Wen-Qing Li

Smoking and risk of incident psoriatic arthritis in US women

Objectives Both overall and central obesity have been associated with the risk of psoriasis in a prospective study. Data on the association between obesity and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have been sparse and no evidence on obesity measures and the risk of incident PsA is available now. This study aimed to evaluate the association between obesity and the risk of incident PsA in a large cohort of women. Methods 89 049 participants were included from the Nurses Health Study II over a 14-year period (1991–2005). Information on body mass index (BMI), weight change and measures of central obesity (waist circumference, hip circumference and waist–hip ratio) was collected during the follow-up. The incidence of clinician-diagnosed PsA was ascertained and confirmed by supplementary questionnaires. Results 146 incident PsA cases were identified during 1 231 693 person-years of follow-up. Among all participants, BMI was monotonically associated with an increased risk of incident PsA. Compared with BMI less than 25.0, the RR was 1.83 for BMI 25.0–29.9 (95% CI 1.15 to 2.89), 3.12 for BMI 30.0–34.9 (95% CI 1.90 to 5.11) and 6.46 for BMI over 35.0 (95% CI 4.11 to 10.16). There was a graded positive association between weight change from age 18 years, measures of central obesity and risk of PsA (p for trend <0.001). The analysis among participants developing psoriasis during follow-up revealed a similar association (p for trend <0.01), indicating an increased risk of PsA associated with obesity among patients with psoriasis. Conclusion This study provides further evidence linking obesity with the risk of incident PsA among US women.

Psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and increased risk of incident Crohn's disease in US women

Objective Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohns disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), shares clinical and immunological features with psoriasis. Genome-wide association studies have found common susceptibility genes. However, epidemiologic data evaluating the association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and risk of IBD are sparse. We aimed to evaluate the association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and incident CD and UC among women in the USA. Methods 174 476 women were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) (1996–2008) and NHS II (1991–2007). Lifetime history of physician-diagnosed psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis was confirmed by supplementary questionnaires. Information on CD and UC was obtained by self-reported questionnaires and confirmed by medical record review. Results We documented 188 incident cases of CD and 240 incident cases of UC during follow-up. Psoriasis was associated with a significantly increased risk of subsequent CD with a multivariate-adjusted relative risk (RR) of 4.00 (95% CI 1.72 to 9.27) for NHS and 3.76 (1.82 to 7.74) for NHS II. By contrast, we did not observe a significant increase in risk of UC associated with psoriasis. In a pooled analysis of both cohorts, women with psoriasis experienced a significantly increased risk of CD (RR, 3.86, 95% CI 2.23 to 6.67), but not UC (RR, 1.17, 95% CI 0.41 to 3.36). The risk of CD was especially pronounced among psoriatics with concomitant psoriatic arthritis (RR, 6.43, 95% CI 2.04 to 20.32). Conclusions Psoriasis with concomitant psoriatic arthritis is associated with an increased risk of incident CD.

Psoriasis and risk of nonfatal cardiovascular disease in U.S. women: a cohort study

Background  Psoriasis has been linked to cardiovascular comorbidities in cross‐sectional studies, but evidence regarding the association between psoriasis and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) is limited.

Psoriasis and risk of non-fatal cardiovascular disease in US women: a cohort study

Background  Psoriasis has been linked to cardiovascular comorbidities in cross‐sectional studies, but evidence regarding the association between psoriasis and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) is limited.

The Burden of Atopic Dermatitis: Summary of a Report for the National Eczema Association

To assess the patient-level and societal burden of atopic dermatitis, we comprehensively reviewed the literature related to quality of life, social, economic, academic, and occupational impacts. Atopic dermatitis has profound impacts on patient and family quality of life. A conservative estimate of the annual costs of atopic dermatitis in the United States is

Genetic Variants of Toll-Like Receptor 2 and 5, Helicobacter Pylori Infection, and Risk of Gastric Cancer and Its Precursors in a Chinese Population

5.297 billion (in 2015 USD). People with atopic dermatitis may change their occupation because of their skin disease. Research gaps include quality of life assessments outside of tertiary care centers, impacts on partners and families of adult patients, and updated comprehensive cost estimates.

Psoriasis and risk of type 2 diabetes among women and men in the United States: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Genetic polymorphisms of Toll-like receptors (TLR) may influence the outcome of Helicobacter pylori infection and play important roles in gastric carcinogenesis. To screen the genetic variants of TLR2 and TLR5, and evaluate their associations with gastric cancer (GC) and its precursors, a population-based study was conducted in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China. Methods: Genetic variants were identified by PCR-based denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in 248 GC cases, 846 subjects with advanced gastric lesions including 350 dysplasia and 496 intestinal metaplasia, and 496 superficial gastritis/mild chronic atrophic gastritis controls. Results: Nine allelic variants each were detected within the promoter and exons of TLR2 and TLR5. Among those, TLR2 c. −196 to −174 del carriers (ins/del+del/del) showed a significantly decreased risk of GC (adjusted OR, 0.66; 95% CI: 0.48–0.90), whereas TLR5 rs5744174 C carriers (TC+CC) had an increased risk of GC (OR, 1.43; 95% CI: 1.03–1.97). Further analysis indicated an elevated risk of GC in subjects with the TLR5 rs5744174 TC+CC genotype and H. pylori infection (OR, 3.35; 95% CI: 2.13–5.26), and a significant interaction between rs5744174 and H. pylori infection was observed (OR, 2.15; 95% CI: 1.12–4.16). Conclusion: These findings suggest that TLR2 c. −196 to −174 ins > del, TLR5 rs5744174 and interaction between rs5744174 and H. pylori infection were associated with the development of GC. Impact: TLR2 and TLR5 polymorphisms may play important roles in the process of H. pylori-related gastric carcinogenesis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(12); 2594–602. ©2011 AACR.

Genetic variants in DNA repair pathway genes and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and gastric adenocarcinoma in a Chinese population

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) shares some common risk factors with psoriasis. We evaluated the association between psoriasis and risk of incident T2D among women and men in the United States in a mixed retrospective-prospective cohort study. 184,395 participants were included from an older cohort of women (the Nurses’ Health Study, NHS) (1996–2008), a younger cohort of women (NHS II) (1991–2007) and an older cohort of men (Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study, HPFS) (1986–2006). During 2,700,958 person-years of follow-up, 9,938 incident T2D cases were confirmed. We found a significantly increased risk of T2D associated with psoriasis only among younger women (NHS II); multivariate-adjusted relative risk (RR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 1.25 1.05–1.49). When only including those younger than 60 years during follow-up (NHS and HPFS), we observed a non-significant trend toward increased risk for T2D. In a pooled-analysis of the three cohorts, psoriatics younger than 60 years were at a higher risk of T2D; RR 1.26 (1.08–1.48) for women, and 1.26 (1.08–1.46) for both sexes combined. Further, the risk of T2D was much higher for those developing psoriasis at an early age. In conclusion, we found an association between psoriasis and risk of T2D among individuals younger than 60 years.

Association between genetic polymorphisms of DNA base excision repair genes and evolution of precancerous gastric lesions in a Chinese population.

The DNA repair pathways help to maintain genomic integrity and therefore genetic variation in the pathways could affect the propensity to develop cancer. Selected germline single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the pathways have been associated with esophageal cancer and gastric cancer (GC) but few studies have comprehensively examined the pathway genes. We aimed to investigate associations between DNA repair pathway genes and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and GC, using data from a genome-wide association study in a Han Chinese population where ESCC and GC are the predominant cancers. In sum, 1942 ESCC cases, 1758 GC cases and 2111 controls from the Shanxi Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Genetics Project (discovery set) and the Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trials (replication set) were genotyped for 1675 SNPs in 170 DNA repair-related genes. Logistic regression models were applied to evaluate SNP-level associations. Gene- and pathway-level associations were determined using the resampling-based adaptive rank-truncated product approach. The DNA repair pathways overall were significantly associated with risk of ESCC (P = 6.37 × 10(-4)), but not with GC (P = 0.20). The most significant gene in ESCC was CHEK2 (P = 2.00 × 10(-6)) and in GC was CLK2 (P = 3.02 × 10(-4)). We observed several other genes significantly associated with either ESCC (SMUG1, TDG, TP53, GTF2H3, FEN1, POLQ, HEL308, RAD54B, MPG, FANCE and BRCA1) or GC risk (MRE11A, RAD54L and POLE) (P < 0.05). We provide evidence for an association between specific genes in the DNA repair pathways and the risk of ESCC and GC. Further studies are warranted to validate these associations and to investigate underlying mechanisms.

Index-based dietary patterns and risk of esophageal and gastric cancer in a large cohort study.

Base excision repair pathway may play an important role in repairing DNA damage related to Helicobacter pylori-induced inflammatory process. To evaluate the association between genetic polymorphisms of X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1, Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln), adenosine diphosphate ribosyl transferase (ADPRT, Val762Ala), 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1, Ser326Cys) and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1, Asp148Glu) and evolution of H.pylori-associated precancerous gastric lesions, a population-based cohort study was conducted in Linqu County, a high-risk area of gastric cancer in China. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in 1281 H.pylori-infected subjects. We found that subjects carrying the combined XRCC1-194Arg/Trp+Trp/Trp genotype had an elevated chance of regression of gastric lesions [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06-1.96], whereas subjects carrying the XRCC1-399Arg/Gln+Gln/Gln genotype had a decreased chance of regression (OR = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.49-0.92). Stratified analysis indicated that an increased risk of progression was observed in subjects carrying the XRCC1-399Arg/Gln+Gln/Gln genotype (OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.09-2.36) or OGG1-326Ser/Cys+Cys/Cys genotype (OR = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.03-3.71) with intestinal metaplasia or dysplasia at baseline or carrying the XRCC1-399Arg/Gln+Gln/Gln genotype and smoking (OR = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.02-2.45). Furthermore, a significantly increased risk of progression was observed in subjects carrying one or two hazard genotypes of XRCC1-399 or OGG1-326, the OR was 2.83 (95% CI = 1.32-6.08), 2.22 (95% CI = 1.24-3.98) or 2.27 (95% CI = 1.26-4.10), respectively. These findings suggest that genetic polymorphisms in XRCC1-Arg194Trp, XRCC1-Arg399Gln and OGG1-Ser326Cys may play important roles in the evolution of H.pylori-associated gastric lesions in this high-risk population.