Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height.

Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.

Perspective: NutriGrade: A Scoring System to Assess and Judge the Meta-Evidence of Randomized Controlled Trials and Cohort Studies in Nutrition Research.

The objective of this study was to develop a scoring system (NutriGrade) to evaluate the quality of evidence of randomized controlled trial (RCT) and cohort study meta-analyses in nutrition research, building upon previous tools and expert recommendations. NutriGrade aims to assess the meta-evidence of an association or effect between different nutrition factors and outcomes, taking into account nutrition research-specific requirements not considered by other tools. In a pretest study, 6 randomly selected meta-analyses investigating diet-disease relations were evaluated with NutriGrade by 5 independent raters.

Multiple imputation was a valid approach to estimate absolute risk from a prediction model based on case-cohort data.

Objective: To compare weighting methods for Cox regression and multiple imputation (MI) in a case-cohort study in the context of risk prediction modeling.

Study Design And Setting: Based on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Potsdam study, we estimated risk scores to predict incident type-2 diabetes using full cohort data and case-cohort data assuming missing information on waist circumference outside the case-cohort (∼90%). Varying weighting approaches and MI were compared with regard to the calculation of relative risks, absolute risks, and predictive abilities including C-index, the net reclassification improvement, and calibration.

A metabolomic study of biomarkers of meat and fish intake.

Meat and fish intakes have been associated with various chronic diseases. The use of specific biomarkers may help to assess meat and fish intake and improve subject classification according to the amount and type of meat or fish consumed. A metabolomic approach was applied to search for biomarkers of meat and fish intake in a dietary intervention study and in free-living subjects from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

No association of alcohol use and the risk of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease: data from a European Prospective cohort study (EPIC).

Background/objectives: The role of long-term alcohol consumption for the risk of developing ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is unclear. For the first time, to prospectively assess the role of pre-disease alcohol consumption on the risk of developing UC or CD.

Subjects/methods: Nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-IBD), incident UC and CD cases and matched controls where included.

Dietary Supplements and Risk of Cause-Specific Death, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Primary Prevention Trials.

Our aim was to assess the efficacy of dietary supplements in the primary prevention of cause-specific death, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer by using meta-analytical approaches. Electronic and hand searches were performed until August 2016. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) minimum intervention period of 12 mo; 2) primary prevention trials; 3) mean age ≥18 y; 4) interventions included vitamins, fatty acids, minerals, supplements containing combinations of vitamins and minerals, protein, fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics; and 5) primary outcome of all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes of mortality or incidence from CVD or cancer.

Are sleep duration, midpoint of sleep and sleep quality associated with dietary intake among Bavarian adults?

Background/objectives: Only few epidemiologic studies examined sleep characteristics in relation to dietary behaviour. Our aim was to analyse associations of sleep duration, midpoint of sleep and sleep quality with dietary intake among the Bavarian population.

Subjects/methods: Within the cross-sectional Bavarian Food Consumption Survey II, 1050 subjects aged 13-81 years were recruited.

Hypertension in Germany.

Background: Hypertension is a key risk factor. However, population data based on blood pressure measurements in Germany are scarce.

Methods: Standardized blood pressure (BP) measurements and medication data from seven population-based studies conducted in Germany between 1994 and 2012 (66 845 participants, 25-74 years) were analyzed: the EPICPotsdam study (1994-1998, EPIC), the KORA-S4 Study (1999-2001) in Augsburg, and the Gutenberg Health Study (2007-2012, GHS) in Mainz/Mainz-Bingen provided data for descriptive comparisons.

Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults-a multi-center cohort approach.

Background: A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults.

Dietary flavonoid intake and colorectal cancer risk in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Flavonoids have been shown to inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation in vitro and protect against colorectal carcinogenesis in animal models. However, epidemiological evidence on the potential role of flavonoid intake in colorectal cancer (CRC) development remains sparse and inconsistent. We evaluated the association between dietary intakes of total flavonoids and their subclasses and risk of development of CRC, within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Eating at restaurants, at work or at home. Is there a difference? A study among adults of 11 European countries in the context of the HECTOR* project.

Background/objectives: To compare macronutrient intakes out of home-by location-to those at home and to investigate differences in total daily intakes between individuals consuming more than half of their daily energy out of home and those eating only at home.

Subjects/methods: Data collected through 24-h recalls or diaries among 23 766 European adults. Participants were grouped as 'non-substantial', 'intermediate' and 'very substantial out-of-home' eaters based on energy intake out of home.

Endometrial cancer risk prediction including serum-based biomarkers: results from the EPIC cohort.

Endometrial cancer risk prediction models including lifestyle, anthropometric and reproductive factors have limited discrimination. Adding biomarker data to these models may improve predictive capacity; to our knowledge, this has not been investigated for endometrial cancer. Using a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, we investigated the improvement in discrimination gained by adding serum biomarker concentrations to risk estimates derived from an existing risk prediction model based on epidemiologic factors.

Biomarkers of folate and vitamin B12 and breast cancer risk: report from the EPIC cohort.

Epidemiological studies have reported inconsistent findings for the association between B vitamins and breast cancer (BC) risk. We investigated the relationship between biomarkers of folate and vitamin B12 and the risk of BC in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Plasma concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 were determined in 2,491 BC cases individually matched to 2,521 controls among women who provided baseline blood samples.

