Plasma GDF15 affects long-term dementia risk and alters neuro-immune signaling.

Growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) is a secreted peptide hormone and cytokine that is strongly associated with dementia risk. However, the extent to which plasma GDF15 represents a biomarker and driver of dementia risk remains unclear. Across multiple cohorts, we demonstrated that plasma GDF15 is associated with greater dementia risk over 15-to 25-year follow-up periods when measured in midlife, with stronger associations observed for vascular dementia compared to Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Non-genetic and genetic determinants of serum selenium and selenium species in the Aragon Workers Health Study.

Understanding potential determinants of selenium biomarkers can help to unravel selenium health effects. We evaluated the contribution of non-genetic (sociodemographic and lifestyle) and genetic factors to serum selenium biomarkers and selenium species (quantified as selenium) including selenium in glutathione peroxidase (GPx), selenoprotein P (SeP), selenoalbumin (SeAlb) and total selenometabolites (Se-metabolites) in the Aragon Workers Health Study (AWHS), a predominantly male cohort of car assembly factory workers in Spain. Total serum selenium and selenium species were measured by HPLC/ICP-QQQ-MS in 1624 AWHS participants.

Association of miR-126-3p, miR-1260b and miR-374a-5p with the incidence of heart failure in a population-based cohort: the Hortega Follow-Up Study.

Background: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging markers for cardiovascular prevention and control. miRNAs associated to vascular damage are candidates to play a causal role in the microvascular dysfunction of heart failure (HF). The aim was to evaluate the observational and causal (Mendelian randomization) association of miRNAs related with vascular alterations (miR-126-3p, miR-1260b and miR-374a-5p) with HF incidence in a sample from the general population.

Differential association of selenium exposure with insulin resistance and β-cell function in middle age and older adults.

Objective: To assess whether the role of selenium on pre-diabetes is differential by age, given comorbidities and decreased β-cell function in older adults.

Research Design And Methods: We evaluated the cross-sectional association of blood selenium with the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) in middle-aged (Aragon Workers Health Study [AWHS], N = 1186), and older (Seniors ENRICA [Study on Nutrition and Cardiovascular Risk in Spain]-2 [SEN-2], N = 915) diabetes-free adults. A subsample of participants from AWHS (N = 571) and SEN-2 (N = 603) had glucose and insulin repeated measurements for longitudinal analysis.

metaGWASmanager: a toolbox for an automated workflow from phenotypes to meta-analysis in GWAS consortia.

Summary: This article introduces the metaGWASmanager, which streamlines genome-wide association studies within large-scale meta-analysis consortia. It is a toolbox for both the central consortium analysis group and participating studies to generate homogeneous phenotypes, minimize unwanted variability from inconsistent methodologies, ensure high-quality association results, and implement time-efficient quality control workflows. The toolbox features a plug-in-based approach for customization of association testing.

Metabolomic patterns, redox-related genes and metals, and bone fragility endpoints in the Hortega Study.

Background: The potential joint influence of metabolites on bone fragility has been rarely evaluated. We assessed the association of plasma metabolic patterns with bone fragility endpoints (primarily, incident osteoporosis-related bone fractures, and, secondarily, bone mineral density BMD) in the Hortega Study participants. Redox balance plays a key role in bone metabolism.

Gene-environment interaction analysis of redox-related metals and genetic variants with plasma metabolic patterns in a general population from Spain: The Hortega Study.

Background: Limited studies have evaluated the joint influence of redox-related metals and genetic variation on metabolic pathways. We analyzed the association of 11 metals with metabolic patterns, and the interacting role of candidate genetic variants, in 1145 participants from the Hortega Study, a population-based sample from Spain.

Methods: Urine antimony (Sb), arsenic, barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo) and vanadium (V), and plasma copper (Cu), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) were measured by ICP-MS and AAS, respectively.

Arsenic exposure and human blood DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation profiles in two diverse populations from Bangladesh and Spain.

Background: Associations of arsenic (As) with the sum of 5-mC and 5-hmC levels have been reported; however, As exposure-related differences of the separated 5-mC and 5-hmC markers have rarely been studied.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the association of arsenic exposure biomarkers and 5-mC and 5-hmC in 30 healthy men (43-55 years) from the Aragon Workers Health Study (AWHS) (Spain) and 31 healthy men (31-50 years) from the Folic Acid and Creatinine Trial (FACT) (Bangladesh). We conducted 5-mC and 5-hmC profiling using Infinium MethylationEPIC arrays, on paired standard and modified (ox-BS in AWHS and TAB in FACT) bisulfite converted blood DNA samples.