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Nevin Manimala Statistics

C-Reactive Protein Trajectories and the Risk of All Cancer Types: A Prospective Cohort Study

Int J Cancer. 2022 Apr 3. doi: 10.1002/ijc.34012. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A single CRP measurement is insufficient to examine the association of long-term patterns of CRP concentration with cancer risk. We prospectively examined the relationship between CRP trajectory patterns and new-onset cancers among 52 276 participants. Latent mixture modeling was used to identify CRP trajectories. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the association between CRP trajectory patterns and the risk of overall and specific-site cancer. Four CRP trajectories patterns were identified: low-stable pattern (n = 43 258), moderate-increasing pattern (n = 2591), increasing-decreasing pattern (n = 2068), and elevated-decreasing pattern (n = 4359). Relative to the low-stable pattern, the moderate-increasing trajectory pattern was associated with an elevated risk of overall, lung, breast, leukemia, bladder, stomach, colorectal, liver, gallbladder, or extrahepatic bile duct cancer and leukemia. Participants in the increasing-decreasing trajectory pattern were associated with an elevated risk of overall, lung, breast, bladder, pancreatic, and liver cancer. The increasing-decreasing trajectory pattern was also associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer in the multivariate analyses. Elevated-decreasing trajectory pattern was associated with increased risk of leukemia and decreased risk of esophageal and colorectal cancer. CRP trajectories play an important role in the occurrence of cancers, especially in the lung, breast, bladder, stomach, colorectal, liver, gallbladder and extrahepatic bile duct cancer, and leukemia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35368093 | DOI:10.1002/ijc.34012

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Application of individualized differential expression analysis in human cancer proteome

Brief Bioinform. 2022 Apr 2:bbac096. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbac096. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics can measure the expression of thousands of proteins from biological samples and has been increasingly applied in cancer research. Identifying differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between tumors and normal controls is commonly used to investigate carcinogenesis mechanisms. While differential expression analysis (DEA) at an individual level is desired to identify patient-specific molecular defects for better patient stratification, most statistical DEP analysis methods only identify deregulated proteins at the population level. To date, robust individualized DEA algorithms have been proposed for ribonucleic acid data, but their performance on proteomics data is underexplored. Herein, we performed a systematic evaluation on five individualized DEA algorithms for proteins on cancer proteomic datasets from seven cancer types. Results show that the within-sample relative expression orderings (REOs) of protein pairs in normal tissues were highly stable, providing the basis for individualized DEA for proteins using REOs. Moreover, individualized DEA algorithms achieve higher precision in detecting sample-specific deregulated proteins than population-level methods. To facilitate the utilization of individualized DEA algorithms in proteomics for prognostic biomarker discovery and personalized medicine, we provide Individualized DEP Analysis IDEPAXMBD (XMBD: Xiamen Big Data, a biomedical open software initiative in the National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Xiamen University, China.) (https://github.com/xmuyulab/IDEPA-XMBD), which is a user-friendly and open-source Python toolkit that integrates individualized DEA algorithms for DEP-associated deregulation pattern recognition.

PMID:35368072 | DOI:10.1093/bib/bbac096

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

cSurvival: a web resource for biomarker interactions in cancer outcomes and in cell lines

Brief Bioinform. 2022 Apr 2:bbac090. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbac090. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Survival analysis is a technique for identifying prognostic biomarkers and genetic vulnerabilities in cancer studies. Large-scale consortium-based projects have profiled >11 000 adult and >4000 pediatric tumor cases with clinical outcomes and multiomics approaches. This provides a resource for investigating molecular-level cancer etiologies using clinical correlations. Although cancers often arise from multiple genetic vulnerabilities and have deregulated gene sets (GSs), existing survival analysis protocols can report only on individual genes. Additionally, there is no systematic method to connect clinical outcomes with experimental (cell line) data. To address these gaps, we developed cSurvival (https://tau.cmmt.ubc.ca/cSurvival). cSurvival provides a user-adjustable analytical pipeline with a curated, integrated database and offers three main advances: (i) joint analysis with two genomic predictors to identify interacting biomarkers, including new algorithms to identify optimal cutoffs for two continuous predictors; (ii) survival analysis not only at the gene, but also the GS level; and (iii) integration of clinical and experimental cell line studies to generate synergistic biological insights. To demonstrate these advances, we report three case studies. We confirmed findings of autophagy-dependent survival in colorectal cancers and of synergistic negative effects between high expression of SLC7A11 and SLC2A1 on outcomes in several cancers. We further used cSurvival to identify high expression of the Nrf2-antioxidant response element pathway as a main indicator for lung cancer prognosis and for cellular resistance to oxidative stress-inducing drugs. Altogether, these analyses demonstrate cSurvival’s ability to support biomarker prognosis and interaction analysis via gene- and GS-level approaches and to integrate clinical and experimental biomedical studies.

