What the Genetic Background of Individuals with Asthma and Obesity Can Reveal: Is β2-Adrenergic Receptor Gene Polymorphism Important?

Bibliometric Insights into Research Hotspots and Trends in Obesity and Asthma from 2013 to 2023

INTRODUCTION

Obesity and asthma are closely linked, but the current state of research on this topic and future research directions have yet to be comprehensively explored. This study aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the research landscape in the field of obesity and asthma.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection database to identify papers published on obesity and asthma between 2013 and 2023. VOSviewer software was utilized for statistical analysis and visualization of collaborative networks, research trends, literature sources, citation analysis, co-citation analysis, and keyword analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 3,406 records from 1,010 journals authored by 17,347 researchers affiliated with 4,573 institutes across 117 countries and regions were retrieved. The number of publications and citations increased annually. The USA and China contributed the majority of records. Major nodes in the collaboration network map included Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, University of Newcastle, Karolinska Institution, University of Toronto, and Seoul National University. Prolific authors included Anne E. Dixon, Erick Forno, Lisa G. Wood, Deepa Rastogi, and Fernando Holguin. Research trends and hotspots focused on metabolism studies, Mendelian randomization, gut microbiome, inflammation response, gene, biomarker research, and comorbidities were identified as potential future research frontiers.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current research status and trends in the field of obesity and asthma. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding collaboration patterns, research hotspots, and emerging frontiers to guide future research in this area.

Effects of Oxidative Stress on Airway Epithelium Permeability in Asthma and Potential Implications for Patients with Comorbid Obesity

20 million adults and 4.2 million children in the United States have asthma, a disease resulting in inflammation and airway obstruction in response to various factors, including allergens and pollutants and nonallergic triggers. Obesity, another highly prevalent disease in the US, is a major risk factor for asthma and a significant cause of oxidative stress throughout the body. People with asthma and comorbid obesity are susceptible to developing severe asthma that cannot be sufficiently controlled with current treatments. More research is needed to understand how asthma pathobiology is affected when the patient has comorbid obesity. Because the airway epithelium directly interacts with the outside environment and interacts closely with the immune system, understanding how the airway epithelium of patients with asthma and comorbid obesity is altered compared to that of lean asthma patients will be crucial for developing more effective treatments. In this review, we discuss how oxidative stress plays a role in two chronic inflammatory diseases, obesity and asthma, and propose a mechanism for how these conditions may compromise the airway epithelium.

The bidirectional association between wheezing and obesity during adolescence and the beginning of adulthood in the 1993 birth cohort, Pelotas, Brazil

Objective: To analyze the bidirectional association between wheezing and obesity during adolescence and the beginning of adulthood in a cohort in southern Brazil. Methods: This prospective longitudinal study used data from the 1993 birth cohort in Pelotas, Brazil. The following outcome variables were measured at 22 years of age: self-reported wheezing during the last 12 months and obesity (BMI = 30 kg/m2). The following exposure variables were measured at ages 11, 15, and 18: self-reported wheezing (no wheezing or symptom presentation in 1, 2, or 3 follow-ups) and obesity (non-obese or obese in 1, 2, or 3 follow-ups). Crude and adjusted logistical regression stratified by sex were used in the analyses. The reference category was defined as participants who presented no wheezing or obesity. Results: A total of 3,461 participants had data on wheezing and 3,383 on BMI. At 22 years of age, the prevalence of wheezing was 10.1% (95%CI: 9.1; 11.2), and obesity, 16.2% (95%CI: 15.0; 17.6). In females, the presence of wheezing in two follow-ups revealed a 2.22-fold (95%CI: 1.36; 3.61) greater chance of developing obesity at 22 years of age. Meanwhile, the presence of obesity in two follow-ups resulted in a 2.03-fold (95%IC: 1.05; 3.92) greater chance of wheezing at 22 years of age. No associations were found between wheezing and obesity in males. Conclusions: The obtained data suggest a possible positive bidirectional association between wheezing and obesity, with greater odds ratios in the wheezing to obesity direction in females and in the category of occurrence of exposure in two follow-ups.

NOGEA: A Network-oriented Gene Entropy Approach for Dissecting Disease Comorbidity and Drug Repositioning

Rapid development of high-throughput technologies has permitted the identification of an increasing number of disease-associated genes (DAGs), which are important for understanding disease initiation and developing precision therapeutics. However, DAGs often contain large amounts of redundant or false positive information, leading to difficulties in quantifying and prioritizing potential relationships between these DAGs and human diseases. In this study, a network-oriented gene entropy approach (NOGEA) is proposed for accurately inferring master genes that contribute to specific diseases by quantitatively calculating their perturbation abilities on directed disease-specific gene networks. In addition, we confirmed that the master genes identified by NOGEA have a high reliability for predicting disease-specific initiation events and progression risk. Master genes may also be used to extract the underlying information of different diseases, thus revealing mechanisms of disease comorbidity. More importantly, approved therapeutic targets are topologically localized in a small neighborhood of master genes on the interactome network, which provides a new way for predicting drug-disease associations. Through this method, 11 old drugs were newly identified and predicted to be effective for treating pancreatic cancer and then validated by in vitro experiments. Collectively, the NOGEA was useful for identifying master genes that control disease initiation and co-occurrence, thus providing a valuable strategy for drug efficacy screening and repositioning. NOGEA codes are publicly available at https://github.com/guozihuaa/NOGEA.

