Incidence Of Disease Research Articles

First Report of Anthracnose on Wurfbainia villosa var. villosa Caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in China.

Wurfbainia villosa var. villosa is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine under the family Zingiberaceae, and its ripe fruits (called Fructus Amomi) are widely used clinically for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders (Yang et al. 2023; Chen et al. 2023). In September 2023, plants of W. villosa var. villosa exhibited anthracnose-like symptoms on leaf with a disease incidence of 35% (n = 100 investigated plants) in an approximately 90 m2 field in Guangning, China (N23°42'51.70″, E112°26'35.75″). Light yellowish-green spots (~2 mm diameter) initially appeared on the infected leaves, gradually formed sub-circular or irregular spots, then fused and expanded, resulting in wilting of the leaves. To identify the causal agent, 10 symptomatic leaves were collected and transferred to the laboratory. The symptomatic leaf samples were surface sterilized in 0.5% NaClO for 2 min, and in 70% ethanol for 30 s, then washed three times with sterile water and air-dried on sterile filter paper. The leaf tissues were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium containing 100 μg mL-1 of ampicillin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) and incubated for 7 days at 28°C in darkness. Nine isolates with similar colony morphology were isolated from the 10 plated leaves. Three representative isolates (GNAF03, GNAF06, GNAF09 with approximately 3.5 cm in diameter after 3 days of incubation) appeared gray to dark brown with dense aerial hyphae at the front and gray to black colonies on the reverse of the plates. Conidia were cylindrical and measured 21.2 to 29.3 μm long × 7.1 to 9.6 μm wide (n = 50). Appressoria were formed by the tips of germ tubes or hyphae and were brown, ellipsoid, thick-walled, and smooth-margined, measuring 10.2 to 12.3 μm long × 6.4 to 8.2 μm wide (n = 50). Morphologically, the fungal isolates resembled Colletotrichum sp. (Weir et al. 2012). For molecular analysis, genomic DNA was extracted from fresh mycelia of the three isolates, and the primers ACT-512F/ACT-783R, CL1/CL2A, GDF/GDR, and ITS1/ITS4 were used to amplify partial regions of rDNA-ITS, actin (ACT), calmodulin (CAL), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) regions, respectively (Weir et al. 2012). The resulting sequences with more than 99% nucleotide identity to C. gloeosporioides were submitted to GenBank (accession numbers PP552725, PP552726, and OR827444 for ACT; PP552727, PP552728, and OR827443 for CAL; PP552729, PP552730, and OR827445 for GAPDH; PP549996, PP549999, and OR841394 for ITS). A phylogenetic tree was generated by the maximum likelihood method using the concatenated sequences of ACT, CAL, GADPH, and ITS by Polysuite software (Damm et al. 2020). Based on morphological and molecular analysis, the three isolates were characterized as C. gloeosporioides. The pathogenicity of the GNAF09 isolate was assessed on W. villosa var. villosa seedling leaves inoculated by spraying with 40 μL of conidial suspension at 106 conidia mL-1 or wounded with a sterile toothpick then inoculated with mycelial agar plugs (5 mm diameter). Control leaves were inoculated with 40 μL of sterile distilled water or agar plugs without mycelia. The inoculated plants were placed in a humid chamber at 28°C with 80% humidity and a 12 h light-dark photoperiod. Symptoms similar to those seen on naturally infected leaves were observed on all inoculated leaves after 7 days inoculation. Re-isolation was performed from 80% of the inoculated leaves and isolates were confirmed as C. gloeosporioides morphologically, confirming Koch's postulates, and by sequencing the ACT, CAL, GADPH, and ITS regions. The control groups remained asymptomatic. In previous studies, C. gloeosporioides has also caused anthracnose on Chinese medicinal plants, including Baishao (Radix paeoniae alba) (Zhang et al. 2017) and Rubia cordifolia L. (Tang et al. 2020). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. gloeosporioides causing anthracnose on W. villosa var. villosa in China. The results of our report serve as valuable references for further research on this disease.

Association between amoxicillin administration and outcomes in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury.

