Social support as perceived, provided and needed by family-members of migrants with type 2 diabetes - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Social support provided by a family member has been found to have a buffering effect on distress and is associated with better diabetes self-care. This study explores the meaning of social support, as described by close family members of foreign-born people living with type 2 diabetes (PWDM) in Sweden. It also explores the support provided by family members, and the support they need to be able to support the PWDM. METHODS: Qualitative explorative study, semi-structured interviews for data collection. Qualitative content analysis based on a theoretical framework on social support. Purposive sample of 13 family members, 18-52-years-old, born in countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Russia. RESULTS: The meaning of support was described as social and emotional. Most participants described a stressful situation; feelings of sadness/worry about the risk of the PWDM developing complications added to a strained life situation from which one could not opt out. Frequent daily contacts in a family network were evident, particularly by children trained as healthcare professionals. Caring for a family member was considered a filial piety, but it was also a chance to reciprocate. The support provided was mainly informational (e.g., reminders about nutritional intake), but it was also instrumental/practical (administering medicines, helping with economy/logistics, planning/cooking meals, basic care) and emotional (sharing meals, thoughts, and activities). The support the family members needed was getting first-hand information by attending the physician visits, being able to book appointments themselves at suitable times, and preventing the withholding of important information about the PWDM. They also desired an open telephone-line, oral and written information, particularly on diet. CONCLUSIONS: To family-members, supporting the PWDM was normal and a filial piety. Support provided and needed was not only informational but also instrumental/practical and emotional. In diabetes care, addressing foreign-born individuals, diabetes education needs to be developed, also including family members. Informational material, particularly on diet, and improved access to healthcare and information about the healthcare system have the potential to increase family members' control over the situation and prevent a negative trajectory in caregiving with perceived demands causing high levels of stress.

Disparities in Health Insurance Among Middle Eastern and North African American Children in the US.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate and compare the proportion of foreign-born Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) children without health insurance, public, or private insurance to foreign- and US-born White and US-born MENA children. METHODS: Using 2000 to 2018 National Health Interview Survey data (N = 311 961 children) and 2015 to 2019 American Community Survey data (n = 1 892 255 children), we ran multivariable logistic regression to test the association between region of birth among non-Hispanic White children (independent variable) and health insurance coverage types (dependent variables). RESULTS: In the NHIS and ACS, foreign-born MENA children had higher odds of being uninsured (NHIS OR = 1.50, 95%CI = 1.10-2.05; ACS OR = 2.11, 95%CI = 1.88-2.37) compared to US-born White children. In the ACS, foreign-born MENA children had 2.11 times higher odds (95%CI = 1.83-2.45) of being uninsured compared to US-born MENA children. CONCLUSION: Our findings have implications for the health status of foreign-born MENA children, who are currently more likely to be uninsured. Strategies such as interventions to increase health insurance enrollment, updating enrollment forms to capture race, ethnicity, and nativity can aid in identifying and monitoring key disparities among MENA children.

Disordered eating and emotional eating in Arab, middle eastern, and north African American women.

Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (A-MENA) American women are often subject to intersectional discrimination, and they have also not been traditionally recognized as a distinct racial group in disordered eating literature. No study to date has provided descriptive information on disordered and emotional eating A-MENA American women, nor has examined perceptions of widely used measurements of eating pathology in this population. The current study generated descriptive information among A-MENA women on two widely used measures of eating pathology, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Emotional Eating Scale (EES). Participants (N = 244) were A-MENA adult women were recruited via social media and snowball sampling. Qualitative findings provide potential sociocultural predictors of disordered eating that should be further explored, such as bicultural identity and family pressures/comments toward appearance. Secondly, themes from the EES-R indicate adding emotion of shame and considering identity-related stress. The current study provides prevalence data and future directions of research on widely used eating pathology and appearance attitude measurements for A-MENA American women.

Enabling Better Nutrition for Adolescents from Middle Eastern Backgrounds: Semi-Structured Interviews with Parents.

The unyielding obesity epidemic in adolescents from Middle Eastern (ME) backgrounds warrants culturally-responsive and co-designed prevention measures. This study aimed to capture the opinions of ME parents residing in Australia on the crisis and their enablers and barriers to healthy eating interventions given their influence on adolescent eating behaviors. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with ME mothers, aged 35-59 years, and most residing in low socioeconomic areas (n = 19). A reflexive thematic analysis using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour model and Theoretical Domain Framework was conducted. Parents expressed confidence in knowledge of importance of healthy eating, but were reluctant to believe behaviours were engaged in outside of parental influence. Time management skills are needed to support working mothers and to minimize reliance on nearby fast-food outlets, which was heightened during COVID-19 with home-delivery. Time constraints also meant breakfast skipping was common. A culture of feeding in light of diet acculturation and intergenerational trauma in this diaspora was also acknowledged. Parents pleaded for upstream policy changes across government and school bodies to support parental efforts in the form of increased regulation of fast-food and subsidization of healthy products. Opportunities for weight-inclusive programs including parenting workshops underpinned by culturally-responsive pedagogy were recommended.

Enabling Better Nutrition and Physical Activity for Adolescents from Middle Eastern Backgrounds: Focus Groups.

The obesity epidemic in adolescents from Middle Eastern (ME) backgrounds necessitates co-designed and culturally-responsive interventions. This study's objective was to gather the opinions, attitudes, capabilities, opportunities and motivations of ME adolescents residing in Australia on healthy eating and physical activity (PA) behaviours to inform a future prevention program. Five focus groups were conducted, with 32 ME participants, aged 13-18 years, recruited via purposive and snowball sampling. More participants were female (n = 19) and from lower socioeconomic areas (n = 25). A reflexive thematic analysis was performed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model as the coding framework. Limited nutritional knowledge and cooking skills accompanied by a desire to make dietary changes were reported. Local and school facilities provided adolescents with PA opportunities, but participants declared safety concerns and limited opportunities for females and older grade students. Social support from family and friends were enablers for both healthy eating and PA. Cravings and desire for cultural foods influenced food choices. Individual and/or group approaches using social media and face-to-face format were recommended for future programs. To enable PA and dietary behaviour changes, interventions should be specifically tailored for ME adolescents to improve their nutrition literacy and skills, along with providing safe environments for sport in conjunction with social support.

Disparities in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Mortality by Country of Birth in Stockholm, Sweden: A Total-Population-Based Cohort Study.

Preliminary evidence points to higher morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in certain racial and ethnic groups, but population-based studies using microlevel data are lacking so far. We used register-based cohort data including all adults living in Stockholm, Sweden, between January 31, 2020 (the date of the first confirmed case of COVID-19) and May 4, 2020 (n = 1,778,670) to conduct Poisson regression analyses with region/country of birth as the exposure and underlying cause of COVID-19 death as the outcome, estimating relative risks and 95% confidence intervals. Migrants from Middle Eastern countries (relative risk (RR) = 3.2, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.6, 3.8), Africa (RR = 3.0, 95% CI: 2.2, 4.3), and non-Sweden Nordic countries (RR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.8) had higher mortality from COVID-19 than persons born in Sweden. Especially high mortality risks from COVID-19 were found among persons born in Somalia, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Socioeconomic status, number of working-age household members, and neighborhood population density attenuated up to half of the increased COVID-19 mortality risks among the foreign-born. Disadvantaged socioeconomic and living conditions may increase infection rates in migrants and contribute to their higher risk of COVID-19 mortality.

Clinical Profile and Health Disparities in a Multiethnic Cohort of Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are over-represented by individuals of European ethnicity, with less known about other ethnic groups. We investigated differences between patients in a multiethnic Australian hypertrophic cardiomyopathy population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 836 unrelated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy probands attending a specialized clinic between 2002 and 2020. Major ethnic groups were European (n=611), East Asian (n=75), South Asian (n=58), and Middle Eastern and North African (n=68). The minor ethnicity groups were Oceanian (n=9), People of the Americas (n=7), and African (n=8). One-way ANOVA with Dunnett post hoc test and Bonferroni adjustment were performed. RESULTS: Mean age of the major ethnic groups was 54.9±16.9 years, and 527 (65%) were male. Using the European group as the control, East Asian patients had a lower body mass index (29 versus 25 kg/m2, P<0.0001). South Asians had a lower prevalence of atrial fibrillation (10% versus 31%, P=0.024). East Asians were more likely to have apical hypertrophy (23% versus 6%, P<0.0001) and Middle Eastern and North African patients more likely to present with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (46% versus 34%, P=0.0003). East Asians were less likely to undergo genetic testing (55% versus 85%, P<0.0001) or have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implanted (19% versus 36%, P=0.037). East Asians were more likely to have a causative variant in a gene other than MYBPC3 or MYH7, whereas Middle Eastern and North African and South Asians had the highest rates of variants of uncertain significance (27% and 21%, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There are few clinical differences based on ethnicity, but importantly, we identify health disparities relating to access to genetic testing and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator use. Unless addressed, these gaps will likely widen as we move towards precision-medicine-based care of individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

A greater awareness of children with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency is imperative in western countries.

