Publications by authors named "Kurbasic A"

Importance: Safe and effective long-term treatments for adolescents with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) are limited.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of interleukin-13-targeted treatment with tralokinumab monotherapy in adolescents with AD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The 52-week, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 3 ECZTRA 6 trial was conducted from July 17, 2018, through March 16, 2021, at 72 centers across 10 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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Background: Genetic variants within nearly 1000 loci are known to contribute to modulation of blood lipid levels. However, the biological pathways underlying these associations are frequently unknown, limiting understanding of these findings and hindering downstream translational efforts such as drug target discovery.

Results: To expand our understanding of the underlying biological pathways and mechanisms controlling blood lipid levels, we leverage a large multi-ancestry meta-analysis (N = 1,654,960) of blood lipids to prioritize putative causal genes for 2286 lipid associations using six gene prediction approaches.

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Article Synopsis
  • Common SNPs may account for 40-50% of human height variation, and this study identifies 12,111 SNPs linked to height from a large sample of 5.4 million individuals.
  • These SNPs cluster in 7,209 genomic segments, encompassing about 21% of the genome and showing varying densities enriched in relevant genes.
  • While these SNPs explain a substantial portion of height variance in European populations (40-45%), their predictive power is lower (10-24%) in other ancestries, suggesting a need for more research to enhance understanding in diverse populations.
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Introduction: In pivotal phase 3 tralokinumab monotherapy (ECZTRA 1/2) and topical corticosteroid (TCS) combination (ECZTRA 3) trials in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), tralokinumab significantly improved signs and symptoms of AD. Geographic region may impact treatment response due to potential differences in race and ethnicity, and based on findings in other therapy areas. Here, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of tralokinumab in the ECZTRA 1/2/3 North American population at week 16, as well as maintenance of responses over time, and compared these data side-by-side with those of the ECZTRA 1/2/3 non-North American population.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers studied the genetic connections to blood fats using data from 1.6 million people from different backgrounds to understand why certain fats are higher or lower in the body.
  • They looked at special genes and how they interact in the liver and fat cells, finding that the liver plays a big part in controlling fat levels.
  • Two specific genes, CREBRF and RRBP1, were highlighted as important in understanding how our bodies manage fats due to strong supporting evidence.
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Background: Tralokinumab, as monotherapy or in combination with topical corticosteroids (TCS), has exhibited marked efficacy through 52 weeks in phase 3 trials of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis and additional efficacy in a long-term extension trial. Early changes in patient-reported symptoms have not been communicated.

Objective: To evaluate early changes in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) across the ECZTRA 1, 2, and 3 tralokinumab trials.

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The present study assessed the temporal associations of ~ 300 lifestyle exposures with nine cardiometabolic traits  to identify exposures/exposure groups that might inform lifestyle interventions for the reduction of cardiometabolic disease risk. The analyses were undertaken in a longitudinal sample comprising > 31,000 adults living in northern Sweden. Linear mixed models were used to assess the average associations of lifestyle exposures and linear regression models were used to test associations with 10-year change in the cardiometabolic traits.

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The presentation and underlying pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is complex and heterogeneous. Recent studies attempted to stratify T2D into distinct subgroups using data-driven approaches, but their clinical utility may be limited if categorical representations of complex phenotypes are suboptimal. We apply a soft-clustering (archetype) method to characterize newly diagnosed T2D based on 32 clinical variables.

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Increased blood lipid levels are heritable risk factors of cardiovascular disease with varied prevalence worldwide owing to different dietary patterns and medication use. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, in particular through reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Genome-wideassociation studies (GWAS) of blood lipid levels have led to important biological and clinical insights, as well as new drug targets, for cardiovascular disease.

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Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with a substantial burden on quality of life (QoL).

Objective: To evaluate the effects of tralokinumab on health-related QoL in patients with moderate-to-severe AD using patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: This was a phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study in adults with moderate-to-severe AD.

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Objective: We investigated the processes underlying glycemic deterioration in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: A total of 732 recently diagnosed patients with T2D from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (IMI DIRECT) study were extensively phenotyped over 3 years, including measures of insulin sensitivity (OGIS), β-cell glucose sensitivity (GS), and insulin clearance (CLIm) from mixed meal tests, liver enzymes, lipid profiles, and baseline regional fat from MRI. The associations between the longitudinal metabolic patterns and HbA deterioration, adjusted for changes in BMI and in diabetes medications, were assessed via stepwise multivariable linear and logistic regression.

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Aim: Subclasses of different glycaemic disturbances could explain the variation in characteristics of individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D). We aimed to examine the association between subgroups based on their glucose curves during a five-point mixed-meal tolerance test (MMT) and metabolic traits at baseline and glycaemic deterioration in individuals with T2D.

