Epidemiology Commons^™

Unpacking The Behavioural Components And Delivery Features Of Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions In The Topchild Collaboration: A Systematic Review And Intervention Coding Protocol, Brittany J. Johnson, Kylie E. Hunter, Rebecca K. Golley, Paul Chadwick, Angie Barba, Mason Aberoumand, Sol Libesman, Lisa Askie, Rachael W. Taylor, Kristy P. Robledo, Seema Mihrshahi, Denise A. O'Connor, Alison J. Hayes, Luke Wolfenden, Charles T. Wood, Louise A. Baur, Chris Rissel, Lukas P. Staub, Sarah Taki, Wendy Smith, Ana Maria Linares

Nursing Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about how early (eg, commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to (1) characterise early obesity prevention interventions in terms of target behaviours, delivery features and behaviour change techniques (BCTs), (2) explore similarities and differences in BCTs used to target behaviours and (3) explore effectiveness of intervention components in preventing childhood obesity.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Annual comprehensive systematic searches will be performed in Epub Ahead of Print/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane (CENTRAL), CINAHL, PsycINFO, as well as …

Transforming Obesity Prevention For Children (Topchild) Collaboration: Protocol For A Systematic Review With Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis Of Behavioural Interventions For The Prevention Of Early Childhood Obesity, Kylie E. Hunter, Brittany J. Johnson, Lisa Askie, Rebecca K. Golley, Louise A. Baur, Ian C. Marschner, Rachael W. Taylor, Luke Wolfenden, Charles T. Wood, Seema Mihrshahi, Alison J. Hayes, Chris Rissel, Kristy P. Robledo, Denise A. O'Connor, David Espinoza, Lukas P. Staub, Paul Chadwick, Sarah Taki, Angie Barba, Sol Libesman, Ana Maria Linares

Nursing Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These evidence gaps have prompted an increase in very early childhood obesity prevention trials worldwide. Combining the individual participant data (IPD) from these trials will enhance statistical power to determine overall effectiveness and enable examination of individual and trial-level subgroups. We present a protocol for a systematic review with IPD meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of obesity prevention interventions commencing antenatally or in the first year after birth, and …

Combined Driving: Task-Specific Position Impacts Grip Strength Of Equestrian Athletes, Michaela M. Keener, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Nicholas R. Heebner

Athletic Training and Clinical Nutrition Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Loss of hand strength is a predictor of mortality in aging populations. Despite reliance on the hands to participate in equestrian driving activity, no existing studies focus on associations of hand strength to athletic performance. Therefore, this study 1) established baseline handgrip of equestrian combined drivers in standing and task-specific positions, 2) determined endurance of task-specific handgrip, 3) compared handgrip strength to normative data, and 4) evaluated associations of handgrip and equestrian-specific variables.

METHODS: There were 51 combined drivers (9 males, 42 females) ages 21-78 who completed a survey, standing handgrip, and grip strength and endurance in a task-specific …

Identifying Factors Associated With Syringe Reuse Among People Who Inject Drugs (Pwid) In Appalachia Kentucky, Grayson Keith Fuller

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Aim: Syringe reuse contributes to the spread of infectious diseases. The purpose of this study is to identify factors associated with syringe reuse among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Kentucky.

Methods: PWID (n=238) completed interviewer-administered questionnaires to collect data on syringe reuse and demographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics. Negative log binomial regression was used to model the associations.

Results: On average, people reused each syringe 9.3 times (median: 3; IQR: 2-10, range 1-95). Syringe reuse was higher among men [aOR=1.386; 95% CI: 1.041-1.845] and those who injected methamphetamine [aOR=2.122; 95% CI: 1.445-3.116]. Reuse was also higher among those who …

Addressing Ascertainment Bias In The Study Of Cardiovascular Disease Burden In Opioid Use Disorders - Application Of Natural Language Processing Of Electronic Health Records, Jade Huang Singleton

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

In the United States, the prevalence of long-term exposure to opioid drugs, for both medically and nonmedically indicated purposes, has increased considerably since the mid-1990’s. Concerns have emerged about the potential health effects of opioid use. There is also growing interest in other possible connections with opioid use including cardiovascular disease. Electronic health records (EHR) contain information about patient care in the form of structured codes and unstructured notes. Natural language processing (NLP) provides a tool for processing unstructured textual data in EHR clinical notes and extracts useful information for research with structured formats. The purpose of this dissertation was …

Opioid Use Disorder Treatment With Buprenorphine: Analysis Of Treatment Utilization And Associated Outcomes In Kentucky, Feitong Lei

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is chronic opioid use that results in clinically significant suffering, impairment, or even death. The opioid epidemic in the United States has become a public health and economic crisis, affecting patients' well-being and the nation's overall health and welfare. Eastern Kentucky was among the first regions affected by the opioid crisis, and Kentucky has historically ranked among the top five states for age-adjusted drug overdose mortality rate.