This study assessed the effect of amoxicillin on outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), focusing on mortality rates and acute kidney disease (AKD) occurrence. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis utilizing data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The study included intensive care unit patients diagnosed with AKI to assess the effects of post-admission amoxicillin administration on 30-day and 90-day mortality rates and acute kidney disease incidence. We employed Cox proportional hazards models, propensity score matching, and inverse probability of treatment weighting to control for potential confounders. Among 24,650 AKI patients, 676 (2.7%) received amoxicillin. The results indicated significantly lower mortality rates at 30 days (hazard ratio [HR] 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-0.69) and 90 days (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.52-0.77) in the amoxicillin group compared to non-recipients. Additionally, amoxicillin administration was associated with a reduced incidence of AKD (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.36-0.65) but resulted in a modestly increased length of hospital stay (mean difference [MD] 1.95 days, 95% CI 1.15-2.75). A dose‒response relationship was evident, with higher doses (>875mg) further decreasing mortality rates. Subgroup analysis revealed consistent benefits across most patient groups. Amoxicillin administration following ICU admission in patients with AKI was associated with improved survival rates and a lower incidence of AKD, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic measure for AKI management.

Examining The Interplay of Lifestyle Diseases and Mental Health: Devising a Possible Machine Learning Based System for Diagnosis

In our fast-paced world, we often neglect our lifestyle, leading to increased incidence of lifestyle diseases. Machine Learning (ML) can aid in efficiently diagnosing these conditions by analyzing vast health data, identifying patterns, and providing personalized insights, ultimately promoting better health management and prevention.

Aerial low‐altitude remote sensing and deep learning for in‐field disease incidence scoring of virus yellows in sugar beet

AbstractThis study investigates the potential of high‐resolution (<0.5 cm/pixel) aerial imagery and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for disease incidence scoring in sugar beet, focusing on two important aphid‐transmitted viruses, beet mild yellowing virus (BMYV) and beet chlorosis virus (BChV). The development of tolerant sugar beet cultivars is imperative in the context of increased disease management concerns due to the ban on neonicotinoids in the European Union. However, traditional methods of disease phenotyping, which rely on visual assessment by human experts, are both time‐consuming and subjective. Therefore, this study assessed whether aerial multispectral and RGB images could be harnessed to perform automated disease ratings comparable to those performed by trained experts. To this end, two variety trials were conducted in 2021 and 2022. The 2021 dataset was used to train and validate a CNN model on five cultivars, while the 2022 dataset was used to test the model on two cultivars different from those used in 2021. Additionally, this study tests the use of transformed features instead of raw spectral bands to improve the generalization of CNN models. The results showed that the best CNN model was the one trained for BMYV on RGB images using transformed features instead of conventional raw bands. This model achieved a root mean square error score of 11.45% between the model and expert scores. These results indicate that while high‐resolution aerial imagery and CNNs hold great promise, a complete replacement of human expertise is not yet possible. This research contributes to an innovative approach to disease phenotyping, driving advances in sustainable agriculture and crop breeding.

First Report of Erwinia aphidicola Causing Bulb Rot of Onion in Chile.

