Sex hormone-binding globulin, testosterone and type 2 diabetes risk in middle-aged African women: exploring the impact of HIV and menopause.

Objectives: Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and testosterone are differentially associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk. We investigated whether these associations differ by HIV and menopausal status in Black South African women living with (WLWH) and without HIV (WLWOH).

Design: Cross-sectional observational.

Clustering of diet and physical activity behaviours in adolescents across home and school area-level deprivation in Cameroon, South Africa, and Jamaica.

Background: Adolescence is a crucial period for establishing healthy behaviours that can reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases. However, limited data exist on the clustering of health-related behaviours, in adolescents from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study examined how diet and physical activity behaviours cluster and how they are influenced by home and school area-level deprivation.

Virtual Assessment of Physical Activity-Related Built Environment in Soweto, South Africa: What Is the Role of Contextual Familiarity?

Understanding how urban environments shape physical activity is critical in rapidly urbanizing countries such as South Africa. We assessed the reliability of virtual audits for characterizing urban features related to physical activity in Soweto, South Africa. We used the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes Global tool to characterize pedestrian-related features from Google Street View images in four neighborhoods of Soweto.

The impact of HIV infection on skeletal maturity in peripubertal children in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: HIV infection and its treatment compromises skeletal development (growth and maturation). Skeletal maturity is assessed as bone age (BA) on hand and wrist radiographs. BA younger than chronological age (CA) indicates delayed development.

SHBG, Free Testosterone, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Middle-aged African Men: A Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: To investigate longitudinal changes in SHBG and free testosterone (free T) levels among Black middle-aged African men, with and without coexistent HIV, and explore associations with incident dysglycaemia and measures of glucose metabolism.

Design: This longitudinal study enrolled 407 Black South African middle-aged men, comprising primarily 322 men living without HIV (MLWOH) and 85 men living with HIV (MLWH), with normal fasting glucose at enrollment. Follow-up assessments were conducted after 3.

The association of menopause with cardiometabolic disease risk factors in women living with and without HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: Results from the AWI-Gen 1 study.

Background: Menopause and HIV are associated with cardiometabolic disease. In sub-Saharan Africa there is a growing population of midlife women living with HIV and a high prevalence of cardiometabolic disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether menopause and HIV were associated with cardiometabolic disease risk factors in a population of midlife sub-Saharan African women.

Regional Adiposity and Insulin Sensitivity-Interactions With Menopause and HIV in Middle-Aged Black African Women.

Objective: To explore depot-specific functional aspects of adipose tissue, examining the putative role for menopause and HIV status on insulin sensitivity (SI) and beta-cell function in Black South African women.

Methods: Women (n = 92) from the Middle-Aged Soweto Cohort, including premenopausal HIV-negative women (n = 21); premenopausal women living with HIV (LWH; n = 11); postmenopausal HIV-negative women (n = 42); and postmenopausal women LWH (n = 18) underwent the following tests: body composition (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry); fasting bloods for sex hormones, inflammation, and adipokines; frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test for SI and beta-cell function (disposition index, DI); abdominal (aSAT) and gluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue (gSAT) biopsies for cell size, and mRNA expression of adipokines, inflammation, and estrogen receptors (ER).

Results: Depot-specific associations between gene expression and insulin parameters did not differ by HIV or menopause status.

Variability of polygenic prediction for body mass index in Africa.

Background: Polygenic prediction studies in continental Africans are scarce. Africa's genetic and environmental diversity pose a challenge that limits the generalizability of polygenic risk scores (PRS) for body mass index (BMI) within the continent. Studies to understand the factors that affect PRS variability within Africa are required.

Multisectoral interventions for urban health in Africa: a mixed-methods systematic review.

Increasing evidence suggests that urban health objectives are best achieved through a multisectoral approach. This approach requires multiple sectors to consider health and well-being as a central aspect of their policy development and implementation, recognising that numerous determinants of health lie outside (or beyond the confines of) the health sector. However, collaboration across sectors remains scarce and multisectoral interventions to support health are lacking in Africa.