AIM: This national retrospective Danish study described the characteristics of children diagnosed with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, an inherited X-linked recessive disorder that often affects children of Middle Eastern descent. METHODS: We studied children born between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2017 and diagnosed with G6PD deficiency. They were identified from the Danish National Hospital Discharge Register and the Danish Database of Extreme Neonatal Hyperbilirubinaemia. RESULTS: There were 113 children diagnosed with G6PD deficiency, 67% were of Middle Eastern descent and they were frequently diagnosed before the onset of symptoms, based on known heredity. Of the 67 infants born in Denmark, 10% had extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia and one developed kernicterus spectrum disorder, as did one child born in the Middle East. Most (61%) of the 33 children with jaundice received phototherapy, 12% had exchange transfusions and 18% received whole blood transfusions. After the neonatal period, 23% of the cohort had blood transfusions and 4% needed intensive care for acute haemolytic anaemia. The incidence of G6PD deficiency appeared to be severely underestimated. CONCLUSION: Many families from countries where G6PD deficiency is endemic move to Denmark and other Western countries. Greater awareness is essential to avoid chronic and potentially lethal, consequences.

Depression, Anxiety, and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Indian Expats in the Middle East: A Survey Study.

OBJECTIVE: There are multiple studies indicating that the Indian expat population working in the Middle East is at a significantly high risk for developing anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can precipitate or exacerbate psychological distress among the expat population. The objective of this study was to evaluate psychological distress and coping mechanisms among Indian expats working in the Middle East during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with a semistructured questionnaire using a nonprobability snowball sampling technique. In addition to demographic data, a list of COVID-19 pandemic-related questions, the Brief COPE, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) were also utilized. RESULTS: A total of 94 responses were received. Of the respondents, 52% reported clinically significant anxiety levels, and 41% reported clinically significant depression levels. Both the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores were significantly associated with the level of concern with air traffic restriction (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that governments of both Indian and Middle Eastern countries should pay more attention to the mental health of the expat population while combating COVID-19.

"A woman's honor tumbles down on all of us in the family, but a man's honor is only his": young women's experiences of patriarchal chastity norms.

Purpose: In this qualitative study we explored how young women living in Sweden with ethnic and cultural roots in the Middle East and East Africa comply with or resist so-called honour norms and how they perceive that these norms affect their living conditions. Method: In depth interviews were performed with 14 young women. The majority were between 21 and 32 years of age with a mean age of 24. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and a grounded theory approach was used. To reflect the diversity in women's experiences, the grounded theory approach was conducted from a feminist perspective to transform women's personal narratives to a larger social context. Results: We analysed the core category "Honorable women in becoming" as the central emerging phenomenon related to categories about structural and individual control of women, the women's adjustment and resistance, and the continuum of severe consequences and violence that they experienced in their struggle for autonomy. Conclusion: Simone de Beauvoir's feminist theory about women as "the other" was an inspiration and gave us valuable input to highlight women's experiences and situations from a perspective of gender, power, and oppression.

A sheltered place, a sheltered person? Ordering wellbeing in a time between wars in the northern Galilee.

This paper explores how wellbeing is cultivated inside of domestic bomb shelters on Israel's contested and heavily militarised northern borders with Lebanon and Syria. It draws from ethnographic research conducted during what is locally referred to as being a time between wars, or a 'period of quiet', in the ongoing regional conflicts affecting these borders. Contrasting the upkeep and organisation of shelters situated in two private homes on the same street, the paper explores how shelters are used to foster a localised sense of wellbeing in a time of 'quiet', as well as who is seen to demonstrate wellbeing in this context. Each shelter is a place where the temporal position of being between past and future war is visceral. Memories of past wars, present uncertainty and the anticipated threats of future war are easily encountered in each shelter, although in varied ways. Yet, the arrangement of each shelter reflects how their owners make sense of the time they understand themselves to inhabit, while allowing them to re-organise and edit out what is problematic, uncomfortable or threatening about dwelling in a present between wars. A sense of wellbeing comes from the thoughtful, creative and aspirational ordering of past, present and future inside of each shelter, and through an ordering of one's position in time. These observations contribute to the broader conceptualisation and pragmatic study of wellbeing, a term that is often illusive and abstract.

