Background: Ethnic inequalities in acute health acute care are not well researched. We examined how attendee ethnicity influenced outcomes of emergency care in unselected patients presenting with a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder.
Methods: A descriptive, retrospective cohort analysis of anonymised patient level data for University Hospitals of Leicester emergency department attendees, from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021, receiving a diagnosis of a GI disorder was performed.
In order to train a future workforce able to meet the needs of its patients it is vital to ensure that opportunities to engage in research are inbuilt to training programmes. This strategy meets national recommendations recently published by NIHR, RCP and GMC. A nationally funded expansion of 'standard' Foundation programmes offers a unique opportunity to develop innovative new posts which include exposure to clinical research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid hormones play a critical role in regulation of multiple physiological functions and thyroid dysfunction is associated with substantial morbidity. Here, we use electronic health records to undertake a genome-wide association study of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, with a total sample size of 247,107. We identify 158 novel genetic associations, more than doubling the number of known associations with TSH, and implicate 112 putative causal genes, of which 76 are not previously implicated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The kidney failure risk equation (KFRE) predicts the 2- and 5-year risk of needing kidney replacement therapy (KRT) using four risk factors - age, sex, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Although the KFRE has been recalibrated in a UK cohort, this did not consider minority ethnic groups. Further validation of the KFRE in different ethnicities is a research priority.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Contemporary differences between South Asian and White ethnicities in the incidence of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and mortality are poorly described.
Methods: Data for all South Asian patients who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measure after January 1, 2006, and 1 million randomly selected participants of other ethnicities were extracted from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). All participants were followed-up with from index date until ESKD, all-cause mortality, or end of study.
Phagocytosis plays vital roles in injury and repair, while its regulation by properdin and innate repair receptor, a heterodimer receptor of erythropoietin receptor (EPOR)/β common receptor (βcR), in renal ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) remains unclear. Properdin, a pattern recognition molecule, facilitates phagocytosis by opsonizing damaged cells. Our previous study showed that the phagocytic function of tubular epithelial cells isolated from properdin knockout () mouse kidneys was compromised, with upregulated EPOR in IR kidneys that was further raised by at repair phase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSignificance Statement: The kidney failure risk equation (KFRE) uses age, sex, GFR, and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) to predict 2- and 5-year risk of kidney failure in populations with eGFR <60 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 . However, the CKD-EPI 2021 creatinine equation for eGFR is now recommended for use but has not been fully tested in the context of KFRE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Less is known about how CVD associates with future risk of kidney failure with replacement therapy (KFRT).
Methods And Results: The study included 25 903 761 individuals from the CKD Prognosis Consortium with known baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and evaluated the impact of prevalent and incident coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, heart failure (HF), and atrial fibrillation (AF) events as time-varying exposures on KFRT outcomes.
Background: Little is known about how asymptomatic testing as a method to control transmission of COVID-19 can be implemented, and the prevalence of asymptomatic infection within university populations. The objective of this study was to investigate how to effectively set-up and implement a COVID-19 testing programme using novel reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) technology and to quantify the scale of asymptomatic infection on a university campus.
Methods: An observational study to describe the set-up and implementation of a novel COVID-19 testing programme on a UK university campus between September and December 2020.
Purpose: To demonstrate the diagnostic performance of rapid SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP assays, comparing the performance of genomic versus sub-genomic sequence target with subsequent application in an asymptomatic screening population.
Methods: RT-LAMP diagnostic specificity (DSe) and sensitivity (DSe) was determined using 114 RT-PCR clinically positive and 88 RT-PCR clinically negative swab samples processed through the diagnostic RT-PCR service within the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. A swab-based RT-LAMP SARS-CoV-2 screening programme was subsequently made available to all staff and students at the University of Leicester (Autumn 2020), implemented to ISO 15189:2012 standards using NHS IT infrastructure and supported by University Hospital Leicester via confirmatory NHS diagnostic laboratory testing of RT-LAMP 'positive' samples.
