Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Disparities in Posttraumatic Stress in Women in Southeast Louisiana: NIMHD Social Epigenomics Program.

Importance: Disasters experienced by an entire community provide opportunities to understand individual differences in risk for adverse health outcomes over time. DNA methylation (DNAm) differences may help to distinguish individuals at increased risk following large-scale disasters.

Objective: To examine the association of epigenetic age acceleration with probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and PTSD symptom severity in women.

A three-factor benefits framework for understanding consumer preference for scented household products: psychological interactions and implications for future development.

Humans have deliberately scented their environment for purpose or pleasure for millennia. In the contemporary marketplace most consumers prefer and purchase scented versions of common household products. However, the drivers of this consumer preference have not been elucidated.

Cross sectional analysis of the effect of alcohol on pulmonary function in a cohort of men and women living with HIV.

People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk for noncommunicable diseases such as lung disease in part due to opportunistic infections including pneumonia. HIV infection is associated with increased prevalence of impaired lung function and abnormal gas exchange. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is exceedingly common in PLWH and is associated with higher risk of pneumonia in PLWH.

Alcohol use and dysglycemia among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Alcohol & Metabolic Comorbidities in PLWH: Evidence Driven Interventions (ALIVE-Ex) study.

Background: At-risk alcohol use is a common and costly form of substance misuse that is highly prevalent among people living with HIV (PLWH). The goal of the current analysis was to test the hypothesis that PLWH with at-risk alcohol use are more likely to meet the clinical criteria for prediabetes/diabetes than PLWH with low-risk alcohol use.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on measures of alcohol and glycemic control in adult PLWH (n = 105) enrolled in a prospective, interventional study (the ALIVE-Ex Study (NCT03299205)) that investigated the effects of aerobic exercise on metabolic dysregulation in PLWH with at-risk alcohol use.

Alcohol Use Is Associated With Intestinal Dysbiosis and Dysfunctional CD8+ T-Cell Phenotypes in Persons With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Background: Inflammation persists among persons with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) despite effective antiretroviral therapy and may contribute to T-cell dysfunction. Alcohol use is prevalent among PWH and promotes intestinal leak, dysbiosis, and a proinflammatory milieu. Whether alcohol use is associated with T-cell late differentiation remains to be investigated.

Prevalence of Insulin Resistance in Adults Living with HIV: Implications of Alcohol Use.

Unhealthy alcohol use is prevalent among persons living with HIV (PLWH). Aging and increased survival of PLWH on antiretroviral therapy (ART) are complicated by metabolic dysregulation and increased risk of insulin resistance (IR) and diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and association of IR with unhealthy alcohol use in adult in-care PLWH.

Comprehensive Assessment of Alcohol Consumption in People Living with HIV (PLWH): The New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV Study.

Background: High frequency of alcohol use among people living with HIV (PLWH) warrants careful assessment and screening to better understand its impact on HIV disease progression and development of comorbidities. Due to the limitations of the tools used to measure alcohol use, the links to health consequences are not fully understood.

Methods: We completed a cross-sectional analysis to examine the prevalence of alcohol consumption using multiple alcohol assessment tools and their correlation and consistency in a cohort of PLWH (N = 365) enrolled in the New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV (NOAH) Study.

Associations of Liver Disease with Alcohol Use among People Living with HIV and the Role of Hepatitis C: The New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV Study.

Aim: This cross-sectional analysis of the New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV (NOAH) study assesses whether current and lifetime alcohol use in people living with HIV (PLWH) are associated with greater liver disease and how hepatitis C-viral (HCV) co-infection (HIV/HCV+) modifies the association.

Methods: Alcohol use was measured by Lifetime Drinking History (LDH), a 30-day Timeline Followback calendar, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, and phosphatidylethanol. Liver disease was estimated by alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST platelet ratio-index (APRI), fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-fibrosis score.

Lifetime alcohol use among persons living with HIV is associated with frailty.

