Publications by authors named "Knowlton K"

Background: The contributions of genetic and environmental risk factors to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are both poorly understood.

Objective: To identify sequence variants that associate with HS and determine the contribution of environmental risk factors and inflammatory diseases to HS pathogenesis.

Methods: A genome-wide association meta-analysis of 4814 HS cases (Denmark: 1977; Iceland: 1266; Finland: 800; UK: 569; and US: 202) and 1.

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  • The study aims to investigate the genetic factors associated with accessory atrioventricular pathways (APs) and related heart rhythm disorders using a genome-wide association study (GWAS).
  • It involved analyzing genetic data from over 1,200,000 control individuals and 2,310 individuals with APs from multiple countries and various health databases.
  • Key findings revealed three significant genetic variants linked to APs, particularly in specific genes (CCDC141 and SCN10A), with implications for understanding conditions like paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT).
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Precision livestock farming utilizing advanced diagnostic tools, including biosensors, can play a key role in the management of livestock operations to improve the productivity, health, and well-being of animals. Detection of ketosis, a metabolic disease that occurs in early lactation dairy cows due to a negative energy balance, is one potential on-farm use of biosensors. Beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) is an excellent biomarker for monitoring ketosis in dairy cows because βHB is one of the main ketones produced during this metabolic state.

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  • The chapter summarizes key themes and findings from the NPCC4 assessment, highlighting important issues and recommendations.
  • It offers specific suggestions for future research and strategies to improve climate resiliency.
  • Additionally, the chapter outlines broader recommendations for upcoming NPCC activities and identifies critical topics for the next assessment.
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  • The study investigates how different data sources (like electronic health records, insurance claims, and participant reports) contribute to analyzing clinical outcomes in a pragmatic randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
  • Conducted from April 2016 to June 2019, the ADAPTABLE study looked at the effects of daily aspirin doses on certain health events, while comparing participant data availability to enhance understanding of outcome rates.
  • The findings revealed a predominance of participant-reported and EHR data, with only a small percentage relying solely on claims data, indicating the need for further study on the varying contributions of each data source to overall clinical results.
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encodes for the Popeye domain-containing protein 2 which has an important role in cardiac pacemaking and conduction, due in part to its cAMP-dependent binding and regulation of TREK-1 potassium channels. Loss of in mice results in sinus pauses and bradycardia and morpholino knockdown of zebrafish results in atrioventricular (AV) block. We identified bi-allelic variants in in 4 families that presented with a phenotypic spectrum consisting of sinus node dysfunction, AV conduction defects and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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Background: Periodic fasting was previously associated with greater longevity and a lower incidence of heart failure (HF) in a pre-pandemic population. In patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), periodic fasting was associated with a lower risk of death or hospitalization. This study evaluated the association between periodic fasting and HF hospitalization and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs).

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  • Short-term increases in fine particulate matter (PM) from wildfire smoke are linked to worse outcomes for asthma and COPD patients, with a study analyzing over 80,000 hospitalizations in Utah from 1999 to 2022.
  • The research found that asthma risk increased on the same day PM levels rose during both wildfire and winter inversion seasons, with notable differences in risk timing between adults and children.
  • While PM exposure was directly connected to asthma hospitalizations, its association with COPD was weak, and ozone levels had no significant impact on respiratory health outcomes.
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Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is a common autoimmune disease. In a GWAS meta-analysis of 110,945 cases and 1,084,290 controls, 290 sequence variants at 225 loci are associated with AITD. Of these variants, 115 are previously unreported.

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Background: Statins can improve outcomes in high-risk primary prevention populations. However, application in clinical practice has lagged.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare an active vs a passive strategy (ie, usual care) to statin prescription for primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

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Background: The use of statins in patients with heart failure (HF) is controversial. In patients without HF, statins reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk, including HF-related events. However, in some large studies, no benefit was seen in statin-treated HF patients.

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This chapter of the New York City Panel on Climate Change 4 (NPCC4) report discusses the many intersecting social, ecological, and technological-infrastructure dimensions of New York City (NYC) and their interactions that are critical to address in order to transition to and secure a climate-adapted future for all New Yorkers. The authors provide an assessment of current approaches to "future visioning and scenarios" across community and city-level initiatives and examine diverse dimensions of the NYC urban system to reduce risk and vulnerability and enable a future-adapted NYC. Methods for the integration of community and stakeholder ideas about what would make NYC thrive with scientific and technical information on the possibilities presented by different policies and actions are discussed.

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  • This chapter from the NPCC4 report focuses on assessing climate health risks and resilience strategies in New York City, updating data since the last report in 2015.
  • It highlights specific risks related to heat and flooding, and also addresses other health threats like air pollution, insect-borne illnesses, and water contamination.
  • The report offers evidence-based strategies aimed at minimizing future climate-related health issues, especially in the context of concurrent public health crises like COVID-19.
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The limitations of the explanatory clinical trial framework include the high expense of implementing explanatory trials, restrictive entry criteria for participants, and redundant logistical processes. These limitations can result in slow evidence generation that is not responsive to population health needs, yielding evidence that is not generalizable. Clinically integrated trials, which integrate clinical research into routine care, represent a potential solution to this challenge and an opportunity to support learning health systems.

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: Patient outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have improved over the last 30 years due to better techniques, therapies, and care processes. This study evaluated contemporary predictors of post-PCI major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and summarized risk in a parsimonious risk prediction model. : The Cardiovascular Patient-Level Analytical Platform (CLiPPeR) is an observational dataset of baseline variables and longitudinal outcomes from the American College of Cardiology's CathPCI Registry and national claims data.

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  • * The study analyzed MI patients at Intermountain Health between 2001 and 2021, focusing on those who underwent coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans and had no SMRF, revealing that a majority had high CAC scores indicative of increased cardiovascular risk.
  • * Findings suggest that patients without SMRF but with high CAC prevalence could benefit from preventive treatments, highlighting the need for broader use of CAC scans to identify hidden at-risk populations for MI.
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  • Essential tremor (ET) is a common neurological disorder, but its biological causes are still not well understood.
  • A comprehensive study involving over 16,000 ET cases identified 12 genetic variants linked to the disorder, suggesting several potential causal genes, including CA3 and CPLX1.
  • The findings also reveal associations between ET and other conditions like Parkinson's disease, depression, and anxiety, which could lead to new therapeutic targets for treatment.
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We report a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study on liver cirrhosis and its associated endophenotypes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and γ-glutamyl transferase. Using data from 12 cohorts, including 18,265 cases with cirrhosis, 1,782,047 controls, up to 1 million individuals with liver function tests and a validation cohort of 21,689 cases and 617,729 controls, we identify and validate 14 risk associations for cirrhosis. Many variants are located near genes involved in hepatic lipid metabolism.

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  • In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, increased age is linked to higher risks of both ischemic and bleeding events, prompting a study on the effect of aspirin dosage based on age.
  • The ADAPTABLE trial involved nearly 15,100 participants who were randomly assigned to take either 81 mg or 325 mg of aspirin daily, with outcomes measured over an average follow-up of 26.2 months.
  • Results indicated that age did not significantly affect how aspirin dosage influenced clinical outcomes, suggesting that both doses are similarly effective for elderly and younger patients in preventing cardiovascular events.
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Importance: Recurrent pericarditis is a treatment challenge and often a debilitating condition. Drugs inhibiting interleukin 1 cytokines are a promising new treatment option, but their use is based on scarce biological evidence and clinical trials of modest sizes, and the contributions of innate and adaptive immune processes to the pathophysiology are incompletely understood.

Objective: To use human genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics to shed light on the pathogenesis of pericarditis.

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  • - The study aimed to assess whether certain genetic variations in the GIP receptor might increase fracture risk or lower bone mineral density (BMD) in people managing obesity through weight loss.
  • - Researchers analyzed three specific gene variants and a group of predicted loss-of-function variants across a large population of up to 1.2 million participants, examining their correlation to different types of fractures and BMD measurements.
  • - The findings indicated that none of the examined gene variants were linked to a higher risk of fractures or lower BMD, suggesting that these genetic factors do not adversely affect bone health in the context of obesity treatment.
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Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the world. Unfortunately, many of the key diagnostic tools for CHD are insensitive, invasive, and costly; require significant specialized infrastructure investments; and do not provide information to guide postdiagnosis therapy. In prior work using data from the Framingham Heart Study, we provided in silico evidence that integrated genetic-epigenetic tools may provide a new avenue for assessing CHD.

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  • Migraine is a complicated neurovascular condition with varying symptoms, traditionally studied as a single type in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but this research focuses on two main subtypes: migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MO).
  • The study analyzed large datasets from six European populations, identifying four new gene variants associated with MA and classifying 13 variants for MO, highlighting a significant frameshift variant in PRRT2 linked to MA and epilepsy.
  • Additionally, testing on rare variants showed that loss-of-function mutations in SCN11A provide strong protection against migraine, while another variant affecting KCNK5 offers large protection against both migraine and brain aneurysms, suggesting new avenues for treatment.
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Antibiotic resistance is of crucial interest to both human and animal medicine. It has been recognized that increased environmental monitoring of antibiotic resistance is needed. Metagenomic DNA sequencing is becoming an attractive method to profile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), including a special focus on pathogens.

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