PMID:35368077 | DOI:10.1093/bib/bbac090

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Exposure to negative news stories about vaping, and harm perceptions of vaping, among youth in England, Canada, and the US before and after the outbreak of E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)

Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Apr 3:ntac088. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac088. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the international impact of ‘EVALI’ on youth perceptions of vaping harms.

METHODS: Repeat cross-sectional online surveys of youth aged 16-19 in England, Canada, and the US before (2017, 2018), during (2019Aug/Sept), and after (2020Feb/Mar, 2020Aug) the ‘EVALI’ outbreak (N=63,380). Logistic regressions assessed trends, country differences, and associations between exposure to negative news stories about vaping and vaping harm perceptions.

RESULTS: Exposure to negative news stories increased between 2017 and Feb/Mar 2020 in England (12.6% to 34.2%), Canada (16.7% to 56.9%), and the US (18.0% to 64.6%), accelerating during (2019) and immediately after (Feb/Mar 2020) the outbreak (p<.001) before returning to 2019 levels by Aug 2020. Similarly, accurate perception that vaping is less harmful than smoking declined between 2017 and Feb/Mar 2020 in England (77.3% to 62.2%), Canada (66.3% to 43.3%), and the US (61.3% to 34.0%), again accelerating during and immediately after the outbreak (p<.001). Perception that vaping takes less than a year to harm users’ health and worry that vaping will damage health also doubled over this period (p≤.001). Time trends were most pronounced in the US. Exposure to negative news stories predicted perception that vaping takes less than a year to harm health (AOR=1.55, 1.48-1.61) and worry that vaping will damage health (AOR=1.32, 1.18-1.48).

CONCLUSIONS: Between 2017 and February/March 2020, youth exposure to negative news stories, and perceptions of vaping harms, increased, and increases were exacerbated during and immediately after ‘EVALI’. Effects were seen in all countries but were most pronounced in the US.

IMPLICATIONS: This is the first study to examine changes in exposure to news stories about vaping, and perceptions of vaping harms, among youth in England, Canada, and the US before, during, and after ‘EVALI’. Between 2017 and February/March 2020, youth exposure to negative news stories, and perceptions of vaping harms, increased, and increases were exacerbated during and immediately after ‘EVALI’. By August 2020, exposure to negative news stories returned to 2019 levels, while perceptions of harm were sustained. Exposure to negative news stories also predicted two of three harm perceptions measures. Overall, findings suggest ‘EVALI’ may have exacerbated youth’s perceptions of vaping harms internationally.

PMID:35368062 | DOI:10.1093/ntr/ntac088

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A community based cross sectional study on the prevalence of dyslipidemias and 10 years cardiovascular risk scores in adults in Asmara, Eritrea

Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 2;12(1):5567. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09446-9.

ABSTRACT

Despite the contribution of dyslipidemia to the high and rising burden of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Sub-Saharan Africa; the condition is under-diagnosed, under-treated, and under-described. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence of dyslipidemias, estimate a 10-year cardiovascular disease risk and associated factors in adults (≥ 35 to ≤ 85 years) living in Asmara, Eritrea. This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among individuals without overt CVDs in Asmara, Eritrea, from October 2020 to November 2020. After stratified multistage sampling, a total of 386 (144 (37%) males and 242 (63%) females, mean age ± SD, 52.17 ± 13.29 years) respondents were randomly selected. The WHO NCD STEPS instrument version 3.1 questionnaire was used to collect data. Information on socio-demographic variables was collected via interviews by trained data collectors. Measurements/or analyses including anthropometric, lipid panel, fasting plasma glucose, and blood pressure were also undertaken. Finally, data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). All p-values were 2-sided and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05 for all analyses. The frequency of dyslipidemia in this population was disproportionately high (87.4%) with the worst affected subgroup in the 51-60 age band. Further, 98% of the study participants were not aware of their diagnosis. In terms of individual lipid markers, the proportions were as follows: low HDL-C (55.2%); high TC (49.7%); high LDL (44.8%); high TG (38.1%). The mean ± SD, for HDL-C, TC, LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and TG were 45.28 ± 9.60; 205.24 ± 45.77; 130.77 ± 36.15; 160.22 ± 42.09 and 144.5 ± 61.26 mg/dL, respectively. Regarding NCEP ATP III risk criteria, 17.6%, 19.4%, 16.3%, 19.7%, and 54.7% were in high or very high-risk categories for TC, Non-HDL-C, TG, LDL-C, and HDL-C, respectively. Among all respondents, 59.6% had mixed dyslipidemias with TC + TG + LDL-C dominating. In addition, 27.3%, 28.04%, 23.0%, and 8.6% had abnormalities in 1, 2, 3 and 4 lipid abnormalities, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression modeling suggested that dyslipidemia was lower in subjects who were employed (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24-0.97, p = 0.015); self-employed (aOR 0.41, 95% CI 0.17-1.00, p = 0.018); and married (aOR 2.35, 95% CI 1.19-4.66, p = 0.009). A higher likelihood of dyslipidemia was also associated with increasing DBP (aOR 1.04 mmHg (1.00-1.09, p = 0.001) and increasing FPG (aOR 1.02 per 1 mg/dL, 95% CI 1.00-1.05, p = 0.001). Separately, Framingham CVD Risk score estimates suggested that 12.7% and 2.8% were at 10 years CVD high risk or very high-risk strata. High frequency of poor lipid health may be a prominent contributor to the high burden of atherosclerotic CVDs-related mortality and morbidity in Asmara, Eritrea. Consequently, efforts directed at early detection, and evidence-based interventions are warranted. The low awareness rate also points at education within the population as a possible intervention pathway.