Expanding the human gut microbiome atlas of Africa.

Population studies are crucial in understanding the complex interplay between the gut microbiome and geographical, lifestyle, genetic, and environmental factors. However, populations from low- and middle-income countries, which represent ~84% of the world population, have been excluded from large-scale gut microbiome research. Here, we present the AWI-Gen 2 Microbiome Project, a cross-sectional gut microbiome study sampling 1,803 women from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.

Silhouette showcards confirm altered obesity-associated body image perception in international cohort study of African-origin populations.

Objectives: Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and need for effective interventions, there is a growing interest in understanding how an individual's body image can inform obesity prevention and management. This study's objective was to examine the use of silhouette showcards to measure body size perception compared with measured body mass index, and assess body size dissatisfaction, in three different African-origin populations spanning the epidemiological transition. An ancillary objective was to investigate associations between body size perception and dissatisfaction with diabetes and hypertension.

Postprandial glucose variability and clusters of sex hormones, liver enzymes, and cardiometabolic factors in a South African cohort of African ancestry.

Introduction: This study aimed to, first, determine the clusters of sex hormones, liver enzymes, and cardiometabolic factors associated with postprandial glucose (PPG) and, second to evaluate the variation these clusters account for jointly and independently with polygenic risk scores (PRSs) in South Africans of African ancestry men and women.

Research Design And Methods: PPG was calculated as the integrated area under the curve for glucose during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) using the trapezoidal rule in 794 participants from the Middle-aged Soweto Cohort. Principal component analysis was used to cluster sex hormones, liver enzymes, and cardiometabolic factors, stratified by sex.

Genome-wide association study meta-analysis of blood pressure traits and hypertension in sub-Saharan African populations: an AWI-Gen study.

Most hypertension-related genome-wide association studies (GWASs) focus on non-African populations, despite hypertension (a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease) being highly prevalent in Africa. The AWI-Gen study GWAS meta-analysis for blood pressure (BP)-related traits (systolic and diastolic BP, pulse pressure, mean-arterial pressure and hypertension) from three sub-Saharan African geographic regions (N = 10,775), identifies two novel genome-wide significant signals (p < 5E-08): systolic BP near P2RY1 (rs77846204; intergenic variant, p = 4.95E-08) and pulse pressure near LINC01256 (rs80141533; intergenic variant, p = 1.

Disparities in the Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Osteopenia in Men and Women Living in Sub-Saharan Africa, the UK, and the USA.

Purpose: To review the rising prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges this poses to governments and healthcare services. Using existing studies, we compare the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in men and women from sub-Saharan Africa to US and UK cohorts. Context-specific disparities in healthcare are discussed particularly the challenges in diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.

Cardiometabolic disease risk factors in pre- and postmenopausal women from four sub-Saharan African countries: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To compare the risk factors for cardiometabolic disease between pre- and postmenopausal women from four sub-Saharan African countries.

Study Design: This cross-sectional study included 3609 women (1740 premenopausal and 1869 postmenopausal) from sites in Ghana (Navrongo), Burkina Faso (Nanoro), Kenya (Nairobi), and South Africa (Soweto and Dikgale). Demographic, anthropometric and cardiometabolic variables were compared between pre- and postmenopausal women, within and across sites using multivariable regression analyses.

Diabetes care cascade and associated factors in 10 700 middle-aged adults in four sub-Saharan African countries: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: We investigated progression through the care cascade and associated factors for people with diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa to identify attrition stages that may be most appropriate for targeted intervention.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Community-based study in four sub-Saharan African countries.

Utility of silhouette showcards to assess adiposity in three countries across the epidemiological transition.

The Pulvers' silhouette showcards provide a non-invasive and easy-to-use way of assessing an individual's body size perception using nine silhouette shapes. However, their utility across different populations has not been examined. This study aimed to assess: 1) the relationship between silhouette perception and measured anthropometrics, i.