Lack of association of two common polymorphisms on 9p21 with risk of coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction; results from a prospective cohort study

Background: Recent genome wide association (GWA) studies identified two Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) (rs10757278 and rs10757274) in the region of the CDK2NA and CDK2NB genes to be consistently associated with the risks of coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the SNPs in relation to the risk of CHD and MI in a large population based study of elderly population. Methods: The Rotterdam Study is a population-based, prospective cohort study among 7983 participants aged 55 years and older. Associations of the polymorphisms with CHD and MI were assessed by use of Cox proportional hazards analyses. Results: In an additive model, the age and sex adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence interval) for CHD and MI were 1.03 (0.90, 1.18) and 0.94 (0.82, 1.08) per copy of the G allele of rs10757274. The corresponding HRs were 1.03 (0.90, 1.18) and 0.93 (0.81, 1.06) for the G allele of rs10757278. The association of the SNPs with CHD and MI was not significant in any of the subgroups of CHD risk factors. Conclusion: We were not able to show an association of the studied SNPs with risks of CHD and MI. This may be due to differences in genes involved in the occurrence of CHD in young and older people

The spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Background: Psychologists consider the acceptance of spirituality as a cultural reality and by acknowledging the positive effects of spirituality on mental health, the World Health Organization also considers the spiritual dimension as the physical, social and emotional dimensions of human existence. Spirituality is a genuine and inner experience that It lies in the nature of every human being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Methods: The present study was descriptive-analytical. The sample size of 500 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020 was estimated. For sampling, a list of students was prepared from the faculty education and the sample was selected by regular random sampling method through random number generation software. The data collection tool was a questionnaire with demographic questions and spiritual experiences. The collected data were analyzed after completion with SPSS 20 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The mean score of the meaning-finding component in life was obtained at 57.98. There was a significant relationship between spiritual experiences and gender, age and educational level of students, while no significant relationship was found between spiritual experiences and marital status and residence. Conclusion: In order to ensure the spiritual health of students, it is necessary to plan properly to create a meaningful atmosphere in universities for different age and gender groups

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±

Association of genetic variation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African Americans: the Candidate Gene Association Resource study

The prevalence of hypertension in African Americans (AAs) is higher than in other US groups; yet, few have performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in AA. Among people of European descent, GWASs have identified genetic variants at 13 loci that are associated with blood pressure. It is unknown if these variants confer susceptibility in people of African ancestry. Here, we examined genome-wide and candidate gene associations with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) using the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) consortium consisting of 8591 AAs. Genotypes included genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data utilizing the Affymetrix 6.0 array with imputation to 2.5 million HapMap SNPs and candidate gene SNP data utilizing a 50K cardiovascular gene-centric array (ITMAT-Broad-CARe [IBC] array). For Affymetrix data, the strongest signal for DBP was rs10474346 (P= 3.6 × 10−8) located near GPR98 and ARRDC3. For SBP, the strongest signal was rs2258119 in C21orf91 (P= 4.7 × 10−8). The top IBC association for SBP was rs2012318 (P= 6.4 × 10−6) near SLC25A42 and for DBP was rs2523586 (P= 1.3 × 10−6) near HLA-B. None of the top variants replicated in additional AA (n = 11 882) or European-American (n = 69 899) cohorts. We replicated previously reported European-American blood pressure SNPs in our AA samples (SH2B3, P= 0.009; TBX3-TBX5, P= 0.03; and CSK-ULK3, P= 0.0004). These genetic loci represent the best evidence of genetic influences on SBP and DBP in AAs to date. More broadly, this work supports that notion that blood pressure among AAs is a trait with genetic underpinnings but also with significant complexit

Scrutinizing relationships between submarine groundwater discharge and upstream areas using thermal remote sensing: A case study in the northern Persian gulf

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Nutrient input through submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) often plays a significant role in primary productivity and nutrient cycling in the coastal areas. Understanding relationships between SGD and topo-hydrological and geo-environmental characteristics of upstream zones is essential for sustainable development in these areas. However, these important relationships have not yet been completely explored using data-mining approaches, especially in arid and semi-arid coastal lands. Here, Landsat 8 thermal sensor data were used to identify potential sites of SGD at a regional scale. Relationships between the remotely-sensed sea surface temperature (SST) patterns and geoenvironmental variables of upland watersheds were analyzed using logistic regression model for the first time. The accuracy of the predictions was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) metric. A highly accurate model, with the AUC-ROC of 96.6%, was generated. Moreover, the results indicated that the percentage of karstic lithological formation and topographic wetness index were key variables influencing SGD phenomenon and spatial distribution in the northern coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. The adopted methodology and applied metrics can be transferred to other coastal regions as a rapid assessment procedure for SGD site detection. Moreover, the results can help planners and decision-makers to develop efficient environmental management strategies and the design of comprehensive sustainable development policies

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms