Epidemiology Commons^™

Analisis Situasi Masalah Penyakit Infeksi Menular Seksual Di Kota Bogor Tahun 2024, Wardiman Wardiman, Ratna Djuwita, Bai Kusnadi

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Abstrak

Infeksi menular seksual (IMS) masih menjadi tantangan kesehatan global, termasuk di Indonesia, terutama pada kelompok usia produktif 15-49 tahun. Di Kota Bogor, angka kasus IMS mengalami peningkatan, namum belum sepenuhnya menggambarkan kondisi yang sebenarnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis situasi IMS secara mendalam dan menetapkan prioritas masalah kesehatan menggunakan metode PAHO-adapted Hanlon, yang mengacu pada pembobotan Basic Priority Rating (BPR) berdasarkan lima kriteria utama, yaitu, A=Masalah utama; B=Keseriusan masalah; C=Efektivitas intervensi; E=Ketidakadilan; F=Kapasitas institusi dalam mengatasi masalah. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di Dinas kesehatan Kota Bogor pada Oktober 2024 hingga Januari 2025, dengan pendekatan kualitatif dan kuantitatif, serta disajikan secara …

Longitudinal Host Transcriptional Responses To Sars-Cov-2 Infection In Adults With Extremely High Viral Load, Vasanthi Avadhanula, Chad J Creighton, Laura Ferlic-Stark, Divya Nagaraj, Yiqun Zhang, Richard Sucgang, Erin G Nicholson, Anubama Rajan, Vipin Kumar Menon, Harshavardhan Doddapaneni, Donna Marie Muzny, Ginger A Metcalf, Sara Joan Javornik Cregeen, Kristi Louise Hoffman, Richard A Gibbs, Joseph F Petrosino, Pedro A Piedra

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Current understanding of viral dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and host responses driving the pathogenic mechanisms in COVID-19 is rapidly evolving. Here, we conducted a longitudinal study to investigate gene expression patterns during acute SARS-CoV-2 illness. Cases included SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals with extremely high viral loads early in their illness, individuals having low SARS-CoV-2 viral loads early in their infection, and individuals testing negative for SARS-CoV-2. We could identify widespread transcriptional host responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection that were initially most strongly manifested in patients with extremely high initial viral loads, then attenuating within the patient over time as viral loads decreased. Genes …

Circulating Tumor Hpv Dna, Antibodies To Hpv16 Early Proteins, And Oral Hpv16 Dna As Biomarkers For Hpv-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer Screening, Kristina R Dahlstrom, Andrew T Day, Victor M Alvarez, Samantha R Chirinos, Giselle Santillana, Ming Guo, Karen S Anderson, Erich M Sturgis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Oropharyngeal cancer rates continue to rise with no effective screening method. Persistent oral oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV), antibodies to HPV16 early (E) oncoproteins, and circulating tumor HPV DNA (ctHPVDNA) are biomarkers that show promise for use in HPV-related cancer screening.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of biomarkers for HPV-related cancer and their agreement in middle-aged men.

Methods: Men aged 50–64 years from the general population provided oral rinse and blood samples as well as information about demographics, tobacco/alcohol exposure, sexual behavior, and HPV-related disease history. Oral rinse was tested for HPV16 DNA and plasma was tested for HPV16 E …

Faktor Determinan Kasus Diabetes Mellitus Tipe 2 Di Kabupaten Administrasi Kepulauan Seribu Provinsi Dki Jakarta Tahun 2023, Ulinuha Setya Darmawanti

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Kepulauan Seribu Administrative District has the highest Diabetes Mellitus Incidence Rate compared to other areas in the DKI Jakarta Province, which is 317.4 per 10,000 residents. The purpose of this research is to identify the determinant factors that most influence cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in the Kepulauan Seribu in 2023, based on the relationship between factors such as Age, Gender, Occupation, History of Diabetes Mellitus, Body Mass Index (BMI), Excessive Sugar Consumption, Excessive Salt Consumption, Excessive Fat Consumption, Insufficient Fruit and Vegetable Intake, and Lack of Physical Activity. This research employs an analytical observational study method with a …

The Impact Of Smoking Degree On One Year Survival Of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Nsclc) At Persahabatan Hospital, Arief Wicaksono, Asri C. Adisasmita, Andika Chandra Putra