Methods: The study included 787 individuals with newly diagnosed T2D from the Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (IMI-DIRECT) Study.

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Aim: To examine the hypothesis that, based on their glucose curves during a seven-point oral glucose tolerance test, people at elevated type 2 diabetes risk can be divided into subgroups with different clinical profiles at baseline and different degrees of subsequent glycaemic deterioration.

Methods: We included 2126 participants at elevated type 2 diabetes risk from the Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (IMI-DIRECT) study. Latent class trajectory analysis was used to identify subgroups from a seven-point oral glucose tolerance test at baseline and follow-up.

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Background: Tralokinumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that specifically neutralizes interleukin-13, a key driver of atopic dermatitis (AD).

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tralokinumab in combination with topical corticosteroids (TCS) in patients with moderate-to-severe AD who were candidates for systemic therapy.

Methods: This was a double-blind, placebo plus TCS controlled phase III trial.

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Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent and causes serious health complications in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D). Early diagnosis of NAFLD is important, as this can help prevent irreversible damage to the liver and, ultimately, hepatocellular carcinomas. We sought to expand etiological understanding and develop a diagnostic tool for NAFLD using machine learning.

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Aims/hypothesis: It is well established that physical activity, abdominal ectopic fat and glycaemic regulation are related but the underlying structure of these relationships is unclear. The previously proposed twin-cycle hypothesis (TC) provides a mechanistic basis for impairment in glycaemic control through the interactions of substrate availability, substrate metabolism and abdominal ectopic fat accumulation. Here, we hypothesise that the effect of physical activity in glucose regulation is mediated by the twin-cycle.

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Aims/hypothesis: Here, we describe the characteristics of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Diabetes Research on Patient Stratification (DIRECT) epidemiological cohorts at baseline and follow-up examinations (18, 36 and 48 months of follow-up).

Methods: From a sampling frame of 24,682 adults of European ancestry enrolled in population-based cohorts across Europe, participants at varying risk of glycaemic deterioration were identified using a risk prediction algorithm (based on age, BMI, waist circumference, use of antihypertensive medication, smoking status and parental history of type 2 diabetes) and enrolled into a prospective cohort study (n = 2127) (cohort 1, prediabetes risk). We also recruited people from clinical registries with type 2 diabetes diagnosed 6-24 months previously (n = 789) into a second cohort study (cohort 2, diabetes).

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Background: Women with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are at increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Offspring from pregnancies complicated by HDP also have worse cardiometabolic status in childhood and young adulthood, but the offspring risk of clinical hypertension in adulthood is largely unknown.

Methods: We studied 13,893 first-born adult offspring (49.

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Introduction: Middle Eastern immigrants exhibit high levels of physical inactivity and are at an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes. The primary aim of this study was to examine the changes in objectively assessed physical activity levels following a culturally adapted lifestyle intervention program. The secondary aim was to examine the association between objectively assessed physical activity and insulin sensitivity.

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Background: Recent analyses in Greenlandic Inuit identified six genetic polymorphisms (rs74771917, rs3168072, rs12577276, rs7115739, rs174602 and rs174570) in the fatty acid desaturase gene cluster (FADS1-FADS2-FADS3) that are associated with multiple metabolic and anthropometric traits. Our objectives were to systematically assess whether dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake modifies the associations between genetic variants in the FADS gene cluster and cardiometabolic traits, and to functionally annotate top-ranking candidates to estimate their regulatory potential.

Methods: Data analyses consisted of the following: interaction analyses between the 6 candidate genetic variants and dietary PUFA intake; gene-centric joint analyses to detect interaction signals in the FADS region; haplotype-centric joint tests across 30 haplotype blocks in the FADS region to refine interaction signals; and functional annotation of top-ranking loci from the previous steps.

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Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted lifestyle intervention for changing dietary intake, particularly energy, fat and fibre intakes, in the intervention group (IG) compared with the control group (CG).

Design: Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: IG (n 50) and CG (n 46).

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Aims/hypothesis: Little is known about the heritable basis of gene-environment interactions in humans. We therefore screened multiple cardiometabolic traits to assess the probability that they are influenced by genotype-environment interactions.

Methods: Fourteen established environmental risk exposures and 11 cardiometabolic traits were analysed in the VIKING study, a cohort of 16,430 Swedish adults from 1682 extended pedigrees with available detailed genealogical, phenotypic and demographic information, using a maximum likelihood variance decomposition method in Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines software.

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Background And Aims: Middle-Eastern immigrants constitute a growing proportion of the Swedish population and are at high risk for Type 2 diabetes. This calls for a more proactive preventive approach for dealing with diabetes risk in this target group. The aim was to test the effect of a culturally adapted lifestyle intervention programme on changes in lifestyle habits and cardio-metabolic outcomes comparing an intervention group with a control group receiving usual care.

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