A Nested Case-Control Study to Explore the Association between Immunoglobulin G N-glycans and Ischemic Stroke

Objective This study prospectively investigates the association between immunoglobulin G(IgG)N-glycan traits and ischemic stroke(IS) risk.Methods A nested case-control study was conducted in the China suboptimal health cohort study,which recruited 4,313 individuals in 2013–2014. Cases were identified as patients diagnosed with IS, and controls were 1:1 matched by age and sex with cases. Ig G N-glycans in baseline plasma samples were analyzed.Results A total of 99 IS cases and 99 controls were included, and 24 directly measured glycan peaks(GPs) were separated from Ig G N-glycans. In directly measured GPs, GP4, GP9, GP21, GP22, GP23, and GP24 were associated with the risk of IS in men after adjusting for age, waist and hip circumference,obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Derived glycan traits representing decreased galactosylation and sialylation were associated with IS in men(FBG2S2/(FBG2 + FBG2S1 + FBG2S2): odds ratio(OR) = 0.92, 95% confidence interval(CI): 0.87–0.97;G1n: OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.63–0.87;G0n: OR =1.12, 95% CI: 1.03–1.22). However, these associations were not found among women.Conclusion This study validated that altered Ig G N-glycan traits were associated with incident IS in men, suggesting that sex discrepancies might exist in these associations.

Intestinal Microbial Community Differs between Acute Pancreatitis Patients and Healthy Volunteers

A case control study including 45 acute pancreatitis and 44 healthy volunteers was performed to investigate the association between intestinal microbial community and acute pancreatitis. High-throughput 16S r RNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to profile the microbiological composition of the samples. In total, 27 microbial phyla were detected and the samples of pancreatitis patients contained fewer phyla. Samples from acute pancreatitis patients contained more Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria and fewer Firmicutes and Actinobacteria than those from healthy volunteers. PCo A analyses distinguished the fecal microbial communities of acute pancreatitis patients from those of healthy volunteers. The intestinal microbes of acute pancreatitis patients are different from those of healthy volunteers. Modulation of the intestinal microbiome may serve as an alternative strategy for treating acute pancreatitis.

Tea Consumption is Associated with Increased Risk of Kidney Stones in Northern Chinese： A Cross-sectional Study

Kidney stones are a common urinary system condition that can progress to kidney disease. Previous studies on the association between tea consumption and kidney stones are inconsistent. A cross-sectional study to investigate the association between tea consumption and kidney stones was conducted from 2013 to 2014 and recruited 9,078 northern Chinese adults. A total of 8,807 participants were included in the final analysis. Participants＇ prevalence of kidney stones was 1.07%, 1.73%, and 2.25% based on their tea consumption frecluencv of never, occasionally,

Association between IgG N-glycans and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Han Chinese

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease（NAFLD） is a major public health issue worldwide. Immunoglobulin G（IgG） N-glycans are associated with risk factors for NAFLD, such as obesity and diabetes. A cross-sectional study involving 500 Han Chinese adults recruited from a community in Beijing was carried out to explore the association between IgG N-glycans and NAFLD. IgG N-glycosylation was significantly associated with NAFLD, with the disease showing a negative correlation with galactosylation（GP14, GP14n, and G2n）, positive correlation with fucosylation（FBG2n/G2n）, and positive correlation with bisecting N-acetylglucosamine（Glc NAc） [FBG2n/FG2n and FBG2n/（FG2n＋FBG2n）], after controlling age, gender, and prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. In other words, the present study showed a possible association between NAFLD and the loss of galactose and elevations of fucose and bisecting GlcNAc. Aberrant IgG glycosylation might therefore be a potential biomarker for the primary or secondary prevention of NAFLD.

