Publications by authors named "Kartsonaki C"

Associations of adiposity with risks of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and non-cardia stomach cancer, both prevalent in China, are still inconclusive. While adiposity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer, the relevance of fat-free mass and early-adulthood adiposity remains to be explored. The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank study included 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Risk prediction models can identify individuals at high risk of chronic liver disease (CLD), but there is limited evidence on the performance of various models in diverse populations. We aimed to systematically review CLD prediction models, meta-analyze their performance, and externally validate them in 0.5 million Chinese adults in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Little evidence is available on the long-term health effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO) in low-income and middle-income populations. We investigated the associations of long-term NO exposure with the incidence of a wide spectrum of disease outcomes, based on data from the China Kadoorie Biobank.

Methods: This prospective cohort study involved 512 724 Chinese adults aged 30-79 years recruited from ten areas of China during 2004-08.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Plasma proteomics could enhance risk prediction for multiple diseases beyond conventional risk factors or polygenic scores (PS). To assess utility of proteomics for risk prediction of ischemic heart disease (IHD) compared with conventional risk factors and PS in Chinese and European populations. A nested case-cohort study measured plasma levels of 2923 proteins using Olink Explore panel in ~ 4000 Chinese adults (1976 incident IHD cases and 2001 sub-cohort controls).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study investigated the global prevalence of Long Covid symptoms in individuals from high-income countries (HICs) and low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), since most previous research focused on HICs.
  • The research involved 11,860 participants from 17 countries, examining symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness, and their impact on daily life at various time points after hospitalization.
  • Findings revealed a significantly higher proportion of Long Covid cases and associated symptoms in HICs compared to LMICs, suggesting that while LMICs have lower reported rates, the overall impact of Long Covid might still be significant due to healthcare disparities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adiposity is an established risk factor for multiple diseases, but the causal relationships of different adiposity types with circulating protein biomarkers have not been systematically investigated. We examine the causal associations of general and central adiposity with 2923 plasma proteins among 3977 Chinese adults (mean BMI = 23.9 kg/m²).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Autoimmune diseases account for a substantial burden of disease in high-income countries, including Europe and North America. However, their epidemiology remains under-researched in other regions. We examined the incidence and prevalence of eight autoimmune diseases in the adult Chinese population through a systematic review of epidemiological studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Furin is an important proteolytic enzyme, converting several proteins from inactive precursors to their active forms. Recently, proteo-genomic analyses in European and East Asian populations suggested a causal association of furin with ischaemic heart disease, and there is growing interest in its role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) aetiology. In this narrative review, we present a critical appraisal of evidence from population studies to assess furin's role in CVD risk and potential as a drug target for CVD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Integration of large proteomics and genetic data in population-based studies can provide insights into discovery of novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). We aimed to synthesise existing evidence on the observational and genetic associations between circulating proteins and CMD.

Methods: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched until July 2023 for potentially relevant prospective observational and Mendelian randomisation (MR) studies investigating associations between circulating proteins and CMD, including coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By September 2022, more than 600 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported globally, resulting in over 6.5 million deaths. COVID-19 mortality risk estimators are often, however, developed with small unrepresentative samples and with methodological limitations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and studying different EBV antibodies in blood could enhance early NPC detection.
  • A large study evaluated the connection between EBV antibodies and NPC risk by analyzing data from over half a million adults, finding high-risk predictions based on antibody levels.
  • Results indicated that specific EBV antibodies (like LF2 and BGLF2) significantly predict NPC years before any clinical signs, suggesting potential for targeting high-risk individuals for earlier detection and intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Infectious diseases remain a major global health concern, including in China, with an estimated >10 million cases of infectious disease in 2019. We describe the burden of site-specific infectious diseases among Chinese adults.

