Objective: Gout disproportionately affects older Pacific Islander and Black populations relative to White populations. However, the ethnic-specific determinants remain understudied within these groups, as well as within other ethnicities. We examined gout incidence and associations with behavioral factors, including diet, alcohol, and smoking, within a large multiethnic population of older adults from the Multiethnic Cohort Study, which linked prospective cohort data to Medicare gout claims between 1999-2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine associations between serum antioxidant levels and mortality (all-cause, cancer and CVD) among US adults.
Design: We examined the risk of death from all-cause and cause-specific mortality associated with serum antioxidant (vitamin E and carotenoids) and vitamin A levels using Cox regression models to estimate hazards ratios (HR) and 95 % CI.
Setting: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002 was followed up through 31 December 2015.
Background Previously, Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program researchers reported that occupational exposure to pesticides was significantly associated with total mortality. The current study examines occupational exposure to pesticides in relation to incident cardiovascular disease, defined as coronary heart disease or cerebrovascular accident. Methods and Results With the Occupational Safety Health Administration exposure scale used as an estimate of exposure, statistical analyses were performed on a cohort of 7557 Japanese-American men from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic aging-related diseases result in the greatest burden to the health care system, yet there is little agreement on optimal levels of vitamins or the functional significance of many other dietary molecules in disease prevention. This review presents accumulated information regarding the role of γ-tocopherol in the prevention of nitrogen oxide-mediated damage and its impact on aging-related diseases. γ-Tocopherol is ubiquitous in the diet and levels appear to be physiologically regulated such that levels rise in response to inflammation and deficiencies in certain key vitamins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Recent findings outline negative effects of brain insulin signaling on memory due to hyperinsulinemia. We investigated the association between insulin resistance (IR) with AD and dementia.
Methods: Later life Japanese men (N = 1544, mean age = 79.
Background/objectives: γ-Tocopherol has unique properties that protect against nitrogen oxide-mediated cellular damage. To elucidate the potential role of γ-tocopherol in the aging process, we examined the associations of serum γ-tocopherol levels with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
Subjects/methods: Among participants in the biorepository subcohort of the Multiethnic Cohort Study, pre-cancer diagnostic serum γ-tocopherol levels were measured in a subset of 3904 men and 4461 women.
Background/objectives: This study examined the long-term relation of lipid-soluble micronutrients with diet quality as assessed by four a priori-defined dietary patterns.
Subjects/methods: In a prospective design, nutritional biomarkers (carotenoids, tocopherols, retinol, and coenzyme Q10) were measured using a validated HPLC-based assay. General linear models were applied to obtain covariate-adjusted means of biomarkers for tertiles of four a priori diet quality indices: Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010, Alternative HEI (AHEI) 2010, Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (aMED), and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH).
Objective: The potential influence of dietary factors on inflammation is important for cancer prevention. Utilizing data from control participants (312 men, 911 women) in 2 nested case-control studies of cancer within the Multiethnic Cohort, we examined the associations of red and processed meat intake with serum levels of leptin, adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6 and the mediator effect of body mass index (BMI) on the above associations (if present).
Methods: Multivariable linear models were applied to assess the association between red and processed meat intake at cohort entry and serum biomarker levels measured 9.
For cancer prevention, the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) emphasise recommendations to improve individual behaviour, including avoidance of tobacco products, maintaining a lean body mass, participating in physical activity, consuming a plant-based diet, and minimising the consumption of energy-dense foods, such as sodas, red and processed meats and alcohol. In the present study of 275 healthy premenopausal women, we explored the association of adherence scores with levels of three biomarkers of antioxidant and inflammation status: serum C-reactive protein (CRP), serum γ-tocopherol and urinary F2-isoprostane. The statistical analysis applied linear regression across categories of adherence to WCRF/AICR recommendations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Depression and anxiety are common conditions among pregnant and postpartum women, but population-based information is lacking on treatments and help-seeking behaviors.
Purpose: This study described the prevalence of depression, anxiety, pharmaceutical treatment, and help-seeking behaviors among a multiethnic population of women with recent live births in Hawaii.
Method: Hawaii Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from 4735 respondents were weighted to be representative of all pregnancies resulting in live births in Hawaii in 2009-2011 and were used to estimate the prevalence of several indicators related to anxiety and depression before, during, and after pregnancy among women with recent live births.
Computed tomography (CT) is an imaging modality that exposes patients to ionizing radiation (IR). We review and report findings from our pilot study evaluating whether blood markers are altered in 17 children undergoing medically indicated CT scans. Blood was drawn before ('pre-CT') and 1 hour after ('post-CT' CT scans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Lipid-soluble antioxidants are associated with a lower incidence for many chronic diseases of aging, possibly by preventing damage from chronic inflammation. In the current study, we compared serum levels of coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀), α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, and C-reactive protein (CRP) between adolescent girls and premenopausal women to assess changes from childhood to midlife.
Methods: Baseline serum CoQ₁₀, α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, and CRP levels were measured in 207 girls (13-19 years) and 183 premenopausal women (34-47 years) using standard methods and the 2 age groups were compared by t test.