Aims: The 2021 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guideline on cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention categorizes moderate and severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) as high and very-high CVD risk status regardless of other factors like age and does not include estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria in its algorithms, systemic coronary risk estimation 2 (SCORE2) and systemic coronary risk estimation 2 in older persons (SCORE2-OP), to predict CVD risk. We developed and validated an 'Add-on' to incorporate CKD measures into these algorithms, using a validated approach.
Methods: In 3,054 840 participants from 34 datasets, we developed three Add-ons [eGFR only, eGFR + urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) (the primary Add-on), and eGFR + dipstick proteinuria] for SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP.
Objective: To predict adverse kidney outcomes for use in optimizing medical management and clinical trial design.
Research Design And Methods: In this meta-analysis of individual participant data, 43 cohorts (N = 1,621,817) from research studies, electronic medical records, and clinical trials with global representation were separated into development and validation cohorts. Models were developed and validated within strata of diabetes mellitus (presence or absence) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; ≥60 or <60 mL/min/1.
Objective: To externally validate various prognostic models and scoring rules for predicting short term mortality in patients admitted to hospital for covid-19.
Design: Two stage individual participant data meta-analysis.
Setting: Secondary and tertiary care.
Background/aims: Data concerning differences in demographics/disease severity between the first and second waves of COVID-19 are limited. We aimed to examine prognosis in patients presenting to hospital with COVID-19 amongst different ethnic groups between the first and second waves in the UK.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included 1763 patients presenting to a regional hospital centre in Leicester (UK) and compared those in the first ( = 956) and second ( = 807) waves.
New data collection in established longitudinal population studies provides an opportunity for studying the risk factors and sequelae of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), plus the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing. The Extended Cohort for E-health, Environment and DNA (EXCEED) cohort is a population-based cohort (N>11,000), recruited from 2013 in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. EXCEED includes consent for electronic healthcare record (EHR) linkage, spirometry, genomic data, and questionnaire data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Patients receiving haemodialysis (HD) display elevated circulating microparticle (MP) concentration, tissue factor (TF) expression and markers of systemic inflammation, though regular intradialytic cycling (IDC) may have a therapeutic effect. This study investigated the impact of regular, moderate-intensity IDC on circulating MPs and inflammatory markers in unit-based HD patients.
Methods: Patients were cluster-randomised to intervention (n = 20, age: 51.
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) and ethnic minority groups are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination is now available for frontline UK HCWs; however, demographic/occupational associations with vaccine uptake in this cohort are unknown. We sought to establish these associations in a large UK hospital workforce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProperdin, a positive regulator of complement alternative pathway, participates in renal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury and also acts as a pattern-recognition molecule affecting apoptotic T-cell clearance. However, the role of properdin in tubular epithelial cells (TECs) at the repair phase post IR injury is not well defined. This study revealed that properdin knockout (P) mice exhibited greater injury in renal function and histology than wild-type (WT) mice post 72-h IR, with more apoptotic cells and macrophages in tubular lumina, increased active caspase-3 and HMGB1, but better histological structure at 24 h.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study assessed the risks and benefits of aspirin in the primary prevention of CVD in individuals with CKD.
Methods And Results: Ovid MEDLINE was searched from 2015 to 15th of September 2020 to include randomized controlled trials that assessed aspirin versus placebo in adults with non-end stage CKD without a previous diagnosis of CVD.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for patients receiving hemodialysis. Since exercise mitigates many risk factors which drive cardiovascular disease for these patients, we assessed effects of a program of intra-dialytic cycling on left ventricular mass and other prognostically relevant measures of cardiovascular disease as evaluated by cardiac MRI (the CYCLE-HD trial). This was a prospective, open-label, single-blinded cluster-randomized controlled trial powered to detect a 15g difference in left ventricular mass measured between patients undergoing a six-month program of intra-dialytic cycling (exercise group) and patients continuing usual care (control group).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hypertension is common in individuals with chronic kidney disease and both conditions are associated with adverse outcomes including cardiovascular morbidity. Therefore, it is clinically important to identify methods of risk prediction in individuals with chronic kidney disease. Blood pressure variability has recently emerged as a predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in the general population, with growing evidence indicating that it may play a similar role in individuals with chronic kidney disease.
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