Peer Review #2 of "Regional distribution of Christensenellaceae and its associations with metabolic syndrome based on a population-level analysis (v0.3)"

The link between the gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has attracted widespread attention. Christensenellaceae was recently described as an important player in human health, while its distribution and relationship with MetS in Chinese population is still unknown. This study sought to observe the association between Christensenellaceae and metabolic indexes in a large sample of residents in South China. A total of 4,781 people from the GGMP project were included, and the fecal microbiota composition of these individuals was characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing and analyzed the relation between Christensenellaceae and metabolism using QIIME (Quantitative Insight Into Microbial Ecology, Version 1.9.1). The results demonstrated that microbial richness and diversity were increased in the group with a high abundance of Christensenellaceae, who showed a greater complexity of the co-occurrence network with other bacteria than residents who lacked Christensenellaceae. The enriched bacterial taxa were predominantly represented by Oscillospira, Ruminococcaceae, RF39, Rikenellaceae and Akkermansia as the Christensenellaceae abundance increased, while the abundances of Veillonella, Fusobacterium and Klebsiella were significantly reduced. Furthermore, Christensenellaceae was negatively correlated with the pathological features of MetS, such as obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and body mass index (BMI). We found reduced levels of lipid biosynthesis and energy metabolism pathways in people with a high abundance of Christensenellaceae, which may explain the negative relationship between body weight and Christensenellaceae. In conclusion, we found a negative correlation between Christensenellaceae and MetS in a large Chinese population and reported the geographical distribution of Christensenellaceae in the GGMP study. The association data from this population-level research support the investigation of strains within Christensenellaceae as potentially beneficial gut microbes.

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Transcriptomic analysis of atopic dermatitis in African Americans is characterized by Th2/Th17-centered cutaneous immune activation

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90105-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Shannon Wongvibulsin ◽

Nishadh Sutaria ◽

Suraj Kannan ◽

Martin Prince Alphonse ◽

Micah Belzberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atopic Dermatitis ◽

African Americans ◽

Immune Activation ◽

Population Level ◽

Research Network ◽

Variation Analysis ◽

Immune Signature ◽

Key Drivers ◽

Blood Eosinophils ◽

Level Analysis

AbstractAtopic dermatitis (AD) often presents more severely in African Americans (AAs) and with greater involvement of extensor areas. To investigate immune signatures of AD in AAs with moderate to severe pruritus, lesional and non-lesional punch biopsies were taken from AA patients along with age-, race-, and sex-matched controls. Histology of lesional skin showed psoriasiform dermatitis and spongiotic dermatitis, suggesting both Th2 and Th17 activity. Gene Set Variation Analysis showed upregulation of Th2 and Th17 pathways in both lesional versus non-lesional and lesional versus control (p < 0.01), while Th1 and Th22 upregulation were observed in lesional versus control (p < 0.05). Evidence for a broad immune signature also was supported by upregulated Th1 and Th22 pathways, and clinically may represent greater severity of AD in AA. Furthermore, population-level analysis of data from TriNetX, a global federated health research network, revealed that AA AD patients had higher values for CRP, ferritin, and blood eosinophils compared to age-, sex-, and race-matched controls as well as white AD patients, suggesting broad systemic inflammation. Therefore, AA AD patients may feature broader immune activation than previously thought and may derive benefit from systemic immunomodulating therapies that modulate key drivers of multiple immune pathways.

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379 Epidemiology and risk factors for the development of cutaneous toxicities in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: A United States population-level analysis

Journal of Investigative Dermatology ◽

10.1016/j.jid.2021.02.401 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 141 (5) ◽

pp. S66

Author(s):

S. Wongvibulsin ◽

V. Pahalyants ◽

M. Kalinich ◽

W. Murphy ◽

K. Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Immune Checkpoint ◽

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Population Level ◽

United States Population ◽

Cutaneous Toxicities ◽

Level Analysis

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Metabolic syndrome may be associated with a lower prevalence of iron deficiency in Ecuadorian women of reproductive age

Journal of Nutritional Science ◽

10.1017/jns.2020.55 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Melisa A. Muñoz-Ruiz ◽

Laura I. González-Zapata ◽

Victoria Abril-Ulloa ◽

Diego A. Gaitán-Charry

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Prevalence Ratio ◽

Population Level ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Fe Deficiency ◽

Lower Prevalence ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Nutrition Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Total Prevalence

