Association of longitudinal changes in 24-h blood pressure level and variability with cognitive decline.

Objective: A high office blood pressure (BP) is associated with cognitive decline. However, evidence of 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring is limited, and no studies have investigated whether longitudinal changes in 24-h BP are associated with cognitive decline. We aimed to test whether higher longitudinal changes in 24-h ambulatory BP measurements are associated with cognitive decline.

Transcriptome profiling and analysis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from Kazakhstan.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant subtype of esophageal cancer in Central Asia, often diagnosed at advanced stages. Understanding population-specific patterns of ESCC is crucial for tailored treatments. This study aimed to unravel ESCC's genetic basis in Kazakhstani patients and identify potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted therapies.

Association of Variability and Hypertensive Loads in 24-h Blood Pressure With Mortality and Cardiovascular Risk.

Background: Evidence shows that high 24-h blood pressure (BP) variability increases cardiovascular risk. We investigated whether 24-h BP variability relates to mortality and cardiovascular risk due to inherent variability and/or hypertensive loads in 24-h BP.

Methods: A total of 1,050 participants from the Maracaibo Aging Study (mean age, 66 years; women, 67.

Subclinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging Markers of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Relation to Office and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurements.

Background: Twenty-four-hour and nighttime blood pressure (BP) levels are more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk than office or daytime BP measurements. However, it remains undocumented which of the office and ambulatory BP measurements have the strongest association and predictive information in relation to the presence of type I, or arteriolosclerosis type, cerebral small vessel diseases (CSVD).

Methods: A subset of 429 participants from the Maracaibo Aging Study [aged ≥40 years (women, 73.

Whole-Genome Sequencing and Genomic Variant Analysis of Kazakh Individuals.

Kazakhstan, the ninth-largest country in the world, is located along the Great Silk Road and connects Europe with Asia. Historically, its territory has been inhabited by nomadic tribes, and modern-day Kazakhstan is a multiethnic country with a dominant Kazakh population. We sequenced and analyzed the genomes of five ethnic Kazakhs at high coverage using the Illumina HiSeq2000 next-generation sequencing platform.

Open-Angle Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy Is Related to Dips Rather Than Increases in the Mean Arterial Pressure Over 24-H.

Background: Mean arterial pressure (MAP) drives ocular perfusion. Excessive 24-h MAP variability relates to glaucoma, however, whether this is due to dips or increases in the blood pressure (BP) is undocumented. We investigated the association of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in relation to the 5 largest MAP dips/increases over 24-h, henceforth called dips/blips.

Normal-tension glaucomatous optic neuropathy is related to blood pressure variability in the Maracaibo Aging Study.

Hypoperfusion of the optic nerve might be involved in the pathogenesis of normal-tension glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) drives ocular perfusion, but no previous studies have addressed the risk of GON in relation to blood pressure (BP) variability, independent of BP level. In a cross-sectional study, 93 residents of Maracaibo, Venezuela, underwent optical coherence tomography, visual field assessments and 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring between 2011 and 2016.

Research on aging during the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis: the experience of the Maracaibo aging study.

Background: Venezuela is in the throes of a complex humanitarian crisis that is one of the worst in decades to impact any country outside of wartime. This case analysis describes the challenges faced by the ongoing Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) during the deteriorating conditions in Venezuela. When the MAS began in 1997, it focused on memory-related disorders.

Total Plasma Homocysteine and Depressive Symptoms in Older Hispanics.

Background: Very few studies have investigated the association between total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) and depressive symptoms in older Hispanics.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that high tHcy associates with depressive symptoms in older Hispanics.

Methods: A total of 1,418 participants .

Whole-genome sequencing data of Kazakh individuals.

Objectives: Kazakhstan is a Central Asian crossroad of European and Asian populations situated along the way of the Great Silk Way. The territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic tribes and today is the multi-ethnic country with the dominant Kazakh ethnic group. We sequenced and analyzed the whole-genomes of five ethnic healthy Kazakh individuals with high coverage using next-generation sequencing platform.

Nighttime Blood Pressure Interacts with APOE Genotype to Increase the Risk of Incident Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type in Hispanics.

Background: Dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) impacts Hispanics disproportionately, with almost a twofold elevated risk of developing DAT, as well as earlier onset of the disease, than in non-Hispanic Whites. However, the role of main risk factors for DAT, such as APOE-ɛ4 and blood pressure (BP) levels, remains uncertain among Hispanics.