There are three medications (buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat OUD. As a partial opioid agonist, buprenorphine is a safe medication for …

An Ecological Study Of Glyphosate Use And Non-Hodgkin’S Lymphoma, Dexter Corlett, Steven R. Browning

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Glyphosate is currently the most widely used herbicide in the world. Initially thought to be non-carcinogenic in humans, in 2015 glyphosate was classified as a “probable carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer due to several small epidemiological studies indicating a link between the pesticide and hematologic cancers, especially non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). The current work is an ecological study using counties in Kentucky, Arkansas, and Iowa to compare glyphosate usage to NHL incidence using a multivariate Poisson regression. We found no significant correlation between glyphosate use and NHL incidence, though caution should be taken to draw significance from …

Genetic Contributors Of Incident Stroke In 10,700 African Americans With Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis From The Genetics Of Hypertension Associated Treatments And Reasons For Geographic And Racial Differences In Stroke Studies, Nicole D. Armstrong, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Amit Patki, Rikki M. Tanner, Bertha A. Hidalgo, Hemant K. Tiwari, Nita A. Limdi, Ethan M. Lange, Leslie A. Lange, Donna K. Arnett, Marguerite R. Irvin

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: African Americans (AAs) suffer a higher stroke burden due to hypertension. Identifying genetic contributors to stroke among AAs with hypertension is critical to understanding the genetic basis of the disease, as well as detecting at-risk individuals.

Methods: In a population comprising over 10,700 AAs treated for hypertension from the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatments (GenHAT) and Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) studies, we performed an inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis of incident stroke. Additionally, we tested the predictive accuracy of a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from a European ancestral population in both GenHAT and REGARDS AAs …

A Cross-Sectional Survey Of Potential Factors, Motivations, And Barriers Influencing Research Participation And Retention Among People Who Use Drugs In The Rural Usa, Angela T. Hetrick, April M. Young, Miriam R. Elman, Sarann Bielavitz, Rhonda L. Alexander, Morgan Brown, Elizabeth Needham Waddell, P. Todd Korthuis, Kathryn E. Lancaster

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite high morbidity and mortality among people who use drugs (PWUD) in rural America, most research is conducted within urban areas. Our objective was to describe influencing factors, motivations, and barriers to research participation and retention among rural PWUD.

METHODS: We recruited 255 eligible participants from community outreach and community-based, epidemiologic research cohorts from April to July 2019 to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Eligible participants reported opioid or injection drug use to get high within 30 days and resided in high-needs rural counties in Oregon, Kentucky, and Ohio. We aggregated response rankings to identify salient influences, motivations, and …

A 6-Cpg Validated Methylation Risk Score Model For Metabolic Syndrome: The Hypergen And Goldn Studies, Bertha A. Hidalgo, Bre Minniefield, Amit Patki, Rikki Tanner, Minoo Bagheri, Hemant K. Tiwari, Donna K. Arnett, Marguerite Ryan Irvin

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

There has been great interest in genetic risk prediction using risk scores in recent years, however, the utility of scores developed in European populations and later applied to non-European populations has not been successful. The goal of this study was to create a methylation risk score (MRS) for metabolic syndrome (MetS), demonstrating the utility of MRS across race groups using cross-sectional data from the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN, N = 614 African Americans (AA)) and the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN, N = 995 European Americans (EA)). To demonstrate this, we first selected cytosine-guanine dinucleotides …

Genomics Of Postprandial Lipidomics In The Genetics Of Lipid-Lowering Drugs And Diet Network Study, Marguerite R. Irvin, May E. Montasser, Tobias Kind, Sili Fan, Dinesh K. Barupal, Amit Patki, Rikki M. Tanner, Nicole D. Armstrong, Kathleen A. Ryan, Steven A. Claas, Jeffrey R. O’Connell, Hemant K. Tiwari, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Postprandial lipemia (PPL) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Inter-individual variation in the dietary response to a meal is known to be influenced by genetic factors, yet genes that dictate variation in postprandial lipids are not completely characterized. Genetic studies of the plasma lipidome can help to better understand postprandial metabolism by isolating lipid molecular species which are more closely related to the genome. We measured the plasma lipidome at fasting and 6 h after a standardized high-fat meal in 668 participants from the Genetics of Lipid-Lowering Drugs and Diet Network study (GOLDN) using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled …

Characterization Of Indoor Arenas Through An Anonymous Survey, Staci Mcgill, Morgan D. Hayes, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Robert Coleman

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Equine farms are building both stables for the horses to live in and additional facilities to train and work horses (Kidd et al., 1997). For many of these farms, an outdoor arena that has an all-weather footing is the first working facility built. During inclement weather the ability to train in the outdoor arenas is inhibited, which in turn means the trainers, riders, and farms lose income as money is only made when horses are working, training, and competing. Indoor arenas allow for horses to continue to be worked no matter the weather conditions. The equine industry contributes a total …

Framing Future Of Work Considerations Through Climate And Built Environment Assessment Of Volunteer Work Practices In The United States Equine Assisted Services, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Sa Liu, Jae-Hong Park

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The foundation of healthy workplace design is an understanding of work practices. Volunteers comprise the majority of the workforce in care centers using horses to address human health issues. Documentation is lacking on protections for worker well-being in equestrian microenvironments which are known to have the potential for dust exposures. Climate acts as a master variable in equestrian facility design and ventilation usage to address dust and temperature concerns. Using climate as an independent variable, our objective was to characterize space usage, safety, environmental control, and organizational practices through a national survey of equine assisted programs. We found that more …

Association Of Body Composition With Odds Of Breast Cancer By Molecular Subtype: Analysis Of The Mechanisms For Established And Novel Risk Factors For Breast Cancer In Nigerian Women (Mend) Study, Tomi Akinyemiju, Kelley Jones, Anjali Gupta, Taofik Oyekunle, Veeral Saraiya, April Deveaux, Omolola Salako, Allison Hall, Olusegun Alatise, Gabriel Ogun, Adewale Adeniyi, Omobolaji Ayandipo, Thomas Olajide, Olalekan Olasehinde, Olukayode Arowolo, Adewale Adisa, Oludolapo Afuwape, Aralola Olusanya, Aderemi Adegoke, Trygve O. Tollefsbol, Donna K. Arnett, H3 Africa Kidney Research Network, Adetola Daramola

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The association between obesity and breast cancer (BC) has been extensively studied among US, European and Asian study populations, with often conflicting evidence. However, despite the increasing prevalence of obesity and associated conditions in Africa, the continent with the highest age-standardized BC mortality rate globally, few studies have evaluated this association, and none has examined in relation to molecular subtypes among African women. The current analysis examines the association between body composition, defined by body mass index (BMI), height, and weight, and BC by molecular subtype among African women.

METHODS: We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals …

Association Of Manganese Biomarker Concentrations With Blood Pressure And Kidney Parameters Among Healthy Adolescents: Nhanes 2013–2018, Maria D. Politis, Jacob C. Freedman, Erin N. Haynes, Alison P. Sanders

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Deficiency or excess exposure to manganese (Mn), an essential mineral, may have potentially adverse health effects. The kidneys are a major organ of Mn site-specific toxicity because of their unique role in filtration, metabolism, and excretion of xenobiotics. We hypothesized that Mn concentrations were associated with poorer blood pressure (BP) and kidney parameters such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and albumin creatinine ratio (ACR). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1931 healthy U.S. adolescents aged 12–19 years participating in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles 2013–2014, 2015–2016, and 2017–2018. Blood and urine Mn concentrations …

Analysis Of Genes (Tmem106b, Grn, Abcc9, Kcnmb2, And Apoe) Implicated In Risk For Late-Nc And Hippocampal Sclerosis Provides Pathogenetic Insights: A Retrospective Genetic Association Study, Adam J. Dugan, Peter T. Nelson, Yuriko Katsumata, Lincoln M. P. Shade, Kevin L. Boehme, Merilee A. Teylan, Matthew D. Cykowski, Shubhabrata Mukherjee, John S. K. Kauwe, Timothy J. Hohman, Julie A. Schneider, Alzheimer’S Disease Genetics Consortium, David W. Fardo

