Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells and tumor related transcripts in small cell lung cancer: A step further to clinical implementation.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a fatal disease with limited treatment options. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in liquid biopsy samples may serve as predictive and prognostic biomarkers; but the analysis of CTCs is still challenging. By using microfluidic or density gradient CTC enrichment in combination with immunofluorescent (IF) staining or qPCR of CTC-related transcripts, we achieved a 60.8% to 88.0% positivity in SCLC blood samples. Epithelial and neuroendocrine transcripts including the druggable target DLL3 were associated with shorter overall survival (OS), indicating the clinical value of these markers in terms of differential diagnosis and treatment decisions. High CTC counts and the presence of CTC duplets detected by IF staining were prognostic for OS, and thus may serve as indicators of disease progression or therapy failure. In patient samples with high CTC load detected by IF staining, a concordance of the transcripts positivity in circulating free plasma RNA and CTCs was observed. Our data emphasize the role of CTCs and CTC-related transcripts and underline the clinical value of liquid biopsy analysis in SCLC.

Protective porcine influenza virus-specific monoclonal antibodies recognize similar haemagglutinin epitopes as humans.

Pigs are natural hosts for the same subtypes of influenza A viruses as humans and integrally involved in virus evolution with frequent interspecies transmissions in both directions. The emergence of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus illustrates the importance of pigs in evolution of zoonotic strains. Here we generated pig influenza-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from H1N1pdm09 infected pigs. The mAbs recognized the same two major immunodominant haemagglutinin (HA) epitopes targeted by humans, one of which is not recognized by post-infection ferret antisera that are commonly used to monitor virus evolution. Neutralizing activity of the pig mAbs was comparable to that of potent human anti-HA mAbs. Further, prophylactic administration of a selected porcine mAb to pigs abolished lung viral load and greatly reduced lung pathology but did not eliminate nasal shedding of virus after H1N1pdm09 challenge. Hence mAbs from pigs, which target HA can significantly reduce disease severity. These results, together with the comparable sizes of pigs and humans, indicate that the pig is a valuable model for understanding how best to apply mAbs as therapy in humans and for monitoring antigenic drift of influenza viruses in humans, thereby providing information highly relevant to making influenza vaccine recommendations.

Correction: Protective porcine influenza virus-specific monoclonal antibodies recognize similar haemagglutinin epitopes as humans.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009330.].

Effect of short-term storage of blood samples on gene expression in lung cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES: The stability of gene transcripts associated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been predominantly studied in cultured cancer cell lines added to blood samples under artificial conditions. In the present study the effect of storage on CTC-related transcripts was assessed in blood samples taken from patients with non-small lung cancer (n=58). METHODS: The blood samples were split in two equal parts to compare the gene expression with and without storage for 24 h at ambient temperature without preservative added. After enrichment using the microfluidic Parsortix® technology, the expression levels of selected genes were assessed using quantitative PCR following a gene-specific pre-amplification. The prognostic relevance of each gene in fresh and stored blood samples was evaluated using the R-package Survminer. RESULTS: Some genes were either not affected (TWIST1, CDH5, CK19) or upregulated upon storage (NANOG, MET, UCHL1) but still associated with poor prognosis. In contrast, ERBB3, PTHLH, EpCAM, and TERT were no longer associated with the overall survival of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the surprising stability of CTC-related transcripts, which makes overnight shipping of native blood samples possible. Careful verification is required when using model systems - such as normal blood spiked with tumor cells - or other CTC-related markers, as individual transcripts may respond differently to storage.

Comparison of microfluidic platforms for the enrichment of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) hold promise to be a non-invasive measurable biomarker in all cancer stages. Because the analysis of CTCs is still a technical challenge, we compared different types of microfluidic enrichment protocols to isolate these rare cells from the blood. METHODS: Blood samples from patients with early and metastatic breast cancer (BC) were processed using the microfluidic Parsortix® technology employing (i) a single-step cell separation using the standard GEN3D6.5 microfluidic cassette, (ii) a two-step separation with an upfront pre-enrichment, and (iii) a two-step separation with a different type of cassette. In the enriched cells, the gene expression levels of CTC-related transcripts were assessed using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) by Taqman® and Lightcycler (LC) technology. RESULTS: 23/60 (38.3%) BC samples were assigned as positive due to the presence of at least one gene marker beyond the threshold level. The prevalence of epithelial markers was significantly higher in metastatic compared to early BC (EpCAM: 31.3% vs. 7.3%; CK19: 21.1% vs. 2.4%). A high level of concordance was observed between CK19 assessed by Taqman® and LC technology, and for detection of the BC-specific gene SCGB2A2. An upfront pre-enrichment resulted in lower leukocyte contamination, at the cost of fewer tumor cells captured. CONCLUSION: The Parsortix® system offers both reasonable recovery of tumor cells and depletion of contaminating leukocytes when the single-step separation using the GEN3D6.5 cassette is employed. Careful selection of suitable markers and cut-off thresholds is an essential point for the subsequent molecular analysis of the enriched cells.

Vaccines That Reduce Viral Shedding Do Not Prevent Transmission of H1N1 Pandemic 2009 Swine Influenza A Virus Infection to Unvaccinated Pigs.

