Prediction of future visceral adiposity and application to cancer research: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.

Background: We previously developed a prediction score for MRI-quantified abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) based on concurrent measurements of height, body mass index (BMI), and nine blood biomarkers, for optimal performance in five racial/ethnic groups. Here we evaluated the VAT score for prediction of future VAT and examined if enhancement with additional biomarkers, lifestyle behavior information, and medical history improves the prediction.

Methods: We examined 500 participants from the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) with detailed data (age 50-66) collected 10 years prior to their MRI assessment of VAT.

Diet Quality and Body Mass Index Over 20 Years in the Multiethnic Cohort.

Background: With increasing rates of overweight and obesity and disparities by ethnicity, it is important to understand the role of diet in ameliorating this health problem.

Objective: This study examined the relation of diet quality as measured by the Healthy Eating Index 2015 with body mass index (BMI; calculated as kg/m) and obesity among participants of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) in cross-sectional analyses at 3 time points (T-1, T-2, and T-3) over 20 years.

Design: In a subset of 1,860 MEC participants, 3 cross-sectional analyses at cohort entry (1993 to 1996, T-1) and follow-ups in 2003 to 2008 (T-2) and 2013 to 2016 (T-3) were performed.

Neighborhood Obesogenic Environment and Risk of Prostate Cancer: The Multiethnic Cohort.

Background: Obesity is associated with risk of aggressive prostate cancer. It is not known whether neighborhood obesogenic factors are independently associated with prostate cancer risk.

Methods: Neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) and four neighborhood obesogenic environment factors (urbanicity, mixed-land development, unhealthy food environment, and parks) were assessed for associations with prostate cancer risk among 41,563 African American, Japanese American, Latino, and White males in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study, California site.

Cancer Mortality Patterns by Birthplace and Generation Status of Mexican Latinos: The Multiethnic Cohort.

Background: Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States. We assessed cancer mortality by birthplace and generation status of Mexican Latinos in the Multiethnic Cohort.

Methods: We included 26 751 Latinos of Mexican origin and 6093 non-Latino Whites aged 45-74 years at cohort entry (1993-1996) from the California Multiethnic Cohort component.

Dietary Intake Mediates Ethnic Differences in Gut Microbial Composition.

Background: The human gut microbiome (GM) has been observed to vary by race/ethnicity. Objective: Assess whether racial/ethnic GM variation is mediated by differences in diet. Design: Stool samples collected from 2013 to 2016 from 5267 healthy Multiethnic Cohort participants (age 59−98) were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to estimate the relative abundance of 152 bacterial genera.

Subcutaneous and visceral fat assessment by DXA and MRI in older adults and children.

Objective: Given the importance of body fat distribution in chronic disease development, feasible methods to assess body fat are essential. This study compared dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in measuring visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: VAT and SAT were assessed using similar DXA and MRI protocols among 1,795 elderly participants of the Adiposity Phenotype Study (APS) and 309 children/adolescents in Shape Up! Kids (SKids).

Associations of the gut microbiome with hepatic adiposity in the Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a risk factor for liver cancer and prevalence varies by ethnicity. Along with genetic and lifestyle factors, the gut microbiome (GM) may contribute to NAFLD and its progression to advanced liver disease. Our cross-sectional analysis assessed the association of the GM with hepatic adiposity among African American, Japanese American, White, Latino, and Native Hawaiian participants in the Multiethnic Cohort.

The Gut Microbiome Is Associated with Circulating Dietary Biomarkers of Fruit and Vegetable Intake in a Multiethnic Cohort.

Background: Results from observational studies suggest high diet quality favorably influences the human gut microbiome. Fruit and vegetable consumption is often a key contributor to high diet quality.

Objective: To evaluate measures of gut bacterial diversity and abundance in relation to serum biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake.

Dairy foods, calcium, and risk of breast cancer overall and for subtypes defined by estrogen receptor status: a pooled analysis of 21 cohort studies.

Background: Epidemiologic studies examining the relations between dairy product and calcium intakes and breast cancer have been inconclusive, especially for tumor subtypes.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between intakes of specific dairy products and calcium and risk of breast cancer overall and for subtypes defined by estrogen receptor (ER) status.

Method: We pooled the individual-level data of over 1 million women who were followed for a maximum of 8-20 years across studies.

Body Fat Distribution, Glucose Metabolism, and Diabetes Status Among Older Adults: The Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Background: As the proportion of visceral (VAT) to subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) may contribute to type 2 diabetes (T2D) development, we examined this relation in a cross-sectional design within the Multiethnic Cohort that includes Japanese Americans known to have high VAT. The aim was to understand how ectopic fat accumulation differs by glycemic status across ethnic groups with disparate rates of obesity, T2D, and propensity to accumulate VAT.

Methods: In 2013-2016, 1,746 participants aged 69.

Diabetes-Related Complications and Pancreatic Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort.

Background: People with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. However, it is unclear whether diabetes-related complications are associated with risk of pancreatic cancer.

Methods: A nested matched case-control analysis was conducted among the fee-for-service Medicare participants of the prospective Multiethnic Cohort (n = ∼123 000).

Genome-Wide Association Study of Liver Fat: The Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

The global rise in fatty liver is a major public health problem. Thus, it is critical to identify both global and population-specific genetic variants associated with liver fat. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of percent liver fat and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) assessed by magnetic resonance imaging in 1,709 participants from the population-based Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Hospital Characteristics and Breast Cancer Survival in the California Breast Cancer Survivorship Consortium.

