Obstructive sleep apnea and structural and functional brain alterations: a brain-wide investigation from clinical association to genetic causality.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to brain alterations, but the specific regions affected and the causal associations between these changes remain unclear.

Methods: We studied 20 pairs of age-, sex-, BMI-, and education- matched OSA patients and healthy controls using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from August 2019 to February 2020. Additionally, large-scale Mendelian randomization analyses were performed using genome-wide association study (GWAS) data on OSA and 3935 brain imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs), assessed in up to 33,224 individuals between December 2023 and March 2024, to explore potential genetic causality between OSA and alterations in whole brain structure and function.

Social anxiety and bullying victimization: A three-level meta-analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Background: Numerous studies have explored the association between social anxiety and bullying victimization. However, inconsistency are found regarding the strength and the direction of this relationship. Moreover, it remains unclear how different subtypes of bullying victimization associate with social anxiety.

Serum Amyloid A in Stable COPD Patients is Associated with the Frequent Exacerbator Phenotype.

Background: We sought to determine whether circulating inflammatory biomarkers were associated with the frequent exacerbator phenotype in stable COPD patients ie, those with two or more exacerbations in the previous year.

Methods: Eighty-eight stable, severe, COPD patients (4 females) were assessed for exacerbation frequency, pulmonary function, fraction of expired nitric oxide (FNO); inflammatory variables were measured in venous blood. Logistic regression assessed associations between the frequent exacerbator phenotype and systemic inflammation.