During the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons (December to February), onion plants (Allium cepa L.) showing decay, leaf blight, chlorosis and water soak lesions were collected in Central Chile. Five symptomatic plants were sampled from 20 different onion fields. Brown rot of the external scales was observed in bulbs from two fields: one planted with the cv. Campero (20 ha; O'Higgins Region), and another with cv. Marenge (2 ha; Metropolitan Region). The disease incidence in these fields ranged from 2% to 5%. Isolations were carried out from symptomatic leaves and bulbs from these fields on King's B medium, resulting in small white colonies with smooth margin. Three isolates were selected, two from first field (QCJ3A & QCJ2B), and one from second field (EPB1). A preliminary identification based on 16S rRNA sequences was conducted. BLAST analyses of strains QCJ3A, QCJ2B and EPB1 (GenBank Accession No. PP345601 to PP345603) against the NCBI Database resulted in a match with strains (GenBank Accession No. ON255770.1 and ON255825.1) isolated from infected bulbs in Texas, USA identified as Erwinia spp. (Khanal et al. 2023), with 100% coverage and 100% identity (707 bp out of 707). To evaluate the pathogenicity of these three strains, onion bulbs were inoculated (Guajardo et al. 2023). Toothpicks previously immersed in a bacterial suspension at ~ 108 colony forming units (CFU)/mL were pricked at a 4 cm depth into the shoulders of onion bulbs bought from commercial store and incubated at room temperature. Bulbs inoculated with sterile water served as negative control. A known onion bulb rotting bacterial strain of Dickeya sp. was used as a positive control. At the end of the incubation period (20 days), bulbs were opened longitudinally across their inoculation site, showing that the external scales had a brown color. Negative control remained asymptomatic. Strains were re-isolated from damaged tissue and identified as Erwinia sp. This assay was repeated three times with the same results. For further identification, genomic DNA extraction was carried out using the Blood & Cell Culture DNA Kit (Qiagen), and genome sequencing was performed in the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The Whole Genome Shotgun project for strains QCJ3A, QCJ2B and EPB1 have been deposited at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank under the accession JBANEI010000000, JBANEJ010000000 and JBANEK010000000. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) values were 99.6% (EPB1), 98.2% (QCJ2B), and 99.6% (QCJ3A) and DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values were 96.9% (EPB1), 83.7% (QCJ2B), and 97.1% (QCJ3A), when compared with the type strain Erwinia aphidicola JCM 21238 (GenBank accession No. GCF_014773485.1). The three strains were deposited in the Chilean Collection of Microbial Genetic Resources (CChRGM). Erwinia aphidicola has been previously described causing diseases in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and pea (Pisum sativum), in Spain (Santos et al. 2009) and in pepper (Capsicum annuum) in China (Luo et al. 2018). Its close relative E. persicina has been reported causing bulb rot in onion in Korea (Cho et al. 2019) and garlic in Europe (Galvez et al. 2015). To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. aphidicola causing a bulb rot of onion in Chile. Although the distribution and prevalence of this bacterium in Chilean agroecosystems is not known, it can be a potential cause of losses in onions and other crops such as beans, peas, and peppers. Additional studies should be conducted to determine the host range of Chilean Erwinia aphidicola strains.

Regulation of Fructose Metabolism in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Elevations in fructose consumption have been reported to contribute significantly to an increased incidence of obesity and metabolic diseases in industrial countries. Mechanistically, a high fructose intake leads to the dysregulation of glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol metabolism in the liver, and causes elevations in inflammation and drives the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A high fructose consumption is considered to be toxic to the body, and there are ongoing measures to develop pharmaceutical therapies targeting fructose metabolism. Although a large amount of work has summarized the effects fructose exposure within the intestine, liver, and kidney, there remains a gap in our knowledge regarding how fructose both indirectly and directly influences immune cell recruitment, activation, and function in metabolic tissues, which are essential to tissue and systemic inflammation. The most recent literature demonstrates that direct fructose exposure regulates oxidative metabolism in macrophages, leading to inflammation. The present review highlights (1) the mechanisms by which fructose metabolism impacts crosstalk between tissues, nonparenchymal cells, microbes, and immune cells; (2) the direct impact of fructose on immune cell metabolism and function; and (3) therapeutic targets of fructose metabolism to treat NAFLD. In addition, the review highlights how fructose disrupts liver tissue homeostasis and identifies new therapeutic targets for treating NAFLD and obesity.

Olive Oil Consumption, Risk Factors, and Diseases: An Umbrella Review.

Olive oil is a vegetable oil that provides health benefits, including a reduction in free radicals and total cholesterol and prevention of chronic diseases. The escalating incidence of chronic diseases presents a substantial challenge to public health, prompting numerous studies to assess these health-related effects. Despite several systematic reviews and meta-analyses summarizing the association between olive oil consumption and specific health outcomes, there is no summary of the accumulated evidence from these reviews. This umbrella review summarizes the evidence on olive oil consumption or intervention in adults and its association with multiple risk factors and diseases. We retrieved systematic reviews of randomized trials or observational studies on oral interventions or the consumption of olive oil. The systematic search encompassed databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, and CENTRAL from inception to February 6, 2023. Two independent reviewers conducted data extraction and assessed methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute tool. Overall, 17 systematic reviews of randomized trials and observational studies, covering outcomes such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, glucose metabolism, inflammatory and oxidative markers, and all-cause mortality, were included. The evidence suggests a beneficial association between olive oil consumption and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality. However, the evidence was less definitive for inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, glucose metabolism, and blood lipid outcomes. Several meta-analyses revealed high heterogeneity and wide confidence intervals, along with a limited number of randomized clinical trials. Given the high heterogeneity and low quality of evidence, further studies involving randomized trials are imperative. Prioritizing an in-depth analysis of specific olive oil components and using a control group with distinct characteristics and different effects is strongly recommended. PROSPERO registration no. CRD42022357290.