Background: Low dose X-irradiation (IR) from computer tomography (CT) can generate free radicals, which can damage biologically relevant molecules and ultimately lead to cancer. These effects are especially concerning for children owing to their higher radiosensitivity and longer life expectancy than adults. The lipid phase micronutrients (LPM) coenzyme Q10, carotenoids, E vitamers, and vitamin A are potent radical scavengers that can act as intracellular antioxidants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Higher sunlight exposure is correlated with lower incidence of breast cancer in ecological studies, but findings from prospective studies regarding the association of circulating levels of vitamin D with the risk of breast cancer have been null. The objective of this study was to examine the relation between plasma levels of vitamin D and the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study within the Multiethnic Cohort Study of five race/ethnic groups (white, African-American, Native Hawaiian, Japanese, and Latino) from Hawaii and Los Angeles between 2001 and 2006.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
November 2013
Background: Compromised immunity and chronic inflammation are thought to contribute to the development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Because tocopherols protect cells through antioxidant mechanisms, they may play a role in NHL etiology.
Methods: This nested case-control study within the Multiethnic Cohort examined the association of prediagnostic serum tocopherols levels measured in 271 NHL cases and 538 matched controls by high-pressure liquid chromatography/photodiode array detection with NHL risk.
Purpose: To estimate the effects of calcium or vitamin D supplementation or a combination of both on blood pressure and serum lipid and carotenoid levels.
Methods: Ninety-two colorectal adenoma patients were randomized in a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of supplemental vitamin D3 800 IU and elemental calcium 2.0 g (as calcium carbonate) alone or in combination in divided doses twice daily with meals over 6 months.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
July 2013
Background: Identification of biomarkers associated with survival in patients with cancer is important for elucidating the underlying mechanisms of cancer progression and identifying possible interventions to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.
Methods: Using stored patient plasma samples from a multiethnic population-based case-control study of invasive colorectal cancer, we measured posttreatment blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipid-soluble micronutrients. Patients (n = 368) were followed after phlebotomy (mean of 8 years), during which time 47% died (25% colorectal cancer specific).
Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Adipokines and systemic inflammation have been hypothesized to underlie this association. In a case-control study nested within the Multiethnic Cohort, conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for postmenopausal breast cancer associated with prediagnostic levels of serum leptin, adiponectin, the leptin:adiponectin ratio, and C-reactive protein (CRP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Because immune dysfunction is thought to underlie the development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), obesity and chronic inflammation may be involved in its etiology. We examined the association of prediagnostic inflammatory markers and adipokines with NHL risk.
Methods: We conducted a nested case-control analysis (272 cases and 541 matched controls) within the Multiethnic Cohort.
Background: Characterization of abdominal and intra-abdominal fat requires imaging, and thus is not feasible in large epidemiologic studies.
Objective: We investigated whether biomarkers may complement anthropometry (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], and waist-hip ratio [WHR]) in predicting the size of the body fat compartments by analyzing blood biomarkers, including adipocytokines, insulin resistance markers, sex steroid hormones, lipids, liver enzymes and gastro-neuropeptides.
Methods: Fasting levels of 58 blood markers were analyzed in 60 healthy, Caucasian or Japanese American postmenopausal women who underwent anthropometric measurements, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging.
This analysis examined the association of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with prediagnostic carotenoid levels, a marker for a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. We conducted a nested case-control study within the Multiethnic Cohort with 271 NHL cases and 538 controls matched on sex, ethnicity, location (Hawaii or Los Angeles), birth year, date and time of blood draw, and hours fasting before blood draw. Serum carotenoid levels were obtained by high-pressure liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHawaii J Med Public Health
February 2012
In addition to their antiestrogenic effects, soy isoflavones may protect against cancer through alternate biological actions, for example, antioxidant properties. This randomized crossover study explored the relationship between dietary isoflavone intake through common soy foods and oxidative stress quantified by urinary isoprostane levels. Eighty-two women aged 39.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFγ-Tocopherol (γT) protects against DNA-damaging effects of nitrogen oxides, yet its physiologic regulation in vivo is unknown. Observational studies indicate inverse associations of 25[OH]-vitamin D with γT and leptin. To determine whether vitamin D(3) supplementation alters levels of lipid-soluble micronutrients, serum samples (N = 85 subjects) from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of vitamin D(3) (800 IU) and calcium (2 g), alone and in combination, were analyzed for lipid micronutrients and specific vitamin D metabolites at baseline and after 6 mo of supplementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
June 2011
Background: Low circulating levels of coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)) have been associated with increased cancer incidence and poor prognosis for a number of cancer types, while a recent prospective study observed a positive association for CoQ(10) with breast cancer risk.
Methods: We prospectively examined the association of plasma CoQ(10) with breast cancer risk in a nested case-control study of Chinese women within the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS). Prediagnostic plasma samples were obtained from 340 cases and 653 age-matched controls and analyzed for total CoQ(10).