Predicting the Safety and Effectiveness of Inferior Vena Cava Filters (PRESERVE): Outcomes at 12 months.

Objective: To determine the safety and effectiveness of vena cava filters (VCFs).

Methods: A total of 1429 participants (62.7 ± 14.

Predicting the Safety and Effectiveness of Inferior Vena Cava Filters (PRESERVE): Outcomes at 12 months.

Objective: To determine the safety and effectiveness of vena cava filters (VCFs).

Methods: A total of 1429 participants (62.7 ± 14.

Airflow Obstruction and Use of Solid Fuels for Cooking or Heating: BOLD Results.

Rationale: Evidence supporting the association of COPD or airflow obstruction with use of solid fuels is conflicting and inconsistent.

Objective: To assess the association of airflow obstruction with self-reported use of solid fuels for cooking or heating.

Methods: We analysed 18,554 adults from the BOLD study, who had provided acceptable post-bronchodilator spirometry measurements and information on use of solid fuels.

Interrogating causal pathways linking genetic variants, small molecule metabolites, and circulating lipids.

Background: Emerging technologies based on mass spectrometry or nuclear magnetic resonance enable the monitoring of hundreds of small metabolites from tissues or body fluids. Profiling of metabolites can help elucidate causal pathways linking established genetic variants to known disease risk factors such as blood lipid traits.

Methods: We applied statistical methodology to dissect causal relationships between single nucleotide polymorphisms, metabolite concentrations, and serum lipid traits, focusing on 95 genetic loci reproducibly associated with the four main serum lipids (total-, low-density lipoprotein-, and high-density lipoprotein- cholesterol and triglycerides).

Variance decomposition of protein profiles from antibody arrays using a longitudinal twin model.

Background: The advent of affinity-based proteomics technologies for global protein profiling provides the prospect of finding new molecular biomarkers for common, multifactorial disorders. The molecular phenotypes obtained from studies on such platforms are driven by multiple sources, including genetic, environmental, and experimental components. In characterizing the contribution of different sources of variation to the measured phenotypes, the aim is to facilitate the design and interpretation of future biomedical studies employing exploratory and multiplexed technologies.

Association between DHEAS and bone loss in postmenopausal women: a 15-year longitudinal population-based study.

Our aim was to examine the association between serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) at baseline and BMD change at the femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) in postmenopausal women during a 15-year follow-up. All participants were from the Chingford Study. BMD at the FN and LS were measured eight times during the 15-year follow-up by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

A genome-wide perspective of genetic variation in human metabolism.

Serum metabolite concentrations provide a direct readout of biological processes in the human body, and they are associated with disorders such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. We present a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 163 metabolic traits measured in human blood from 1,809 participants from the KORA population, with replication in 422 participants of the TwinsUK cohort. For eight out of nine replicated loci (FADS1, ELOVL2, ACADS, ACADM, ACADL, SPTLC3, ETFDH and SLC16A9), the genetic variant is located in or near genes encoding enzymes or solute carriers whose functions match the associating metabolic traits.

Comparative protein profiling of serum and plasma using an antibody suspension bead array approach.

In the pursuit towards a systematic analysis of human diseases, array-based approaches within antibody proteomics offer high-throughput strategies to discover protein biomarkers in serum and plasma. To investigate the influence of sample preparation on such discovery attempts, we report on a systematic effort to compare serum and plasma protein profiles determined with an antibody suspension bead array. The intensity levels were used to define protein profiles and no significant differences between serum and plasma were observed for 79% of the 174 antibodies (targeting 156 proteins).

Interleukin-6 is a significant predictor of radiographic knee osteoarthritis: The Chingford Study.

Objective: There is a great need for identification of biomarkers that could improve the prediction of early osteoarthritis (OA). We undertook this study to determine whether circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and C-reactive protein (CRP) can serve as useful markers of radiographic knee OA (RKOA) in a normal human population.

Methods: RKOA data were obtained from the cohort of the Chingford Study, a prospective population-based study of healthy, middle-aged British women.

Genetic loci linked to pituitary-thyroid axis set points: a genome-wide scan of a large twin cohort.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that circulating concentrations of TSH, free T4, and free T3 are genetically regulated, but the genes responsible remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to identify genetic loci associated with these parameters.