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Lung cancer is a major global mortality problem with the worst prognosis compared to other types of cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and smoking is one of the main factors causing lung cancer. This study aims to determine the one-year survival of NSCLC patients with smoking levels and to determine what factors affect survival. This study is an observational study with a retrospective method, looking at medical record data of NSCLC patients both inpatients and outpatients at Persahabatan Hospital between January 2023 and December 2023 and then followed up until September …

The Correlation Of Covid-19 Vaccination With Covid-19 Patient Mortality In Depok City, Indonesia, Dian Nugrahari, Asri Adisasmita Prof, Nurhanifah Hamdah

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Vaccination is a disease prevention method recommended by the WHO as it will reduce disease severity, mortality rate and risks. The objective of this study is to discover the impact of COVID-19 vaccination against COVID-19 mortality rate in Indonesia. This was a retrospective cohort research on the data from the NAR COVID-19 database and the KPCPEN COVID-19 Dashboard of the Depok City Health Department from May 2020-February 2023. We performed a Cox proportional hazard analysis to obtain the risk for death. We discovered that COVID-19 vaccination reduced the mortality until it was less than 10% of unvaccinated population (0,24% for …

Factors Affecting The Adoption Of Malaria Interventions For Pregnant Women In Tanzania: Tanzania Demographic Health Survey 2022, Melisa Nyamukondiwa, Asri C. Adisasmita, Renti Mahkota, Same Betera

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Tanzania is endemic to malaria and pregnant women due to their vulnerability are among the high-risk groups. The adoption of malaria interventions targeted to pregnant women is affected by a number of factors. A cross-sectional study using secondary data from Tanzania Demographic Health Survey (TDHS) for 2022 was used. A logistic regression was used for bivariate analysis to identify factors affecting the adoption of malaria interventions during pregnancy in Tanzania. Data from pregnant women between 15 to 49 years (N=1408) were analyzed in this study. Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) were the …

Asosiasi Antara Indeks Massa Tubuh Dan Mortalitas Pada Pasien Gagal Ginjal Kronis Yang Menjalankan Hemodialisa Reguler: Meta-Analisis Dari Studi Kohort, Joue Abraham Trixie Latupeirissa, Mondastri Korib Sudaryo, Dorothy Gabriella Ms., Benedikta Suryandari Ms., Vine Aprilianita Sri Indah Putri Ms.

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Chronic kidney failure patients must undergo hemodialysis for life, therefore it is important to maximize hemodialysis services in every health facility. Accordingly, factors related to survival rates must be addressed. One of them is low Body Mass Index (BMI). This study assessed the relationship between low BMI and mortality in the patients. The study design used was meta-analysis. The articles involved were in the period 2012 - 2024. There are three literature sources: medical databases, previous studies, and ongoing research. Overall, 26 articles were obtained. Data analysis showed that BMI

Hubungan Gangguan Mental Emosional Dan Obesitas Sentral: Literature Review, Dwi Rahmawati, Ratna Djuwita

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

The prevalence of central obesity, both globally and in Indonesia, continues to increase. Mental and emotional disorders are one of the contributing factors to central obesity. In previous studies, it was known that the relationship between emotional mental disorders and obesity can occur in bidirections, where emotional mental disorders can cause central obesity or vice versa. This literature review aims to find out more about the relationship between emotional mental disorders and central obesity from various countries. The searching for articles used 4 databases (Scopus, Science Direct, Proquest, and Pubmed) with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis …

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Cutaneous Adverse Events: Mechanisms Of Occurrence, Abdulaziz M. Eshaq, Thomas W. Flanagan, Abdulqader A. Ba Abbad, Zain Alabden A. Makarem, Mohammed S. Bokir, Ahmed K. Alasheq, Sara A. Al Asheikh, Abdullah M. Almashhor, Faroq Binyamani, Waleed A. Al-Amoudi, Abdulaziz S. Bawzir, Youssef Haikel, Mossad Megahed, Mohamed Hassan

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Immunotherapy, particularly that based on blocking checkpoint proteins in many tumors, including melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple-negative breast (TNB cancer), renal cancer, and gastrointestinal and endometrial neoplasms, is a therapeutic alternative to chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based therapies have the potential to target different pathways leading to the destruction of cancer cells. Although ICIs are an effective treatment strategy for patients with highly immune-infiltrated cancers, the development of different adverse effects including cutaneous adverse effects during and after the treatment with ICIs is common. ICI-associated cutaneous adverse effects include mostly inflammatory and bullous dermatoses, as …

Global Prevalence Of Helicobacter Pylori Antibiotic Resistance Among Children In The World Health Organization Regions Between 2000 And 2023: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Aryan Salahi-Niri, Ali Nabavi-Rad, Tanya Marie Monaghan, Theodore Rokkas, Michael Doulberis, Amir Sadeghi, Mohammad Reza Zali, Yoshio Yamaoka, Evelina Tacconelli, Abbas Yadegar

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. The infection is typically acquired in childhood and persists throughout life. The major impediment to successful therapy is antibiotic resistance. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively assess the global prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pediatric H. pylori infection.