Swine influenza A virus (swIAV) infection causes substantial economic loss and disease burden in humans and animals. The 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza A virus is now endemic in both populations. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of different vaccines in reducing nasal shedding in pigs following pH1N1 virus challenge. We also assessed transmission from immunized and challenged pigs to naive, directly in-contact pigs. Pigs were immunized with either adjuvanted, whole inactivated virus (WIV) vaccines or virus-vectored (ChAdOx1 and MVA) vaccines expressing either the homologous or heterologous influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein, as well as an influenza virus pseudotype (S-FLU) vaccine expressing heterologous HA. Only two vaccines containing homologous HA, which also induced high hemagglutination inhibitory antibody titers, significantly reduced virus shedding in challenged animals. Nevertheless, virus transmission from challenged to naive, in-contact animals occurred in all groups, although it was delayed in groups of vaccinated animals with reduced virus shedding.IMPORTANCE This study was designed to determine whether vaccination of pigs with conventional WIV or virus-vectored vaccines reduces pH1N1 swine influenza A virus shedding following challenge and can prevent transmission to naive in-contact animals. Even when viral shedding was significantly reduced following challenge, infection was transmissible to susceptible cohoused recipients. This knowledge is important to inform disease surveillance and control strategies and to determine the vaccine coverage required in a population, thereby defining disease moderation or herd protection. WIV or virus-vectored vaccines homologous to the challenge strain significantly reduced virus shedding from directly infected pigs, but vaccination did not completely prevent transmission to cohoused naive pigs.

Timelines of infection and transmission dynamics of H1N1pdm09 in swine.

Influenza is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Despite numerous studies of the pathogenesis of influenza in humans and animal models the dynamics of infection and transmission in individual hosts remain poorly characterized. In this study, we experimentally modelled transmission using the H1N1pdm09 influenza A virus in pigs, which are considered a good model for influenza infection in humans. Using an experimental design that allowed us to observe individual transmission events occurring within an 18-hr period, we quantified the relationships between infectiousness, shed virus titre and antibody titre. Transmission event was observed on 60% of occasions when virus was detected in donor pig nasal swabs and transmission was more likely when donor pigs shed more virus. This led to the true infectious period (mean 3.9 days) being slightly shorter than that predicted by detection of virus (mean 4.5 days). The generation time of infection (which determines the rate of epidemic spread) was estimated for the first time in pigs at a mean of 4.6 days. We also found that the latent period of the contact pig was longer when they had been exposed to smaller amount of shed virus. Our study provides quantitative information on the time lines of infection and the dynamics of transmission that are key parts of the evidence base needed to understand the spread of influenza viruses though animal populations and, potentially, in humans.

Establishment of a Pig Influenza Challenge Model for Evaluation of Monoclonal Antibody Delivery Platforms.

mAbs are a possible adjunct to vaccination and drugs in treatment of influenza virus infection. However, questions remain whether small animal models accurately predict efficacy in humans. We have established the pig, a large natural host animal for influenza, with many physiological similarities to humans, as a robust model for testing mAbs. We show that a strongly neutralizing mAb (2-12C) against the hemagglutinin head administered prophylactically at 15 mg/kg reduced viral load and lung pathology after pandemic H1N1 influenza challenge. A lower dose of 1 mg/kg of 2-12C or a DNA plasmid-encoded version of 2-12C reduced pathology and viral load in the lungs but not viral shedding in nasal swabs. We propose that the pig influenza model will be useful for testing candidate mAbs and emerging delivery platforms prior to human trials.

Motivation and personality factors of Generation Z high school students aspiring to study human medicine.

BACKGROUND: A new generation of medical students, Generation Z (Gen Z), is becoming the predominant population in medical schools and will join the workforce in a few years' time. Medicine has undergone serious changes in high-income countries recently. Therefore, it is unclear how attractive the medical profession still is for high school students of Gen Z. The aim of this study was to investigate what motivation leads Gen Z students in their choice to study human medicine, and how they see their professional future. Our study was guided by motivation theory and the influence of personality traits and other personal factors on students' choice of university major. METHODS: In a cross-sectional online survey, we included third- and fourth-year high school students in Northern Switzerland. We examined the importance of criteria when choosing a university major: personality traits, career motivation, life goals, and other considerations influencing the choice of human medicine versus other fields of study. Results Of 1790 high school students, 456 (25.5%) participated in the survey (72.6% women, mean age 18.4 years); 32.7% of the respondents aspired to major in medicine at university. For all respondents, the foremost criterion for selecting a field of study was 'interest in the field,' followed by 'income' and 'job security.' High school students aiming to study human medicine attached high importance to 'meaningful work' as a criterion; supported by 36.2% of those students answering that helping and healing people was a core motivation to them. They also scored high on altruism (p < 0.001 against all groups compared) and intrinsic motivation (p < 0.001) and were highly performance- (p < 0.001) and career-minded (p < 0.001). In contrast, all the other groups except the law/economics group had higher scores on extraprofessional concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Swiss Gen Z students aspiring to study human medicine show high intrinsic motivation, altruism, and willingness to perform, sharing many values with previous generations. Adequate work-life balance and job security are important issues for Gen Z. Regarding the current working conditions, the ongoing shortage of physicians, and recent findings on physicians' well-being, the potential for improvement and optimization is high.

