Causal Effects of Body Mass Index on Airflow Obstruction and Forced Mid-Expiratory Flow: A Mendelian Randomization Study Taking Interactions and Age-Specific Instruments Into Consideration Toward a Life Course Perspective.

Obesity has complex links to respiratory health. Mendelian randomization (MR) enables assessment of causality of body mass index (BMI) effects on airflow obstruction and mid-expiratory flow. In the adult SAPALDIA cohort, recruiting 9,651 population-representative samples aged 18-60 years at baseline (female 51%), BMI and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV) to forced vital capacity (FVC) as well as forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75%) were measured three times over 20 follow-up years.

Transportation noise exposure, noise annoyance and respiratory health in adults: A repeated-measures study.

Transportation noise leads to sleep disturbance and to psychological and physiological sustained stress reactions, which could impact respiratory health. However, epidemiologic evidence on associations of objective transportation noise exposure and also perceived noise annoyance with respiratory morbidity is limited. We investigated independent associations of transportation noise exposure and noise annoyance with prevalent respiratory symptoms and incident asthma in adults.

SERPINA1 methylation and lung function in tobacco-smoke exposed European children and adults: a meta-analysis of ALEC population-based cohorts.

Background: The pathophysiological role of SERPINA1 in respiratory health may be more strongly determined by the regulation of its expression than by common genetic variants. A family based study of predominantly smoking adults found methylation at two Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine sites (CpGs) in SERPINA1 gene to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk. The objective of this study was to confirm the association of lung function with SERPINA1 methylation in general population samples by testing a comprehensive set of CpGs in the SERPINA gene cluster.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: From the lung to the heart?

Background And Aims: Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) is the most abundant serine protease inhibitor in human blood and exerts important anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects. In combination with smoking or other long-term noxious exposures such as occupational dust and fumes, genetic A1AT deficiency can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a condition with elevated cardiovascular risk. The effects of A1AT deficiency on cardiovascular risk have hardly been studied today.

Factors associated with cessation of smoking among Swiss adults between 1991 and 2011: results from the SAPALDIA cohort.

Introduction: Smoking is still the most preventable cause of disease and premature death in Switzerland, as elsewhere. We aimed to assess the main determinants of smoking cessation in the population-based cohort of SAPALDIA (Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults).

Methods: The SAPALDIA study was initiated in 1991 with 9651 participants aged 18 to 60 years from eight areas (S1).

Early menarche and new onset of asthma: Results from the SAPALDIA cohort study.

Rationale: The association between early menarche and new onset of asthma warrants further investigation in those aged >30 years.

Objectives: Using data from the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA), we investigated whether early menarche was associated with new onset of asthma in women aged 18-60 years at baseline.

Methods: Our analysis included 2492 women with information on age at menarche and doctor-diagnosed asthma, who had been asthma free at the time of menarche and had complete covariate information.

The adverse impact of obesity on heart rate variability is modified by a NFE2L2 gene variant: The SAPALDIA cohort.

Background: Overweight has been associated with an increase in inflammatory markers and with an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, such as a decrease in heart rate variability (HRV). In this study we aimed to investigate the modifying effect of a genetic variation in a major anti-inflammatory marker gene, NFE2L2, on the relationship between overweight and HRV.

Methods: We analyzed participants of the SAPALDIA cohort aged 50years and older, twice in 2002/2003 (N=1472) and 2010/2011 (N=1235).

Long-term physical activity is associated with reduced arterial stiffness in older adults: longitudinal results of the SAPALDIA cohort study.

Background: longitudinal analyses of physical activity (PA) and arterial stiffness in populations of older adults are scarce. We examined associations between long-term change of PA and arterial stiffness in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA).

Methods: we assessed PA in SAPALDIA 2 (2001-03) and SAPALDIA 3 (2010-11) using a short questionnaire with a cut-off of at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous PA per week for sufficient activity.

Infectious diseases are associated with carotid intima media thickness in adolescence.

Objective: Inflammatory risk factors in childhood, e.g. obesity, impact on carotid artery intima media thickness (CIMT), an early indicator of atherosclerosis.

Hepatocyte Transfection in Small Pigs After Weaning by Hydrodynamic Intraportal Injection of Naked DNA/Minicircle Vectors.

Liver is an attractive organ for gene delivery in order to correct various genetic (metabolic) diseases. Hydrodynamic vein injection of naked DNA/minicircles devoid of viral or plasmid backbones was demonstrated in, for example, murine phenylketonuria to allow sustained therapeutic transduction of hepatocytes. Here we show successful hepatocyte transfusion in domestic small pigs immediately after weaning upon portal vein catheterization and hydrodynamic injection of naked DNA/minicircle vectors expressing the luciferase gene from the CMV or a liver-specific promoter.

Physical activity is associated with lower arterial stiffness in older adults: results of the SAPALDIA 3 Cohort Study.

Associations of physical activity (PA) intensity with arterial stiffness in older adults at the population level are insufficiently studied. We examined cross-sectional associations of self-reported PA intensities with arterial stiffness in elderly Caucasians of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults. Mixed central and peripheral arterial stiffness was measured oscillometrically by the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Gender differences in adult-onset asthma: results from the Swiss SAPALDIA cohort study.

A higher incidence of asthma is reported in women compared with men, but evidence in later adulthood is limited. We aimed to determine the 20-year cumulative incidence of adult asthma in Switzerland and its relation to sex, taking into account age and allergic sensitisation.We assessed incidence of self-report of doctor-diagnosed asthma between 1991/1992 and 2010/2011 in 5128 subjects without asthma, aged 18-60 years at baseline.

