COVID-19 prevalence and mortality in longer-term care facilities

This essay considers the factors that have contributed to very high COVID-19 mortality in longer-term care facilities (LTCFs). We compare the demographic characteristics of LTCF residents with those of community-dwelling older adults, and then we review the evidence regarding prevalence and infection fatality rates (IFRs), including links to frailty and some comorbidities. Finally, we discuss policy measures that could foster the physical and mental health and well-being of LTCF residents in the present context and in potential future pandemics

A genome-wide association study of the frailty index highlights brain pathways in ageing

Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome and strongly associated with disability, mortality and hospitalization. Frailty is commonly measured using the frailty index (FI), based on the accumulation of a number of health deficits during the life course. The mechanisms underlying FI are multifactorial and not well understood, but a genetic basis has been suggested with heritability estimates between 30 and 45%. Understanding the genetic determinants and biological mechanisms underpinning FI may help to delay or even prevent frailty. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of a frailty index in European descent UK Biobank participants (n = 164,610, 60–70 years) and Swedish TwinGene participants (n = 10,616, 41–87 years). FI calculation was based on 49 or 44 self-reported items on symptoms, disabilities and diagnosed diseases for UK Biobank and TwinGene, respectively. 14 loci were associated with the FI (p < 5*10−8). Many FI-associated loci have established associations with traits such as body mass index, cardiovascular disease, smoking, HLA proteins, depression and neuroticism; however, one appears to be novel. The estimated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability of the FI was 11% (0.11, SE 0.005). In enrichment analysis, genes expressed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus were significantly downregulated (adjusted p < 0.05). We also used Mendelian randomization to identify modifiable traits and exposures that may affect frailty risk, with a higher educational attainment genetic risk score being associated with a lower degree of frailty. Risk of frailty is influenced by many genetic factors, including well-known disease risk factors and mental health, with particular emphasis on pathways in the brain

High Cell-Free DNA Predicts Fatal Outcome among Staphylococcus aureus Bacteraemia Patients with Intensive Care Unit Treatment

Peer reviewe

Plasma Cell-Free DNA Levels Are Elevated in Acute Puumala Hantavirus Infection

Peer reviewe

A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies UGT1A1 as a Regulator of Serum Cell-Free DNA in Young Adults: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Peer reviewe

Obesity accelerates epigenetic aging in middle-aged but not in elderly individuals

Background: Human aging is associated with profound changes in one of the major epigenetic mechanisms, DNA methylation. Some of these changes occur in a clock-like fashion, i.e., correlating with the calendar age of an individual, thus providing a new aging biomarker. Some reports have identified factors associated with the acceleration of the epigenetic age. However, it is also important to analyze the temporal changes in the epigenetic age, i.e., the duration of the observed acceleration, and the effects of the possible therapeutic and lifestyle modifications.Methods: To address this issue, we determined the epigenetic age for a cohort of 183 healthy individuals using blood samples derived from two time points that were 25 years apart (between 15-24 and 40-49 years of age). Additionally, we also determined the epigenetic ages of 119 individuals in a cohort consisting of 90-year-old participants (nonagenarians). These were determined by using the Horvath algorithm based on the methylation level of 353 CpG sites. The data are indicated as the deviation of the epigenetic age from the calendar age (calendar age minus epigenetic age = delta age, Delta AGE). As obesity is often associated with accelerating aging and degenerative phenotypes, the correlation of the body mass index (BMI) with the Delta AGE was analyzed in the following three age groups: young adults, middle-aged, and nonagenarian.Results: The data showed that BMI is associated with decreased Delta AGE, i.e., increased epigenetic age, in middle-aged individuals. This effect is also seen during the 25-year period from early adulthood to middle age, in which an increase in the BMI is significantly associated with a decrease in the Delta AGE. We also analyzed the association between BMI and epigenetic age in young and elderly individuals, but these associations were not significant.Conclusion: Taken together, the main finding on this report suggests that association between increased BMI and accelerated epigenetic aging in the blood cells of middle-aged individuals can be observed, and this effect is also detectable if the BMI has increased in adulthood. The fact that the association between BMI and epigenetic age can only be observed in the middle-aged group does not exclude the possibility that this association could be present throughout the human lifespan; it might just be masked by confounding factors in young adults and nonagenarian individuals