Introduction: Racial/ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival are well documented, but the influence of health care institutions is unclear. We therefore examined the effect of hospital characteristics on survival.

Methods: Harmonized data pooled from 5 case-control and prospective cohort studies within the California Breast Cancer Survivorship Consortium were linked to the California Cancer Registry and the California Neighborhoods Data System.

The joint association of cardiometabolic health and weight on mortality in the multiethnic cohort.

While cardiometabolic abnormalities are associated with elevated risk of morbidity, they may not occur in all individuals with obesity. Less is known about associations with mortality, especially cancer mortality. This study examined associations between cardiometabolic-weight categories and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and all causes.

Associations between reproductive factors and biliary tract cancers in women from the Biliary Tract Cancers Pooling Project.

Background & Aims: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is known to have a female predominance while other biliary tract cancers (BTCs) have a male predominance. However, the role of female reproductive factors in BTC etiology remains unclear.

Methods: We pooled data from 19 studies of >1.

Diet Quality and Breast Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort.

This study investigated the relation of diet quality indexes (DQI) with breast cancer incidence among women from the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC). Participants completed a questionnaire with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Scores for Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015), Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), alternate Mediterranean diet score (aMED), and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) were divided into quintiles (Q1-Q5).

Circulating Biomarker Score for Visceral Fat and Risks of Incident Colorectal and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer: The Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Background: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) may play a greater role than subcutaneous fat in increasing cancer risk but is poorly estimated in epidemiologic studies.

Methods: We developed a VAT prediction score by regression equations averaged across 100 least absolute shrinkage and selection operator models in a cross-sectional study of 1,801 older adults in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC). The score was then used as proxy for VAT in case-control studies of postmenopausal breast (950 case-control pairs) and colorectal (831 case-control pairs) cancer in an independent sample in MEC.

Associations of plasma trimethylamine N-oxide, choline, carnitine, and betaine with inflammatory and cardiometabolic risk biomarkers and the fecal microbiome in the Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Background: Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a compound derived from diet and metabolism by the gut microbiome, has been associated with several chronic diseases, although the mechanisms of action are not well understood and few human studies have investigated microbes involved in its production.

Objectives: Our study aims were 1) to investigate associations of TMAO and its precursors (choline, carnitine, and betaine) with inflammatory and cardiometabolic risk biomarkers; and 2) to identify fecal microbiome profiles associated with TMAO.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data collected from 1653 participants (826 men and 827 women, aged 60-77 y) in the Multiethnic Cohort Study.

Differences in the association of diet quality with body fat distribution between men and women.

Background/objective: As dietary intake and endocrine metabolism are vastly different by sex, we evaluated differences in the association of diet quality with body composition between men and women.

Subjects/methods: Close to 2000 participants from the Multiethnic Cohort completed calibrated quantitative food frequency questionnaires at cohort entry (1993-96) and clinic visit (2013-16), from which the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010) was computed. Adiposity measures were obtained through DXA and MRI at clinic visit.

Association of change in the neighborhood obesogenic environment with colorectal cancer risk: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.

Background: Neighborhood environment has been associated with health behaviors. Despite the evidence of the influence of neighborhood social and physical factors on cancer risk, no research has evaluated whether changes in the neighborhood obesogenic environment, either by physical moves to different neighborhoods or experiencing neighborhood redevelopment or neglect, affect cancer risk.

Methods: The association of change in neighborhood environment attributes (socioeconomic status, population density, restaurant and retail food environments, numbers of recreational facilities and businesses, commute patterns, traffic density, and street connectivity) with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk was examined among 95,472 Los Angeles, CA, Multiethnic Cohort participants, including 2295 invasive CRC cases diagnosed between 1993 and 2010 using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, other risk factors including BMI and physical activity, and baseline levels of neighborhood attributes.

A phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study reveals potential pleiotropy in African Americans.

We performed a hypothesis-generating phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) to identify and characterize cross-phenotype associations, where one SNP is associated with two or more phenotypes, between thousands of genetic variants assayed on the Metabochip and hundreds of phenotypes in 5,897 African Americans as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) I study. The PAGE I study was a National Human Genome Research Institute-funded collaboration of four study sites accessing diverse epidemiologic studies genotyped on the Metabochip, a custom genotyping chip that has dense coverage of regions in the genome previously associated with cardio-metabolic traits and outcomes in mostly European-descent populations. Here we focus on identifying novel phenome-genome relationships, where SNPs are associated with more than one phenotype.

Association of Imaging-Based Body Fat Distribution and Mammographic Density in the Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study.

Background: As the stronger association of obesity with postmenopausal breast cancer in Asian than white women may be due to body fat distribution, we examined the relation of adiposity measures with percent mammographic density (PMD), a strong predictor of breast cancer incidence.

Methods: A total of 938 women from five ethnic groups (69.1 ± 2.

Diet Quality and Biomarker Profiles Related to Chronic Disease Prevention: The Multiethnic Cohort Study.

To understand how diet quality affects chronic disease etiology, the associations of 4 diet quality indices with blood levels of lipid-soluble micronutrients and biomarkers of inflammation, lipid, and glucose metabolism were examined in 5 ethnic groups. In a cross-sectional design, the Adiposity Phenotype Study, a subset of the Multiethnic Cohort in Hawaii and Los Angeles, recruited participants of white, African American, Native Hawaiian, Japanese American, and Latino ancestry. A total of 896 men and 910 women completed a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire and anthropometric measurements and donated a fasting blood sample.