Objective: To investigate the association of APOE-ɛ4 and BP levels, measures with 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring, with incidence of DAT in an elderly cohort of Hispanics.

Molecular Pathways Mediating Immunosuppression in Response to Prolonged Intensive Physical Training, Low-Energy Availability, and Intensive Weight Loss.

Exercise and exercise-induced weight loss have a beneficial effect on overall health, including positive effects on molecular pathways associated with immune function, especially in overweight individuals. The main aim of our study was to assess how energy deprivation (i.e.

Associations of increased physical performance and change in body composition with molecular pathways of heart disease and diabetes risk.

Higher physical activity is associated with a reduced hazard for a plethora of diseases. It has remained unknown how the two primary physical activity-associated health effects, improved physical performance and change in body composition, independently modulate metabolic profiles toward a reduced risk for adverse outcomes. Here, we utilized a prospective cohort of 664 young men undergoing military service.

Corrigendum: Optic neuropathy and congenital glaucoma associated with probable Zika virus infection in Venezuelan patients.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1099/jmmcr.0.

Optic neuropathy and congenital glaucoma associated with probable Zika virus infection in Venezuelan patients.

Introduction: Although the current Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic is a major public health concern, most reports have focused on congenital ZIKV syndrome, its most devastating manifestation. Severe ocular complications associated with ZIKV infections and possible pathogenetic factors are rarely described. Here, we describe three Venezuelan patients who developed severe ocular manifestations following ZIKV infections.

Risk Factors for Orthostatic Hypotension: Differences Between Elderly Men and Women.

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) occurs when mechanisms regulating blood pressure (BP) levels after standing-up are altered. It is unclear how prevalence and risk factors for OH are different between sexes. We aimed to investigate sex differences in prevalence and risk factors for OH elderly individuals.

Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy Associated with Nocturnal Dip in Blood Pressure: Findings from the Maracaibo Aging Study.

Purpose: To determine which nocturnal blood pressure (BP) parameters (low levels or extreme dipper status) are associated with an increased risk of glaucomatous damage in Hispanics.

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Participants: A subset (n = 93) of the participants from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) who met the study eligibility criteria were included.

Incidence of dementia in elderly Latin Americans: Results of the Maracaibo Aging Study.

Introduction: There are few longitudinal studies of dementia in developing countries. We used longitudinal data from the Maracaibo Aging Study to accurately determine the age- and sex-specific incidence of dementia in elderly Latin Americans.

Methods: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision) was used to diagnose dementia, which was classified as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or other.

A genome-wide screen for acrophobia susceptibility loci in a Finnish isolate.

Acrophobia, an abnormal fear of heights, is a specific phobia characterized as apprehension cued by the occurrence or anticipation of elevated spaces. It is considered a complex trait with onset influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Identification of genetic risk variants would provide novel insight into the genetic basis of the fear of heights phenotype and contribute to the molecular-level understanding of its aetiology.

PSEUDOMARKER 2.0: efficient computation of likelihoods using NOMAD.

Background: PSEUDOMARKER is a software package that performs joint linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis between a marker and a putative disease locus. A key feature of PSEUDOMARKER is that it can combine case-controls and pedigrees of varying structure into a single unified analysis. Thus it maximizes the full likelihood of the data over marker allele frequencies or conditional allele frequencies on disease and recombination fraction.

A balanced translocation truncates Neurotrimin in a family with intracranial and thoracic aortic aneurysm.

Background: Balanced chromosomal rearrangements occasionally have strong phenotypic effects, which may be useful in understanding pathobiology. However, conventional strategies for characterising breakpoints are laborious and inaccurate. We present here a proband with a thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and a balanced translocation t(10;11) (q23.

Identification of a potential susceptibility locus for macular telangiectasia type 2.

Macular Telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) is a relatively rare macular disease of adult onset presenting with distortions in the visual field and leading to progressive loss of visual acuity. For the purpose of a gene mapping study, several pedigrees were ascertained with multiple affected family members. Seventeen families with a total of 71 individuals (including 45 affected or possibly affected) were recruited at clinical centers in 7 countries under the auspices of the MacTel Project.

On the validity of the likelihood ratio test and consistency of resulting parameter estimates in joint linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis under improperly specified parametric models.

It has been shown that parametric analysis of linkage disequilibrium conditional on linkage using an overly deterministic model can be optimal for family-based association analysis. However, if one applies this strategy carelessly, there is a risk of false inference. We analyse properties of such likelihood ratio tests when the assumed disease mode of inheritance is inaccurate.