Methods: From 2004 to 2008, the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank enrolled 512,726 adults aged 30-79 years from 10 diverse areas (5 rural, 5 urban) of China.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * In a study of 178,640 patients, those without respiratory symptoms were generally older (median age 74) and had a lower ICU admission rate (36.7%) compared to those with symptoms (37.5%).
  • * Despite a higher crude in-hospital death rate for NRS patients (41.1% vs. 32.0%), after adjusting for other factors, they had a lower overall risk of death (HR 0.88), highlighting the complexity of COVID-19 presentations and outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Integrated analyses of plasma proteomics and genetic data in prospective studies can help assess the causal relevance of proteins, improve risk prediction, and discover novel protein drug targets for type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: We measured plasma levels of 2,923 proteins using Olink Explore among ∼2,000 randomly selected participants from China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) without prior diabetes at baseline. Cox regression assessed associations of individual protein with incident T2D (n = 92 cases).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among Chinese females despite the low smoking prevalence among this population. This study assessed the roles of reproductive factors in lung cancer development among Chinese female never-smokers.

Methods: The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) recruited over 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - This study conducted a genome-wide association analysis on metabolic traits in over 136,000 participants, revealing over 400 genetic loci that influence human metabolism and complex diseases.
  • - Researchers used advanced techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to link specific genetic variants with how they affect lipoprotein metabolism and other metabolic processes.
  • - The findings highlight the genetic connections between metabolism and conditions such as hypertension, providing valuable data for further research on metabolic-related diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Airway inflammation underlies cystic fibrosis (CF) pulmonary exacerbations. In a prospective multicenter study of randomly selected, clinically stable adolescents and adults, we assessed relationships between 24 inflammation-associated molecules and the future occurrence of CF pulmonary exacerbation using proportional hazards models. We explored relationships for potential confounding or mediation by clinical factors and assessed sensitivities to treatments including CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein synthesis modulators.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) through PCSK9 inhibition represents a new therapeutic approach to preventing and treating cardiovascular disease (CVD). Phenome-wide analyses of PCSK9 genetic variants in large biobanks can help to identify unexpected effects of PCSK9 inhibition.

Methods And Results: In the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank, we constructed a genetic score using three variants at the PCSK9 locus associated with directly measured LDL-C [PCSK9 genetic score (PCSK9-GS)].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with higher risk of pancreatic cancer (PC), but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood.

Methods: We conducted a case-subcohort study involving 610 PC cases and 623 subcohort participants with 92 protein biomarkers measured in baseline plasma samples. Genetically-instrumented T2D was derived using 86 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including insulin resistance (IR) SNPs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Infection by certain pathogens is associated with cancer development. We conducted a case-cohort study of ~2500 incident cases of esophageal, gastric and duodenal cancer, and gastric and duodenal ulcer and a randomly selected subcohort of ~2000 individuals within the China Kadoorie Biobank study of >0.5 million adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Genetic variants that affect alcohol use in East Asian populations could help assess the causal effects of alcohol consumption on cause-specific mortality. We aimed to investigate the associations between alcohol intake and cause-specific mortality using conventional and genetic epidemiological methods among more than 512 000 adults in China.

Methods: The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank cohort study enrolled 512 724 adults (210 205 men and 302 519 women) aged 30-79 years, during 2004-08.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * In a study involving over 500,000 adults, HBsAg positivity was linked to a higher risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), with adjusted hazard ratios indicating a significant association, particularly for fatal and nonfatal cases.
  • * Participants with HBsAg positivity exhibited lower lipid and albumin levels, along with elevated liver enzymes; after adjusting for these factors, the link between HBsAg and ICH risk decreased, suggesting liver function might mediate this relationship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Integrated analyses of plasma proteomic and genetic markers in prospective studies can clarify the causal relevance of proteins and discover novel targets for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and other diseases.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine associations of proteomics and genetics data with IHD in population studies to discover novel preventive treatments.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-cohort study in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) involving 1,971 incident IHD cases and 2,001 subcohort participants who were genotyped and free of prior cardiovascular disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Vaccinated individuals can still experience severe COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, but it's unclear how they compare to unvaccinated patients in terms of symptoms, comorbidities, and outcomes.
  • A study analyzed data from over 83,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients globally, noting that unvaccinated patients reported more typical symptoms, while vaccinated patients had a higher prevalence of concerning comorbidities.
  • The findings highlight the need for better healthcare resource allocation and future international studies to understand how vaccination impacts the clinical profiles of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF