LINE1 methylation levels in pre-diagnostic leukocyte DNA and future renal cell carcinoma risk.

Higher levels of LINE1 methylation in blood DNA have been associated with increased kidney cancer risk using post-diagnostically collected samples; however, this association has never been examined using pre-diagnostic samples. We examined the association between LINE1 %5mC and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) risk using pre-diagnostic blood DNA from the United States-based, Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) (215 cases/436 controls), and the Alpha-tocopherol, Beta-carotene Cancer Prevention Study (ATBC) of Finnish male smokers (191 cases/575 controls). Logistic regression adjusted for age at blood draw, study center, pack-years of smoking, body mass index, hypertension, dietary alcohol intake, family history of cancer, and sex was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using cohort and sex-specific methylation categories.

Perceived health-related self-efficacy associated with BMI in adults in a population-based survey.

Background: The concept of ability to control personal behaviour in various environmental temptations is called self-efficacy. The high prevalence of obesity and overweight in Finland is the reason for studying the determinants of weight. The aim of the present study was to clarify the associations between body mass index and health-related self-efficacy (HSE), including food patterns, health behaviour and education.

Metabolic signatures of adiposity in young adults: Mendelian randomization analysis and effects of weight change.

Background: Increased adiposity is linked with higher risk for cardiometabolic diseases. We aimed to determine to what extent elevated body mass index (BMI) within the normal weight range has causal effects on the detailed systemic metabolite profile in early adulthood.

Methods And Findings: We used Mendelian randomization to estimate causal effects of BMI on 82 metabolic measures in 12,664 adolescents and young adults from four population-based cohorts in Finland (mean age 26 y, range 16-39 y; 51% women; mean ± standard deviation BMI 24 ± 4 kg/m(2)).

Stratification by smoking status reveals an association of CHRNA5-A3-B4 genotype with body mass index in never smokers.

We previously used a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the CHRNA5-A3-B4 gene cluster associated with heaviness of smoking within smokers to confirm the causal effect of smoking in reducing body mass index (BMI) in a Mendelian randomisation analysis. While seeking to extend these findings in a larger sample we found that this SNP is associated with 0.74% lower body mass index (BMI) per minor allele in current smokers (95% CI -0.

Serum vitamin D, vitamin D binding protein, and lung cancer survival.

Objectives: Vitamin D may prolong cancer survival by inhibiting tumor progression and metastasis, however, there are limited epidemiologic studies regarding the association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and lung cancer survival. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and lung cancer specific survival and to evaluate whether vitamin D binding protein (DBP) concentration modified this association.

Materials And Methods: 25(OH)D and DBP were measured in fasting serum samples from 500 male lung cancer cases in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study.

Physical activity and menopause-related quality of life - a population-based cross-sectional study.

The aim of the research was to study the association between engagement in the recommended level of physical activity and quality of life (QoL) among middle-aged women. In total, 2606 Finnish women aged 49 years responded to a postal questionnaire on lifestyle, quality of life, and health, wherein QoL was assessed with a shorter version of the menopause-specific Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ). Proportional odds ratios (PORs) from ordered logistic regression models were used to test the association between the physical-activity and WHQ domains or three quality-of-life variables.

Forty-year trends in cardiovascular risk factors in Finland.

Background: Finland has experienced remarkable changes in population levels of coronary heart disease risk factors and mortality over the past decades. The National FINRISK studies have monitored risk factors in major non-communicable diseases from 1972 to 2012. The 40-year changes in those risk factors are presented.

Assessing the effect of treatment duration on the association between anti-diabetic medication and cancer risk.

Most studies that have evaluated the association between anti-diabetic medication and cancer risk have suffered from methodological drawbacks. To avoid time-related biases, we evaluated the effect of treatment duration on the cancer risk among naive users of anti-diabetic medication as compared to non-users. In addition, we addressed the influence of common risk factors such as smoking and BMI.

Determinants of concentrations of N(ε)-carboxymethyl-lysine and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products and their associations with risk of pancreatic cancer.

The soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE) is shown to mitigate pro-inflammatory effects triggered by ligation of RAGE with N(ε)-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML)-AGE or other ligands. We examined the associations among host, lifestyle, and genetic determinants of CML-AGE or sRAGE and risk of pancreatic cancer in the prospective ATBC Study. We obtained baseline exposure information, data on serological and genetic biomarkers from 141 patients with pancreatic cancer and 141 subcohort controls.

Endotoxemia, nutrition, and cardiometabolic disorders.

Aims: Circulating lipopolysaccharides (LPSs), associated with both infection and inflammation, may arise from the gastrointestinal tract microbiota, and the levels may be affected by daily nutrition. We investigated whether nutrient intake affects the association of serum LPS activity with prevalent obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), diabetes, and coronary heart disease (CHD) and with the risk of incident CHD events.

Methods: The nutrition cohort (n = 2,452, mean age ± SD, 52.

Genetic variation in the hTAS2R38 taste receptor and food consumption among Finnish adults.

Genetic variation in bitter taste receptors, such as hTAS2R38, may affect food preferences and intake. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between bitter taste receptor haplotypes and the consumption of vegetables, fruits, berries and sweet foods among an adult Finnish population. A cross-sectional design utilizing data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns cohort from 2007, which consisted of 1,903 men and women who were 30-45 years of age from five different regions in Finland, was employed.