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC) is the most prevalent subtype of TDP-43 proteinopathy, affecting up to 1/3rd of aged persons. LATE-NC often co-occurs with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) pathology. It is currently unknown why some individuals with LATE-NC develop HS while others do not, but genetics may play a role. Previous studies found associations between LATE-NC phenotypes and specific genes: TMEM106B, GRN, ABCC9, KCNMB2, and APOE. Data from research participants with genomic and autopsy measures from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC; n = 631 subjects included) and the Religious Orders Study and Memory …

Associations Of Circulating Dimethylarginines With The Metabolic Syndrome In The Framingham Offspring Study, Ibrahim Musa Yola, Carlee Moser, Meredith S. Duncan, Edzard Schwedhelm, Dorothee Atzler, Renke Maas, Juliane Hannemann, Rainer H. Böger, Ramachandran S. Vasan, Vanessa Xanthakis

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Circulating levels of the endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), are positively associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in cross-sectional investigations. It is unclear if circulating ADMA and other methylarginines are associated with incident MetS prospectively.

METHODS: We related circulating ADMA, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), L-arginine (ARG) concentrations (measured with a validated tandem mass spectrometry assay) and the ARG/ADMA ratio to MetS and its components in 2914 (cross-sectional analysis, logistic regression; mean age 58 years, 55% women) and 1656 (prospective analysis, Cox regression; mean age 56 years, 59% women) individuals from the Framingham Offspring Study …

Apobec Mutagenesis Is Concordant Between Tumor And Viral Genomes In Hpv-Positive Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Daniel L. Faden, Krystle A. Lang Kuhs, Maoxuan Lin, Adam Langenbucher, Maisa Pinheiro, Meredith Yeager, Michael Cullen, Joseph F. Boland, Mia Steinberg, Sara Bass, James S. Lewis, Michael S. Lawrence, Robert L. Ferris, Lisa Mirabello

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

APOBEC is a mutagenic source in human papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated malignancies, including HPV+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV + OPSCC), and in HPV genomes. It is unknown why APOBEC mutations predominate in HPV + OPSCC, or if the APOBEC-induced mutations observed in both human cancers and HPV genomes are directly linked. We performed sequencing of host somatic exomes, transcriptomes, and HPV16 genomes from 79 HPV + OPSCC samples, quantifying APOBEC mutational burden and activity in both host and virus. APOBEC was the dominant mutational signature in somatic exomes. In viral genomes, there was a mean of five (range 0–29) mutations per …

Predictors Of Chronic Opioid Therapy In Medicaid Beneficiaries With Hiv Who Initiated Antiretroviral Therapy, Gyeon Oh, Emily S. Brouwer, Erin L. Abner, David W. Fardo, Patricia R. Freeman, Chris Delcher, Daniela C. Moga

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The factors associated with chronic opioid therapy (COT) in patients with HIV is understudied. Using Medicaid data (2002-2009), this retrospective cohort study examines COT in beneficiaries with HIV who initiated standard combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART). We used generalized estimating equations on logistic regression models with backward selection to identify significant predictors of COT initiation. COT was initiated among 1014 out of 9615 beneficiaries with HIV (male: 10.4%; female: 10.7%). Those with older age, any malignancy, Hepatitis C infection, back pain, arthritis, neuropathy pain, substance use disorder, polypharmacy, (use of) benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, antidepressants, and prior opioid therapies were positively associated with …

Triple Negative Breast Cancer In An Appalachian Region: Exponential Tumor Grade Increase With Age Of Diagnosis, Gina Sizemore, Toni Marie Rudisill

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive breast cancer with decreased five-year survival, increased risk for recurrence, and higher risk for metastases. Unlike other breast cancers, it has no targeted treatment and has heterogeneous genetics which make classification and treatment difficult.

Purpose: The purpose of our research was to compare triple negative breast cancer to non-triple negative breast cancer to identify key epidemiologic factors that might lead to improved basic science directives for biomarkers, treatments, and classification.

Methods: The state cancer registry was used to provide the first West Virginia state-wide population evaluation of triple negative breast cancer.