Mortality in first- and second-generation immigrants to Sweden diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: a 10 year nationwide cohort study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Non-Western immigrants to Europe are at high risk for type 2 diabetes. In this nationwide study including incident cases of type 2 diabetes, the aim was to compare all-cause mortality (ACM) and cause-specific mortality (CSM) rates in first- and second-generation immigrants with native Swedes. METHODS: People living in Sweden diagnosed with new-onset pharmacologically treated type 2 diabetes between 2006 and 2012 were identified through the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. They were followed until 31 December 2016 for ACM and until 31 December 2012 for CSM. Analyses were adjusted for age at diagnosis, sex, socioeconomic status, education, treatment and region. Associations were assessed using Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: In total, 138,085 individuals were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2006 and 2012 and fulfilled inclusion criteria. Of these, 102,163 (74.0%) were native Swedes, 28,819 (20.9%) were first-generation immigrants and 7103 (5.1%) were second-generation immigrants with either one or both parents born outside Sweden. First-generation immigrants had lower ACM rate (HR 0.80 [95% CI 0.76, 0.84]) compared with native Swedes. The mortality rates were particularly low in people born in non-Western regions (0.46 [0.42, 0.50]; the Middle East, 0.41 [0.36, 0.47]; Asia, 0.53 [0.43, 0.66]; Africa, 0.47 [0.38, 0.59]; and Latin America, 0.53 [0.42, 0.68]). ACM rates decreased with older age at migration and shorter stay in Sweden. Compared with native Swedes, first-generation immigrants with ≤ 24 years in Sweden (0.55 [0.51, 0.60]) displayed lower ACM rates than those spending >24 years in Sweden (0.92 [0.87, 0.97]). Second-generation immigrants did not have better survival rates than native Swedes but rather displayed higher ACM rates for people with both parents born abroad (1.28 [1.05, 1.56]). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In people with type 2 diabetes, the lower mortality rate in first-generation non-Western immigrants compared with native Swedes was reduced over time and was equalised in second-generation immigrants. These findings suggest that acculturation to Western culture may impact ACM and CSM in immigrants with type 2 diabetes but further investigation is needed. Graphical abstract.

Development of an Ethnic Identity Measure for Americans of Middle Eastern and North African Descent: Initial Psychometric Properties, Sociodemographic, and Health Correlates.

BACKGROUND: Southeast Michigan is home to the second largest Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) US population. There is increasing interest in understanding correlates of psychosocial outcomes and health behaviors in this growing population. One potentially important health correlate is ethnic identity (EI). This paper reports the development, validity, and initial correlates of a new measure of MENA identity named the MENA-IM. METHODS: We used convenience sampling at locations frequented by individuals of MENA descent in southeast Michigan. We also measured EI centrality, religiosity, cultural mistrust, substance use, and health status to assess convergent and divergent validity. Exloratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis identified three subscales, which were valid for both Arab and Chaldean respondents and were named (1) MENA cultural affiliation, (2) MENA media use, and (3) multicultural affiliation. We also created and tested a 20-item, single-factor version. RESULTS: We obtained data from 378 adults, 73% of whom identified as Arab and 27% as Chaldean. MENA-IM scores were higher among older, lower-educated, lower-income, non-US born, and Arabic-speaking respondents. Arab respondents reported significantly higher scores than Chaldeans. MENA-IM scores were positively associated with EI centrality and religiosity. Higher MENA-IM scores were found among those not reporting use of marijuana, alcohol, and opiates. Higher MENA-IM scores were also found among those without a self-reported history of heart disease and among those with better mental health status. DISCUSSION: The MENA-IM has strong psychometric properties and demonstrated initial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. In general, values on the measure were associated with better psychosocial and health status. How the measure performs with MENA populations outside of Michigan and how it may relate to other health outcomes merit investigation.

Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety among Arabic-speaking individuals in Sweden: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Arabic-speaking immigrants and refugees constitute one of the largest immigrant groups in Sweden. Previous research on Arabic-speaking immigrants indicates elevated levels of psychological disorders, including depression and anxiety. The aim of the present pilot study was to examine the efficacy of an internet-delivered cognitive behavioural treatment (ICBT) in an Arabic-speaking immigrant population. The intervention was individually tailored based on self-described problems and consisted of nine modules targeting areas such as depression, anxiety and insomnia. In total, 59 individuals were included and randomized to either an 8-week treatment or wait-list control. Self-reported symptoms of depression on the PHQ-9 were used as primary outcome measure. Secondary outcome measures of anxiety, stress, insomnia, quality of life and post-traumatic stress were also used. In the intention-to-treat analysis, depressive symptoms were significantly reduced compared to the wait-list control group with a between-group effect at post-treatment of Cohen's d = 0.85 [0.29, 1.41]. We also found significant between-group effects for symptoms of insomnia and stress, but not for anxiety, post-traumatic stress or quality of life measures. The results indicate that ICBT is a promising treatment approach for treating symptoms of depression, insomnia and stress, in an Arabic-speaking immigrant population. Further studies with larger samples are warranted.

Middle eastern genetic legacy in the paternal and maternal gene pools of Chuetas.

Chuetas are a group of descendants of Majorcan Crypto-Jews (Balearic Islands, Spain) who were socially stigmatized and segregated by their Majorcan neighbours until recently; generating a community that, although after the seventeenth century no longer contained Judaic religious elements, maintained strong group cohesion, Jewishness consciousness, and endogamy. Collective memory fixed 15 surnames as a most important defining element of Chueta families. Previous studies demonstrated Chuetas were a differentiated population, with a considerable proportion of their original genetic make-up. Genetic data of Y-chromosome polymorphism and mtDNA control region showed, in Chuetas' paternal lineages, high prevalence of haplogroups J2-M172 (33%) and J1-M267 (18%). In maternal lineages, the Chuetas hallmark is the presence of a new sub-branching of the rare haplogroup R0a2m as their modal haplogroup (21%). Genetic diversity in both Y-chromosome and mtDNA indicates the Chueta community has managed to avoid the expected heterogeneity decrease in their gene pool after centuries of isolation and inbreeding. Moreover, the composition of their uniparentally transmitted lineages demonstrates a remarkable signature of Middle Eastern ancestry-despite some degree of host admixture-confirming Chuetas have retained over the centuries a considerable degree of ancestral genetic signature along with the cultural memory of their Jewish origin.

How do people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom conceptualize and cope with the asylum journey?

People seeking asylum experience traumatic events and psychological difficulties in country-of-origin, in 'flight', and during re-settlement. Research with this population has focussed on using quantitative methods to examine psychopathology from exposure to traumatic events, and there is a paucity of qualitative research exploring subjective experiences of this population throughout their asylum journey. Few studies have examined ways asylum seekers might cope with such events. This study aimed to address this gap by employing Constructivist Grounded Theory to understand the ways people seeking asylum conceptualize and cope with their experiences across the asylum process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven people seeking asylum accessing a third sector mental health project and/or primary-care health service. Four main themes emerged from the data: 'Before Asylum', 'Displacement', 'Identity in the UK' and 'Reflections on the Future'. The stress of the asylum system and adaptation to new environments are core aspects of the theory, along with an exploration of how people cope with these circumstances, via internal psychological strategies and external support sources. Prior experiences (including the development of 'inner strength') impacted upon how participants conceptualized their everyday experiences, and this shaped their considerations for the future. Service implications are discussed.

Metabolic comparison of polycystic ovarian syndrome and control women in Middle Eastern and UK Caucasian populations.

To determine if metabolic characteristics differed in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) between a Caucasian and Middle East population. Comparative cross-sectional analysis. Demographic and metabolic data from Middle Eastern women from Qatar Biobank (97 with PCOS, 622 controls) were compared to a Caucasian PCOS biobank in Hull UK (108 with PCOS, 69 controls). In both populations, PCOS women showed a worse cardiovascular risk profile of increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, increased C-reactive protein (CRP), reduced HDL, insulin resistance as well as increased androgens compared to their respective controls without PCOS. UK women without PCOS had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and increased testosterone results (p < 0.01) compared to Middle Eastern women without PCOS who had higher inflammatory markers (WBC and CRP), HDL and insulin resistance (p < 0.001). UK PCOS women had a higher body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, triglycerides (p < 0.01), whilst Middle Eastern PCOS women showed increased testosterone, free androgen index, HDL and CRP (P < 0.01). There was no difference in insulin or insulin resistance between the two PCOS cohorts. This study highlights ethnic population differences because, whilst cardiovascular risk indices were increased for both PCOS cohorts, this may be for different reasons: BMI, waist and hip measurements, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and triglycerides were higher in the UK cohort whilst testosterone, HDL and CRP were higher in the Middle East population. Insulin resistance did not differ between the two PCOS populations despite differences in BMI.