Melaleuca Essential Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia cheel) in the Control of Beans Diseases

Bean cultivation is vital to the global food and economy, especially in Brazil. Facing challenges from diseases that affect production, it is crucial to seek new strategies to maintain productivity and sustainability. Melaleuca alternifolia, known as the tea tree due to its medicinal properties, has little explored potential in controlling diseases in bean plants. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of tea tree essential oil in controlling diseases in bean cultivation. In vitro tests were carried out to evaluate bacterial growth, at concentrations of (0.0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1% and 2%). And antibiogram with the bacteria Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli, in different concentrations (0.0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3%). For the fungus Pseudocercospora griseola, sporulation tests were carried out, using direct and indirect methods, at concentrations of (0.0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 3%). Furthermore, for the fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, mycelial growth tests were carried out with the same concentrations. The experiments took place in vivo, with a completely randomized statistical design, involving five replications per treatment and concentrations varying from (0.0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1% and 2%). Disease incidence was assessed using a diagrammatic scale, disease severity, Area under the Disease Progress Curve (AACPD) and Area under the Incidence Progress Curve (AACPI). Melaleuca Essential Oil (EO) inhibited the development of fungi and bacteria in in vitro tests starting at 0.5%. In vivo, Melaleuca Essential Oil (EO) showed a significant reduction in the incidence and severity of the disease from 0.5% in both fungi and bacteria. Melaleuca EO can be an effective alternative for disease control in bean cultivation.

Moving Towards a Medicine of Dance: A Scoping Review of Characteristics of Dance Interventions Targeting Older Adults and a Theoretical Framework.

Dance combines cultural and aesthetic elements with behaviors important for brain health, including physical activity, social engagement, and cognitive challenge. Therefore, dance could positively impact public health given the rapidly aging population, increasing incidence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and lack of uptake of exercise in many older adults. Despite a high volume of literature, existing literature does not support evidence-based guidelines for dance to support healthy aging. To conduct a scoping review of the dance intervention literature in older adults and provide information to facilitate a more consistent approach among scientists in designing dance interventions for older adults that stimulate physical and neurocognitive health adaptations. Study characteristics (sample size, population, study design, outcomes, intervention details) were ascertained from 112 separate studies of dance reported in 127 papers that reported outcomes important for brain health (cardiorespiratory fitness, balance and mobility, cognition, mood, and quality of life). High heterogeneity across studies was evident. Class frequency ranged from < 1 to 5 classes per week, class length from 30-120 minutes, and intervention duration from 2 weeks to 18 months. Studies often did not randomize participants, had small (< 30) sample sizes, and used varied comparator conditions. Over 50 tests of cognition, 40 dance forms, and 30 tests of mobility were identified. Based on these results, important future directions are establishing common data elements, developing intervention mapping and mechanistic modeling, and testing dosing parameters to strengthen and focus trial design of future studies and generate evidence-based guidelines for dance.

The Effect of Thyroid Status on the Features of the Course of Perimenopause

Introduction. According to statistics, the average life expectancy of the female population is steadily increasing and more than ⅓ of a woman’s life is in the period of periand postmenopause. Many women approach the period of perimenopause with existing diseases of the endocrine system, most often associated with the thyroid gland. Such a high prevalence of this pathology occurs due to natural iodine deficiency in almost the entire territory of the Russia. Therefore, the relationship between the symptoms of menopause and endocrine diseases is very relevant.The purpose of the work is to analyze the data presented in the modern literature on the influence of thyroid status on the features of the course of perimenopause.Materials and methods. This review is based on data from domestic and foreign studies obtained as a result of a selective search in the electronic databases PubMed and eLibrary from 2016 to 2023.Results and discussion. The period of perimenopause is accompanied by an increase in the incidence of thyroid diseases. The analysis of the literature data showed the influence of thyroid status on the features of the course of perimenopause and the conditions accompanying it (impaired cognitive functions, changes in bone metabolism, the frequency of abnormal uterine bleeding, the risk of cardiovascular diseases).Conclusion. Given the relationship of thyroid status with the peculiarities of the course of perimenopause, it is necessary to consider the possibility of complex therapy of thyroid diseases and correction of symptoms of menopausal syndrome.

