Publications by authors named "Bolun Cheng"

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders pose major public health challenges, and accelerated biological aging may increase their risk. This study investigates the association between biological aging and musculoskeletal disorders, with a focus on sex-related differences.

Methods: We analyzed data from 172,332 UK Biobank participants (mean age of 56.

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Immune dysregulation has been observed in individuals with sleep disturbance, with HLA molecules play a crucial role in the immune response. This study aimed to investigate the associations between HLA alleles and sleep behaviours, considering several environmental factors. Data were sourced from the UK Biobank.

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  • Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is a condition marked by abnormal cartilage cell death, linked to exposure to T-2 toxin, and is influenced by connective tissue growth factor (CTGF).
  • Researchers studied CTGF levels and apoptosis in cartilage samples from KBD patients and found that T-2 toxin exposure increases both CTGF and apoptosis markers in chondrocytes.
  • Curcumin was identified as a potential treatment that can inhibit CTGF and reduce chondrocyte apoptosis, suggesting it could help prevent cartilage damage in KBD.
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Background: Genetic factors and environmental exposures, including air pollution, contribute to the risk of depression and anxiety. While the association between air pollution and depression and anxiety has been established in the UK Biobank, there has been limited research exploring this relationship from a genetic perspective.

Methods: Based on individual genotypic and phenotypic data from a cohort of 104,385 participants in the UK Biobank, a polygenic risk score for depression and anxiety was constructed to explore the joint effects of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO), particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of ⩽2.

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  • This study explored how genetic factors and socioeconomic status affect the likelihood of developing psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression.
  • Using data from the UK Biobank, researchers analyzed scores from anxiety and depression questionnaires while factoring in socioeconomic deprivation.
  • Findings showed that individuals with higher genetic risk faced greater mental health issues, particularly in lower socioeconomic groups, emphasizing the need for targeted support for vulnerable populations.
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This study investigates the cellular origin and tissue heterogeneity in bipolar disorder (BD) by integrating multiomics data. Four distinct datasets were employed, including single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data (embryonic and fetal brain, n = 8, 1,266 cells), BD Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq) data (adult brain, n = 210), BD bulk RNA-seq data (adult brain, n = 314), and BD genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data (n = 413,466). The integration of scRNA-seq data with multiomics data relevant to BD was accomplished using the single-cell disease relevance score (scDRS) algorithm.

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The association between air pollutants and hepatobiliary pancreatic diseases remains inconclusive. This study analyzed up to 247,091 participants of White European ancestry (aged 37 to 73 years at recruitment) from the UK Biobank, a large-scale prospective cohort with open access. An air pollution score was utilized to assess the combined effect of PM, PM, PM, NO, and NO on total hepatobiliary pancreatic diseases, liver diseases, cholecyst diseases, and pancreatic diseases.

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Objective: This study examines the causal relationships between serum micronutrients and site-specific osteoarthritis (OA) using Mendelian Randomization (MR).

Methods: This study performed a two-sample MR analysis to explore causal links between 21 micronutrients and 11 OA outcomes. These outcomes encompass overall OA, seven site-specific manifestations, and three joint replacement subtypes.

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Background: Observational studies have shown that childhood obesity is associated with adult bone health but yield inconsistent results. We aimed to explore the potential causal association between body shape and skeletal development.

Methods: We used two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate causal relationships between body shape from birth to adulthood and skeletal phenotypes, with exposures including placental weight, birth weight, childhood obesity, BMI, lean mass, fat mass, waist circumference, and hip circumference.

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Objectives: Our study aimed to investigate the association of dietary diversity score (DDS), as reflected by five dietary categories, with biological age acceleration.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: This study included 88,039 individuals from the UK Biobank.

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Objective: This study aimed to identify candidate loci and genes related to sleep disturbances in depressed individuals and clarify the co-occurrence of sleep disturbances and depression from the genetic perspective.

Methods: The study subjects (including 58,256 self-reported depressed individuals and 6,576 participants with PHQ-9 score ≥ 10, respectively) were collected from the UK Biobank, which were determined based on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and self-reported depression status, respectively. Sleep related traits included chronotype, insomnia, snoring and daytime dozing.

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Background: Sleep is a natural and essential physiological need for individuals. Our study aimed to research the associations between accumulated social risks and sleep disorders.

Methods: In this study, we came up with a polysocial risk score (PsRS), which is a cumulative social risk index composed of 13 social determinants of health.

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  • The study aimed to investigate changes in DNA methylation in KBD patients' blood samples before they began chondroitin sulphate treatment, focusing on how these changes may impact treatment response.
  • Researchers utilized advanced sequencing techniques to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and associated genes, revealing significant findings about hypermethylated and hypomethylated regions linked to the treatment response.
  • The results highlighted specific gene expression patterns influenced by DMRs in certain immune cells, contributing to a better understanding of how individual responses to chondroitin sulphate may differ in KBD patients.
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  • This study compared mRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA profiles in cartilage from individuals with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) and osteoarthritis (OA) to identify differences.
  • Using whole-transcriptome sequencing, the research found 43 differentially expressed mRNAs, 1451 lncRNAs, and 305 circRNAs in KBD compared to OA, indicating significant alterations in RNA expression.
  • Findings were further validated through bioinformatic analyses and qRT-PCR, highlighting potential novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for KBD treatment.
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  • The study investigates the interaction between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and lifestyle factors (like smoking and physical activity) on bone mineral density (BMD), a key predictor of osteoporotic fractures.
  • Using data from over 119,000 participants, the research found specific mtDNA loci associated with heel BMD and detected significant interactions between mtDNA and lifestyle factors affecting BMD.
  • The results indicate that physical activity may have a causal effect on heel BMD when considering mtDNA copy number, offering insights into the potential mechanisms behind osteoporosis.
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Background: The identification of suitable biomarkers is of crucial clinical importance for the early diagnosis of treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). This study aims to comprehensively analyze the association between TRS and blood and urine biomarkers.

Methods: Candidate TRS-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained from a recent genome-wide association study.

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  • Depression is linked to increased risks for heart and lung diseases, but how it affects their function remains unclear, especially considering gene-environment interactions.
  • Researchers created a risk score to understand the impact of genetic and environmental factors related to depression on lung and heart function in both smokers and drinkers.
  • The results showed that this new risk score was significantly associated with lung and cardiac function, revealing important differences compared to traditional genetic risk measures.
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Evidence of the associations of air pollution and musculoskeletal diseases is inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the associations between air pollutants and the risk of incident musculoskeletal diseases, such as degenerative joint diseases (n = 38,850) and inflammatory arthropathies (n = 20,108). An air pollution score was constructed to assess the combined effect of PM, PM, NO, and NO.

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T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol (DON) are two prevalent mycotoxins that cause cartilage damage in Kashin-Beck disease (KBD). Cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation in chondrocytes is a significant pathological feature of KBD. It has been shown that the Hippo pathway is involved in cartilage ECM degradation.

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Background: Rare variants are believed to play a substantial role in the genetic architecture of mental disorders, particularly in coding regions. However, limited evidence supports the impact of rare variants on anxiety.

Methods: Using whole-exome sequencing data from 200,643 participants in the UK Biobank, we investigated the contribution of rare variants to anxiety.

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Observational studies have shown that alterations in gut microbiota composition are associated with low back pain. However, it remains unclear whether the association is causal. To reveal the causal association between gut microbiota and low back pain, a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis is performed.

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Background: Mental disorders are largely socially determined, yet the combined impact of multidimensional social factors on the two most common mental disorders, depression and anxiety, remains unclear.

Methods: We constructed a polysocial risk score (PsRS), a multidimensional social risk indicator including components from three domains: socioeconomic status, neighborhood and living environment and psychosocial factors. Supported by the UK Biobank cohort, we randomly divided 110 332 participants into the discovery cohort (60%; n = 66 200) and the replication cohort (40%; n = 44 134).

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Objective: Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is a kind of endemic and chronic osteochondropathy in China. This study aims to explore the functional relevance and potential mechanism of Wnt-inducible signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP1) in the pathogenesis of KBD.

Design: KBD and control cartilage specimens were collected for tissue section observation and primary chondrocyte culture.

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The connection between the gut microbiota and brain structure changes is still unclear. We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to examine the bidirectional causality between the gut microbiota (211 taxa, including 131 genera, 35 families, 20 orders, 16 classes and 9 phyla; N = 18,340 individuals) and age-independent/dependent longitudinal changes in brain structure across the lifespan (N = 15,640 individuals aged 4~99 years). We identified causal associations between the gut microbiota and age-independent/dependent longitudinal changes in brain structure, such as family with age-independent longitudinal changes of cortical gray matter (GM) volume and genus with age-independent average cortical thickness and cortical GM volume.

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