Spirometer Replacement and Serial Lung Function Measurements in Population Studies: Results From the SAPALDIA Study.

The Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Disease in Adults (SAPALDIA), a population cohort study, used heated-wire spirometers in 1991 and 2002 and then ultrasonic spirometers in 2010 revealing measurement bias in healthy never smokers. To provide a practical method to control for measurement bias given the replacement of spirometer in long-term population studies, we built spirometer-specific reference equations from healthy never smokers participating in 1991, 2002, and 2010 to derive individualized corrections terms. We compared yearly lung function decline without corrections terms with fixed terms that were obtained from a quasi-experimental study and individualized terms.

Early detection of subjects at risk for vascular remodelling - results from the Swiss population-based study SAPALDIA.

Questions Under Study: As the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases globally, its prevention and risk assessment becomes ever more important. We thus investigated the longitudinal association of the cardiovascular risk scores in the population-based cohort SAPALDIA with carotid intima media thickening (CIMT), an indicator of sub-clinical disease, and CVD incidence.

Methods: In 2,832 SAPALDIA participants, the Swiss and ESC heart risk score (AGLA, SCORE) were calculated based on 2001 data and CIMT was measured in 2010/11.

Is there a differential impact of parity on blood pressure by age?

Objective: In pregnancy, women experience metabolic and hemodynamic changes of potential long-term impact. Conflicting evidence exists on the impact on blood pressure (BP). We investigated the association between parity and BP in the Swiss Study on Air Pollution And Lung and Heart Disease In Adults cohort.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and diabetes in adult never-smokers.

Background: Active smoking has been linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) but only few recent studies have shown environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) to be associated with DM in never-smokers. We assessed the association between long term ETS exposure and DM, and explored effect modifications of this association in our sample.

Methods: We analysed 6392 participants of the Swiss study on air pollution and lung and heart diseases in adults (SAPALDIA).

Modification of the association between PM10 and lung function decline by cadherin 13 polymorphisms in the SAPALDIA cohort: a genome-wide interaction analysis.

Background: Both air pollution and genetic variation have been shown to affect lung function. Their interaction has not been studied on a genome-wide scale to date.

Objectives: We aimed to identify, in an agnostic fashion, genes that modify the association between long-term air pollution exposure and annual lung function decline in an adult population-based sample.

Computed tomography of the abdomen of calves during the first 105 days of life: III. Urinary tract and adrenal glands.

Computed tomographic (CT) findings of the urinary tract and adrenal glands of five healthy male calves in the first 105 days of life were compared with corresponding cadaver slices. The structures seen on CT images were identified using the corresponding cadaver slices. CT produced exact images of the kidneys, urinary bladder, urethra and adrenal glands, but reliable images of the ureters were only obtained near the renal hilus.

[Experiences with pain control during piglet castration in Switzerland Part 2: Injection anesthesia].

The aim of this study was to describe the practical implementation of the painless castration under injection anaesthesia in Switzerland. 30 swine farms were visited and 60 farmers answered a questionnaire. 34 % of the piglets showed movements during castration under injection anaesthesia and 17 % had excitations during recovery from anaesthesia.

[Experiences with pain control during piglet castration in Switzerland Part 1: Inhalation anesthesia].

The objectives of this study were a description of the practical implementation of the painless castration under inhalational anaesthesia with an objective assessment of animal welfare, workplace safety and time exposure. 600 questionnaires were sent to farmers all over Switzerland and 100 farms were visited during castration under inhalation anaesthesia. 44 % of the visited farmers administered analgetics during anaesthesia or less than 10 minutes before castration.

Serum bilirubin is associated with lung function in a Swiss general population sample.

Bilirubin is a strong antioxidant. Increased serum levels have been associated with lower respiratory disease and mortality risk. We studied the association of bilirubin with lung function in the Swiss study on Air Pollution and Lung Disease in adults (SAPALDIA) cohort.

Atherogenesis in youth--early consequence of adolescent smoking.

Background: Cigarette smoking is a prevalent risk behavior among adolescents and tracks into adulthood. Little is known on the early impact of smoking on the vasculature in adolescence, although smoking is considered highly atherogenic in adults. We investigated the association between active smoking and Carotid artery Intima Media Thickness (CIMT), an early indicator of atherosclerosis.

Apgar score after induction of anesthesia for canine cesarean section with alfaxalone versus propofol.

The effects of alfaxalone and propofol on neonatal vitality were studied in 22 bitches and 81 puppies after their use as anesthetic induction agents for emergency cesarean section. After assessment that surgery was indicated, bitches were randomly allocated to receive alfaxalone 1 to 2 mg/kg body weight or propofol 2 to 6 mg/kg body weight for anesthetic induction. Both drugs were administered intravenously to effect to allow endotracheal intubation, and anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane in oxygen.

Occupational exposure to dusts, gases, and fumes and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults.

Rationale: There is limited evidence from population-based studies demonstrating incidence of spirometric-defined chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in association with occupational exposures.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between occupational exposures and incidence of COPD in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA).

Measurements And Main Results: Prebronchodilator ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second over forced vital capacity (FEV(1)/FVC) was measured in 4,267 nonasthmatic SAPALDIA participants ages 18-62 at baseline in 1991 and at follow-up in 2001-2003.