0000000000452840
AUTHOR
Christian Schindler
Heterogeneity of obesity-asthma association disentangled by latent class analysis, the SAPALDIA cohort
Although evidence for the heterogeneity of asthma accumulated, consensus for definitions of asthma phenotypes is still lacking. Obesity may have heterogeneous effects on various asthma phenotypes. We aimed to distinguish asthma phenotypes by latent class analysis and to investigate their associations with different obesity parameters in adults using a population-based Swiss cohort (SAPALDIA). We applied latent class analysis to 959 self-reported asthmatics using information on disease activity, atopy, and age of onset. Associations with obesity were examined by multinomial logistic regression, after adjustments for age, sex, smoking status, educational level, and study centre. Body mass ind…
Causal Effects of Body Mass Index on Airflow Obstruction and Forced Mid-Expiratory Flow: A Mendelian Randomization Study Taking Interactions and Age-Specific Instruments Into Consideration Toward a Life Course Perspective
Obesity has complex links to respiratory health. Mendelian randomization (MR) enables assessment of causality of body mass index (BMI) effects on airflow obstruction and mid-expiratory flow. In the adult SAPALDIA cohort, recruiting 9,651 population-representative samples aged 18–60 years at baseline (female 51%), BMI and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) as well as forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25–75%) were measured three times over 20 follow-up years. The causal effects of BMI in childhood and adulthood on FEV1/FVC and FEF25–75% were assessed in predictive (BMI averaged over 1st and 2nd, lung function (LF) averaged over 2nd and 3rd fol…
DNA Methylation in Inflammatory Pathways Modifies the Association between BMI and Adult-Onset Non-Atopic Asthma
A high body mass (BMI) index has repeatedly been associated with non-atopic asthma, but the biological mechanism linking obesity to asthma is still poorly understood. We aimed to test the hypothesis that inflammation and/or innate immunity plays a role in the obesity-asthma link. DNA methylome was measured in blood samples of 61 non-atopic participants with asthma and 146 non-atopic participants without asthma (non-smokers for at least 10 years) taking part in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) study. Modification by DNA methylation of the association of BMI or BMI change over 10 years with adult-onset asthma was examined at each CpG sit…