Dietary intake and peripheral arterial disease incidence in middle-aged adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a costly source of morbidity and mortality among older persons in the United States. Dietary intake plays a role in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; however, few studies have examined the relation of food intake or dietary patterns with PAD

Factors Related to Differences in Retention among African Americans and White Participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) Prospective Cohort: 1987-2013

Background: Few studies have addressed retention of minorities, particularly African Americans, in longitudinal research. Our aim was to determine whether there was differ­ential retention between African Americans and Whites in the ARIC cohort and identify cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) as­sociated with these retention differences.Methods: 15,688 participants, 27% African American and 73% White, were included from baseline, 1987-1989, and classified as having died, lost or withdrew from study contact, or remained active in study calls through 2013. Life tables were created illustrating retention patterns stratified by race, from baseline through visit 5, 2011- 2013. Prevalence tables stratified by race, participation status, and center were cre­ated to examine CVD risk factors and SES at baseline and visit 5.Results: 54% of African Americans com­pared with 62% of Whites were still in follow-up by 2013. This difference was due to an 8% higher cumulative incidence of death among African Americans. Those who remained in follow-up had the lowest baseline CVD risk factors and better SES, followed by those who were lost/withdrew, then those who died. Whites had lower lev­els of most CVD risk factors and higher SES than African Americans overall at baseline and visit 5; though, the magnitude of visit 5 differences was less.Conclusions: In the ARIC cohort, reten­tion differed among African Americans and Whites, but related more to mortality dif­ferences than dropping-out. Additional re­search is needed to better characterize the factors contributing to minority participants’ recruitment and retention in longitudinal research.Ethn Dis. 2017;27(1):31-38; doi:10.18865/ed.27.1.31.</p

Human TRMT2A methylates tRNA and contributes to translation fidelity

5-Methyluridine (m5U) is one of the most abundant RNA modifications found in cytosolic tRNA. tRNA methyltransferase 2 homolog A (hTRMT2A) is the dedicated mammalian enzyme for m5U formation at tRNA position 54. However, its RNA binding specificity and functional role in the cell are not well understood. Here we dissected structural and sequence requirements for binding and methylation of its RNA targets. Specificity of tRNA modification by hTRMT2A is achieved by a combination of modest binding preference and presence of a uridine in position 54 of tRNAs. Mutational analysis together with cross-linking experiments identified a large hTRMT2A–tRNA binding surface. Furthermore, complementing hTRMT2A interactome studies revealed that hTRMT2A interacts with proteins involved in RNA biogenesis. Finally, we addressed the question of the importance of hTRMT2A function by showing that its knockdown reduces translation fidelity. These findings extend the role of hTRMT2A beyond tRNA modification towards a role in translation

Ideal Cardiovascular Health During Adult Life and Cardiovascular Structure and Function Among the Elderly.

BACKGROUND: A higher American Heart Association cardiovascular health score (CVHS) predicts a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the relationship of CVHS attainment through midlife to late life with CVD prevalence and cardiovascular structure and function in late life is not well described. METHODS AND RESULTS: The following 6 ideal cardiovascular health metrics were assessed in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants at 5 examination visits between 1987 and 2013: nonsmoking, body mass index <25 kg/m(2), untreated total cholesterol <200 mg/dL, untreated blood pressure <120/<80 mm Hg, fasting blood glucose <100 mg/dL, and ideal physical activity. Attainment over time was assessed as the percentage of maximum possible CVHS metrics achieved at visits 1 through 5, the slope of change in CVHS per decade of follow-up, and CVHS trajectory through follow-up. At visit 5, participant groups were characterized with respect to CVD prevalence (n=6520) and echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function (n=5903 free of CVD). CVHS was low at baseline and declined with age. Both greater CVHS attainment and improvement in CVHS during follow-up were associated with a lower prevalence of CVD and better left ventricular structure and systolic and diastolic function at visit 5. CONCLUSIONS: Greater attainment of, and improvements in, ideal cardiovascular health through midlife to late life are associated with lower CVD prevalence and better cardiovascular structure and function when elderly. These findings highlight the importance of consistent primordial and primary prevention efforts throughout midlife to late life as a potential intervention to decrease the burden of CVD among the elderly

The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Study: JACC Focus Seminar 3/8

ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) initiated community-based surveillance in 1987 for myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality and created a prospective cohort of 15,792 Black and White adults ages 45 to 64 years. The primary aims were to improve understanding of the decline in CHD mortality and identify determinants of subclinical atherosclerosis and CHD in Black and White middle-age adults. ARIC has examined areas including health disparities, genomics, heart failure, and prevention, producing more than 2,300 publications. Results have had strong clinical impact and demonstrate the importance of population-based research in the spectrum of biomedical research to improve health

Lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 activity, apolipoprotein C3 loss-of-function variants and cardiovascular disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (LpPLA2) activity was associated with higher CHD risk in a meta-analysis, which was partly dependent on circulating lipid levels. Apolipoprotein C3 loss-of-function (ApoC3 LOF) mutations were related with reduced postprandial lipemia and CHD risk. However, the association of LpPLA2 activity with ApoC3 LOF is not known

Prediction of Incident Heart Failure in General Practice: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

A simple and effective heart failure (HF) risk score would facilitate the primary prevention and early diagnosis of HF in general practice. We examined the external validity of existing HF risk scores, optimized a 10-year HF risk function, and examined the incremental value of several biomarkers, including N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE consortium identifies common variants associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque

Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and plaque determined by ultrasonography are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that each predicts future cardiovascular disease events. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 31,211 participants of European ancestry from nine large studies in the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. We then sought additional evidence to support our findings among 11,273 individuals using data from seven additional studies. In the combined meta-analysis, we identified three genomic regions associated with common carotid intima media thickness and two different regions associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P < 5 × 10 -8). The associated SNPs mapped in or near genes related to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism and blood pressure homeostasis, and two of the regions were associated with coronary artery disease (P < 0.006) in the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium. Our findings may provide new insight into pathways leading to subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events

Cardiac Troponin T Measured by a Highly Sensitive Assay Predicts Coronary Heart Disease, Heart Failure, and Mortality in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

We evaluated whether cardiac troponin T (cTnT) measured with a new highly sensitive assay was associated with incident coronary heart disease (CHD), mortality, and hospitalization for heart failure (HF) in a general population of participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Rationale and Design of a Multicenter Echocardiographic Study to Assess the Relationship Between Cardiac Structure and Function and Heart Failure Risk in a Biracial Cohort of Community-Dwelling Elderly Persons: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Heart failure (HF) is an important public health concern particularly among persons over 65 years of age. Women and African Americans are critically understudied populations that carry a sizeable portion of the HF burden. Limited normative and prognostic data exist regarding measures of cardiac structure, diastolic function, and novel measures of systolic deformation in older adults living in the community