Unspecified asthma, childhood-onset, and adult-onset asthma have different causal genes: a Mendelian randomization analysis.

Introduction: Asthma is a heterogeneous condition that is characterized by reversible airway obstruction. Childhood-onset asthma (COA) and adult-onset asthma (AOA) are two prominent asthma subtypes, each with unique etiological factors and prognosis, which suggests the existence of both shared and distinct risk factors.

Methods: Here, we employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to elucidate the causal association between genes within lung and whole-blood-specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and the development of unspecified asthma, COA, and AOA using the Wald ratio method.

identification of complex traits associated with asthma.

Introduction: Asthma is a heterogeneous inflammatory disease often associated with other complex phenotypes. Identifying asthma-associated diseases and uncovering the molecular mechanisms mediating their interaction can help detangle the heterogeneity of asthma. Network analysis is a powerful approach for untangling such inter-disease relationships.

Integrating Multimorbidity into a Whole-Body Understanding of Disease Using Spatial Genomics.

Multimorbidity is characterized by multidimensional complexity emerging from interactions between multiple diseases across levels of biological (including genetic) and environmental determinants and the complex array of interactions between and within cells, tissues and organ systems. Advances in spatial genomic research have led to an unprecedented expansion in our ability to link alterations in genome folding with changes that are associated with human disease. Studying disease-associated genetic variants in the context of the spatial genome has enabled the discovery of transcriptional regulatory programmes that potentially link dysregulated genes to disease development.

The Spectrum of Genetic Variants Associated with the Development of Monogenic Obesity in Qatar.

Introduction: Monogenic obesity (MO) is a rare genetic disease characterized by severe early-onset obesity in affected individuals. Previous genetic studies revealed 8 definitive genes for monogenic non-syndromic obesity; many were discovered in consanguineous populations. Here, we examined MO in the Qatari population, whose population is largely consanguineous (54%) and characterized by extensive obesity (45%).

Hepatitis B Virus Molecular Epidemiology, Host-Virus Interaction, Coinfection, and Laboratory Diagnosis in the MENA Region: An Update.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an enveloped partial double-stranded DNA virus that can cause acute and chronic hepatitis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 257 million people are living with HBV. Moreover, 20,900 acute hepatitis B cases were reported in 2016.