Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

A prospective study of the immune system activation biomarker neopterin and colorectal cancer risk

Background: Neopterin may be relevant for colorectal cancer (CRC) development, as a biomarker of cellular immune activity exerting pleiotropic effects on cellular ageing, oxidative stress, and inflammation. So far, the association between prediagnostic neopterin and colon and rectal cancer risk has not been evaluated in human populations. Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort using data on plasma concentrations of total neopterin (T-N, sum of neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin) in 830 incident CRC case patients (561 colon and 269 rectal) matched within risk sets to 830 control participants. A subsequent replication study used data from the Hordaland Health Study, where 173 CRC case patients have been diagnosed among 6594 healthy participants over 12 years of follow-up. Results: After multivariable adjustment for a priori chosen CRC risk factors, a "U-shaped" association of T-N with CRC was revealed. Compared with the second quintile of the T-N distribution, the relative risks for the first, third, fourth, and fifth quintiles were 2.37 (95% CI = 1.66 to 3.39), 1.24 (95% CI = 0.87 to 1.77), 1.55 (95% CI = 1.08 to 2.22), and 2.31 (95% CI = 1.63 to 3.27), respectively. Replication of these associations within the Hordaland Health Study yielded similar results. No differences have been observed when the associations were explored by colon and rectal cancer site (two-sided P difference =. 87) and after excluding case patients diagnosed within the first four follow-up years. Conclusions: These novel findings provide evidence of the role of both suppressed and activated cell-mediated immunity as reflected by prediagnostic T-N concentrations in the development of CRC. © 2015 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved