Publications by authors named "Barbara Thorand"

Background: Distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) is a common neurological disorder in elderly adults and people with obesity, prediabetes and diabetes and is associated with high morbidity and premature mortality. DSPN is a multifactorial disease and not fully understood yet.

Methods: Here, we developed the Interpretable Multimodal Machine Learning (IMML) framework for predicting DSPN prevalence and incidence based on sparse multimodal data.

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Background: Frailty, resilience and intrinsic capacity (IC) are concepts to evaluate older person`s health status, but no comparison of their associations with adverse health outcomes exists. We therefore aimed to assess which concept is most useful for determining long-term health of older adults.

Methods: Analyses were based on the KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg)-Age study (n = 940, 65-93 years).

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Imaging biomarkers of bone, muscle, and fat by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may depict osteopenia, sarcopenia, and adiposity as the three different conditions of osteosarcopenic adiposity (OSA). Subjects from a prospective, population-based case-control study underwent a health assessment and 3 Tesla whole-body MRI scan. Imaging biomarkers of bone (bone marrow fat-fraction (BMFF)), skeletal muscle (skeletal muscle FF (SMFF)), and fat (total adipose tissue (TAT)) were determined.

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Understanding the genetics of kidney function decline, or trait change in general, is hampered by scarce longitudinal data for GWAS (longGWAS) and uncertainty about how to analyze such data. We use longitudinal UK Biobank data for creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate from 348,275 individuals to search for genetic variants associated with eGFR-decline. This search was performed both among 595 variants previously associated with eGFR in cross-sectional GWAS and genome-wide.

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Background: Sex differences exist in type 2 diabetes (T2D), and androgens have been implicated in the etiology of T2D in a sex-specific manner. We therefore aimed to investigate whether androgens play a role in explaining sex differences in glucose homeostasis and incidence of T2D.

Methods: We used observational data from the German population-based KORA F4 study (n = 1975, mean age: 54 years, 41% women) and its follow-up examination KORA FF4 (median follow-up 6.

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Aims: A data-driven cluster analysis in a cohort of European individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has previously identified four subgroups based on clinical characteristics. In the current study, we performed a comprehensive statistical assessment to (1) replicate the above-mentioned original clusters; (2) derive de novo T2D subphenotypes in the Kooperative Gesundheitsforschung in der Region Augsburg (KORA) cohort and (3) describe underlying genetic risk and diabetes complications.

Methods: We used data from n = 301 individuals with T2D from KORA FF4 study (Southern Germany).

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Background: Protein biomarkers may contribute to the identification of vulnerable subgroups for premature mortality. This study aimed to investigate the association of plasma proteins with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among individuals with and without baseline type 2 diabetes (T2D) and evaluate their impact on the prediction of all-cause mortality in two prospective Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA) studies.

Methods: The discovery cohort comprised 1545 participants (median follow-up 15.

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Background: There is insufficient evidence to provide recommendations for leisure-time physical activity among workers across various occupational physical activity levels. This study aimed to assess the association of leisure-time physical activity with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality across occupational physical activity levels.

Methods: This study utilized individual participant data from 21 cohort studies, comprising both published and unpublished data.

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Objective: Health effects of different physical activity domains (ie, during leisure time, work and transport) are generally considered positive. Using data, we assessed independent associations of occupational and leisure-time physical activity (OPA and LTPA) with all-cause mortality.

Design: Two-stage individual participant data meta-analysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Understanding how kidney function ages is crucial for identifying those at risk for chronic kidney disease.
  • This study analyzed data from four German cohorts over 25 years, focusing on estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) from blood tests to provide age-specific reference values.
  • Findings indicate that eGFR declines linearly with age, and the study offers tools for clinicians to evaluate eGFR based on patients' age and health profiles.
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Background: Oxidative stress is a risk factor for distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). Selenoprotein P is a protein with antioxidant properties but has not been investigated in the context of DSPN. This study aimed to assess the associations between selenoprotein P and DSPN in people without and with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

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Article Synopsis
  • * Results show that four specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in individuals with type 2 diabetes are linked to DSPN, meaning those with certain genetic variations are more likely to experience nerve damage, especially as the criteria for diagnosis become stricter.
  • * The findings support the idea that genetic factors related to the metabolism of glucose intermediates play a significant role in the development of diabetic neuropathy, highlighting potential areas for
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Background: Conventional low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) quantification includes cholesterol attributable to lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)-C) due to their overlapping densities.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to compare the association between LDL-C and LDL-C corrected for Lp(a)-C (LDL) with incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population and to investigate whether concomitant Lp(a) values influence the association of LDL-C or apolipoprotein B (apoB) with coronary events.