Design: We performed a multipoint, nonparametric genome-wide linkage scan of 613 female dizygotic twin pairs.

Habituation of premonitory sensations during exposure and response prevention treatment in Tourette's syndrome.

Exposure to premonitory sensations and response prevention of tics (ER) has been shown to be a promising new treatment for Tourette's syndrome (TS). The present study tested the hypothesis that habituation to unpleasant premonitory sensations associated with the tic is an underlying mechanism of change in ER. Patients rated the severity of sensations and urges at 15-minute intervals during ten 2-hour ER sessions.

Offspring's leukocyte telomere length, paternal age, and telomere elongation in sperm.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a complex genetic trait. It shortens with age and is associated with a host of aging-related disorders. Recent studies have observed that offspring of older fathers have longer LTLs.

The association between physical activity in leisure time and leukocyte telomere length.

Background: Physical inactivity is an important risk factor for many aging-related diseases. Leukocyte telomere dynamics (telomere length and age-dependent attrition rate) are ostensibly a biological indicator of human aging. We therefore tested the hypothesis that physical activity level in leisure time (over the past 12 months) is associated with leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in normal healthy volunteers.

Nevus size and number are associated with telomere length and represent potential markers of a decreased senescence in vivo.

Nevus counts represent one of the strongest risk factors for melanoma. They appear in childhood and adolescence and involute from middle age onwards. Recent evidence has shown that nevus cells undergo oncogene-induced senescence involving the p16/retinoblastoma pathway.

Lack of association between leukocyte telomere length and genetic variants in two ageing-related candidate genes.

Background: Leukocyte telomere length, a putative marker of ageing, is a highly variable and heritable complex trait. In order to determine the possible underlying genetic variants for leukocyte telomere length variation, we conducted an association study of leukocyte telomere length and two candidate genes for ageing-related traits, TGFB1 and KLOTHO, in a female Caucasian dizygotic twin population.

Methods And Materials: Terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, an index of telomere length, was measured using Southern Blotting.

Linkage of genes to total lean body mass in normal women.

Background: Total lean body mass (LEAN-tot) is one of the three major components of body weight. Its deterioration is a risk factor for frailty. Despite this, there are few studies examining the contribution of genetic factors.

Genomewide linkage scan of hand osteoarthritis in female twin pairs showing replication of quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 2 and 19.

Background And Objective: Until recently, there has been little agreement between conflicting results of osteoarthritis (OA) linkage. The purpose of this study was to conduct a whole-genome linkage scan to identify susceptibility loci for idiopathic hand OA in a large, population-based sample of females.

Methods: Two OA-related radiographic phenotypes DIP (distal interphalangeal joints)-OA and Tot-KL (Kellgren-Lawrence score for both hands) chosen a priori were examined on 538 (269 pairs) monozygous and 1256 (628 pairs) dizygous (DZ) females.

Genome-wide search for nevus density shows linkage to two melanoma loci on chromosome 9 and identifies a new QTL on 5q31 in an adult twin cohort.

The density of acquired melanocytic nevi represents an important risk factor for malignant melanoma. Total body nevus counts were collected in a cross-sectional study of 1730 healthy females from the UK Adult twin registry comprising 709 dizygous and 156 monozygous pairs. Nevus density (ND) increased up to the age of 35 years and then gradually declined.

Heritability of the second to fourth digit ratio (2d:4d): A twin study.

The second to fourth finger length ratio (2d:4d) has been the subject of much recent work and is thought to be related to diverse gender and hormone-related traits including sports ability, disease susceptibility, attractiveness and sexuality. It is established in utero and remains constant in adulthood. Familial clustering has been thought to contribute to the development of 2d:4d from early studies but no twin studies exploring heritability have been reported to date.

Mapping genetic loci that determine leukocyte telomere length in a large sample of unselected female sibling pairs.

Telomeres play a central role in cellular senescence and cancer pathobiology and are associated with age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis and dementia. Telomere length varies between individuals of the same age, is influenced by DNA-damaging factors such as oxidative stress, and is heritable. We performed a quantitative-trait linkage analysis using an approximate 10-cM genomewide map for mean leukocyte terminal-restriction fragment (TRF) lengths measured by Southern blotting, in 2,050 unselected women aged 18-80 years, comprising 1,025 complete dizygotic twin pairs.