Long-term exposure to low-level air pollution, genetic susceptibility and risk of dementia

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Long-term exposure to low-level air pollution, genetic susceptibility and risk of dementia via International Journal of Epidemiology - Advance Access Abstract BackgroundWe aimed to assess the association between low-level air pollution and the risk of dementia, and examine the modification effect by genetic susceptibility on the relationship. Methods A total of 164 447 participants who were free of dementia at baseline and aged ≥60 years were included. Annual average concentrations of particulate matter (PM) with diameters of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), between 2.5 and 10 μm (PMcoarse), PM2.5 absorbance and nitrogen dioxides (NO2) were evaluated using the Land Use Regression models. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the association between air pollutants and incident dementia. Results The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of dementia for a 5-μg/m3 increase in NO2 was 1.09 (95% CI, 1.05–1.14); the adjusted HR of dementia for a 1-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was 1.10 (1.04–1.17). Such significant associations were present even within concentration ranges well below the present World Health Organization, US and European annual mean limit values. In addition, higher PM2.5 absorbance, a marker closely related to motorized traffic, was associated with higher risk of dementia. We found the risk of dementia associated with a combination of air pollutants (NO2 or PM2.5) and high genetic susceptibility (APOE-ε4 alleles or overall genetic susceptibility) was greater than the addition of the risk associated with each individual factor, indicating significant interactions on an additive scale (all P-interaction < 0.05). Conclusion Long-term exposure to PM2.5 or NO2, even at relatively low levels, is associated with a higher risk of dementia. Air pollution may additively interact with the genetic susceptibility on dementia risk. View on Web

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Outcomes of Bebtelovimab and Sotrovimab Treatment of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients with Mild‐to‐moderate COVID‐19 during the Omicron Epoch

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Outcomes of Bebtelovimab and Sotrovimab Treatment of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients with Mild‐to‐moderate COVID‐19 during the Omicron Epoch via Transplant Infectious Disease Abstract Background : Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) are at high-risk for severe infection from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Anti-spike monoclonal antibodies are currently utilized under emergency use authorization to prevent hospitalization in high-risk individuals with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), including SOTRs. However, clinical data for bebtelovimab, the sole currently available anti-spike monoclonal antibody for COVID-19, is limited. Methods : We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult SOTRs diagnosed with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 from January 2022 through May 2022 who received either bebtelovimab or sotrovimab. The primary outcome was COVID-19-related hospitalization within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. Data were analyzed with Fisher's exact test. Results : Among 361 SOTRs, 92 (25.5%) received bebtelovimab and 269 (74.5%) received sotrovimab. The most common organ transplant was kidney (42.4%). SOTRs who received bebtelovimab had a higher proportion who had received a booster SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose and had received their last vaccination dose more recently. Eleven (3.0%) SOTRs were hospitalized, and rates of hospitalization were similar between monoclonal antibody groups (3.3% versus 3.0%; p>0.99). Three patients required admission to an intensive care unit, all who received sotrovimab. Four (1.1%) patients died within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis, two from each group. Conclusions : SOTRs with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who received bebtelovimab had similar rates of COVID-19-related hospitalization as those who received sotrovimab. While differences in vaccination rates and viral subvariants could act as confounders, bebtelovimab appears to be of similar effectiveness as sotrovimab. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved View on Web

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How flu-like syndromes contribute to termination of weekly rifapentine-based TB preventive therapy is still poorly predictable

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader How flu-like syndromes contribute to termination of weekly rifapentine-based TB preventive therapy is still poorly predictable via Clinical Infectious Diseases Advance Access View on Web

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Gestational Weight Gain and Birth Outcomes: A Comparison of Methods to Account for Gestational Age

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Gestational Weight Gain and Birth Outcomes: A Comparison of Methods to Account for Gestational Age via American Journal of Epidemiology - Advance Access Abstract Cross-sectional studies of total gestational weight gain (GWG) and perinatal outcomes have used different approaches to operationalize GWG and adjust for gestational duration. Using birth records from California (2007-2017), Nevada (2010-2017), and Oregon (2008-2017) we compared three commonly used approaches to estimate associations between GWG and cesarean delivery (C-section), small for gestational age (SGA), and low birth weight (LBW)]: (1) the Institute of Medicine r ecommended GWG ranges at a given gestational week, (2) total weight gain categories directly adjusting for gestational age as a covariate, and (3) weight-gain-for-gestational-age z-scores derived from an external longitudinal reference population. Among 5,461,130 births, the three methods yielded similar conclusions for C-section and SGA. However, for LBW, some associations based on z-scores were in the opposite direction of methods 1 and 2, paradoxically suggesting higher GWG increases risk of LBW. This was due to a greater proportion of preterm births among those with high z-scores, and controlling for gestational age in the z-score model brought the results in line with the other methods. We conclude that the use of externally-derived GWG z-scores based on ongoing pregnancies can yield associations confounded by duration of pregnancy when the outcome is strongly associated with gestational age at delivery. View on Web

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