Methods: Among 68,748 CHD-free subjects at baseline LDL was calculated as "LDL-C-Lp(a)-C," where Lp(a)-C was 30% or 17.

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Research has indicated that sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is associated with glucose homeostasis and may play a role in the etiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D). While it is unclear whether SHBG may mediate sex differences in glucose control and subsequently, incidence of T2D. We used observational data from the German population-based KORA F4 study (n = 1937, mean age: 54 years, 41% women) and its follow-up examination KORA FF4 (median follow-up 6.

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Aims: The aim of this study was to assess associations between neurological biomarkers and distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN).

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were based on 1032 participants aged 61-82 years from the population-based KORA F4 survey, 177 of whom had DSPN at baseline. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 20%.

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Importance: Identification of individuals at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease within the population is important to inform primary prevention strategies.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of routinely available cardiovascular biomarkers when added to established risk factors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Individual-level analysis including data on cardiovascular biomarkers from 28 general population-based cohorts from 12 countries and 4 continents with assessments by participant age.

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Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a major public health concern, and various environmental factors have been associated with the development of this disease. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of multiple environmental exposures on the risk of incident T2D in a German population-based cohort.

Methods: We used data from the KORA cohort study (Augsburg, Germany) and assessed exposure to air pollutants, traffic noise, greenness, and temperature at the participants' residencies.

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Background: Multiple risk factors contribute jointly to the development and progression of cardiometabolic diseases. Therefore, joint longitudinal trajectories of multiple risk factors might represent different degrees of cardiometabolic risk.

Methods: We analyzed population-based data comprising three examinations (Exam 1: 1999-2001, Exam 2: 2006-2008, Exam 3: 2013-2014) of 976 male and 1004 female participants of the KORA cohort (Southern Germany).

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Background: Hypertension, a complex condition, is primarily defined based on blood pressure readings without involving its pathophysiological mechanisms. We aimed to identify biomarkers through a proteomic approach, thereby enhancing the future definition of hypertension with insights into its molecular mechanisms.

Methods: The discovery analysis included 1560 participants, aged 55 to 74 years at baseline, from the KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg) S4/F4/FF4 cohort study, with 3332 observations over a median of 13.

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Introduction: Circulating omentin levels have been positively associated with insulin sensitivity. Although a role for adiponectin in this relationship has been suggested, underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In order to reveal the relationship between omentin and systemic metabolism, this study aimed to investigate associations of serum concentrations of omentin and metabolites.

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Article Synopsis
  • Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex disease influenced by various genetic factors and molecular mechanisms that vary by cell type and ancestry.
  • In a large study involving over 2.5 million individuals, researchers identified 1,289 significant genetic associations linked to T2D, including 145 new loci not previously reported.
  • The study categorized T2D signals into eight distinct clusters based on their connections to cardiometabolic traits and showed that these genetic profiles are linked to vascular complications, emphasizing the role of obesity-related processes across different ancestry groups.
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Background: Dietary intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may have a protective effect on the development of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression and cancer, while a high intake of n-6 PUFA was often reported to be associated with inflammation-related traits. The effect of PUFAs on health outcomes might be mediated by DNA methylation (DNAm). The aim of our study is to identify the impact of PUFA intake on DNAm in the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA) FF4 cohort and the Leiden Longevity Study (LLS).

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Objectives: To assess the association of serum magnesium with prevalent and incident metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its individual components in the general population and to examine any effect modification by chronic kidney disease (CKD) status.

Methods: We analysed longitudinal data from the population-based KORA F4/FF4 study, including 2996 participants (387 with CKD) for cross-sectional analysis and 1446 participants (88 with CKD) for longitudinal analysis. Associations with MetS, as well as single components of MetS, were assessed by adjusted regression models.

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