showed that the lowest dose of BPA induced increased plasma triglyceride levels and increased adipocyte cell density in inguinal white adipose tissue in female offspring. Further, this low dose increased fatty acid indices and altered the fatty acid composition in male offspring and enhanced insulin secretion in pancreatic islets from male and female offspring and dams. Contrastingly, the higher BPA-dose decreased insulin secretion in pancreatic islets from male and female offspring and dams. The increased fatty acid indices, and the altered fatty acid composition together with enhanced insulin secretion may be early risk factors for insulin resistance. Furthermore, depending on the tissue, dose and sex, BPA altered the expression of genes involved in lipid and adipocyte homeostasis.The epidemiological study with a meta-analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) did not disclose any associations between urinary BPA and dyslipidemia. However, considering the cross-sectional nature of the present study, this should rather be investigated in carefully designed prospective cohort studies with repeated BPA measurements. Nonetheless, we hope that this paper can encourage researchers to evaluate NHANES data using meta-analyses instead of pooling of data.This thesis concludes that exposure to BPA, which is a known EDC, most likely is a contributor, along with genetic, social and behavioral factors, to the development of metabolic disorders.
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| 20. |
- Ebenhard, Torbjörn, et al.
(author)
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Environmental effects of brushwood harvesting for bioenergy
- 2017
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In: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 383, s. 85-98
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sweden aims to increase the proportion of renewable energy sources, ultimately to be able to phase out fossil fuels. To achieve this, new energy sources need to be explored. In this multi-disciplinary article, we examine the technical, economical, ecological and legal possibilities to commercially and sustainably harvest brushwood for bioenergy, while simultaneously gaining positive environmental effects, both for biological diversity, the cultural heritage, and the climate. The Swedish open landscape is becoming covered with secondary brushwood regrowth through natural succession, except where it is kept open. Brushwood is spreading along roads, railway lines, edge zones, in power line corridors, abandoned semi-natural grasslands, nature reserves, and in marginal land in urban areas. Such brushwood consists of saplings, bushes and young trees of a range of deciduous plant species, e.g. birch, aspen, alder and goat willow, sometimes mixed with conifers, often forming dense thickets. Such secondary brushwood regrowth could be systematically utilised as a new source of renewable bioenergy. Commercial brushwood harvesting in Sweden may contribute 26 PJ of energy annually, which may be a small but significant contribution, considering the favourable energy ratio (E-r = 28), indicating that large emission reductions can be achieved, if fossil fuels are replaced. Growing brushwood does not require fertilizers or pesticides, soil tillage or crop management, and it does not compete with any other potential land use. Many brushwood habitats are already being managed to clear brushwood, for other purposes, minimizing the added harvesting cost. Apart from providing bioenergy, it has also been suggested that brushwood harvesting would benefit biological diversity. A large number of nationally redlisted species are dependent on the active management of open habitats, including semi-natural grasslands, and man-made habitats such as road verges and power line corridors. Our literature review shows that brushwood harvesting could benefit both biological diversity and the cultural heritage, and contribute to the management of the open cultural landscape. There are however certain limitations. Brushwood harvesting would favour a certain set of species, including many redlisted, but it may also threaten another set of species, especially species associated with early successional stages of forest regeneration, as well as forest edge species, depending on how and where it is applied. Harvesting may be affected by legislation imposing limitations regarding habitats of particular importance for biodiversity. The environmental and legal constraints would probably reduce the profitability of brushwood harvesting in certain areas, as well as the annual production of bioenergy.
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| 21. |
- Engström, Gunnar, et al.
(author)
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Pulmonary function and atherosclerosis in the general population : causal associations and clinical implications
- 2024
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In: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Nature. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 39:1, s. 35-49
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reduced lung function is associated with cardiovascular mortality, but the relationships with atherosclerosis are unclear. The population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage study measured lung function, emphysema, coronary CT angiography, coronary calcium, carotid plaques and ankle-brachial index in 29,593 men and women aged 50–64 years. The results were confirmed using 2-sample Mendelian randomization. Lower lung function and emphysema were associated with more atherosclerosis, but these relationships were attenuated after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Lung function was not associated with coronary atherosclerosis in 14,524 never-smokers. No potentially causal effect of lung function on atherosclerosis, or vice versa, was found in the 2-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. Here we show that reduced lung function and atherosclerosis are correlated in the population, but probably not causally related. Assessing lung function in addition to conventional cardiovascular risk factors to gauge risk of subclinical atherosclerosis is probably not meaningful, but low lung function found by chance should alert for atherosclerosis.
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| 22. |
- Eriksdotter-Jönhagen, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Encapsulated cell biodelivery of nerve growth factor to the Basal forebrain in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
- 2012
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In: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. - : S. Karger AG. - 1421-9824 .- 1420-8008. ; 33:1, s. 18-28
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain correlates with cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Targeted delivery of exogenous nerve growth factor (NGF) has emerged as a potential AD therapy due to its regenerative effects on the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in AD animal models. Here we report the results of a first-in-man study of encapsulated cell (EC) biodelivery of NGF to the basal forebrain of AD patients with the primary objective to explore safety and tolerability.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Ferreira, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Brain changes in Alzheimer's disease patients with implanted encapsulated cells releasing nerve growth factor
- 2015
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In: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 43, s. 1059-1072
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2015-IOS Press and the authors. New therapies with disease-modifying effects are urgently needed for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nerve growth factor (NGF) protein has demonstrated regenerative and neuroprotective effects on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in animal studies. In addition, AD patients treated with NGF have previously shown improved cognition, EEG activity, nicotinic binding, and glucose metabolism. However, no study to date has analyzed brain atrophy in patients treated with NGF producing cells. In this study we present MRI results of the first clinical trial in patients with AD using encapsulated NGF biodelivery to the basal forebrain. Six AD patients received the treatment during twelve months. Patients were grouped as responders and non-responders according to their twelve-months change in MMSE. Normative values were created from 131 AD patients from ADNI, selecting 36 age-and MMSE-matched patients for interpreting the longitudinal changes in MMSE and brain atrophy. Results at baseline indicated that responders showed better clinical status and less pathological levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ1-42. However, they showed more brain atrophy, and neuronal degeneration as evidenced by higher CSF levels of T-tau and neurofilaments. At follow-up, responders showed less brain shrinkage and better progression in the clinical variables and CSF biomarkers. Noteworthy, two responders showed less brain shrinkage than the normative ADNI group. These results together with previous evidence supports the idea that encapsulated biodelivery of NGF might have the potential to become a new treatment strategy for AD with both symptomatic and disease-modifying effects.
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| 25. |
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