The association between toenail metals and extracellular MicroRNAs (ex-miRNAs) among the participants of the Normative Aging study (NAS).

Background: Mechanistic studies of the effects of environmental risk factors have been exploring the potential role of microRNA(miRNAs) as a possible pathway to clinical disease. In this study we examine whether levels of toenail metals are associated with changes in extracellular miRNA(ex-miRNA) expression.

Methods: We used data derived from the Normative Aging Study from 1996 to 2014 to conduct our analyses.

Intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature and the extracellular microRNA profile of participants in the normative aging study (NAS).

Background: The molecular effects of intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature, such as those on extracellular microRNA (ex-miRNA) are not well understood but may have clinical consequences.

Objectives: To assess the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and temperature and ex-miRNA profiles.

Methods: Our study population consisted of 734 participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) between 1999 and 2015.

Phthalates impact on the epigenetic factors contributed specifically by the father at fertilization.

Background: Preconception exposure to phthalates such as the anti-androgenic dibutyl-phthalate (DBP) impacts both male and female reproduction, yet how this occurs largely remains unknown. Previously we defined a series of RNAs expressly provided by sperm at fertilization and separately, and in parallel, those that responded to high DBP exposure. Utilizing both populations of RNAs, we now begin to unravel the impact of high-DBP exposure on those RNAs specifically delivered by the father.

Short-term air pollution and temperature exposure and changes in the extracellular microRNA profile of Normative Aging Study (NAS) participants.

Background: While the health effects of air pollution and temperature are widely studied, the molecular effects are poorly understood. Extracellular microRNAs (ex-miRNAs) have the potential to serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers and/or to act as intercellular signaling molecules that mediate the effects of environmental exposures on health outcomes.

Methods: We examined the relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and ambient temperature and the ex-miRNA profiles of participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) from 1999 to 2015.

Prevalence of ten LRRK2 variants in Parkinson's disease: A comprehensive review.

Introduction: Variants in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 gene (LRRK2) are risk factors for Parkinson's disease (PD), but their prevalence varies geographically, reflecting the locations of founder events and dispersion of founders' descendants.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify studies providing prevalence estimates for any of ten variants in LRRK2 (G2019S, R1441C, R1441G, R1441H, I2020T, N1437H, Y1699C, S1761R, G2385R, R1628P) among individuals with PD globally. We calculated crude country-specific variant prevalence estimates and, when possible, adjusted estimates for ethno-racial composition.