PMID:35368036 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-09446-9

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Nevin Manimala Statistics

Oral conditions and salivary analysis in HIV-uninfected subjects using preexposure prophylaxis

Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2022 Apr 3:25140. doi: 10.4317/medoral.25140. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: New prevention strategies have been advocated to control the progression of HIV/AIDS, such as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential changes in the oral and salivary conditions of HIV-uninfected subjects using PrEP.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Subjects were evaluated before beginning the medication (T0), at the first follow-up (T1), and at the second follow-up (T2). Xerostomia, presence of untreated cavitated caries, oral hygiene habits, taste, gingival and plaque index, stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR), and salivary concentrations of calcium, glucose, urea, and total proteins were evaluated. Data obtained were analyzed using statistical tests (p<0.05).

RESULTS: Forty-seven participants (41 men; 6 women) were evaluated at T0. Thirty (28 men; 2 women) and 17 men were reassessed at T1 and T2, respectively. There was no difference between the SSFR and oral and salivary conditions between T0, T1, and T2 (p>0.05), except for the salivary calcium concentration, that increased at T2 compared to T1 (p=0.02). There was significant difference between taste and xerostomia at T1 (p=0.017), and the need to drink to swallow at T2 (p=0.015). There was significant correlation between the reported amount of saliva and taste (p=0.039, r=-0.378) at T1.

CONCLUSIONS: The prolonged use of PrEP seems to be associated with reports of dry mouth and worsening of taste, possibly associated with increased salivary calcium concentration.

PMID:35368014 | DOI:10.4317/medoral.25140

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A Retrospective Study on the Effects of Kinesiology Taping on Edema of the Lower Limb in 14 Patients Following Intramedullary Nailing for Femoral Shaft Fracture

Med Sci Monit. 2022 Apr 3;28:e936619. doi: 10.12659/MSM.936619.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND Kinesiology tape indications of use include pain mitigation, neurosensory input, and promotion of circulation. Current evidence suggests that residual functional limitations following intramedullary nailing of the femoral shaft may be due to soft tissue injury and compromise. This retrospective study from a single center aimed to compare the effects of kinesiology taping on edema of the lower limb in 14 patients following intramedullary nailing for femoral shaft fracture. MATERIAL AND METHODS The randomized control trial design consisting of 2 groups totaling 14 patients. The intervention group (n=7) received standard therapy and kinesiology tape decompression/fan application. The control group (n=7) received standard therapy with no kinesiology tape. Outcome measures included limb girth tape measurements, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, involved knee ROM goniometry, and Timed Up and Go (TUG). RESULTS Results of this study showed there was a decrease in limb volume in the control group and an increase in limb volume in the intervention group. Both groups had improvements in TUG scores. The only statistically significant finding was among the control group, which had a decrease of 1.6 in mean VAS score before and after IM nailing (P=0.010). CONCLUSIONS In this study from a single center, kinesiology tape in patients with intramedullary nailing for femoral shaft fracture did not significantly reduce the volume of the lower limb, reduce pain, or improve postoperative mobility. The only significant improvement from the use of kinesiology tape was improved active knee extension due to improvement in quadriceps force.

PMID:35368016 | DOI:10.12659/MSM.936619

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Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on maxillofacial trauma: A retrospective study in southern Spain

Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2022 Apr 3:25063. doi: 10.4317/medoral.25063. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic has impacted health systems worldwide, with Spain being one of the most affected countries. However, little is known about the extent to which the effects of staying home, social distancing, and quarantine measures have influenced the epidemiology of patients with maxillofacial trauma. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the incidence, demographic patterns, and characteristics of maxillofacial fractures in the largest hospital in southern Spain.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from patients who underwent surgery for maxillofacial fractures during the first year of the pandemic between 16 March 2020 and 14 March 2021 (pandemic group) were retrospectively compared with a control group during the equivalent period of the previous year (pre-pandemic group). The incidence was compared by weeks and by lockdown periods of the population. Demographic information, aetioloy, fracture characteristics, treatment performed, and days of preoperative stay were evaluated. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were calculated (p<0.05).

