1
|
Abstract
Musical experience facilitates speech perception. French musicians, to whom stress is foreign, have been found to perceive English stress more accurately than French non-musicians. This study investigated whether this musical advantage also applies to native listeners. English musicians and non-musicians completed an English stress discrimination task and two control tasks. With age, non-verbal intelligence and short-term memory controlled, the musicians exhibited a perceptual advantage relative to the non-musicians. This perceptual advantage was equally potent to both trochaic and iambic stress patterns. In terms of perceptual strategy, the two groups showed differential use of acoustic cues for iambic but not trochaic stress. Collectively, the results could be taken to suggest that musical experience enhances stress discrimination even among native listeners. Remarkably, this musical advantage is highly consistent and does not particularly favour either stress pattern. For iambic stress, the musical advantage appears to stem from the differential use of acoustic cues by musicians. For trochaic stress, the musical advantage may be rooted in enhanced durational sensitivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Choi
- Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nguyen TL, Li S, Dowty JG, Dite GS, Ye Z, Nguyen-Dumont T, Trinh HN, Evans CF, Tan M, Sung J, Jenkins MA, Giles GG, Southey MC, Hopper JL. Familial Aspects of Mammographic Density Measures Associated with Breast Cancer Risk. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:1483. [PMID: 35326633 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14061483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Cumulus, Cumulus-percent, Altocumulus, Cirrocumulus, and Cumulus-white are mammogram risk scores (MRSs) that predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer based on mammographically dense areas when defined by different levels of brightness. We measured these MRS for 593 monozygotic (MZ) and 326 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs and 1592 of their sisters. We estimated how much these MRSs were correlated in relatives (ρ), how much of the differences between women were due to genetic factors (heritability), and how much these MRS explained why breast cancer runs in families. The ρ estimates ranged from: 0.41 to 0.60 for MZ pairs, 0.16 to 0.26 for DZ pairs, and 0.19 to 0.29 sister pairs, respectively. Heritability estimates were 36% to 69%. Genetic factors explain most of why twins and sisters are similar in their MRS, and these genetic factors explain one-quarter to one-half as much breast cancer risk as to the current best genetic risk score. Abstract Cumulus, Cumulus-percent, Altocumulus, Cirrocumulus, and Cumulus-white are mammogram risk scores (MRSs) for breast cancer based on mammographic density defined in effect by different levels of pixel brightness and adjusted for age and body mass index. We measured these MRS from digitized film mammograms for 593 monozygotic (MZ) and 326 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs and 1592 of their sisters. We estimated the correlations in relatives (r) and the proportion of variance due to genetic factors (heritability) using the software FISHER and predicted the familial risk ratio (FRR) associated with each MRS. The ρ estimates ranged from: 0.41 to 0.60 (standard error [SE] 0.02) for MZ pairs, 0.16 to 0.26 (SE 0.05) for DZ pairs, and 0.19 to 0.29 (SE 0.02) for sister pairs (including pairs of a twin and her non-twin sister), respectively. Heritability estimates were 39% to 69% under the classic twin model and 36% to 56% when allowing for shared non-genetic factors specific to MZ pairs. The FRRs were 1.08 to 1.17. These MRSs are substantially familial, due mostly to genetic factors that explain one-quarter to one-half as much of the familial aggregation of breast cancer that is explained by the current best polygenic risk score.
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
Given its practical implications, the effect of musicianship on language learning has been vastly researched. Interestingly, growing evidence also suggests that language experience can facilitate music perception. However, the precise nature of this facilitation is not fully understood. To address this research gap, I investigated the interactive effect of language and musicianship on musical pitch and rhythmic perception. Cantonese and English listeners, each divided into musician and non-musician groups, completed the Musical Ear Test and the Raven’s 2 Progressive Matrices. Essentially, an interactive effect of language and musicianship was found on musical pitch but not rhythmic perception. Consistent with previous studies, Cantonese language experience appeared to facilitate musical pitch perception. However, this facilitatory effect was only present among the non-musicians. Among the musicians, Cantonese language experience did not offer any perceptual advantage. The above findings reflect that musicianship influences the effect of language on musical pitch perception. Together with the previous findings, the new findings offer two theoretical implications for the OPERA hypothesis—bi-directionality and mechanisms through which language experience and musicianship interact in different domains.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Choi
- Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Hopper JL, Nguyen TL, Li S. Blood DNA methylation score predicts breast cancer risk: applying OPERA in molecular, environmental, genetic and analytic epidemiology. Mol Oncol 2021; 16:8-10. [PMID: 34655510 PMCID: PMC8732348 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
In this issue, Kresovich and colleagues have published a hallmark paper in Molecular, Environmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology. By applying artificial intelligence to the Sister Study they created a new methylation-based breast cancer risk score (mBCRS) based on blood DNA methylation. Using a prospective design and after accounting for age and questionnaire-based breast cancer risk factors, the Odds PER Adjusted standard deviation (OPERA) for mBCRS and polygenic risk score (PRS) was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.38, 1.81) and 1.58 (95% CI: 1.36, 1.83), respectively, and the corresponding area under the receiver operating curve was 0.63 for both. Therefore, mBCRS could be as powerful as the current best PRS in differentiating women of the same age in terms of their breast cancer risk. These risk scores are among the strongest known breast cancer risk-stratifiers, shaded only by new mammogram risk scores based on measures other than conventional mammographic density, such as Cirrocumulus and Cirrus, which when combined have an OPERA as high as 2.3. The combination of PRS and mBCRS with the other measured risk factors gave an OPERA of 2.2. OPERA has many advantages over changes in areas under the receiver operator curve because the latter depend on the order in which risk factors are considered. Although more replication is needed using prospective data to protect against reverse causation, there are many novel molecular and analytic aspects to this paper which uncovers a potential mechanism for how genetic and environmental factors combine to cause breast cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John L Hopper
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Tuong L Nguyen
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Shuai Li
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Tamburis O, Giannino F, D’Arco M, Tocchi A, Esposito C, Di Fiore G, Piscopo N, Esposito L. A Night at the OPERA: A Conceptual Framework for an Integrated Distributed Sensor Network-Based System to Figure out Safety Protocols for Animals under Risk of Fire. Sensors (Basel) 2020; 20:s20092538. [PMID: 32365698 PMCID: PMC7249212 DOI: 10.3390/s20092538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Large scale wildfire events that occurred around the world involved a massive loss of animal lives, with a consequent economic impact on agricultural holdings and damages to ecosystems. Preparing animals for a wildfire evacuation requires an extra level of planning, preparedness and coordination, which is missing in the current practice. This paper describes a conceptual framework of an ICT system implemented to support the activities of the Regional Veterinary referral Center for non-epidemic emergencies (CeRVEnE) in the Campania Region for the twofold objectives. On the one hand, it realizes the monitoring of the wooded areas under risk of fire in the so-called “Mount Vesuvius’ red zone”. On the other hand, it determines the OPtimal Evacuation Route for Animals (OPERA) in case of fire, for each of the reported animal species living in the mentioned red zone. The main innovation of the proposed system lies in its software architecture that aims at integrating a Distributed Sensor Network (DSN), an ad-hoc software to generate timely simulations for fire risk modeling, and a GIS (Geographic Information System) for both the activities of web mapping and OPERA definition. This paper shows some effective preliminary results of the system implementation. The importance of the system mainly lies in its accordance with the so-called “Foresight approach” perspective, that provides models and tools to guarantee the prevention of systematic failure in disaster risk management, and becomes moreover critical in the case of Mount Vesuvius, which hosts a unique combination of both animal and anthropic elements within a delicate natural ecosystem.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Tamburis
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-081-2536-197
| | - Francesco Giannino
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy;
| | - Mauro D’Arco
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy; (M.D.); (A.T.)
| | - Alessandro Tocchi
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy; (M.D.); (A.T.)
| | - Christian Esposito
- Department of Computer Science, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;
| | - Giorgio Di Fiore
- CeRVEnE (Regional Veterinary referral Center for non-epidemic emergencies), 84031 Auletta (SA), Italy;
| | - Nadia Piscopo
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
| | - Luigi Esposito
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Hopper JL, Nguyen TL, Schmidt DF, Makalic E, Song YM, Sung J, Dite GS, Dowty JG, Li S. Going Beyond Conventional Mammographic Density to Discover Novel Mammogram-Based Predictors of Breast Cancer Risk. J Clin Med 2020; 9:jcm9030627. [PMID: 32110975 PMCID: PMC7141100 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9030627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This commentary is about predicting a woman’s breast cancer risk from her mammogram, building on the work of Wolfe, Boyd and Yaffe on mammographic density. We summarise our efforts at finding new mammogram-based risk predictors, and how they combine with the conventional mammographic density, in predicting risk for interval cancers and screen-detected breast cancers across different ages at diagnosis and for both Caucasian and Asian women. Using the OPERA (odds ratio per adjusted standard deviation) concept, in which the risk gradient is measured on an appropriate scale that takes into account other factors adjusted for by design or analysis, we show that our new mammogram-based measures are the strongest of all currently known breast cancer risk factors in terms of risk discrimination on a population-basis. We summarise our findings graphically using a path diagram in which conventional mammographic density predicts interval cancer due to its role in masking, while the new mammogram-based risk measures could have a causal effect on both interval and screen-detected breast cancer. We discuss attempts by others to pursue this line of investigation, the measurement challenge that allows different measures to be compared in an open and transparent manner on the same datasets, as well as the biological and public health consequences.
Collapse
|
7
|
Hudson S, Vik Hjerkind K, Vinnicombe S, Allen S, Trewin C, Ursin G, dos-Santos-Silva I, De Stavola BL. Adjusting for BMI in analyses of volumetric mammographic density and breast cancer risk. Breast Cancer Res 2018; 20:156. [PMID: 30594212 PMCID: PMC6311032 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-018-1078-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fully automated assessment of mammographic density (MD), a biomarker of breast cancer risk, is being increasingly performed in screening settings. However, data on body mass index (BMI), a confounder of the MD-risk association, are not routinely collected at screening. We investigated whether the amount of fat in the breast, as captured by the amount of mammographic non-dense tissue seen on the mammographic image, can be used as a proxy for BMI when data on the latter are unavailable. METHODS Data from a UK case control study (numbers of cases/controls: 414/685) and a Norwegian cohort study (numbers of cases/non-cases: 657/61059), both with volumetric MD measurements (dense volume (DV), non-dense volume (NDV) and percent density (%MD)) from screening-age women, were analysed. BMI (self-reported) and NDV were taken as measures of adiposity. Correlations between BMI and NDV, %MD and DV were examined after log-transformation and adjustment for age, menopausal status and parity. Logistic regression models were fitted to the UK study, and Cox regression models to the Norwegian study, to assess associations between MD and breast cancer risk, expressed as odds/hazard ratios per adjusted standard deviation (OPERA). Adjustments were first made for standard risk factors except BMI (minimally adjusted models) and then also for BMI or NDV. OPERA pooled relative risks (RRs) were estimated by fixed-effect models, and between-study heterogeneity was assessed by the I2 statistics. RESULTS BMI was positively correlated with NDV (adjusted r = 0.74 in the UK study and r = 0.72 in the Norwegian study) and with DV (r = 0.33 and r = 0.25, respectively). Both %MD and DV were positively associated with breast cancer risk in minimally adjusted models (pooled OPERA RR (95% confidence interval): 1.34 (1.25, 1.43) and 1.46 (1.36, 1.56), respectively; I2 = 0%, P >0.48 for both). Further adjustment for BMI or NDV strengthened the %MD-risk association (1.51 (1.41, 1.61); I2 = 0%, P = 0.33 and 1.51 (1.41, 1.61); I2 = 0%, P = 0.32, respectively). Adjusting for BMI or NDV marginally affected the magnitude of the DV-risk association (1.44 (1.34, 1.54); I2 = 0%, P = 0.87 and 1.49 (1.40, 1.60); I2 = 0%, P = 0.36, respectively). CONCLUSIONS When volumetric MD-breast cancer risk associations are investigated, NDV can be used as a measure of adiposity when BMI data are unavailable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sue Hudson
- Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT UK
| | - Kirsti Vik Hjerkind
- Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sarah Vinnicombe
- Division of Imaging and Technology, Ninewells Hospital Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD2 1SY UK
| | - Steve Allen
- Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, SW3 6JJ UK
| | - Cassia Trewin
- Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway
| | - Giske Ursin
- Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway
| | - Isabel dos-Santos-Silva
- Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT UK
| | - Bianca L. De Stavola
- Faculty of Population Health Sciences, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH UK