Synchronic inverse seasonal rhythmus of energy density of food intake and sleep quality: a contribution to chrono-nutrition from a Polish adult population.

Background/objectives: There is evidence which suggests that sleep behavior and dietary intake are interlinked. Thus, we investigated whether a seasonal rhythm in food-energy density exists, and how this relates to quality of sleep.

Subjects/methods: Two hundred and thirty adult volunteers were investigated across the four seasons.

Prediagnostic circulating concentrations of plasma insulin-like growth factor-I and risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I has cancer promoting activities. However, the hypothesis that circulating IGF-I concentration is related to risk of lymphoma overall or its subtypes has not been examined prospectively. IGF-I concentration was measured in pre-diagnostic plasma samples from a nested case-control study of 1,072 cases of lymphoid malignancies and 1,072 individually matched controls from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Effect of diet on mortality and cancer recurrence among cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Context: Evidence of an association between dietary patterns and individual foods and the risk of overall mortality among cancer survivors has not been reviewed systematically.

Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis of cohort studies was to investigate the association between food intake and dietary patterns and overall mortality among cancer survivors.

Data Sources: The PubMed and Embase databases were searched.

Meat and haem iron intake in relation to glioma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Diets high in red or processed meat have been associated positively with some cancers, and several possible underlying mechanisms have been proposed, including iron-related pathways. However, the role of meat intake in adult glioma risk has yielded conflicting findings because of small sample sizes and heterogeneous tumour classifications. The aim of this study was to examine red meat, processed meat and iron intake in relation to glioma risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Circulating vitamin D in relation to cancer incidence and survival of the head and neck and oesophagus in the EPIC cohort.

Experimental and epidemiological data suggest that vitamin D play a role in pathogenesis and progression of cancer, but prospective data on head and neck cancer (HNC) and oesophagus cancer are limited. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study recruited 385,747 participants with blood samples between 1992 and 2000. This analysis includes 497 case-control pairs of the head and neck and oesophagus, as well as 443 additional controls.

The influence of adjustment for energy misreporting on relations of cake and cookie intake with cardiometabolic disease risk factors.

Background/objectives: Previous cohort studies elucidated unexpected inverse relations of cake and cookie (CC) consumption with chronic disease risk. We assessed CC intake in relation to cardiometabolic disease risk factors in a well-phenotyped population with emphasis on misreporting as the potential driving force behind inverse relations.

Subjects/methods: In a cross-sectional EPIC-Potsdam sub-study individual usual CC intake was modeled by combining 24 h recall and food frequency questionnaire data.

Higher serum asymmetric dimethylarginine is related to higher risk of heart failure in the EPIC-Potsdam study.

L-Arginine is the substrate of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase forming NO which inherits various biological cardio-protective functions. The dimethylarginines asymmetric (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) can impair the synthesis of NO and are elevated in patients with cardiovascular disease, including heart failure (HF). We investigated the association between dimethylarginines and HF risk in a case-cohort study of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (n = 27,548), comprising a random subcohort (n = 2224 including 19 HF cases), and all remaining HF cases (n = 176) that occurred within 8.

Main nutrient patterns and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Background: Much of the current literature on diet-colorectal cancer (CRC) associations focused on studies of single foods/nutrients, whereas less is known about nutrient patterns. We investigated the association between major nutrient patterns and CRC risk in participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Methods: Among 477 312 participants, intakes of 23 nutrients were estimated from validated dietary questionnaires.

Association between omentin-1, adiponectin and bone health under consideration of osteoprotegerin as possible mediator.

Purpose: Several studies implicated a crosstalk between bone and fat in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Few studies indicated an association between adiponectin and omentin-1 on the bone remodeling process and bone mineral density, and suggested osteoprotegerin (OPG) as a mediator of this relationship. However, only limited evidence on this relationship is available in humans.

Determinants of consumption-day amounts applicable for the estimation of usual dietary intake with a short 24-h food list.

Next to the information on frequency of food consumption, information on consumption-day amounts is important to estimate usual dietary intake in epidemiological studies. Our objective was to identify determinants of consumption-day amounts to derive person-specific standard consumption-day amounts applicable for the estimation of usual dietary intake using separate sources to assesss information on consumption probability and amount consumed. 24-h Dietary recall data from the German National Nutrition Survey II ( = 8522; aged 20-80 years) conducted between 2005 and 2007 were analysed for determinants of consumption-day amounts of thirty-eight food and beverage groups using LASSO variable selection for linear mixed-effects models.

An Umbrella Review of Nuts Intake and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease.

Background: Nuts have been an indispensable component of the human diet for hundreds because of their unique nutrient composition and are thought to play a beneficial part in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: To evaluate the extent, validity and presence of evidence for studies investigating the impact of nuts intake on biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events, we performed an umbrella review of all published meta-analyses synthesizing data from both observational studies and randomized controlled trials.

Method: PubMed (between 1966 and April 2016) was searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol-Lowering Genetic Variants and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis.

Importance: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering alleles in or near NPC1L1 or HMGCR, encoding the respective molecular targets of ezetimibe and statins, have previously been used as proxies to study the efficacy of these lipid-lowering drugs. Alleles near HMGCR are associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, similar to the increased incidence of new-onset diabetes associated with statin treatment in randomized clinical trials. It is unknown whether alleles near NPC1L1 are associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.