Sex-Specific Association of the Putative Fructose Transporter SLC2A9 Variants With Uric Acid Levels Is Modified by BMI

OBJECTIVE—High serum uric acid levels lead to gout and have been reported to be associated with an increased risk of hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Recently, the putative fructose transporter SLC2A9 was reported to influence uric acid levels. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of four single nucleotide polymorphisms within this gene with uric acid levels and to determine whether this association is modified by obesity

Effects of traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder on Alzheimer's disease in veterans, using the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Both traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common problems resulting from military service, and both have been associated with increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia resulting from Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other causes. This study aims to use imaging techniques and biomarker analysis to determine whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or PTSD resulting from combat or other traumas increase the risk for AD and decrease cognitive reserve in Veteran subjects, after accounting for age. Using military and Department of Veterans Affairs records, 65 Vietnam War veterans with a history of moderate or severe TBI with or without PTSD, 65 with ongoing PTSD without TBI, and 65 control subjects are being enrolled in this study at 19 sites. The study aims to select subject groups that are comparable in age, gender, ethnicity, and education. Subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia are being excluded. However, a new study just beginning, and similar in size, will study subjects with TBI, subjects with PTSD, and control subjects with MCI. Baseline measurements of cognition, function, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers; magnetic resonance images (structural, diffusion tensor, and resting state blood-level oxygen dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging); and amyloid positron emission tomographic (PET) images with florbetapir are being obtained. One-year follow-up measurements will be collected for most of the baseline procedures, with the exception of the lumbar puncture, the PET imaging, and apolipoprotein E genotyping. To date, 19 subjects with TBI only, 46 with PTSD only, and 15 with TBI and PTSD have been recruited and referred to 13 clinics to undergo the study protocol. It is expected that cohorts will be fully recruited by October 2014. This study is a first step toward the design and statistical powering of an AD prevention trial using at-risk veterans as subjects, and provides the basis for a larger, more comprehensive study of dementia risk factors in veterans

Obesity, physical activity, and the urban environment: public health research needs

Persistent trends in overweight and obesity have resulted in a rapid research effort focused on built environment, physical activity, and overweight. Much of the focus of this research has been on the design and form of suburbs. It suggests that several features of the suburban built environment such as low densities, poor street connectivity and the lack of sidewalks are associated with decreased physical activity and an increased risk of being overweight. But compared to suburban residents, inner city populations have higher rates of obesity and inactivity despite living in neighborhoods that are dense, have excellent street connectivity and who's streets are almost universally lined with sidewalks. We suggest that the reasons for this apparent paradox are rooted in the complex interaction of land use, infrastructure and social factors affecting inner city populations. Sometimes seemingly similar features are the result of very different processes, necessitating different policy responses to meet these challenges. For example, in suburbs, lower densities can result from government decision making that leads to restrictive zoning and land use issues. In the inner city, densities may be lowered because of abandonment and disinvestment. In the suburbs, changes in land use regulations could result in a healthier built environment. In inner cities, increasing densities will depend on reversing economic trends and investment decisions that have systematically resulted in distressed housing, abandoned buildings and vacant lots. These varying issues need to be further studied in the context of the totality of urban environments, incorporating what has been learned from other disciplines, such as economics and sociology, as well as highlighting some of the more successful inner city policy interventions, which may provide examples for communities working to improve their health. Certain disparities among urban and suburban populations in obesity and overweight, physical activity and research focus have emerged that are timely to address. Comparable research on the relationship of built environment and health is needed for urban, especially inner city, neighborhoods

Changes over time in the effect of marital status on cancer survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of all-cause and cause-specific mortality are higher among unmarried than married individuals. Cancer survival is also poorer in the unmarried population. Recently, some studies have found that the excess all-cause mortality of the unmarried has increased over time, and the same pattern has been shown for some specific causes of death. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there has been a similar change over time in marital status differences in cancer survival.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Discrete-time hazard regression models for cancer deaths among more than 440 000 women and men diagnosed with cancer 1970-2007 at age 30-89 were estimated, using register data encompassing the entire Norwegian population. More than 200 000 cancer deaths during over 2 million person-years of exposure were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased steadily for men, in particular the elderly. Among elderly women, the excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased, and there are indications of an increasing excess mortality of the widowed. The excess mortality of divorced men and women, however, has been stable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is no obvious explanation for the increasing disadvantage among the never-married. It could be due to a relatively poorer general health at time of diagnosis, either because of a more protective effect of partnership in a society that may have become less cohesive or because of more positive selection into marriage. Alternatively, it could be related to increasing differentials with respect to treatment. Today's complex cancer therapy regimens may be more difficult for never-married to follow, and health care interventions directed and adapted more specifically to the broad subgroup of never-married patients might be warranted.</p

Potential of Host Markers Produced by Infection Phase-Dependent Antigen-Stimulated Cells for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in a Highly Endemic Area

CITATION: Chegou, N. N. et al. 2012. Potential of host markers produced by infection phase-dependent antigen-stimulated cells for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in a highly endemic area. PLoS ONE, 7(6): e38501, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038501.The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosoneBackground: Recent interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-based studies have identified novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection phase-dependent antigens as diagnostic candidates. In this study, the levels of 11 host markers other than IFN-γ, were evaluated in whole blood culture supernatants after stimulation with M.tb infection phase-dependent antigens, for the diagnosis of TB disease. Methodology and Principal Findings: Five M.tb infection phase-dependent antigens, comprising of three DosR-regulon-encoded proteins (Rv2032, Rv0081, Rv1737c), and two resucitation promoting factors (Rv0867c and Rv2389c), were evaluated in a case-control study with 15 pulmonary TB patients and 15 household contacts that were recruited from a high TB incidence setting in Cape Town, South Africa. After a 7-day whole blood culture, supernatants were harvested and the levels of the host markers evaluated using the Luminex platform. Multiple antigen-specific host markers were identified with promising diagnostic potential. Rv0081-specific levels of IL-12(p40), IP-10, IL-10 and TNF-α were the most promising diagnostic candidates, each ascertaining TB disease with an accuracy of 100%, 95% confidence interval for the area under the receiver operating characteristics plots, (1.0 to 1.0). Conclusions: Multiple cytokines other than IFN-γ in whole blood culture supernatants after stimulation with M.tb infection phase-dependent antigens show promise as diagnostic markers for active TB. These preliminary findings should be verified in well-designed diagnostic studies employing short-term culture assays. © 2012 Chegou et al.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038501Publisher's versio