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Most complex diseases have well-established genetic and non-genetic risk factors. In some instances, these risk factors are likely to interact, whereby their joint effects convey a level of risk that is either significantly more or less than the sum of these risks. Characterizing these gene-environment interactions may help elucidate the biology of complex diseases, as well as to guide strategies

Abstract SETTING: Sweden under transition from high to low tuberculosis (TB) incidence from 1920 to 2009. OBJECTIVE: To correlate estimates of TB infection in birth cohorts with the longitudinal incidence of active TB to assess the long-term risk and time pattern of reactivated TB. DESIGN: Time trend analysis on TB incidence using age-cohort modelling. RESULTS: The overall TB incidence decrease

To explore the relation between country of birth and risk of hospitalization due to heart failure (HF). All 40-89 year-old inhabitants in the city of Malmö, Sweden (n = 114,917, of whom 15.2% were born outside Sweden) were followed from November 1st, 1990 until December 31st, 2007. During a mean follow-up of 13.5 ± 5.3 years, a total of 7,640 individuals (47.4% men) were discharged from hospital w

AIMS: In western countries out-of-hospital ischaemic heart disease (IHD) deaths account for approximately 50-70% of all IHD deaths. The objective was to examine the trends in out-of-hospital IHD deaths in the Region of Skåne in southern Sweden, in different sex- and age-groups. METHODS: All 14,347 persons (range 24-110 years) in Skåne who died out-of-hospital between 1992 and 2003 from IHD (I410-

The World Health Organization (WHO) tuberculosis (TB) symptom screening instrument (WHO-TB) can identify human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals at low risk of tuberculosis (TB); however, many patients report WHO-TB symptoms and require further TB investigations. We hypothesized that further clinical scoring could classify subjects with a positive WHO-TB screening result (WHO-TB(+)

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of adult disability. Stroke-induced brain damage is accompanied by inflammation - activation of resident microglia and infiltration of blood-circulating monocytes. The effect of these cells on neuro-plasticity and recovery after stroke could be detrimental as well as beneficial. The future challenge is to understand the mechanisms of action of immune cells on cellu

Moraxella catarrhalis is an emerging human respiratory pathogen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in children with acute otitis media. The specific secretion machinery known as outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) is a mechanism by which Gram-negative pathogens interact with host cells during infection. We identified 57 proteins in M. catarrhalis OMVs using a proteomics a

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) constitute a rare population of tissue-specific cells that can self-renew and differentiate into all lineages of the blood cell system. These properties are critical for tissue regeneration and clinical applications of HSCs. Cord blood is an easily accessible source of HSCs. However, the number of HSCs from one unit is too low to effectively transplant most adult pa

The present study was designed to evaluate yoga's impact on blood pressure (BP) and quality of life (QOL) and on stress, depression and anxiety in patients with hypertension in a primary care setting. We conducted a multi-centre randomized controlled trial with follow-up after 12-week intervention completion. Adult primary care patients diagnosed with hypertension were randomly allocated to yoga o

Metabolomics is a rapidly growing research field. It aims for quantification of all the metabolites in a biological sample such as plasma, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid or cells. Because the metabolite levels in a biological sample are the end result of the regulatory processes in cells, metabolomics is a very powerful approach for characterisation of phenotypes. Metabolomics has been used to find d

Osteoporosis is a severe condition in postmenopausal women and a common cause of fracture. Osteoporosis is a complex disease with a strong genetic impact, but susceptibility is determined by many genes with modest effects and environmental factors. Only a handful of genes consistently associated with osteoporosis have been identified so far. Inflammation affects bone metabolism by interfering with

This is the first study indicating an association between gradually diminished risk of fractures and years of increased physical activity. Our results could imply great benefits not only for the individual but also for the healthcare burden and cost of society.

Aims Baseline adiponectin concentrations predict incident Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Diabetes Prevention Program. We tested the hypothesis that common variants in the genes encoding adiponectin (ADIPOQ) and its receptors (ADIPOR1, ADIPOR2) would associate with circulating adiponectin concentrations and/or with diabetes incidence in the Diabetes Prevention Program population. Methods Seventy-s

Ongoing inflammation including activation of the complement system is a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Antimicrobial neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are composed of secreted chromatin that may act as a source of autoantigens typical for SLE. In this study, we investigated how complement interacts with NETs and how NET degradation is affected by complement in SLE patients. We

Osteoporosis is a common complex disorder in postmenopausal women leading to changes in the micro-architecture of bone and increased risk of fracture. Members of the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) gene family regulates the development and physiology of bone through the Wnt/β-catenin (Wnt) pathway that in turn cross-talks with the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway. In

Objective: An association between small for gestational age (SGA) and risk for celiac disease (CD) in childhood has previously been reported. However, this association may reflect residual confounding by genetic or environmental factors. For example, presence of subclinical CD in the mother might be a common cause of both SGA and CD in the offspring. We investigate whether SGA is causally associat

Objectives: The burden of celiac disease (CD) is increasingly recognized as a global problem. However, whether this situation depends on genetics or environmental factors is uncertain. The authors examined these aspects in Sweden, a country in which the risk of CD is generally considered to be high. If environmental factors are relevant, CD risk in second-generation immigrant children should be re

OBJECTIVE: In this observational longitudinal study we estimate knee joint cartilage glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, in patients with an acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, with or without a concomitant meniscus injury. METHODS: 29 knees (19 men/10 women) were prospectively examined by repeat delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC), approximately 3

BACKGROUND: For unknown reasons girls are at an increased risk of coeliac disease compared to boys. However, the observed association might be confounded, since maternal coeliac disease is associated with both an increased risk of the disease in first-degree relatives as well as an increased ratio of girls to boys in offspring. AIMS: We investigate the effect of sex on the risk of coeliac dise