Publications

Publication: New England Journal

von Minckwitz G, Huang CS, Mano MS, Loibl S, Mamounas EP, Untch M, et al.

14 February 2019

Publication: Nature Communications

Caswell-Jin JL, McNamara K, Reiter JG, Sun R, Hu Z, Ma Z, et al.

8 February 2019

Publication: Ultrasound Obstetrics Gynecology

Bijl RC, Valensise H, Novelli GP, Vasapollo B, Wilkinson I, Thilaganathan B, et al.

8 February 2019

Publication: Diabetes Care

Vissers LET, Sluijs I, van der Schouw YT, Forouhi NG, Imamura F, Burgess S, et al.

6 February 2019

Eating healthily on a daily basis is a major step to prevent development of type 2 diabetes. Higher intake of dairy products has been associated with a lower risk of diabetes in a meta-analysis of observational studies. Yogurt and cheese intake particularly were associated with lower diabetes risk, whereas milk intake was not, with substantial heterogeneity for most dairy products.

However, potential confounding and reverse causation cannot be excluded. Owing to these limitations, the causal role of dairy products in diabetes prevention remains debatable.

The relationship between dairy products and risk of diabetes could be investigated by applying a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach, using genetic variability in the MCM6 gene associated with lactase persistence (LP) in adults as an instrumental variable (IV).

Lactase is necessary to break down the sugars that are found in dairy products, i.e., lactose. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MCM6 region have been associated with LP (6). rs4988235 (LCT-12910C>T) has been associated with LP in European populations and has been associated with a higher intake of milk in European cohorts, albeit not in all.

Previous MR studies reported no association between LP-associated milk intake and diabetes. However, variation in the MCM6 gene is likely to lead to population stratification, which would introduce bias to an MR analysis, and previous MR studies did not sufficiently adjust for population substructure. Also, previous studies did not investigate whether rs4988235 was specifically associated with dairy product intake after adjusting for population substructure.

We therefore investigated whether rs4988235 associated with intake of dairy products and other foods in a pan-European study in eight countries with different dietary habits. We adjusted for genetic principal components (PCs) and study center to adjust for population substructure (16). Next, we used rs4988235 in an IV analysis to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between the LP-associated exposure and risk of diabetes.

Publication: Nat Genetics

Frankell AM, Jammula S, Li X, Contino G, Killcoyne S, Abbas S, et al.

4 February 2019

Publication: Journal of Neurology

Nye CJS, Wagner A, Kousin-Ezewu O, Jones JL, Coles AJ.

4 February 2019

Publication: Nutrition Bulletin

Hengist A, Perkin O, Gonzalez JT, Betts JA, Hewison M, Manolopoulos KN, Jones KS, et al.

3 February 2019

Vitamin D is lipophilic and accumulates substantially in adipose tissue. Even without supplementation, the amount of vitamin D in the adipose of a typical adult is equivalent to several months of the daily reference nutrient intake (RNI).

Paradoxically, despite the large amounts of vitamin D located in adipose tissue, individuals with obesity are often vitamin D deficient according to consensus measures of vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations).

Thus, it appears that vitamin D can become ‘trapped’ in adipose tissue, potentially due to insufficient lipolytic stimulation and/or due to tissue dysfunction/adaptation resulting from adipose expansion.

Emerging evidence suggests that exercise may mobilise vitamin D from adipose (even in the absence of weight loss). If exercise helps to mobilise vitamin D from adipose tissue, then this could have important ramifications for practitioners and policymakers regarding the management of low circulating levels of vitamin D, as well as chronically low levels of physical activity, obesity and associated health conditions.

This perspective led us to design a study to examine the impact of exercise on vitamin D status, vitamin D turnover and adipose tissue vitamin D content (the VitaDEx project). The VitaDEx project will determine whether increasing physical activity (via exercise) represents a potentially useful strategy to mobilise vitamin D from adipose tissue.

Publication: Mit Press Journals

Anna O Ermakova, Nimrod Gileadi, Franziska Knolle, Azucena Justicia Diaz, Rachel Anderson, Paul C Fletcher, Michael Moutoussis, Graham K Murray.

1 February 2019

Publication: American Journal of Gastroenterology

Forrest EH, Atkinson SR, Richardson P, Masson S, Ryder S, Thursz MR, Allison M.

2019 Jan;114(1):175-176.

Publication: Pregnancy Hypertension

Petry CJ, Ong KK, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Dunger DB.

January 2019

Publication: Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.

Larsson SC, Allara E, Mason AM, Michaelsson K, Burgess S.

31 January 2019

Publication: JMIR mHealth uHealth.

Strain T, Wijndaele K, Brage S.

29 January 2019

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology

Jawaher Alsughayyir, Manu Chhabra, M. Saeed Qureshi, Mekhola Mallik, Jason M. Ali, Ivonne Gamper, Ellen L. Moseley, Sarah Peacock, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Martin J. Goddard, Michelle A. Linterman, Reza Motallebzadeh, Gavin J. Pettigrew

22 January 2019

Summary:

Humoral alloimmunity is now recognized as a major determinant of transplant outcome. MHC glycoprotein is considered a typical T-dependent antigen, but the nature of the T cell alloresponse that underpins alloantibody generation remains poorly understood. This paper examines how the relative frequencies of alloantigen-specific B cells and helper CD4 T cells influence the humoral alloimmune response and how this relates to antibody-mediated rejection (AMR).

