Sex-related differences in the management and outcomes of patients hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a comparison within four European myocardial infarction registries.

Aims: Data on how differences in risk factors, treatments, and outcomes differ between sexes in European countries are scarce. We aimed to study sex-related differences regarding baseline characteristics, in-hospital managements, and mortality of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients in different European countries.

Methods And Results: Patients over the age of 18 with STEMI who were treated in hospitals in 2014-17 and registered in one of the national myocardial infarction registers in Estonia ( = 5817), Hungary ( = 30 787), Norway ( = 33 054), and Sweden ( = 49 533) were included.

Comparison of management and outcomes of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients in Estonia, Hungary, Norway, and Sweden according to national ongoing registries.

Aims: Describe the characteristics, management and outcomes of hospitalized ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients according to national ongoing myocardial infarction registries in Estonia, Hungary, Norway, and Sweden.

Methods And Results: Country-level aggregated data was used to study baseline characteristics, use of in-hospital procedures, medications at discharge, in-hospital complications, 30-day and 1-year mortality for all patients admitted with STEMI during 2014-2017 using data from EMIR (Estonia; n = 4584), HUMIR (Hungary; n = 23 685), NORMI (Norway; n = 12 414, data for 2013-2016), and SWEDEHEART (Sweden; n = 23 342). Estonia and Hungary had a higher proportion of women, patients with hypertension, diabetes, and peripheral artery disease compared to Norway and Sweden.

Differences in characteristics, treatments and outcomes in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: novel insights from four national European continuous real-world registries.

Aims: To study baseline characteristics, in-hospital managements and mortality of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients in different European countries.

Methods And Results: NSTEMI patients enrolled in the national myocardial infarction (MI) registries [EMIR; n = 5817 (Estonia), HUMIR; n = 30 787 (Hungary), NORMI; n = 33 054 (Norway), and SWEDEHEART; n = 49 533 (Sweden)] from 2014 to 2017 were included and presented as aggregated data. The median age at admission ranged from 70 to 75 years.

Adolescent Cranial Volume as a Sensitive Marker of Parental Investment: The Role of Non-material Resources?

Growth of different body parts in humans is sensitive to different resource constraints that are mediated by parental investment. Parental investment can involve the expenditure of material, cognitive, and emotional resources on offspring. Cranial volume, an important predictor of cognitive ability, appears understudied in this context.

Meeting Report: The Role of Beliefs and Perception on Body Size. Proceedings of the 26th Aschauer Soiree, Held at Aschauhof, Altenhof, Germany, May 26th, 2018.

Thirty-one scientists met at Aschauhof, Germany to discuss the role of beliefs and self-perception on body size. In view of apparent growth stimulatory effects of dominance within the social group that is observed in social mammals, they discussed various aspects of competitive growth strategies and growth adjustments. Presentations included new data from Indonesia, a cohort-based prospective study from Merida, Yucatan, and evidence from recent meta-analyses and patterns of growth in the socially deprived.

Blood pressure loci identified with a gene-centric array.

Raised blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have identified 47 distinct genetic variants robustly associated with BP, but collectively these explain only a few percent of the heritability for BP phenotypes. To find additional BP loci, we used a bespoke gene-centric array to genotype an independent discovery sample of 25,118 individuals that combined hypertensive case-control and general population samples.

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.

HYPEST study: profile of hypertensive patients in Estonia.

Background: More than one third of adult population in Estonia has problems with elevated blood pressure (BP). The Hypertension in Estonia (HYPEST) study represents the country's first hypertension-targeted sample collection aiming to examine the epidemiological and genetic determinants for hypertension (HTN) and related cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Estonian population. The HYPEST subjects (n = 1,966) were recruited across Estonia between 2004-2007 including clinically diagnosed HTN cases and population-based controls.

Novel polymorphic AluYb8 insertion in the WNK1 gene is associated with blood pressure variation in Europeans.

Mutations in WNK1 and WNK4 cause familial hypertension, the Gordon syndrome. WNK1 and WNK4 conserved noncoding regions were targeted to polymorphism screening using DHPLC and DGGE. The scan identified an undescribed polymorphic AluYb8 insertion in WNK1 intron 10.

Hypervariable intronic region in NCX1 is enriched in short insertion-deletion polymorphisms and showed association with cardiovascular traits.

Background: Conserved non-coding regions (CNR) have been shown to harbor gene expression regulatory elements. Genetic variations in these regions may potentially contribute to complex disease susceptibility.

Methods: We targeted CNRs of cardiovascular disease (CVD) candidate gene, Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX1) with polymorphism screening among CVD patients (n = 46) using DHPLC technology.

Targeting 160 candidate genes for blood pressure regulation with a genome-wide genotyping array.

The outcome of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) has challenged the field of blood pressure (BP) genetics as previous candidate genes have not been among the top loci in these scans. We used Affymetrix 500K genotyping data of KORA S3 cohort (n = 1,644; Southern-Germany) to address (i) SNP coverage in 160 BP candidate genes; (ii) the evidence for associations with BP traits in genome-wide and replication data, and haplotype analysis. In total, 160 gene regions (genic region+/-10 kb) covered 2,411 SNPs across 11.

Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are associated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion.

WNK1--a serine/threonine kinase involved in electrolyte homeostasis and blood pressure (BP) control--is an excellent candidate gene for essential hypertension (EH). We and others have previously reported association between WNK1 and BP variation. Using tag SNPs (tSNPs) that capture 100% of common WNK1 variation in HapMap, we aimed to replicate our findings with BP and to test for association with phenotypes relating to WNK1 function in the British Genetics of Hypertension (BRIGHT) study case-control resource (1700 hypertensive cases and 1700 normotensive controls).

Genome-wide scan identifies CDH13 as a novel susceptibility locus contributing to blood pressure determination in two European populations.

Hypertension is a complex disease that affects a large proportion of adult population. Although approximately half of the inter-individual variance in blood pressure (BP) level is heritable, identification of genes responsible for its regulation has remained challenging. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) is a novel approach to search for genetic variants contributing to complex diseases.

SLC2A9 is a high-capacity urate transporter in humans.

Background: Serum uric acid levels in humans are influenced by diet, cellular breakdown, and renal elimination, and correlate with blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, gout, and cardiovascular disease. Recent genome-wide association scans have found common genetic variants of SLC2A9 to be associated with increased serum urate level and gout. The SLC2A9 gene encodes a facilitative glucose transporter, and it has two splice variants that are highly expressed in the proximal nephron, a key site for urate handling in the kidney.

N-acetyltransferase 8, a positional candidate for blood pressure and renal regulation: resequencing, association and in silico study.

Background: Kidneys have an important function in blood pressure (BP) regulation and elevated BP may lead to kidney failure. Chr2p12-p13 region linked to BP traits in multiple studies harbours a potential candidate for BP and renal function, N-acetyltransferase 8 (NAT8) expressed in embryonic and adult kidney and associated with nephrotoxicity response.

Methods/results: We report the first study exploring NAT8 as a potential candidate gene for blood pressure and kidney function.

Anthropometric parameters and sexual maturation in 12- to 15-year-old Estonian boys.

The aims of this study were 1. to fix main sexual maturation signs and anthropometric measurements, and 2. to investigate relations between maturational status and main anthropometric parameters (i.