Results: …

Longitudinal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Acceptability, Initiation And Adherence Among Criminal Justice-Involved Adults In The Usa: The Southern Prep Cohort Study (Specs) Protocol, Katherine Lemasters, Carrie B. Oser, Mariah Cowell, Katie Mollan, Kathryn Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: HIV prevalence among criminal justice (CJ)-involved adults is five times higher than the general population. Following incarceration, CJ-involved individuals experience multilevel barriers to HIV prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a widely available, daily medication efficacious in preventing HIV. Little is known about PrEP knowledge, acceptability, initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved persons or about how these outcomes vary by multilevel factors. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) will investigate barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved adults, building a foundation for PrEP interventions for this underserved population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential …

Association Of Nonacute Opioid Use And Cardiovascular Diseases: A Scoping Review Of The Literature, Jade H. Singleton, Erin L. Abner, Peter D. Akpunonu, Anna M. Kucharska-Newton

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND

In this scoping review, we identified and reviewed 23 original articles from the PubMed database that investigated the relationship between nonacute opioid use (NOU) and cardiovascular outcomes.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We defined NOU to include both long-term opioid therapy and opioid use disorder. We summarized the association between NOU and 5 classes of cardiovascular disease, including infective endocarditis, coronary heart disease (including myocardial infarction), congestive heart failure, cardiac arrythmia (including cardiac arrest), and stroke. The most commonly studied outcomes were coronary heart disease and infective endocarditis. There was generally consistent evidence of a positive association between community prevalence of …

Identification Of Novel And Rare Variants Associated With Handgrip Strength Using Whole Genome Sequence Data From The Nhlbi Trans-Omics In Precision Medicine (Topmed) Program, Chloé Sarnowski, Han Chen, Mary L. Biggs, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Jan Bressler, Marguerite R. Irvin, Kathleen A. Ryan, David Karasik, Donna K. Arnett, L. Adrienne Cupples, David W. Fardo, Stephanie M. Gogarten, Benjamin D. Heavner, Deepti Jain, Hyun Min Kang, Charles Kooperberg, Arch G. Mainous, Braxton D. Mitchell, Alanna C. Morrison, Jeffrey R. O'Connell

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Handgrip strength is a widely used measure of muscle strength and a predictor of a range of morbidities including cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality. Previous genome-wide association studies of handgrip strength have focused on common variants primarily in persons of European descent. We aimed to identify rare and ancestry-specific genetic variants associated with handgrip strength by conducting whole-genome sequence association analyses using 13,552 participants from six studies representing diverse population groups from the Trans-Omics in Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program. By leveraging multiple handgrip strength measures performed in study participants over time, we increased our effective sample size by 7-12%. Single-variant …

Factors That Influence Enrollment In Syringe Services Programs In Rural Areas: A Qualitative Study Among Program Clients In Appalachian Kentucky, Umedjon Ibragimov, Katherine E. Cooper, Evan Batty, April M. Ballard, Monica Fadanelli, Skylar B. Gross, Emma M. Klein, Scott Lockard, April M. Young, Hannah L. F. Cooper

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Enrolling sufficient number of people who inject drugs (PWID) into syringe services programs (SSP) is important to curtail outbreaks of drug-related harms. Still, little is known about barriers and facilitators to SSP enrollment in rural areas with no history of such programs. This study's purpose was to develop a grounded theory of the role of the risk environment and individual characteristics of PWID in shaping SSP enrollment in rural Kentucky.

METHODS: We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 41 clients of 5 SSPs that were established in rural counties in Appalachian Kentucky in 2017-2018. Interviews covered PWID needs, the process …

Serological Survey Of Leptospira Infection In Arabian Horses In Poland, Bernard Wasiński, Katarzyna Paschalis-Trela, Jan Trela, Michał Czopowicz, Jerzy Kita, Monika Żychska, Anna Cywińska, Iwona Markowska-Daniel, Craig N. Carter, Lucjan Witkowski

Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Faculty Publications

Leptospirosis is one of the most common zoonotic infections worldwide, including in most livestock, some companion animals, horses, wildlife, and humans. Epidemiological estimation of its prevalence in all species is difficult due to the variety of clinical presentations and challenges regarding laboratory diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to measure the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in Arabian horses kept in the largest breeding farms in Poland, representing over 15% of the Polish Arabian horse population. Leptospira antibodies were detected by MAT (cut-off 1:100) in 33.2% of serum samples (204 of 615 animals) (CI 95%: 29.6–37.0%), most frequently reacting with …

Exploring Covid-19 Case Fatality In Relation To The Prevalence Of Chronic Conditions And Health Behaviors In Appalachian Kentucky, W. Jay Christian

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: Research has demonstrated that common chronic conditions, especially those related to cardiovascular health, are important risk factors for severe COVID-19 symptoms or hospitalization. Population prevalence rates of such conditions have not previously been examined in relation to COVID-19 case fatality rates in the Central Appalachian region.