Decreasing incidence of celiac disease in Southern Sweden

Background The incidence of celiac disease (CD) has increased rapidly in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but there are recent reports of rates levelling off in countries with a high prevalence. The aim of this study was to investigate current trends in CD in southern Sweden. Patients and methods Children and adults diagnosed with CD by biopsy or serology in the region of Skåne, southern Sweden, from 2010–2022 were included. The home address was identified through registers to analyze temporal and geographical trends. Results A total of 3218 CD-patients were identified (52.2% children), the vast majority detected in clinical care but a few children by screening studies. The age-standardized incidence rate was 18.6 cases/105. The incidence decreased at a rate of −0.75 cases/105 (95% CI −1.14 to −0.35, p 0.002). The incidence among girls under 18 years almost halved throughout the study period, decreasing by −2.94 cases/105 (95% CI −4.59 to −1.29, p 0.002), while there only were small changes among men. The most common age of onset was 3–9 years. CD incidence varied by place of living and was more common in small towns than urban or rural areas. Conclusions The incidence of CD in southern Sweden is decreasing, primarily in children and women who traditionally have had the highest risk of CD. CD was diagnosed most frequently in children 3–9 years old. There were regional variations in incidence. CD was most common in small towns, pointing to the importance of environmental factors in CD etiology.

Incidence and mortality rates of 14 site-specific infectious diseases in 10 diverse areas of China: findings from China Kadoorie Biobank, 2006-2018

BackgroundInfectious diseases remain a major global health concern, including in China, with an estimated >10 million cases of infectious disease in 2019. We describe the burden of site-specific infectious diseases among Chinese adults. MethodsFrom 2004 to 2008, the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank enrolled 512,726 adults aged 30-79 years from 10 diverse areas (5 rural, 5 urban) of China. During the 12 years of follow-up, 101,673 participants were hospitalised for any infectious disease. Descriptive analyses examined standardised incidence, mortality, and case fatality of infections. FindingsThe incidence of any infectious disease was 1856 per 100,000 person-years; respiratory tract infections (1069) were most common. The infectious disease mortality rate was 31.8 per 100,000 person years (20.3 and 9.4 for respiratory and non-respiratory infections, respectively) and case fatality was 2.2% (2.6% and 1.6% for respiratory and non-respiratory infections, respectively). Infectious disease incidence and mortality rates were higher at older ages and in rural areas. There were no clear sex-differences in infectious disease incidence rates, but mortality and case fatality rates were twice as high in men as in women. InterpretationInfectious diseases were common in Chinese adults. The observed burden of, and disparities in, site-specific infections can inform targeted prevention efforts. FundingKadoorie Foundation, Wellcome Trust, MRC, BHF, CR-UK, MoST, NNSF

Newborn screening for acid sphingomyelinase deficiency in Illinois: A single center's experience.

Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) caused by reduced activity of the acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) enzyme, which leads to progressive storage of sphingomyelin and related lipids in the body. ASMD is caused by biallelic variants in the SMPD1 gene, which encodes for the ASM enzyme. Current estimates of disease incidence range from 0.4 to 0.6 in 100 000 livebirths, although this is likely an underestimation of the true frequency of the disorder. While there is no cure for ASMD, comprehensive care guidelines and enzyme replacement therapy are available, making an early diagnosis crucial. Newborn screening (NBS) for ASMD is possible through measurement of ASM activity in dried blood spots and offers the opportunity for early diagnosis. In 2015, Illinois (IL) became the first to initiate statewide implementation of NBS for ASMD. This study describes the outcomes of screen-positive patients referred to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital (Lurie). Ten infants were referred for diagnostic evaluation at Lurie, and all 10 infants were classified as confirmed ASMD or at risk for ASMD through a combination of molecular and biochemical testing. Disease incidence was calculated using data from this statewide implementation program and was ~0.79 in 100 000 livebirths. This study demonstrates successful implementation of NBS for ASMD in IL, with high screen specificity and a notable absence of false positive screens.

The multifaceted effects of flavonoids on neuroplasticity.