Methods: We performed a systematic search of publication databases that assessed H. pylori resistance rates to clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, and tetracycline in children. The WHO region classification was used to group pooled primary and secondary resistance estimates along with 95% confidence interval (CI). H. pylori antibiotic resistance rates …

Relative Survival, Conditional Survival, And Causes Of Death In Patients With Early Gastric Cancer, With A Focus On Differences Between Cardia And Non-Cardia Cancer, Anas Elgenidy, Omar Alomari, Mohamed Marey Hesn, Anas Khaled, Sarah A Nada, Mostafa Elsayed, Ali Mahmoud, Mohammed Al-Mahdi Al-Kurdi, Ahmed M Afifi, George Cholankeril

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Many researchers believe that cardia (CGC) and non-cardia (NCGC) are two different types of tumors, having different features like incidence rate, risk factors, geographical location, and socioeconomic status. This study aims to investigate the causes of death (COD) survival rates among early gastric cancer patients with a focus on differences between CGC and NCGC.

Methods: This retrospective study employed SEER*stat software (version 8.3.92) to analyze the SEER 17 plus dataset (2000–2019). Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were computed. Relative survival and conditional survival post-diagnosis were calculated using R software (version 4.1.0) among the different subgroups.

Results: Within the follow-up period, …

Spatial Dynamics Of Culex Quinquefasciatus Abundance: Geostatistical Insights From Harris County, Texas, Morgan Jibowu, Melissa S Nolan, Ryan Ramphul, Heather T Essigmann, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Eric L Brown, Maximea Vigilant, Sarah M Gunter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant public health threat, prompting the need to pinpoint high-risk areas for targeted interventions and environmental control measures. Culex quinquefasciatus is the primary vector for several mosquito-borne pathogens, including West Nile virus. Using spatial analysis and modeling techniques, we investigated the geospatial distribution of Culex quinquefasciatus abundance in the large metropolis of Harris County, Texas, from 2020 to 2022. Our geospatial analysis revealed clusters of high mosquito abundance, predominantly located in central Houston and the north-northwestern regions of Harris County, with lower mosquito abundance observed in the western and southeastern areas. We identified persistent high mosquito …

Review Of The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, And Treatment Of Naegleria Fowleri-Induced Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis, Terrance Zhang

MCB Articles

Naegleria fowleri is a thermophilic, ubiquitous, free-living amoeba, but is also known as the “brain-eating” amoeba. This is the etiological agent of a rare and fulminant waterborne disease known as Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) that is acutely fatal in 90-99% of reported cases. Those who come into contact with infested waters are at risk of introducing the amoeba into their upper nasal canal, whence the trophozoite form is known to migrate along the olfactory nerve, through the cribriform plate, and enter the central nervous system. Although the exact pathogenesis of N. fowleri is not known, studies have demonstrated contact-dependent and …

Reflections From The Pandemic: Is Connectivism The Panacea For Clinicians?, Jennifer Benjamin, Tyson Pillow, Heather Macneill, Ken Masters, Anoop Agrawal, Neil Mehta

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent increased interest in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) highlight the need for interprofessional communities' collaboration to find solutions to complex problems. A personal narrative experience of one of the authors compels us to reflect on current approaches to learning and knowledge acquisition and use solutions to the challenges posed by GenAI through social learning contexts using connectivism. We recognize the need for constructivism and experiential learning for knowledge acquisition to establish foundational understanding. We explore how connectivist approaches can enhance traditional constructivist paradigms amid rapidly changing learning environments and online communities. Learning in connectivism includes …

Understanding Patients’ Experiences During Transitions From One Electronic Health Record To Another: A Scoping Review, Alison M Cogan, Trenton M Haltom, Stephanie L Shimada, Jessica A Davila, Bryan P Mcginn, Gemmae M Fix

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Identify existing research on impacts of transitions between electronic health record (EHR) systems on patients' healthcare experiences.

Methods: Scoping review. We searched MedLine, OVID, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases for articles on patient experiences with EHR-to-EHR transitions.

Results: Three studies met inclusion criteria. All three used validated surveys to compare patient satisfaction with care pre- and post-transition. The surveys did not include specific questions about the EHR transition; one study focused on patient perceptions of provider computer use. Satisfaction levels initially decreased following EHR implementation, then returned to baseline between six and 15 months later in two of three …

A Proteome-Wide Association Study Identifies Putative Causal Proteins For Breast Cancer Risk, Tianying Zhao, Shuai Xu, Jie Ping, Guochong Jia, Yongchao Dou, Jill E Henry, Bing Zhang, Xingyi Guo, Michele L Cote, Qiuyin Cai, Xiao-Ou Shu, Wei Zheng, Jirong Long

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 breast cancer risk-associated genetic loci, yet the causal genes and biological mechanisms for most loci remain elusive. Proteins, as final gene products, are pivotal in cellular function. In this study, we conducted a proteome-wide association study (PWAS) to identify proteins in breast tissue related to breast cancer risk.

METHODS: We profiled the proteome in fresh frozen breast tissue samples from 120 cancer-free European-ancestry women from the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank (KTB). Protein expression levels were log2-transformed then normalized via quantile and inverse-rank transformations. GWAS data were also generated for …

Immunopeptidomic Mhc-I Profiling And Immunogenicity Testing Identifies Tcj2 As A New Chagas Disease Mrna Vaccine Candidate, Leroy Versteeg, Rakesh Adhikari, Gonteria Robinson, Jungsoon Lee, Junfei Wei, Nelufa Islam, Brian Keegan, William K Russell, Cristina Poveda, Maria Jose Villar, Kathryn Jones, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Peter Hotez, Edwin Tijhaar, Jeroen Pollet

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease. Globally 6 to 7 million people are infected by this parasite of which 20-30% will progress to develop Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy (CCC). Despite its high disease burden, no clinically approved vaccine exists for the prevention or treatment of CCC. Developing vaccines that can stimulate T. cruzi-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and eliminate infected cells requires targeting parasitic antigens presented on major histocompatibility complex-I (MHC-I) molecules. We utilized mass spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics to investigate which parasitic peptides are displayed on MHC-I of T. cruzi infected cells. Through duplicate experiments, we identified an …

Genomic Insights For Personalised Care In Lung Cancer And Smoking Cessation: Motivating At-Risk Individuals Toward Evidence-Based Health Practices, Tony Chen, Giang Pham, Louis Fox, Nina Adler, Xiaoyu Wang, Jingning Zhang, Jinyoung Byun, Younghun Han, Gretchen R B Saunders, Dajiang Liu, Michael J Bray, Alex T Ramsey, James Mckay, Laura J Bierut, Christopher I Amos, Rayjean J Hung, Xihong Lin, Haoyu Zhang, Li-Shiun Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer and tobacco use pose significant global health challenges, necessitating a comprehensive translational roadmap for improved prevention strategies such as cancer screening and tobacco treatment, which are currently under-utilised. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) may further motivate health behaviour change in primary care for lung cancer in diverse populations. In this work, we introduce the GREAT care paradigm, which integrates PRSs within comprehensive patient risk profiles to motivate positive health behaviour changes.

METHODS: We developed PRSs using large-scale multi-ancestry genome-wide association studies and standardised PRS distributions across all ancestries. We validated our PRSs in 561,776 individuals of diverse ancestry …

Estimating The Number Of Polygenic Diseases Among Six Mutually Exclusive Entities Of Non-Tumors And Cancer, C I Edvard Smith, Jan A Burger, Rula Zain

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In the era of precision medicine with increasing amounts of sequenced cancer and non-cancer genomes of different ancestries, we here enumerate the resulting polygenic disease entities. Based on the cell number status, we first identified six fundamental types of polygenic illnesses, five of which are non-cancerous. Like complex, non-tumor disorders, neoplasms normally carry alterations in multiple genes, including in 'Drivers' and 'Passengers'. However, tumors also lack certain genetic alterations/epigenetic changes, recently named 'Goners', which are toxic for the neoplasm and potentially constitute therapeutic targets. Drivers are considered essential for malignant transformation, whereas environmental influences vary considerably among both types of …

The Effect Of Smoking On Occurrence Of Parotid Gland Tumors In Nineveh: Case-Control Study, Moayad Aziz Alabdaly, Shahbaa Al Bayati, Taha Hassan Taha

BioMed Visions Journal

Background: The parotid gland is the most common site of salivary gland tumors, the majority of these tumors are not malignant, Warthin tumors are the second most common type of cancer after pleomorphic adenomas. At present, tobacco is not classified as carcinogenic for the salivary gland due to inadequate research on the association between smoking and salivary gland tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the connection between smoking and parotid gland tumors (PTG) in a state-scale study.

Materials and Methods: A group of (438) population-based controls that are individually matched and 200 incident PGT patients who were …

Residential Proximity To Oil And Gas Developments And Childhood Cancer Survival, Thanh T Hoang, Rutu A Rathod, Omar Rosales, Maria I Castellanos, Jeremy M Schraw, Elyse Burgess, Erin C Peckham-Gregory, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Michael E Scheurer, Amy E Hughes, Philip J Lupo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Environmental toxicants may impact survival in children with cancer, but the literature investigating these associations remains limited. Because oil and gas developments emit several hazardous air pollutants, the authors evaluated the relationship between residential proximity to oil or gas development and survival across 21 different pediatric cancers.

Methods: The Texas Cancer Registry had 29,730 children (≤19 years old) diagnosed with a primary cancer between 1995 to 2017. Geocoded data were available for 285,266 active oil or gas wells and 109,965 horizontal wells. The authors calculated whether each case lived within 1000 m (yes/no) from each type of oil or …

A Phase 1 Study Of Abi-009 (Nab-Sirolimus) In Combination With Temozolomide And Irinotecan In Pediatric Patients With Recurrent Or Refractory Solid Tumors, Including Cns Tumors-A Children's Oncology Group Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trial Network Study Advl1514, Stuart L Cramer, Alyssa Terry Reddy, Charles Gene Minard, Stephan Voss, Elizabeth Fox, Xiaowei Liu, Kristina Denic, Joel M Reid, Brenda J Weigel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Nab-sirolimus (ABI-009, nab-rapamycin; Aadi Bioscience Inc. [Aadi]) is a human albumin-bound form of sirolimus nanoparticles, a potent mTOR inhibitor. This phase I trial was conducted to define dose-limiting toxicities (DLT), maximum tolerated or recommended phase II dose (MTD/RP2D), and pharmacokinetics of Nab-sirolimus in combination with temozolomide and irinotecan.

METHODS: Using a rolling 6 design, Nab-sirolimus was administered intravenously (IV) on days (D) 1 and 8 of cycle (C) 1. In subsequent cycles, Nab-sirolimus was administered D1 and D8 in combination with temozolomide (125 mg/m

RESULTS: Thirty-three patients were enrolled, 32 were eligible. Dose determination included 17 evaluable patients, median …

Prognostic Stratification In Dlbcl Patients With Aberrant Myc Gene, Jian-Rong Li, Vikram R Shaw, Abi Parthasarathy, Yong Li, Christopher I Amos, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by a subset of patients who exhibit treatment resistance and poor prognoses. Genomic assays have been widely employed to identify high-risk individuals characterized by rearrangements in the MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 genes. These patients typically undergo more aggressive therapeutic treatments; however, there remains a significant variation in their treatment outcomes. This study introduces an MYC signature score (MYCSS) derived from gene expression profiles, specifically designed to evaluate MYC overactivation in DLBCL patients. MYCSS was validated across several independent cohorts to assess its ability to stratify patients based on MYC-related genetic …

Identifying High-Risk Multiple Myeloma Patients: A Novel Approach Using A Clonal Gene Signature, Jian-Rong Li, Christiana Wang, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disease with a small subset of high-risk patients having poor prognoses. Identifying these patients is crucial for treatment management and strategic decisions. In this study, we developed a novel computational framework to define prognostic gene signatures by selecting genes with expression driven by clonal copy number alterations. We applied this framework to MM and developed a clonal gene signature (CGS) consisting of 22 genes and evaluated in five independent datasets. The CGS provided significant prognostic values after adjusting for well-established factors including cytogenetic abnormalities, International Staging System (ISS), and Revised ISS (R-ISS). Importantly, CGS …

A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Genetic Determinants Of Hemoglobin Glycation Index With Implications Across Sex And Ethnicity, John S. House, Joseph H. Breeyear, Farida S. Akhtari, Violet Evans, John B. Buse, James Hempe, Alessandro Doria, Josyf C. Mychaleckyi, Vivian Fonseca, Mengyao Shi, Changwei Li, Shuqian Liu, Tanika N. Kelly, Daniel Rotroff, Alison A. Motsinger-Reif