RESULTS: During the first year of the pandemic, there was a 35.2% reduction in maxillofacial fractures (n=59) compared to the pre-pandemic year (n=91, p=0.040). A significant drop was detected during the total home lockdown period of the population (p=0.028). In the pandemic group, there was a reduction in fractures due to interpersonal aggressions, an increase in panfacial fractures, a significant increase in other non-facial injuries associated with polytrauma (p=0.037), a higher number of open reduction procedures with internal fixation, and a significantly longer mean preoperative stay (p=0.016).

CONCLUSIONS: The first pandemic year was associated with a decline in the frequency of maxillofacial trauma and a change in the pattern and characteristics of fractures. Inter-annual epidemiological knowledge of maxillofacial fractures may be useful for more efficient planning of resource allocation and surgical practice strategy during future coronavirus outbreaks and population lockdowns.

PMID:35368010 | DOI:10.4317/medoral.25063

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Clinical manifestations of head and neck cancer in pediatric patients, an analysis of 253 cases in a single Brazilian center

Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2022 Apr 3:25255. doi: 10.4317/medoral.25255. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pediatric head and neck cancer (PHNC) is rare and its nonspecific clinical manifestations may often lead to delayed diagnosis. We aimed to describe the signs, symptoms, and clinicopathological characteristics of PHNC.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for all PHNC cases diagnosed from 1986 to 2016 affecting patients aged 19-years and younger from a tertiary referral center in Brazil. Demographic variables, anatomical site of primary tumors, histopathological diagnoses, signs and symptoms, and patterns of misdiagnosis were collected and interpreted by statistical and descriptive analysis.

RESULTS: A total of 253 PHNC cases were included. The mean age was 9.3 years and male patients were more frequently affected (60.9%). Burkitt lymphoma (23.7%), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (15.8%), and rhabdomyosarcoma (15.4%) were the most common cancer types. The nasopharynx (28.9%), cervical/lymph node region (25.3%), and craniofacial bones (8.3%) were the predominant anatomical sites. Tumor/swelling (68.4%), was the clinical finding often presented. The univariable analysis showed association between tumor histology and clinical variables such as sex (p=0.022), age (p<0.0001), anatomical location (p<0.0001) tumor/swelling (p=0.034), pain (p=0.031), systemic/general manifestations (p=0.004), nasal/breathing alterations (p=0.012), orbital/ocular alterations (p<0.0001). Misdiagnosis such as tonsillitis, otitis, and abscess were frequent.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the clinical findings of PHNC are often unspecific, this study provided signs and symptoms with significant correlations between tumor histology. The suspicion of malignancy should be considered when the main signs and symptoms reported here appear and persist, in order to conduct a timely diagnosis.

PMID:35368009 | DOI:10.4317/medoral.25255

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Alcohol use and alcohol use disorder differ in their genetic relationships with PTSD: A genomic structural equation modelling approach

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 Mar 28;234:109430. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109430. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD), which are all moderately heritable. Studies suggest the genetic association between PTSD and alcohol use differs from that of PTSD and AUD, but further analysis is needed.

BASIC PROCEDURES: We used genomic Structural Equation Modeling (genomicSEM) to analyze summary statistics from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of European Ancestry participants to investigate the genetic relationships between PTSD (both diagnosis and re-experiencing symptom severity) and a range of alcohol use and AUD phenotypes.

MAIN FINDINGS: When we differentiated genetic factors for alcohol use and AUD we observed improved model fit relative to models with all alcohol-related indicators loading onto a single factor. The genetic correlations (rG) of PTSD were quite discrepant for the alcohol use and AUD factors. This was true when modeled as a three-correlated-factor model (PTSD-AUD rG:.36, p < .001; PTSD-alcohol use rG: -0.17, p < .001) and as a Bifactor model, in which the common and unique portions of alcohol phenotypes were pulled out into an AUD-specific factor (rG with PTSD:.40, p < .001), AU-specific factor (rG with PTSD: -0.57, p < .001), and a common alcohol factor (rG with PTSD:.16, NS).

PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate the genetic architecture of alcohol use and AUD are differentially associated with PTSD. When the portions of variance unique to alcohol use and AUD are extracted, their genetic associations with PTSD vary substantially, suggesting different genetic architectures of alcohol phenotypes in people with PTSD.

PMID:35367939 | DOI:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109430