Purpose: This study examined prevalence rates of selected chronic conditions and COVID-19 case fatality rates to determine whether the relationship between them is consistent across Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions of Kentucky.

Methods: Data from Kentucky’s Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (KyBRFS) were used to calculate prevalence rates of asthma, diabetes, influenza vaccination, hypertension, obesity, …

Epigenome-Wide Association Study Of Kidney Function Identifies Trans-Ethnic And Ethnic-Specific Loci, Charles E. Breeze, Anna Batorsky, Mi Kyeong Lee, Mindy D. Szeto, Xiaoguang Xu, Daniel L. Mccartney, Rong Jiang, Amit Patki, Holly J. Kramer, James M. Eales, Laura Raffield, Leslie Lange, Ethan Lange, Peter Durda, Yongmei Liu, Russ P. Tracy, David Van Den Berg, Nhlbi Trans-Omics For Precision Medicine (Topmed) Consortium, Topmed Mesa Multi-Omics Working Group, Kathryn L. Evans, William E. Kraus, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation (DNAm) is associated with gene regulation and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function. Decreased eGFR is more common among US Hispanics and African Americans. The causes for this are poorly understood. We aimed to identify trans-ethnic and ethnic-specific differentially methylated positions (DMPs) associated with eGFR using an agnostic, genome-wide approach.

METHODS: The study included up to 5428 participants from multi-ethnic studies for discovery and 8109 participants for replication. We tested the associations between whole blood DNAm and eGFR using beta values from Illumina 450K or EPIC arrays. Ethnicity-stratified analyses were performed using linear …

Age And Sex Are Associated With The Plasma Lipidome: Findings From The Goldn Study, Emily Slade, Marguerite R. Irvin, Kevin Xie, Donna K. Arnett, Steven A. Claas, Tobias Kind, David W. Fardo, Gregory A. Graf

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background
Developing an understanding of the biochemistry of aging in both sexes is critical for managing disease throughout the lifespan. Lipidomic associations with age and sex have been reported, but prior studies are limited by measurements in serum rather than plasma or by participants taking lipid-lowering medications.

Methods
Our study included lipidomic data from 980 participants aged 18–87 years old from the Genetics of Lipid-Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN). Participants were off lipid-lowering medications for at least 4 weeks, and signal intensities of 413 known lipid species were measured in plasma. We examined linear age and sex associations with …

Protecting P-Glycoprotein At The Blood-Brain Barrier From Degradation In An Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model, Yujie Ding, Yu Zhong, Andrea Baldeshwiler, Erin L. Abner, Björn Bauer, Anika M. S. Hartz

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Failure to clear Aβ from the brain is partly responsible for Aβ brain accumulation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A critical protein for clearing Aβ across the blood-brain barrier is the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp). In AD, P-gp levels are reduced, which contributes to impaired Aβ brain clearance. However, the mechanism responsible for decreased P-gp levels is poorly understood and there are no strategies available to protect P-gp. We previously demonstrated in isolated brain capillaries ex vivo that human Aβ40 (hAβ40) triggers P-gp degradation by activating the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In this pathway, hAβ40 initiates P-gp ubiquitination, leading to internalization and …

Whole-Exome Sequencing And Hipsc Cardiomyocyte Models Identify Myrip, Trappc11, And Slc27a6 Of Potential Importance To Left Ventricular Hypertrophy In An African Ancestry Population, Marguerite R. Irvin, Praful Aggarwal, Steven A. Claas, Lisa De Las Fuentes, Anh N. Do, C. Charles Gu, Andrea Matter, Benjamin S. Olson, Amit Patki, Karen Schwander, Joshua D. Smith, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Hemant K. Tiwari, Amy J. Turner, Deborah A. Nickerson, Dabeeru C. Rao, Ulrich Broeckel, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Indices of left ventricular (LV) structure and geometry represent useful intermediate phenotypes related to LV hypertrophy (LVH), a predictor of cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) outcomes.

Methods and Results: We conducted an exome-wide association study of LV mass (LVM) adjusted to height^2.7, LV internal diastolic dimension (LVIDD), and relative wall thickness (RWT) among 1,364 participants of African ancestry (AAs) in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN). Both single-variant and gene-based sequence kernel association tests were performed to examine whether common and rare coding variants contribute to variation in echocardiographic traits in AAs. We then used a data-driven …