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.

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.