Background: The average lifespan of persons living with HIV (PLWH) on antiretroviral therapy approximates the general population. However, PLWH are susceptible to early aging and frailty. Behaviors such as alcohol consumption may contribute to frailty among PLWH.

International meta-analysis of PTSD genome-wide association studies identifies sex- and ancestry-specific genetic risk loci.

The risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma is heritable, but robust common variants have yet to be identified. In a multi-ethnic cohort including over 30,000 PTSD cases and 170,000 controls we conduct a genome-wide association study of PTSD. We demonstrate SNP-based heritability estimates of 5-20%, varying by sex.

Neighborhood Alcohol Environment: Differential Effects on Hazardous Drinking and Mental Health by Sex in Persons Living with HIV (PLWH).

Despite greater mental health co-morbidities and heavier alcohol use among PLWH, few studies have examined the role of the neighborhood alcohol environment on either alcohol consumption or mental health. Utilizing cross-sectional data from a cohort study in a southern U.S.

The New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV Study: Launching a Translational Investigation of the Interaction of Alcohol Use with Biological and Socioenvironmental Risk Factors for Multimorbidity in People Living with HIV.

Background: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are highly prevalent in people living with HIV (PLWH) and are associated with increased HIV risk behaviors, suboptimal treatment adherence, potential interaction with medication pharmacodynamics, and greater risk for disease progression. Preclinical studies show that chronic binge alcohol administration accelerates disease progression and aggravates pathogenesis in the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaque model despite viral suppression by antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: To translate preclinical findings in the rhesus macaque model of chronic binge alcohol administration and SIV infection and to address areas of uncertainty surrounding the biological mechanisms and socioenvironmental modifiers that contribute to the relationship between alcohol use and HIV-associated comorbidities, precocious aging, and disease progression, we designed a translational multiproject, longitudinal, cohort study, and the New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV (NOAH) Study.

Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Increases Blood Ethanol Concentration Duration After Both Acute and Chronic Administration.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a frequent comorbidity among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Alcohol consumption is a significant predictor of nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), as well as worsening immunological and virological indicators among PLWHA. Clinical studies indicate that higher viral loads increase sensitivity to alcohol in PLWHA.

The Women and Their Children's Health (WaTCH) study: methods and design of a prospective cohort study in Louisiana to examine the health effects from the BP oil spill.

Purpose: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is the largest marine oil spill in US history. Few studies have evaluated the potential health effects of this spill on the Gulf Coast community. The Women and Their Children's Health (WaTCH) study is a prospective cohort designed to investigate the midterm to long-term physical, mental and behavioural health effects of exposure to the oil spill.

Five-year medical and pharmacy costs after a medically supervised intensive treatment program for obesity.

Purpose: The financial impact of intensive medical interventions for weight loss has not been fully studied.

Design: A randomized pragmatic clinical trial.

Setting: Seven primary care clinics and one research center in Louisiana.

Neighborhood environments and obesity among Afro-Caribbean, African American, and Non-Hispanic white adults in the United States: results from the National Survey of American Life.

Objective: To examine possible associations between perceived neighborhood environments and obesity among a U.S. nationally representative sample of Afro-Caribbean, African American, and Non-Hispanic white adults.

Exercise training and quality of life in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To establish whether exercise improves quality of life (QOL) in individuals with type 2 diabetes and which exercise modalities are involved.

Research Design And Methods: Health Benefits of Aerobic and Resistance Training in individuals with type 2 Diabetes (HART-D; n = 262) was a 9-month exercise study comparing the effects of aerobic training, resistance training, or a combination of resistance and aerobic training versus a nonexercise control group on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in sedentary individuals with type 2 diabetes. This study is an ancillary analysis that examined changes in QOL after exercise training using the Short Form-36 Health Survey questionnaire compared across treatment groups and with U.

Predisease conditions and serum vitamin D levels in healthy Mexican American adults.

