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- Albrecht, Eva, et al.
(author)
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Telomere length in circulating leukocytes is associated with lung function and disease
- 2014
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : European Respiratory Society (ERS). - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 43:4, s. 983-992
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several clinical studies suggest the involvement of premature ageing processes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Using an epidemiological approach, we studied whether accelerated ageing indicated by telomere length, a marker of biological age, is associated with COPD and asthma, and whether intrinsic age-related processes contribute to the interindividual variability of lung function. Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 934 COPD cases with 15 846 controls defined according to the Global Lungs Initiative (GLI) criteria (or 1189 COPD cases according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria), 2834 asthma cases with 28 195 controls, and spirometric parameters (forced expiratory volume in is (FEV1), forced vital capacity (PVC) and FEV1/FVC) of 12 595 individuals. Associations with telomere length were tested by linear regression, adjusting for age, sex and smoking status. We observed negative associations between telomere length and asthma (beta= -0.0452, p= 0.024) as well as COPD (beta= -0.0982, p=0.001), with associations being stronger and more significant when using GLI criteria than those of GOLD. In both diseases, effects were stronger in females than males. The investigation of spirometric indices showed positive associations between telomere length and FEV1 (p=1.07 x 10(-7)), FVC (p=2.07 x 10(-5)), and FEV1/FVC (p =5.27 x 10(-3)). The effect was somewhat weaker in apparently healthy subjects than in COPD or asthma patients. Our results provide indirect evidence for the hypothesis that cellular senescence may contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD and asthma, and that lung function may reflect biological ageing primarily due to intrinsic processes, which are likely to be aggravated in lung diseases.
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2. |
- Dick, Katherine J., et al.
(author)
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DNA methylation and body-mass index : a genome-wide analysis
- 2014
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In: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 383:9933, s. 1990-1998
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Obesity is a major health problem that is determined by interactions between lifestyle and environmental and genetic factors. Although associations between several genetic variants and body-mass index (BMI) have been identified, little is known about epigenetic changes related to BMI. We undertook a genome-wide analysis of methylation at CpG sites in relation to BMI. Methods 479 individuals of European origin recruited by the Cardiogenics Consortium formed our discovery cohort. We typed their whole-blood DNA with the Infinium HumanMethylation450 array. After quality control, methylation levels were tested for association with BMI. Methylation sites showing an association with BMI at a false discovery rate q value of 0.05 or less were taken forward for replication in a cohort of 339 unrelated white patients of northern European origin from the MARTHA cohort. Sites that remained significant in this primary replication cohort were tested in a second replication cohort of 1789 white patients of European origin from the KORA cohort. We examined whether methylation levels at identified sites also showed an association with BMI in DNA from adipose tissue (n=635) and skin (n=395) obtained from white female individuals participating in the MuTHER study. Finally, we examined the association of methylation at BMI-associated sites with genetic variants and with gene expression. Findings 20 individuals from the discovery cohort were excluded from analyses after quality-control checks, leaving 459 participants. After adjustment for covariates, we identified an association (q value <= 0.05) between methylation at five probes across three different genes and BMI. The associations with three of these probes-cg22891070, cg27146050, and cg16672562, all of which are in intron 1 of HIF3A-were confirmed in both the primary and second replication cohorts. For every 0.1 increase in methylation beta value at cg22891070, BMI was 3.6% (95% CI 2.4-4.9) higher in the discovery cohort, 2.7% (1.2-4.2) higher in the primary replication cohort, and 0.8% (0.2-1.4) higher in the second replication cohort. For the MuTHER cohort, methylation at cg22891070 was associated with BMI in adipose tissue (p=1.72 x 10(-5)) but not in skin (p=0.882). We observed a significant inverse correlation (p=0.005) between methylation at cg22891070 and expression of one HIF3A gene-expression probe in adipose tissue. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms-rs8102595 and rs3826795-had independent associations with methylation at cg22891070 in all cohorts. However, these single nucleotide polymorphisms were not significantly associated with BMI. Interpretation Increased BMI in adults of European origin is associated with increased methylation at the HIF3A locus in blood cells and in adipose tissue. Our findings suggest that perturbation of hypoxia inducible transcription factor pathways could have an important role in the response to increased weight in people.
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3. |
- Koettgen, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide association analyses identify 18 new loci associated with serum urate concentrations
- 2013
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:2, s. 145-154
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Elevated serum urate concentrations can cause gout, a prevalent and painful inflammatory arthritis. By combining data from >140,000 individuals of European ancestry within the Global Urate Genetics Consortium (GUGC), we identified and replicated 28 genome-wide significant loci in association with serum urate concentrations (18 new regions in or near TRIM46, INHBB, SEMBT1, TMEM171, VEGFA, BAZ1B, PRKAG2, STC1, HNF4G, A1CF, ATXN2, UBE2Q2, IGF1R, NFAT5, MAF, HLF, ACVR1B-ACVRL1 and B3GNT4). Associations for many of the loci were of similar magnitude in individuals of non-European ancestry. We further characterized these loci for associations with gout, transcript expression and the fractional excretion of urate. Network analyses implicate the inhibins-activins signaling pathways and glucose metabolism in systemic urate control. New candidate genes for serum urate concentration highlight the importance of metabolic control of urate production and excretion, which may have implications for the treatment and prevention of gout.
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4. |
- Wichmann, H-Erich, et al.
(author)
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Comprehensive catalog of European biobanks
- 2011
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In: Nature Biotechnology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1087-0156 .- 1546-1696. ; 29:9, s. 795-797
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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