There has been a significant increase in the incidence of multiple neurodegenerative and terminal diseases in the human population with life expectancy increasing in the current times. This highlights the urgent need for a more comprehensive understanding of how different aspects of lifestyle, in particular diet, may affect neural functioning and consequently cognitive performance as well as in enhancing overall health. Flavonoids, found in a variety of fruits, vegetables, and derived beverages, provide a new avenue of research that shows a promising influence on different aspects of brain function. However, despite the promising evidence, most bioactive compounds lack strong clinical research efficacy. In the current scoping review, we highlight the effects of Flavonoids on cognition and neural plasticity across vertebrates and invertebrates with special emphasis on the studies conducted in the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, which has emerged to be a functionally dynamic model for studies on learning and memory. In conclusion, we suggest future research directions and discuss the social, cultural, and ethnic dependencies of bioactive compounds that influence how these compounds are used and accepted globally. Bridging the gap between preclinical and clinical studies about the effects of bioactive natural compounds on brain health will surely lead to lifestyle choices such as dietary Flavonoids being used complementarily rather than as replacements to classical drugs bringing about a healthier future.

The atypical antipsychotic aripiprazole alters the outcome of disseminated Candida albicans infections.

Invasive fungal infections impose an enormous clinical, social, and economic burden on humankind. One of the most common species responsible for invasive fungal infections is Candida albicans. More than 30% of patients with disseminated candidiasis fail therapy with existing antifungal drugs, including the widely used azole class. We previously identified a collection of 13 medications that antagonize the activity of the azoles on C. albicans. Although gain-of-function mutations responsible for antifungal resistance are often associated with reduced fitness and virulence, it is currently unknown how exposure to azole antagonistic drugs impacts C. albicans physiology, fitness, or virulence. In this study, we examined how exposure to seven azole antagonists affects C. albicans phenotype and capacity to cause disease. Most of the azole antagonists appear to have little impact on fungal growth, morphology, stress tolerance, or gene transcription. However, aripiprazole had a modest impact on C. albicans hyphal growth and increased cell wall chitin content. It also aggravated the disseminated C. albicans infections in mice. This effect was abrogated in immunosuppressed mice, indicating that it is at least in part dependent upon host immune responses. Collectively, these data provide proof of principle that unanticipated drug-fungus interactions have the potential to influence the incidence and outcomes of invasive fungal disease.

Histopathology imaging and clinical data including remission status in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing annually. Children with IBD often suffer significant morbidity due to physical and emotional effects of the disease and treatment. Corticosteroids, often a component of therapy, carry undesirable side effects with long term use. Steroid-free remission has become a standard for care-quality improvement. Anticipating therapeutic outcomes is difficult, with treatments often leveraged in a trial-and-error fashion. Artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated success in medical imaging classification tasks. Predicting patients who will attain remission will help inform treatment decisions. The provided dataset comprises 951 tissue section scans (167 whole-slides) obtained from 18 pediatric IBD patients. Patient level structured data include IBD diagnosis, 12- and 52-week steroid use and name, and remission status. Each slide is labelled with biopsy site and normal or abnormal classification per the surgical pathology report. Each tissue section scan from an abnormal slide is further classified by an experienced pathologist. Researchers utilizing this dataset may select from the provided outcomes or add labels and annotations from their own institutions.

Canagliflozin Inhibits Palmitic Acid-Induced Vascular Cell Aging In Vitro through ROS/ERK and Ferroptosis Pathways.

Vascular aging is one of the reasons for the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases nowadays, as vascular cells age due to various internal and external factors. Among them, high fat is an important inducer. Canagliflozin (CAN) is one of the SGLT2 inhibitors that has been shown to have cardiovascular protective effects in addition to lowering blood sugar, but the specific mechanism is not clear. This study first established a vascular aging model using palmitic acid (PA), then tested the effect of CAN on PA-induced vascular aging, and finally examined the mechanism of CAN's anti-vascular aging via ROS/ERK and ferroptosis pathways. We found that CAN alleviates PA-induced vascular cell aging by inhibiting the activation of ROS/ERK and ferroptosis signaling pathways. This study reveals new mechanisms of lipid-induced vascular aging and CAN inhibition of vascular aging from the perspectives of ROS/ERK and ferroptosis pathways, which is expected to provide new ideas for the development of related drugs in the future.