Abstract The present study aimed to assess the associations of the stages of Fe deficiency (Fe deficiency without anaemia (ID) and Fe-deficiency anaemia (IDA)) and anaemia with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Ecuadorian women. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 5894 women aged 20–59 years, based on data from the 2012 Ecuadorian National Health and Nutrition Survey. The sample was stratified by age. A χ2 test was used to assess the possible associations of ID, IDA and anaemia with MetS. The prevalence ratio (PR) for each stage of Fe deficiency and anaemia was estimated considering women without MetS as a reference. The total prevalence of MetS, ID, IDA and anaemia was 32⋅3 % (se 0⋅6), 6⋅2 % (se 0⋅3), 7⋅1 % (se 0⋅3) and 5⋅0 % (se 0⋅3), respectively. In women aged 20–29, 30–39 and 40–49 years, MetS was associated with a lower prevalence of ID (PR (95 % CI; P-value)): 0⋅17 (0⋅06, 0⋅46; P < 0⋅001), 0⋅69 (0⋅48, 0⋅99; P = 0⋅044) and 0⋅44 (0⋅29, 0⋅67; P < 0⋅001), respectively. In women aged 50–59 years, MetS was associated with IDA and anaemia (PR (95 % CI; P-value)): 0⋅12 (0⋅02, 0⋅96; P = 0⋅026) and 0⋅22 (0⋅07, 0⋅64; P = 0⋅002), respectively. In conclusion, Ecuadorian women of reproductive age with MetS have a lower prevalence of ID compared with those without MetS. Furthermore, the MetS and IDA coexist at the population level. These findings require an analysis from a dietary pattern approach, which could provide key elements for developing public policies that simultaneously address all forms of malnutrition.

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Troubling Outcomes From Population-level Analysis of Surgery for Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

Urology ◽

10.1016/j.urology.2010.04.020 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 895-901 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Robert Abouassaly ◽

Shabbir M.H. Alibhai ◽

Nasir Shah ◽

Narhari Timilshina ◽

Neil Fleshner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urothelial Carcinoma ◽

Population Level ◽

Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma ◽

Upper Tract ◽

Level Analysis

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Investigating hot-Jupiter inflated radii with hierarchical Bayesian modelling

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201731454 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 616 ◽

pp. A76 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Marko Sestovic ◽

Brice-Olivier Demory ◽

Didier Queloz

Keyword(s):

Large Fraction ◽

Population Level ◽

Mass Range ◽

Hierarchical Bayesian ◽

Incident Flux ◽

Hot Jupiters ◽

Probabilistic Relation ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Level Analysis

Context. As of today, hundreds of hot Jupiters have been found, yet the inflated radii of a large fraction of them remain unexplained. A number of mechanisms have been proposed to explain these anomalous radii, however most of these can only work under certain conditions and may not be sufficient to explain the most extreme cases. It is still unclear whether a single mechanism can sufficiently explain the entire distribution of radii, or whether a combination of these mechanisms is needed. Aims. We seek to understand the relationship of radius with stellar irradiation and mass and to find the range of masses over which hot Jupiters are inflated. We also aim to find the intrinsic physical scatter in their radii, caused by unobservable parameters, and to constrain the fraction of hot Jupiters that exhibit inflation. Methods. By constructing a hierarchical Bayesian model, we inferred the probabilistic relation between planet radius, mass, and incident flux for a sample of 286 gas giants. We separately incorporated the observational uncertainties of the data and the intrinsic physical scatter in the population. This allowed us to treat the intrinsic physical scatter in radii, due to latent parameters such as the heavy element fraction, as a parameter to be inferred. Results. We find that the planetary mass plays a key role in the inflation extent and that planets in the range ~0.37−0.98 MJ show the most inflated radii. At higher masses, the radius response to incident flux begins to decrease. Below a threshold of 0.37 ± 0.03 MJ we find that giant exoplanets as a population are unable to maintain inflated radii ≿1.4 RJ but instead exhibit smaller sizes as the incident flux is increased beyond 106 W m−2. We also find that below 1 MJ, there is a cut-off point at high incident flux beyond which we find no more inflated planets, and that this cut-off point decreases as the mass decreases. At incident fluxes higher than ~1.6 × 106 W m−2 and in a mass range 0.37−0.98 MJ, we find no evidence for a population of non-inflated hot Jupiters. Our study sheds a fresh light on one of the key questions in the field and demonstrates the importance of population-level analysis to grasp the underlying properties of exoplanets.

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