The Dynamic Relationship Between Asthma and Obesity in Schoolchildren

Asthma and obesity are among the most prevalent chronic health conditions in children. Although there has been compelling evidence of co-occurrence of asthma and obesity, it is uncertain whether asthma contributes to the development of obesity or obesity contributes to the onset of asthma or both. In this study, we used a joint transition modeling approach with cross-lagged structure to understand how asthma and obesity influence each other dynamically over time. Subjects for this study included 5,193 kindergarten and first-grade students enrolled from 13 communities in 2002-2003 in the Southern California Children's Health Study, with up to 10 years of follow-up. We found that nonobese children with diagnosed asthma at a study visit were at 37% higher odds of becoming obese by the next annual visit compared with children without asthma (odds ratio = 1.38; 95% credible interval: 1.12, 1.71). However, the presence of obesity at the current visit was not statistically significantly associated with asthma onset in the next visit (odds ratio = 1.25; 95% credible interval: 0.94, 1.62). In conclusion, childhood asthma appears to drive an increase in the onset of obesity among schoolchildren, while the onset of obesity does not necessarily imply the future onset of asthma, at least in the short term.

Beta 1, Beta 2 and Beta 3 Adrenergic Receptor Gene Polymorphisms in a Southeastern European Population

Genetic polymorphisms in β₁-, β₂- and β₃-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) have been associated with chronic non-communicable disorders, such as cardiovascular diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obesity, as well as β-agonists and antagonists response and toxicity. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency distribution of ADRB1 genetic variants Ser49Gly and Arg389Gly, ADRB2 variants Gly16Arg and Gln27Glu, ADRB3 variant Trp64Arg in a Southeastern European Caucasian (SEC) population sample and to establish a comparison with existing data from other human populations. A sample of 431 men and 590 women volunteered to participate in this genotyping analysis after anonymization and de-identification. Real Time PCR (Melting Curve Analysis) followed DNA extraction from buccal swabs and statistical analysis of the results was performed. The allele frequencies in the SEC population were Ser49 (90.3%), Arg389 (69.49%), Gly16 (61.61%), Gln27 (65.72%), and Trp64 (94.52%), while a Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) was detected in the population studied. Comparisons for the Ser49Gly, Gln27Glu, and Trp64Arg allele distributions demonstrated significant differences between SEC and the European group. European subgroups comparisons showed that allele distributions were similar for four of the five SNPs between SEC and Southwestern European Caucasians (SWC), while they were quite distinct from the Northwestern European Caucasians (NWC). These data underline the importance of interethnic variability of β-ARs genetic polymorphisms.

Interactions among insulin resistance, inflammation factors, obesity-related gene polymorphisms, environmental risk factors, and diet in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations and interactions between the polymorphisms of insulin resistance-related genes (ADIPOQ rs2241766), inflammation factors (TNF-α rs1800629, IL-6 rs1800795), obesity-related genes (GNB3 rs5443, ADRB rs1042714), and risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) such as diet structure in the development of GDM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This research was conducted among women who visited the third-affiliate hospital of Zhengzhou University for pregnancy checkups from 1 June 2014 to 30 December 2014. Based on the results of a 75-g glucose tolerance test (OGTT), 140 pregnant women with GDM were randomly selected as a part of the GDM group and140 healthy, pregnant women as part of the control group. Relevant clinical and laboratory data for the child and the mother including her pregnancy outcomes and the delivery mode were collected for the epidemiological survey.

RESULTS

The results showed that risk factors for GDM are advanced age, the hepatitis B virus, family history of diabetes, high body mass index before pregnancy, and weight gain of ≥10 kg before 24-week gestation. We found that diet structures were severely unbalanced. The polymorphisms rs2241766 and rs5443 were found to potentially be associated with GDM; moreover, a positive interaction was demonstrated between rs2241766 and age, and a negative interaction was demonstrated with weight gain of ≥10 kg before 24-week gestation.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate that both environmental risk factors and genetic background contribute to the development of GDM.

[Implementation and Evaluation of Genetic Testing Seminars about Lifestyle-related Disease Prevention in Pharmacy Insurance-The Need for Cooperation between the Pharmacy and the University in Genetic Testing]

 A seminar titled "Implementation and evaluation of genetic testing of lifestyle-related disease genes" was held for pharmacists, medical clerks, and clerks of pharmacy insurance, with the aim of holding seminars led by pharmacists for the general public (including patients) in the future. The subject of the seminar was single nucleotide polymorphisms in obesity-related genes and alcohol metabolism-related genes. The purpose of the seminar was to contribute to the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases of the general public. We evaluated it by administering a questionnaire to the participants before and after the seminar. After the seminar, 55% of pharmacists answered that they would like to or would strongly like to participate in genetic testing (for lifestyle-related diseases and drug metabolism-related genes) of the general public. However, some participants did not wish to do so. A customer satisfaction (CS) analysis found that this was mainly because they did not want to know the results of genetic testing of others, which they felt should be private. Most (82%) of the pharmacists answered that assistance and advice was "very necessary" or "necessary" in the participation of genetic testing. These findings show that collaboration between pharmacies and universities will be important for future seminars to the general public.

Meta-analysis of CYP2E1 polymorphisms in liver carcinogenesis

BACKGROUND

The CYP2E1 protein is a monooxygenase with certain polymorphisms linked to liver cancer. However, results from individual studies remain controversial.

AIMS

To evaluate CYP2E1 polymorphisms in liver carcinogenesis through meta-analysis.

METHODS

All studies about CYP2E1 polymorphisms and liver cancer were retrieved from seven major databases. Original data from each study were pooled and re-analyzed.

RESULTS

Total of 16 articles with 4862 cases were selected, including 1820 cases of liver cancer and 3042 cases of controls. The c1 allelic frequency in the cases and controls was 83.3% and 85.3%, respectively. Five genetic variations were compared: dominant c1c2/c2c2 vs. c1/c1 (OR=0.987 (0.853, 1.141)), homozygous c2c2 vs. c1c1 (OR=0.767 (0.526, 1.119)), heterozygous c1c2 vs. c1c1 (OR=1.005 (0.854, 1.182)), recessive c2c2 vs. c1c2/c2c2 (OR=0.771 (0.530, 1.122)), and different alleles c2 vs. c1 (OR=0.947 (0.828, 1.082)). Pooled data were further analyzed based on ethnicity, control sources, and HWE (Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium). These results from stratified groups were similar to that of nonstratified groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis results suggest that there is no evidence for a major role of CYP2E1 polymorphism in liver carcinogenesis, but do not rule out the possibility in certain cases.

[Implementation and Evaluation of Genetic Testing Seminars on Lifestyle-related Disease Prevention for Pharmacy Students]

The field of pharmacotherapy has advanced to use molecular targeted agents, and pharmacists are now encouraged to focus on pharmacogenomics. A seminar titled "Implementation and evaluation of genetic testing of lifestyle-related disease genes" was presented to students at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hiroshima University, describing the pharmacogenomic role of single nucleotide polymorphisms in obesity-related genes and alcohol metabolism-related genes. The seminar topic was selected first because pharmaceutical students were already familiar with some of the content, and secondly because we believe that pharmacists should be informed about the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases using genetic testing. We evaluated the usefulness of this seminar by administering a questionnaire before and after the seminar to participating students. Several points requiring improvement were identified, although 82% of students stated that the seminar was "very useful" or "useful". We conclude that this educational seminar was useful to students of pharmaceutical sciences.

ADRB2 polymorphisms in allergic asthma in Han Chinese children

BACKGROUND

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human β2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene have been linked to pathogenesis of and treatment responses in asthma. In China, where asthma is common, little information exists regarding ADRB2 variants and their effects on asthma. The current study sought to investigate the relationship between variations in ADRB2 and childhood asthma.

METHODS

Blood samples were collected from 298 pediatric asthma cases treated in our hospital from July 2013 to September 2014; 304 samples were collected from healthy children for a control group. Six loci (at base positions -47, 79, -2387, 46, 523, and 491) of ADRB2 were genotyped using the TaqMan probe assay; SHEsis was used to determine haplotypes. Allele frequencies and genotype distributions were compared between groups using chi square and t tests.

RESULTS

No significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies were found between the groups for the polymorphic loci -2387 bp (T>C), 46 bp (G>A), and 523 bp (C>A) (p > 0.05). However, genotype frequencies for the ADRB2 SNPs at -47 bp (C>T) and 79 bp (G>C) differed significantly between asthma and control groups (p < 0.05). Further, linkage disequilibrium was found between these 2 SNPs (D' = 0.990, r(2) = 0.962), as well as between SNPs at 46 and 523 bp (D' = 0.985, r(2) = 0.607). Finally, of the 4 haplotypes analyzed in these samples (haplotypes III, IV, IX, and XI), the frequency of haplotype III was significantly lower in the asthma group than the control group (p < 0.05; odds ratio [OR] = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48 to 0.97).

CONCLUSION

Variations of ADRB2 at base positions -47 (C>T) and 79 (G>C), as well as haplotype III, may contribute to susceptibility to childhood asthma.