Lipidome changes due to improved dietary fat quality inform cardiometabolic risk reduction and precision nutrition.

Current cardiometabolic disease prevention guidelines recommend increasing dietary unsaturated fat intake while reducing saturated fats. Here we use lipidomics data from a randomized controlled dietary intervention trial to construct a multilipid score (MLS), summarizing the effects of replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat on 45 lipid metabolite concentrations. In the EPIC-Potsdam cohort, a difference in the MLS, reflecting better dietary fat quality, was associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease (-32%; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): -21% to -42%) and type 2 diabetes (-26%; 95% CI: -15% to -35%). We built a closely correlated simplified score, reduced MLS (rMLS), and observed that beneficial rMLS changes, suggesting improved dietary fat quality over 10 years, were associated with lower diabetes risk (odds ratio per standard deviation of 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59 to 0.98) in the Nurses' Health Study. Furthermore, in the PREDIMED trial, an olive oil-rich Mediterranean diet intervention primarily reduced diabetes incidence among participants with unfavorable preintervention rMLS levels, suggestive of disturbed lipid metabolism before intervention. Our findings indicate that the effects of dietary fat quality on the lipidome can contribute to a more precise understanding and possible prediction of the health outcomes of specific dietary fat modifications.

Joint impact of polygenic risk score and lifestyles on early- and late-onset cardiovascular diseases.

Understanding the interactions between genetic risk and lifestyles on different types and age onsets of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk can help identify individuals for whom lifestyle changes would be beneficial. Here we developed three polygenic risk scores, called MetaPRSs, for coronary artery disease, ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage by combining PRSs for CVD and CVD-related risk factors in 96,400 participants from the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank. Genetic and lifestyle risks were categorized by the disease-specific MetaPRSs and the number of unfavourable lifestyles. High genetic risk and unfavourable lifestyles were found to be more strongly associated with early than late onset of CVD outcomes in men and women. Change from unfavourable to favourable lifestyles resulted in 14.7-, 2.5- and 2.6-fold greater reductions in incidence rates of early-onset coronary artery disease and ischaemic stroke and late-onset coronary artery disease in high than low genetic risk group. Young adults at high genetic risk may have larger benefits in preventing CVD from lifestyle improvements.

Disentangling the causal effects of education and participation bias on Alzheimer's disease using Mendelian Randomization.

People with university degrees have a lower incidence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, the relationship between education and AD could be due to selection, collider, and ascertainment biases, such as lower familiarity with cognitive testing or the fact that those with degrees are more likely to participate in research. Here, we use two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the causal relationships between education, participation, and AD. We used genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for educational attainment, three different measures of participation, AD (clinically diagnosed AD), and AD/ADRD (clinical diagnosis and family history of AD and related dementias). Independent genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were extracted from the exposure summary statistics and harmonized with the outcome SNPs. Fixed-effects inverse variance weighted meta-analysis was the primary MR method; Cochran's Q statistic and MR Egger intercept were used to test for heterogeneity and pleiotropy, and Radial-MR was used to identify outliers. Sensitivity analyses included MR Egger, Weighted Median, and Weighted mode. Bidirectional analyses were used to test if AD pathology affects participation and multivariable MR (MVMR) assessed independent exposure-outcome effects. Educational attainment reduced the risk of AD (OR IVW 95% CI= 0.70 [0.63, 0.79], p = 8e-10), and the results were robust based on sensitivity analyses. However, education increased the risk of AD/ADRD, though the results were not robust to sensitivity analyses (OR IVW 95% CI= 1.09 [1.02, 1.15], p = 0.006). Participation in MHQ reduced the odds of AD (OR IVW 95% CI= 0.325 [0.128, 0.326], p = 0.01). When adjusting for participation in MVMR, education remained associated with a reduced risk of AD (OR IVW 95% CI= 0.76 [0.62, 0.92], p = 0.006). Univariate MR analyses indicated that education and participation reduced the risk of AD. However, MR also suggested that education increased the risk of AD/ADRD, highlighting the inconsistencies between clinical and proxy diagnoses of AD, as proxy-AD may be affected by selection, collider, or ascertainment bias. MVMR indicated that participation is unlikely to explain the effect of education on AD identified in MR, and the protective effect of educational attainment may be due to other biological mechanisms, such as cognitive reserve.