Racial and Citizenship Disparities in Health Care Among Middle Eastern Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To assess differences in health access and utilization among Middle Eastern American adults by White racial identity and citizenship. METHODS: Data from the 2011 to 2018 National Health Interview Surveys (N=1013) and survey-weighted logistic regression analyses compare Middle Eastern immigrants by race and citizenship on access and utilization of health care in the United States. RESULTS: White respondents had 71% lower odds of delaying care [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.34; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.13, 0.71] and 84% lower odds of being rejected by a doctor as a new patient (AOR=0.16; 95% CI=0.03, 0.88) compared to non-White respondents. US citizens had higher odds of visiting the doctor in the past 12 months compared with noncitizens (AOR=1.76; 95% CI=1.25, 2.76). CONCLUSION: Middle Eastern immigrants who do not identify as White and who are not US citizens are significantly less likely to access and utilize health care compared with those who identify as White and are US citizens. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: This study shows that racial and citizenship disparities persist among Middle Eastern Americans at a national-level, playing a critical role in access to and use of health care.

Genetic Admixture Analysis in the Population of Tacuarembó-Uruguay Using Alu Insertions.

Tacuarembó is a department located in northeastern Uruguay, whose population is the result of several migration waves from Europe and Near East, as well as Africans and Afro-descents mostly from Brazil; these waves settled with the territory's various Native ethnic groups (Charrúa, Minuán, and Guaraní). In the past, this population has been the focus of genetic studies showing this trihybrid origin, with greater contributions of Natives and Africans than in other Uruguayan regions. In this study we analyzed eight Alu insertions (A25, ACE, APOA1, B65, D1, F13B, PV92, TPA25) to provide valuable information for ancestrality and genetic differentiation and to compare with both previous studies on the Tacuarembó population and Alu frequencies in other Uruguayan populations. The European contribution to Alu and classical markers was almost equal to that of a previous study using 22 classical markers (63% vs. 65%), while African contribution was higher (30% vs. 15%), and Native American contribution shows an important difference in Alu: 7% versus 20%. We found no significant differences in genetic differentiation between Tacuarembó and Montevideo but significant differences between Tacuarembó and Basque descendants from Trinidad. Our results support previous findings obtained with classical markers that demonstrate the trihybrid composition of the Tacuarembó population, correlated with historical records. Thus, Alu insertions provide interesting information in light of the admixture process in the Uruguayan population.

Associations between human leukocyte antigen C locus polymorphism and psoriatic arthritis in populations of European and Middle Eastern descent: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Gene-disease association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-C locus polymorphism and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the relationship between HLA-C locus polymorphism and PsA in populations of European and Middle Eastern descent. SEARCH METHODS: PubMed, PMC, Elsevier and Google Scholar databases from 1980 to January 2020. The search was limited to articles in English. SELECTION CRITERIA: Case-control studies (with unrelated participants) that had allele/genotype data on the association between HLA-C locus polymorphism and PsA susceptibility. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two investigators searched independently in searching the literature. Disagreements were resolved by discussion and consultation with a third researcher. The Q-Genie tool was used to assess the quality of articles. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. At the allelic level, three alleles were associated with an increased risk of PsA and five were associated with a reduced risk. At the phenotypic level, four alleles were associated with increased risk of PsA and three were associated with a reduced risk. At both the allelic and phenotypic levels, the results revealed that HLA-C*04 played a protective role in PsA (The pooled odds ratio [OR] is 0.66 for allelic level and 0.63 for phenotypic level), while HLA-C*02, *06 and *12 increased the risk of suffering from PsA (The pooled ORs of C*02, *06 and *12 are 2.21, 2.63 and 1.49 for allelic level, and 1.79, 2.96 and 2.25 for phenotypic level, respectively). CONCLUSION: The pooled results showed a significant association between PsA and the HLA-C gene in populations of European and Middle Eastern descent. At both the allelic and phenotypic levels, the HLA-C*02, *06 and *12 may contribute to susceptibility to PsA, while HLA-C*04 may confer a protective role against PsA. REGISTRATION: Not registered. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.