Publication: Nature Communications

Jiang X, Finucane HK, Schumacher FR, Schmit SL, Tyrer JP, Han Y, et al.

25 January 2019

Publication: Gastroenterology

Eddowes PJ, Sasso M, Allison M, Tsochatzis E, Anstee QM, Sheridan D, Guha IN, Cobbold JF, Deeks JJ, Paradis V, Bedossa P, Newsome PN.

25 January 2019

Publication: BMC Medicine

Khalatbari-Soltani S, Imamura F, Brage S, De Lucia Rolfe E, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ, et al.

24 January 2019

The risk of hepatic steatosis may be reduced through changes to dietary intakes, but evidence is sparse, especially for dietary patterns including the Mediterranean diet. Here the researchers investigated the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and prevalence of hepatic steatosis.

Cross-sectional analysis of data from two population-based adult cohorts: the Fenland Study (England, n = 9645, 2005–2015) and CoLaus Study (Switzerland, n = 3957, 2009–2013).

Habitual diet was assessed using cohort-specific food frequency questionnaires. Mediterranean diet scores (MDSs) were calculated in three ways based on adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pyramid, dietary cut-points derived from a published review, and cohort-specific tertiles of dietary consumption.

Hepatic steatosis was assessed by abdominal ultrasound and fatty liver index (FLI) in Fenland and by FLI and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) score in CoLaus. FLI includes body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and triglyceride; NAFLD includes diabetes, fasting insulin level, fasting aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), and AST/alanine transaminase ratio. Associations were assessed using Poisson regression.

In Fenland, the prevalence of hepatic steatosis was 23.9% and 27.1% based on ultrasound and FLI, respectively, and in CoLaus, 25.3% and 25.7% based on FLI and NAFLD score, respectively.

In Fenland, higher adherence to pyramid-based MDS was associated with lower prevalence of hepatic steatosis assessed by ultrasound. This association was attenuated after adjustment for body mass index (BMI). Associations of similar magnitude were found for hepatic steatosis assessed by FLI in Fenland and in CoLaus, and these were also attenuated after adjustment for BMI. Findings were similar when the other two MDS definitions were used.

Greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower prevalence of hepatic steatosis, largely explained by adiposity. These findings suggest that an intervention promoting a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of hepatic steatosis.

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology

Manu Chhabra, Jawaher Alsughayyir, M. Saeed Qureshi, Mekhola Mallik, Jason M. Ali, Ivonne Gamper, Ellen L. Moseley, Sarah Peacock, Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis, Martin J. Goddard, Michelle A. Linterman, Reza Motallebzadeh and Gavin J. Pettigrew

23 January 2019

Summary:

Different profiles of alloantibody responses are observed in the clinic, with those that persist, often despite targeted treatment, associated with poorer long-term transplant outcomes. Although such responses would suggest an underlying germinal center (GC) response, the relationship to cellular events within the allospecific B cell population is unclear. Here we examine the contribution of germinal center (GC) humoral alloimmunity to chronic antibody mediated rejection (AMR)…

This work is composed of two parts, of which this is Part II. Please read also Part I: Alsughayyir et al., 2019.

Publication: Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience

George Savulich, Emily Thorp, Thomas Piercy, Katie A Peterson, John D Pickard, Barbara J Sahakian.

21 Jan 2019

Summary:

A new ‘brain training’ game designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge improves users’ concentration, according to new research published today. The scientists behind the venture say this could provide a welcome antidote to the daily distractions that we face in a busy world.

A team from the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cambridge, has developed and tested ‘Decoder’, a new game that is aimed at helping users improve their attention and concentration. The game is based on the team’s own research and has been evaluated scientifically.

In a study published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience Professor Sahakian and colleague Dr George Savulich have demonstrated that playing Decoder on an iPad for eight hours over one month improves attention and concentration. This form of attention activates a frontal-parietal network in the brain. Read the full story here

Publication: Genomic and Precision Medicine

Paige E, Clement M, Lareyre F, Sweeting M, Raffort J, Grenier C, et al.

18 January 2019

Publication: BMJ Open

John OO Ayorinde, Dominic M Summers, Laura Pankhurst, Emma Laing, Alison J Deary, Karla Hemming, Edward CF Wilson, Victoria Bardsley, Desley A Neil, Gavin J Pettigrew

17 January 2019

Summary:

Most potential kidney transplant donors in the UK are aged over 60 years, yet increasing donor age is associated with poorer graft survival and function. Urgent preimplantation kidney biopsy can identify chronic injury, and may aid selection of better ‘quality’ kidneys from this group. However, the impact of biopsy on transplant numbers remains unproven. The PreImplantation Trial of Histopathology In renal Allografts (PITHIA) study will assess whether the introduction of a national, 24 hours, digital histopathology service increases the number, and improves outcomes, of kidneys transplanted in the UK from older deceased donors.