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Abstract
The collection of chemical structure information and associated experimental data for quantitative structure–activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) modeling is facilitated by an increasing number of public databases containing large amounts of useful data. However, the performance of QSAR models highly depends on the quality of the data and modeling methodology used. This study aims to develop robust QSAR/QSPR models for chemical properties of environmental interest that can be used for regulatory purposes. This study primarily uses data from the publicly available PHYSPROP database consisting of a set of 13 common physicochemical and environmental fate properties. These datasets have undergone extensive curation using an automated workflow to select only high-quality data, and the chemical structures were standardized prior to calculation of the molecular descriptors. The modeling procedure was developed based on the five Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) principles for QSAR models. A weighted k-nearest neighbor approach was adopted using a minimum number of required descriptors calculated using PaDEL, an open-source software. The genetic algorithms selected only the most pertinent and mechanistically interpretable descriptors (2–15, with an average of 11 descriptors). The sizes of the modeled datasets varied from 150 chemicals for biodegradability half-life to 14,050 chemicals for logP, with an average of 3222 chemicals across all endpoints. The optimal models were built on randomly selected training sets (75%) and validated using fivefold cross-validation (CV) and test sets (25%). The CV Q2 of the models varied from 0.72 to 0.95, with an average of 0.86 and an R2 test value from 0.71 to 0.96, with an average of 0.82. Modeling and performance details are described in QSAR model reporting format and were validated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center to be OECD compliant. All models are freely available as an open-source, command-line application called OPEn structure–activity/property Relationship App (OPERA). OPERA models were applied to more than 750,000 chemicals to produce freely available predicted data on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s CompTox Chemistry Dashboard.![]()
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kamel Mansouri
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA. .,Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 1299 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA. .,ScitoVation LLC, 6 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
| | - Chris M Grulke
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Richard S Judson
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Antony J Williams
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Gudin JA, Brennan MJ, Harris ED, Hurwitz PL, Dietze DT, Strader JD. Changes in pain and concurrent pain medication use following compounded topical analgesic treatment for chronic pain: 3- and 6-month follow-up results from the prospective, observational Optimizing Patient Experience and Response to Topical Analgesics study. J Pain Res 2017; 10:2341-2354. [PMID: 29042810 PMCID: PMC5634368 DOI: 10.2147/jpr.s143513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Opioids and other controlled substances prescribed for chronic pain are associated with abuse, addiction, and death, prompting national initiatives to identify safe and effective pain management strategies including topical analgesics. Methods This prospective, observational study evaluated changes from baseline in overall mean severity and interference scores on the Brief Pain Inventory scale and the use of concurrent pain medications at 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments in chronic pain patients treated with topical analgesics. Changes in pain severity and interference and medication usage were compared between treated patients and unmatched and matched controls. Results The unmatched intervention group (unmatched-IG) included 631 patients who completed baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys (3-month unmatched-IG) and 158 who completed baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments (6-month unmatched-IG). Baseline and 3-month follow-up data were provided by 76 unmatched controls and 76 matched controls (3-month unmatched-CG and matched-CG), and 51 unmatched and 36 matched patients completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys (6-month unmatched-CG and matched-CG). Baseline demographic characteristics and mean pain severity and interference scores were similar between groups. There were statistically significant decreases from baseline in mean pain severity and interference scores within the 3- and 6-month unmatched-IG (all P<0.001). Significantly greater decreases in the mean change from baseline in pain severity and interference scores were evident for the 3- and 6-month unmatched-IG versus unmatched-CG (all P<0.001), with similar results when the 3- and 6-month matched-IG and matched-CG were compared. A higher percentage of the 3- and 6-month unmatched-IG and matched-IG de-escalated use of concurrent pain medications (all P<0.001), while significantly higher percentages of the unmatched-CG and matched-CG escalated medication use. Side effects were reported by <1% of the unmatched-IG. Conclusion Topical analgesics appear to be effective and safe for the treatment of chronic pain, with randomized controlled trials needed to confirm these findings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey A Gudin
- Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, Englewood, NJ
| | | | | | | | | | - James D Strader
- Safe Harbor Compliance and Clinical Services, LLC, Austin, TX, USA
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Smayda KE, Chandrasekaran B, Maddox WT. Enhanced cognitive and perceptual processing: a computational basis for the musician advantage in speech learning. Front Psychol 2015; 6:682. [PMID: 26052304 PMCID: PMC4439769 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Accepted: 05/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-term music training can positively impact speech processing. A recent framework developed to explain such cross-domain plasticity posits that music training-related advantages in speech processing are due to shared cognitive and perceptual processes between music and speech. Although perceptual and cognitive processing advantages due to music training have been independently demonstrated, to date no study has examined perceptual and cognitive processing within the context of a single task. The present study examines the impact of long-term music training on speech learning from a rigorous, computational perspective derived from signal detection theory. Our computational models provide independent estimates of cognitive and perceptual processing in native English-speaking musicians (n = 15, mean age = 25 years) and non-musicians (n = 15, mean age = 23 years) learning to categorize non-native lexical pitch patterns (Mandarin tones). Musicians outperformed non-musicians in this task. Model-based analyses suggested that musicians shifted from simple unidimensional decision strategies to more optimal multidimensional (MD) decision strategies sooner than non-musicians. In addition, musicians used optimal decisional strategies more often than non-musicians. However, musicians and non-musicians who used MD strategies showed no difference in performance. We estimated parameters that quantify the magnitude of perceptual variability along two dimensions that are critical for tone categorization: pitch height and pitch direction. Both musicians and non-musicians showed a decrease in perceptual variability along the pitch height dimension, but only musicians showed a significant reduction in perceptual variability along the pitch direction dimension. Notably, these advantages persisted during a generalization phase, when no feedback was provided. These results provide an insight into the mechanisms underlying the musician advantage observed in non-native speech learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten E Smayda
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX USA
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX USA ; Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX USA
| | - W Todd Maddox
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Aijälä M, Santaniemi M, Bloigu R, Kesäniemi YA, Ukkola O. Leptin receptor Arg109 homozygotes display decreased total mortality as well as lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and related death. Gene 2013; 534:88-92. [PMID: 24140454 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2013] [Revised: 09/24/2013] [Accepted: 10/01/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Two leptin receptor single nucleotide polymorphisms, Lys109Arg and Gln223Arg, have been shown to associate with several risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In addition, we have previously shown that Arg109 and Arg223 homozygotes displayed lower intima-media thickness in our well-defined OPERA (Oulu Project Elucidating Risk of Atherosclerosis) study. This current research investigated the impact of these LEPR polymorphisms on cardiovascular events and related death as well as to total mortality in the 19-year follow-up of OPERA. Subjects were randomly selected, middle-aged drug-treated hypertensives and their age- and sex-matched control subjects recruited to the OPERA study between 1990 and 1993. Mortality and hospital events of 1045 subjects were followed up until 2009. A total of 151 coronary heart disease (CHD) and 211 cardiovascular disease (CVD) events or deaths including 58 CHD and 69 CVD deaths occurred. Furthermore, during this follow-up, a total of 165 subjects died. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the impact of Lys109Arg and Gln223Arg on the events and death. Further modeling was performed with Cox regression for Lys109Arg. The logistic regression analysis revealed a significant protective impact of Arg109Arg genotype on CHD (OR 0.433; CI 95% 0.217-0.863) and CVD (OR 0.540; CI 95% 0.309-0.942) events or death as well as on total mortality (OR 0.390; CI 95% 0.196-0.775) when adjusted with age, sex and study group. Even after further adjustment with BMI, smoking status, systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the protective effect of Arg109Arg on CHD events or death and total mortality still remained statistically significant (OR 0.463; CI 95% 0.230-0.931 and OR 0.442; CI 95% 0.218-0.896, respectively). Arg109Arg was also shown to confer protection against CHD mortality (HR 0.224; CI95% 0.055-0.919) and overall mortality (HR 0.413; CI95% 0.218-0.783) also in Cox regression analysis. In conclusion, the Arg109Arg genotype of LEPR seems to be protective from cardiovascular events and death and this phenomenon seems to be independent of the traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meiju Aijälä
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu and Clinical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|