Deep phenotyping and genomic data from a nationally representative study on dementia in India

The Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD) is a nationally representative in-depth study of cognitive aging and dementia. We present a publicly available dataset of harmonized cognitive measures of 4,096 adults 60 years of age and older in India, collected across 18 states and union territories. Blood samples were obtained to carry out whole blood and serum-based assays. Results are included in a venous blood specimen datafile that can be linked to the Harmonized LASI-DAD dataset. A global screening array of 960 LASI-DAD respondents is also publicly available for download, in addition to neuroimaging data on 137 LASI-DAD participants. Altogether, these datasets provide comprehensive information on older adults in India that allow researchers to further understand risk factors associated with cognitive impairment and dementia.Peer reviewe

A Comprehensive Assessment of Associations between Prenatal Phthalate Exposure and the Placental Transcriptomic Landscape.

BACKGROUND: Phthalates are commonly used endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are ubiquitous in the general population. Prenatal phthalate exposure may alter placental physiology and fetal development, leading to adverse perinatal and childhood health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between prenatal phthalate exposure in the second and third trimesters and the placental transcriptome at birth, including genes and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), to gain insight into potential mechanisms of action during fetal development. METHODS: The ECHO PATHWAYs consortium quantified 21 urinary phthalate metabolites from 760 women enrolled in the CANDLE study (Shelby County, TN) using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Placental transcriptomic data were obtained using paired-end RNA sequencing. Linear models were fitted to estimate separate associations between maternal urinary phthalate metabolite concentration during the second and third trimester and placental gene expression at birth, adjusted for confounding variables. Genes were considered differentially expressed at a Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) RESULTS: We observed significant associations between second-trimester phthalate metabolites mono (carboxyisooctyl) phthalate (MCIOP), mono-2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl phthalate, and mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl phthalate and 18 genes in total, including four lncRNAs. Specifically, placental expression of DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide assessment of the relationship between the placental transcriptome at birth and prenatal phthalate exposure in a large and diverse birth cohort. We identified numerous genes and lncRNAs associated with prenatal phthalate exposure. These associations mirror findings from other epidemiological an