Aims: To elucidate the relationship between low circulating serum vitamin D levels and predisease conditions (ie, prediabetes and prehypertension) in healthy Mexican American adults.

Methods: Analyses were conducted using data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 through 2006. Free-living (ie, community-dwelling, nonimprisoned) adult Mexican American subjects (N = 788; men, n = 443; women, n = 345) who had provided written informed consent and had no history of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and/or cardiovascular disease were included in this report.

Actual medical and pharmacy costs for bariatric surgery: 6-year follow-up.

Objective: To determine the change in total medical expenditures, total pharmacy expenditures, and subcategories of medical and pharmacy expenditures in obese individuals following weight loss surgery (WLS), and to compare these costs with expenditures in obese individuals not receiving WLS.

Methods: Louisiana Office of Group Benefits (OGB), the state-managed health insurer, invited members to be evaluated for insurance-covered WLS. Of 951 obese members who provided written consent to begin the WLS screening process, 40 were selected for surgery.

Predicting doubly labeled water energy expenditure from ambulatory activity.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential for using accelerometer-determined ambulatory activity indicators (steps per day and cadence) to predict total energy expenditure (TEE) and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) derived from doubly labeled water (DLW). Twenty men and 34 women (20-36 years of age) provided complete anthropometric, accelerometer, resting metabolic rate (RMR), and DLW data. TEE and PAEE were determined for the same week that accelerometers were worn during waking hours.

Reducing the glycemic index or carbohydrate content of mixed meals reduces postprandial glycemia and insulinemia over the entire day but does not affect satiety.

Objective: We evaluated the effects of mixed meals differing in glycemic index (GI) and carbohydrate content on postprandial serum glucose and insulin response, hunger, and satiety over the course of a 12-h day.

Research Design And Methods: In this randomized crossover trial, 26 overweight or obese adults received four diets in random order (high GI, high carbohydrate [HGI-HC]; high GI, low carbohydrate [HGI-LC]; low GI, high carbohydrate [LGI-HC]; and low GI, low carbohydrate [LGI-LC]). All meals were prepared by a metabolic kitchen.

Low vitamin D levels, prediabetes and prehypertension in healthy African American adults.

Aims: To determine if customary lower serum vitamin D concentrations in healthy African American (AA) adults are associated with modest elevations in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and/or resting blood pressure (BP). Numerous health disparities between African American (AA) and Caucasian American (CA) adults, especially those which increase cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, have been attributed to lower serum vitamin D concentrations in the AA. Prediabetes (PreDM) and prehypertension (PreHTN) are significantly more prevalent in healthy disease free CA adults with serum vitamin D concentrations below the 75th percentile for the Caucasian cohort.

Peak stepping cadence in free-living adults: 2005-2006 NHANES.

Background: Analysis of the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) accelerometer data provides the descriptive epidemiology of peak 30-minute cadence (defined as the average steps/min recorded for the 30 highest, but not necessarily consecutive, minutes in a day) and peak 1-minute cadence (defined as the steps/min recorded for the highest single minute in a day) by sex, age, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Minute-by-minute step data were rank ordered each day to identify the peak 30-minute and 1-minute cadences for 3522 adults (20+ years of age) with complete sex, age, and BMI data and at least 1 valid day (ie, 10/24 hours of accelerometer wear) of accelerometer data. Peak values were averaged across days within participants by sex, age, and BMI-defined categories.

Incremental weight loss improves cardiometabolic risk in extremely obese adults.

Objective: Excessively obese adults often acquire many metabolic disorders that put them at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. We investigated the hypothesis that cardiometabolic risk in a primary care cohort of 208 excessively obese adults (body mass index 40-60 kg/m(2), 48 with type 2 diabetes mellitus) would deteriorate with additional weight gain and improve incrementally beginning with 5% weight reduction.

Methods: Further analysis of the Louisiana Obese Subjects Study of excessively obese patients enrolled and followed during 2005-2008 is reported.