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: We investigated the genetic determinants of variation in the hemoglobin glycation index (HGI), an emerging biomarker for the risk of diabetes complications. Methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for HGI in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial (N = 7,913) using linear regression and additive genotype encoding on variants with minor allele frequency greater than 3%. We conducted replication analyses of top findings in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study with inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis. We followed up with stratified GWAS analyses by sex and self-reported race. Results: In ACCORD, we identified single …

Aromatase, Testosterone, Tmprss2: Determinants Of Covid-19 Severity, Eric C Mohan, Jude P J Savarraj, Gabriela D Colpo, Diego Morales, Carson E Finger, Alexis Mcalister, Hilda Ahnstedt, Huimahn Choi, Louise D Mccullough, Bharti Manwani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Male sex has been identified as a risk factor for worse COVID-19 outcomes. This sex difference has been mostly attributed to the complex role of sex hormones. Cell surface entry of SARS-CoV-2 is mediated by the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) which is under transcriptional regulation by androgens. P450 aromatase enzyme converts androgens to estrogens. This study measured concentrations of aromatase enzyme, testosterone, estradiol, and TMPRSS-2 in plasma of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to elucidate the dynamics of sex-linked disparity in COVID-19 and correlate them with disease severity and mortality.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, a total of 265 …

Micrornas Are Enriched At Covid-19 Genomic Risk Regions, And Their Blood Levels Correlate With The Covid-19 Prognosis Of Cancer Patients Infected By Sars-Cov-2, Simone Anfossi, Faezeh Darbaniyan, Joseph Quinlan, Steliana Calin, Masayoshi Shimizu, Meng Chen, Paola Rausseo, Michael Winters, Elena Bogatenkova, Kim-Anh Do, Ivan Martinez, Ziyi Li, Loredana Antal, Tudor Rares Olariu, Ignacio Wistuba, George A Calin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Cancer patients are more susceptible to an aggressive course of COVID-19. Developing biomarkers identifying cancer patients at high risk of COVID-19-related death could help determine who needs early clinical intervention. The miRNAs hosted in the genomic regions associated with the risk of aggressive COVID-19 could represent potential biomarkers for clinical outcomes.

Patients and methods: Plasma samples were collected at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from cancer patients (N = 128) affected by COVID-19. Serum samples were collected from vaccinated healthy individuals (n = 23) at the Municipal Clinical Emergency Teaching Hospital in Timisoara, Romania. An in …

Sex Hormones And Risk Of Lung And Colorectal Cancers In Women: A Mendelian Randomization Study, Marion Denos, Yi-Qian Sun, Ben Michael Brumpton, Yafang Li, Demetrius Albanes, Andrea Burnett-Hartman, Peter T Campbell, Sébastien Küry, Christopher I Li, Emily White, Jewel N Samadder, Mark A Jenkins, Xiao-Mei Mai

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The roles of sex hormones such as estradiol, testosterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in the etiology of lung and colorectal cancers in women, among the most common cancers after breast cancer, are unclear. This Mendelian randomization (MR) study evaluated such potential causal associations in women of European ancestry. We used summary statistics data from genome-wide association studies on sex hormones and from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and large consortia on cancers. There was suggestive evidence of 1-standard deviation increase in total testosterone levels being associated with a lower risk of lung non-adenocarcinoma (hazard ratio 0.60, 95% confidence interval …

Dna Vaccines Against Gprc5d Synergize With Pd-1 Blockade To Treat Multiple Myeloma, Praveen Neeli, Perry Ayn Mayson A Maza, Dafei Chai, Dan Zhao, Xen Ping Hoi, Keith Syson Chan, Ken H Young, Yong Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM), a hematological malignancy of the bone marrow, remains largely incurable. The orphan G protein-coupled receptor, GPRC5D, which is uniquely expressed in plasma cells and highly expressed in MM, is a compelling candidate for immunotherapy. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of a combination of DNA vaccine encoding mouse GPRC5D and PD-1 blockade in preventing and treating MM using the 5TGM1 murine model of MM. The mouse vaccine alone was effective in preventing myeloma growth but required PD-1 antibodies to inhibit established MM tumors. We next evaluated the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of a nanoplasmid vector encoding …