Association between Physical Activity and Telomere Length in a North Chinese Population： A China Suboptimal Health Cohort Study

Several studies have demonstrated an association between physical activity and telomere length; however, the association remains inconsistent. A cross-sectional study consisting of 588 participants （375 females, median age of 33.8 years） was carried out to investigate the association between telomere length and physical activity in a general population from North China. The results show that relative telomere length is not significantly different in participants in the northern Chinese population with different levels of physical activity, either in the model only adjusted for age （F = 2.127, P = 0.120） or in the model adjusted for demographics and lifestyle （F = 1.227, P = 0.294）. The gender-stratified analysis also produced insignificant results. Our study confirmed a non-significant association between physical activity and telomere length in the northern Chinese population, which adds to the inconsistent association between physical activity and telomere length across different ethnic populations.

The Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Prognosis of Long-COVID

INTRODUCTION As of October 26, 2022, more than 625 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 6.56 million deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization(WHO), and the natural history,clinical course, and long-term consequences of this new disease are still not completely understood.After more than two years of fighting against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the number of patients with long-term persistent COVID-19 symptoms after acute infection is noteworthy.

Association of C-reactive Protein with Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Mendelian Randomization Study in the Japanese Population

Objective Traditional epidemiological studies have shown that C-reactive protein(CRP)is associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases(CVDs).However,whether this association is causal remains unclear.Therefore,Mendelian randomization(MR)was used to explore the causal relationship of CRP with cardiovascular outcomes including ischemic stroke,atrial fibrillation,arrhythmia and congestive heart failure.Methods We performed two-sample MR by using summary-level data obtained from Japanese Encyclopedia of Genetic association by Riken(JENGER),and we selected four single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with CRP level as instrumental variables.MR estimates were calculated with the inverse-variance weighted(IVW),penalized weighted median and weighted median.MR-Egger regression was used to explore pleiotropy.Results No significant causal association of genetically determined CRP level with ischemic stroke,atrial fibrillation or arrhythmia was found with all four MR methods(all Ps>0.05).The IVW method indicated suggestive evidence of a causal association between CRP and congestive heart failure(OR:1.337,95%CI:1.005–1.780,P=0.046),whereas the other three methods did not.No clear pleiotropy or heterogeneity were observed.Conclusions Suggestive evidence was found only in analysis of congestive heart failure;therefore,further studies are necessary.Furthermore,no causal association was found between CRP and the other three cardiovascular outcomes.

Association between the SUMO4 M55V Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus:A Meta-analysis

Objective The aim of this study is to determine whether the SUMO4 M55V polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）. Methods A meta-analysis was performed to detect the potential association of the SUMO4 M55V polymorphism and susceptibility to T2DM under dominant, recessive, co-dominant （homogeneous and heterogeneous）, and additive models. Results A total of eight articles including 10 case-control studies, with a total of 2932 cases and 2679 controls, were included in this meta-analysis. The significant association between the SUMO4 M55V polymorphism and susceptibility to T2DM was observed in the dominant model （GG ＋ GA versus AA： OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.05-1.40, P = 0.009）, recessive model （GG versus GA ＋ AA： OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07-1.356, P = 0.010）, homozygous model （GG versus AA： OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.06-1.56, P = 0.001）, and additive model （G versus A： OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.08-1.29, P = 0.001）, and marginally significant in the heterozygous model （GA versus AA： OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.98-1.36, P = 0.080）. In subgroup analyses, significant associations were observed in the Chinese population under four genetic models excluding the heterozygous model, whereas no statistically significant associations were observed in the Japanese population under each of the five genetic models. Conclusion The meta-analysis demonstrated that the G allele of the SUMO4 M55V polymorphism could be a susceptible risk locus to T2DM, mainly in the Chinese population, while the association in other ethnic population needs to be further validated in studies with relatively large samples.

Association between 25 Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations and the Risk of COVID-19: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),has become a global pandemic[1].Primary prevention,which is aimed at delaying disease onset by modulating modifiable risk factors,has been proposed to address the global challenge posed by COVID-19.

A Tiny RNA Molecule with a Big Impact on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Susceptibility

Biological molecules could be used as risk assessment tools for predicting incident Type 2Diabetes Mellitas（T2DM）,such as microR NAs（mi RNAs）.Numerous studies have shown association between miR NA and susceptibility of T2DM,suggesting that mi RNAs might be common biological factors for T2DM.Interestingly,miR NAs could also serve as novel biomarkers for T2DM epidemiology