Next-generation insights into regulatory T cells: expression profiling and FoxP3 occupancy in Human

Regulatory T-cells (Treg) play an essential role in the negative regulation of immune answers by developing an attenuated cytokine response that allows suppressing proliferation and effector function of T-cells (CD4+ Th). The transcription factor FoxP3 is responsible for the regulation of many genes involved in the Treg gene signature. Its ablation leads to severe immune deficiencies in human and mice. Recent developments in sequencing technologies have revolutionized the possibilities to gain insights into transcription factor binding by ChiP-seq and into transcriptome analysis by mRNA-seq. We combine FoxP3 ChiP-seq and mRNA-seq in order to understand the transcriptional differences between primary human CD4+ T helper and regulatory T-cells, as well as to study the role of FoxP3 in generating those differences. We show, that mRNA-seq allows analyzing the transcriptomal landscape of T-cells including the expression of specific splice variants at much greater depth than previous approaches, whereas 50% of transcriptional regulation events have not been described before by using diverse array technologies. We discovered splicing patterns like the expression of a kinase-dead isoform of IRAK1 upon T-cell activation. The immunoproteasome is up-regulated in both Treg and CD4+ Th cells upon activation, whereas the ‘standard’ proteasome is up-regulated in Tregs only upon activation

Next-generation insights into regulatory T cells: expression profiling and FoxP3 occupancy in Human

Regulatory T-cells (Treg) play an essential role in the negative regulation of immune answers by developing an attenuated cytokine response that allows suppressing proliferation and effector function of T-cells (CD4+ Th). The transcription factor FoxP3 is responsible for the regulation of many genes involved in the Treg gene signature. Its ablation leads to severe immune deficiencies in human and mice. Recent developments in sequencing technologies have revolutionized the possibilities to gain insights into transcription factor binding by ChiP-seq and into transcriptome analysis by mRNA-seq. We combine FoxP3 ChiP-seq and mRNA-seq in order to understand the transcriptional differences between primary human CD4+ T helper and regulatory T-cells, as well as to study the role of FoxP3 in generating those differences. We show, that mRNA-seq allows analyzing the transcriptomal landscape of T-cells including the expression of specific splice variants at much greater depth than previous approaches, whereas 50% of transcriptional regulation events have not been described before by using diverse array technologies. We discovered splicing patterns like the expression of a kinase-dead isoform of IRAK1 upon T-cell activation. The immunoproteasome is up-regulated in both Treg and CD4+ Th cells upon activation, whereas the ‘standard’ proteasome is up-regulated in Tregs only upon activation

Pentraxin-3 as a Marker of Advanced Atherosclerosis Results from the Bruneck, ARMY and ARFY Studies

PubMed ID: 22319633This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Effect of the rs2259816 polymorphism in the HNF1A gene on circulating levels of c-reactive protein and coronary artery disease (the ludwigshafen risk and cardiovascular health study)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>C-reactive protein is a well established marker of inflammation and has been used to predict future cardiovascular disease. It is still controversial if it plays an active role in the development of cardiovascular disease. Recently, polymorphisms in the gene for HNF1α have been linked to the levels of C-reactive protein and coronary artery disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the association of the rs2259816 polymorphism in the HNF1A gene with the circulating level of C-reactive protein and the hazard of coronary artery disease in the LURIC Study cohort.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to CC homozygotes, the level of C-reactive protein was decreased in carriers of at least one A-allele. Each A-allele decreased CRP by approximately 15%. The odds ratio for coronary artery disease was only very slightly increased in carriers of the A-allele and this association did not reach statistical significance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the LURIC Study cohort the A-allele of rs2259816 is associated with decreased CRP but not with coronary artery disease.</p