Publications by authors named "H Toinet Cronje"
Human Genetic Evidence to Inform Clinical Development of IL-6 Signaling Inhibition for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a major health issue with no effective medical treatments, so researchers are exploring IL-6 signaling inhibition as a potential therapy.
- The study analyzed genetic data from large cohorts, finding strong associations between genetic variants linked to IL-6 signaling and reduced AAA risk.
- The results suggest that targeting IL-6 signaling could be a viable approach for AAA treatment, though it may not be effective for other aneurysm types.
Article Synopsis
- - Drug target Mendelian randomization uses genetic variants to study the effects of drugs, making it a cost-effective way to inform drug development before clinical trials even start.
- - The review highlights the rise of this method, discusses common challenges researchers face, and offers practical advice for effectively conducting such studies.
- - Successful application of drug target Mendelian randomization requires a mix of various expertise, but it's often missing in research, which limits its potential benefits.
Background: The use of non-invasive risk scores to detect undiagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D) ensures the restriction of invasive and costly blood tests to those most likely to be diagnosed with the disease. This study assessed and compared the performance of the African Diabetes Risk Score (ADRS) with three other diabetes risk prediction models for identifying screen-detected diabetes based on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or glycated haemoglobin (HBA1c).
Methods: Age, sex, waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, history of diabetes and physical activity levels from the SA-NW-PURE study were used to externally validate the ADRS and other established risk prediction models.
Introduction: Whether circulating levels of sphingolipids are prospectively associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk is uncertain.
Methods: We measured 14 sphingolipid species in plasma samples from 4488 participants (mean age 76.2 years; 40% male; and 25% apolipoprotein E ( ε4 allele carriers).
Article Synopsis
- * Plasma caffeine levels and daily caffeinated drink consumption serve as two different ways to measure caffeine's effects and can influence the evaluation of genetic variants chosen for analysis.
- * The study highlights how different choices of exposure (e.g., plasma levels vs. consumption) can lead to varying results in estimates, particularly showing that certain genetic variants can lead to higher caffeine levels in the blood but lower consumption, impacting the relationship with body mass index.