Mitochondrial DNA copy number and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma risk in two prospective studies.

Background: Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA CN) may be modified by mitochondria in response to oxidative stress. Previously, mtDNA CN was associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk, particularly chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). We conducted a replication study in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) study and pooled with published ATBC (Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene) data.

Pooled analysis of mitochondrial DNA copy number and lung cancer risk in three prospective studies.

Background: We previously reported that higher levels of mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA CN) were associated with lung cancer risk among male heavy smokers (i.e., ≥20 cigarettes per day) in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene (ATBC) study.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption.

Coffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-type coffee consumption (cups per day) among up to 91,462 coffee consumers of European ancestry with top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) followed-up in ~30 062 and 7964 coffee consumers of European and African-American ancestry, respectively. Studies from both stages were combined in a trans-ethnic meta-analysis.

Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height.

Using genome-wide data from 253,288 individuals, we identified 697 variants at genome-wide significance that together explained one-fifth of the heritability for adult height. By testing different numbers of variants in independent studies, we show that the most strongly associated ∼2,000, ∼3,700 and ∼9,500 SNPs explained ∼21%, ∼24% and ∼29% of phenotypic variance. Furthermore, all common variants together captured 60% of heritability.

1-stearoylglycerol is associated with risk of prostate cancer: results from serum metabolomic profiling.

Although prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in developed populations, recent recommendations against routine prostate-specific antigen screening have cast doubt on its utility for early detection. We compared the metabolomic profiles of prospectively collected fasting serum from 74 prostate cancer cases and 74 controls selected from the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort of male smokers. Circulating 1-stearoylglycerol (1-SG, or 1-monostearin) was statistically significantly inversely associated with risk of prostate cancer after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (i.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentration and risk of dementia.

Background: High vitamin D status has been hypothesized to protect against dementia. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level predicts dementia risk.

Methods: The study was based on the Mini-Finland Health Survey.

Serum phytanic and pristanic acid levels and prostate cancer risk in Finnish smokers.

Phytanic acid is a saturated branched-chain fatty acid found predominantly in red meat and dairy products, and may contribute to the elevated risks of prostate cancer associated with higher consumption of these foods. Pristanic acid is formed during peroxisomal oxidation of phytanic acid, and is the direct substrate of α-Methyl-CoA-Racemase (AMACR)--an enzyme that is consistently overexpressed in prostate tumors relative to benign tissue. We measured phytanic and pristanic acids as percentages of total fatty acids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in prediagnostic blood samples from 300 prostate cancer cases and 300 matched controls, all of whom were participants in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study supplementation trial and follow-up cohort.

FTO genetic variants, dietary intake and body mass index: insights from 177,330 individuals.

FTO is the strongest known genetic susceptibility locus for obesity. Experimental studies in animals suggest the potential roles of FTO in regulating food intake. The interactive relation among FTO variants, dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) is complex and results from previous often small-scale studies in humans are highly inconsistent.

Higher fructose intake is inversely associated with risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in older Finnish adults.

Background: High fructose intake has been suggested to be a key factor that induces nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the evidence from large epidemiologic studies is lacking.

Objective: We examined the cross-sectional association between fructose intake and NAFLD by using the Fatty Liver Index (FLI) and the NAFLD liver fat score.

Design: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study investigated 2003 Finnish men and women born in 1943-1944 in Helsinki who participated in a clinical health examination in the years 2001-2004.

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for pancreatic cancer.

We performed a multistage genome-wide association study including 7,683 individuals with pancreatic cancer and 14,397 controls of European descent. Four new loci reached genome-wide significance: rs6971499 at 7q32.3 (LINC-PINT, per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.

Serum vitamin D, vitamin D binding protein, and risk of colorectal cancer.

Background: We previously reported a positive association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and colorectal cancer risk. To further elucidate this association, we examined the molar ratio of 25(OH)D to vitamin D binding protein (DBP), the primary 25(OH)D transport protein, and whether DBP modified the association between 25(OH)D and colorectal cancer risk.

Methods: In a nested case-control study within the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study, controls were 1∶1 matched to 416 colorectal cancer cases based on age and date of blood collection.

Imputation and subset-based association analysis across different cancer types identifies multiple independent risk loci in the TERT-CLPTM1L region on chromosome 5p15.33.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have mapped risk alleles for at least 10 distinct cancers to a small region of 63 000 bp on chromosome 5p15.33. This region harbors the TERT and CLPTM1L genes; the former encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase reverse transcriptase and the latter may play a role in apoptosis.

Body mass index and cancer incidence: the FINRISK study.

The relation between body mass index (BMI) and risk of cancer incidence is controversial. Cancer incidence during 1972-2008 in relation to BMI was investigated in a prospective cohort of 54,725 Finns aged 24-74 years and free of cancer at enrollment. Over a mean follow-up of 20.

Serum transforming growth factor-β1 and risk of pancreatic cancer in three prospective cohort studies.

Purpose: Clinically evident chronic pancreatitis is a strong risk factor for pancreatic cancer. A small Japanese cohort study previously reported that pre-diagnostic serum transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) concentration, a potential marker of subclinical pancreatic inflammation, was associated with higher risk of pancreatic cancer. We further explored this association in a larger prospective study.