Lower lung function associates with cessation of menstruation: UK Biobank data

Little is known about the effect of cessation of menstruation on lung function. The aims of the study were to examine the association of lung function with natural and surgical cessation of menstruation, and assess whether lower lung function is associated with earlier age at cessation of menstruation. The study was performed in 141,076 women from the UK Biobank, who had provided acceptable and reproducible spirometry measurements and information on menstrual status. The associations of lung function [FVC, FEV1, spirometric restriction (FVC<LLN), airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC<LLN)] with cessation of menstruation and age at cessation of menstruation were assessed using regression analysis. Women who had natural cessation of menstruation showed a lower FVC (-42mL; 95%CI - 53,- 30)and FEV1 (-34mL/s; 95%CI -43,-24) and higher risk of spirometric restriction (adjOR=1.27; 95%CI 1.18-1.37) than women still menstruating. These associations were stronger in women who had had a hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy. The earlier the natural cessation of menstruation, the lower thelung function. There was no clear association of lung function with age at hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy. Airflow obstruction was not associated with cessation of menstruation. Lower lung function associates with cessation of menstruation, especially if it occurs early in life

European Respiratory Society International Congress 2018: four shades of epidemiology and tobacco control

In this article, early career members and experienced members of the Epidemiology and Environment Assembly of the European Respiratory Society highlight and summarise a selection of six sessions from the Society’s annual congress, which in 2018 was held in Paris, France. The topics covered in these sessions span from cutting-edge molecular epidemiology of lung function to clinical, occupational and environmental epidemiology of respiratory disease, and from emergent tobacco products to tobacco control

Variability of the Human Serum Metabolome over 3 Months in the EXPOsOMICS Personal Exposure Monitoring Study.

Liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and untargeted metabolomics are increasingly used in exposome studies to study the interactions between nongenetic factors and the blood metabolome. To reliably and efficiently link detected compounds to exposures and health phenotypes in such studies, it is important to understand the variability in metabolome measures. We assessed the within- and between-subject variability of untargeted LC-HRMS measurements in 298 nonfasting human serum samples collected on two occasions from 157 subjects. Samples were collected ca. 107 (IQR: 34) days apart as part of the multicenter EXPOsOMICS Personal Exposure Monitoring study. In total, 4294 metabolic features were detected, and 184 unique compounds could be identified with high confidence. The median intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) across all metabolic features was 0.51 (IQR: 0.29) and 0.64 (IQR: 0.25) for the 184 uniquely identified compounds. For this group, the median ICC marginally changed (0.63) when we included common confounders (age, sex, and body mass index) in the regression model. When grouping compounds by compound class, the ICC was largest among glycerophospholipids (median ICC 0.70) and steroids (0.67), and lowest for amino acids (0.61) and the O-acylcarnitine class (0.44). ICCs varied substantially within chemical classes. Our results suggest that the metabolome as measured with untargeted LC-HRMS is fairly stable (ICC > 0.5) over 100 days for more than half of the features monitored in our study, to reflect average levels across this time period. Variance across the metabolome will result in differential measurement error across the metabolome, which needs to be considered in the interpretation of metabolome results

SERPINA1 methylation and lung function in tobacco-smoke exposed European children and adults: a meta-analysis of ALEC population-based cohorts

Background The pathophysiological role of SERPINA1 in respiratory health may be more strongly determined by the regulation of its expression than by common genetic variants. A family based study of predominantly smoking adults found methylation at two Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine sites (CpGs) in SERPINA1 gene to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk. The objective of this study was to confirm the association of lung function with SERPINA1 methylation in general population samples by testing a comprehensive set of CpGs in the SERPINA gene cluster. We considered lung function level and decline in adult smokers from three European population-based cohorts and lung function level and growth in tobacco-smoke exposed children from a birth cohort. Methods DNA methylation using Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450 k and EPIC beadchips and lung function were measured at two time points in 1076 SAPALDIA, ECRHS and NFBC adult cohort participants and 259 ALSPAC children. Associations of methylation at 119 CpG sites in the SERPINA gene cluster (PP4R4-SERPINA13P) with lung functions and circulating alpha-1-antitripsin (AAT) were assessed using multivariable cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models. Results Methylation at cg08257009 in the SERPINA gene cluster, located 32 kb downstream of SERPINA1, not annotated to a gene, was associated with FEV1/FVC at the Bonferroni corrected level in adults, but not in children. None of the methylation signals in the SERPINA1 gene showed associations with lung function after correcting for multiple testing. Conclusions The results do not support a role of SERPINA1 gene methylation as determinant of lung function across the life course in the tobacco smoke exposed general population exposed