[Patient Decision Aids for Values Clarification and Preference Elicitation - Challenges and Developments]. / Patienten-Entscheidungshilfen zur Werteklärung und Präferenzerhebung.

Patient Decision Aids for Values Clarification and Preference Elicitation - Challenges and Developments Abstract. Shared decision-making is especially appropriate when the available evidence does not indicate which medical intervention is the better option, so that the final decision depends on the patient's personal values and preferences. The process of value clarification and preference elicitation can be time-consuming and cognitively and emotionally demanding for patients. Increasingly, decision aids provide tasks (e.g., on benefit-harm trade-offs) to help patients work through this process, better prepare for medical consultations, and make values-congruent medical decisions with their physicians. Most clinically validated decision aids are paper-based flyers and educational brochures. There are also computer-, audio-, video-, or web-based decision aids. The web-based aids make little use of the potential of interactive technologies, despite the known benefits of these technologies. The aims of this paper are to provide an overview of decision aids for and challenges of values clarification and preference elicitation and to highlight some developments in interactive web-based technologies that might facilitate values clarification and preference elicitation.

Antibody seroprevalence and rate of asymptomatic infections with SARS-CoV-2 in Austrian hospital personnel.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study are to determine (i) SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive employees in Austrian trauma hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, (ii) number of active virus carriers (symptomatic and asymptomatic) during the study, (iii) antibody decline in seropositive subjects over a period of around 6 months, (iv) the usefulness of rapid antibody tests for outpatient screening. METHOD: A total of 3301 employees in 11 Austrian trauma hospitals and rehabilitation facilities of the Austrian Social Insurance for Occupational Risks (AUVA) participated in this open uncontrolled prospective cohort study. Rapid lateral flow tests, detecting a combination of IgM and IgM against SARS-CoV-2), two different types of CLIA (Diasorin, Roche), RT-PCR tests and serum neutralization tests (SNTs) were performed. The tests were conducted twice, with an interval of 42.4 ± 7.7 (Min = 30, Max = 64) days. Positive participants were re-tested with CLIA/SNT at a third time point after 188.0 ± 12.8 days. RESULTS: Only 27 out of 3301 participants (0.82%) had a positive antibody test at any time point during the study confirmed via neutralization test. Among positively tested participants in either test, 50.4% did not report any symptoms consistent with common manifestations of COVID-19 during the study period or within the preceding 6 weeks. In the group who tested positive during or prior to study inclusion the most common symptoms of an acute viral illness were rhinitis (21.9%), and loss of taste and olfactory sense (21.9%). Based on the neutralization test as the true condition, the rapid antibody test performed better on serum than whole blood as 84.6% instead of 65.4% could be detected correctly. Concerning both CLIA tests overall the Roche test detected 24 (sensitivity = 88.9%) and the Diasorin test 22 positive participants (sensitivity = 81.5%). In participants with a positive SNT result, a significant drop in neutralizing antibody titre from 31.8 ± 22.9 (Md = 32.0) at T1 to 26.1 ± 17.6 (Md = 21.3) at T2 to 21.4 ± 13.4 (Md = 16.0) at T3 (χ2 = 23.848, df = 2, p < 0.001) was observed (χ2 = 23.848, df = 2, p < 0.001)-with an average time of 42.4 ± 7.7 days between T1 and T2 and 146.9 ± 13.8 days between T2 and T3. CONCLUSIONS: During the study period (May 11th-August 3rd) only 0.82% were tested positive for antibodies in our study cohort. The antibody concentration decreases significantly over time with 14.8% (4 out of 27) losing detectable antibodies.

Clinical validation of the Siemens quantitative SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG assay (sCOVG) reveals improved sensitivity and a good correlation with virus neutralization titers.

OBJECTIVES: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and induce a specific antibody response. Serological assays detecting IgG against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein are useful to monitor the immune response after infection or vaccination. The objective of our study was to evaluate the clinical performance of the Siemens SARS-CoV-2 IgG (sCOVG) assay. METHODS: Sensitivity and specificity of the Siemens sCOVG test were evaluated on 178 patients with SARS-CoV-2-infection and 160 pre-pandemic samples in comparison with its predecessor test COV2G. Furthermore, correlation with virus neutralization titers was investigated on 134 samples of convalescent COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: Specificity of the sCOVG test was 99.4% and sensitivity was 90.5% (COV2G assay 78.7%; p<0.0001). S1-RBD antibody levels showed a good correlation with virus neutralization titers (r=0.843; p<0.0001) and an overall qualitative agreement of 98.5%. Finally, median S1-RBD IgG levels increase with age and were significantly higher in hospitalized COVID-19 patients (median levels general ward: 25.7 U/mL; intensive care: 59.5 U/mL) than in outpatients (3.8 U/mL; p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Performance characteristics of the sCOVG assay have been improved compared to the predecessor test COV2G. Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 S1-RBD IgG levels could be used as a surrogate for virus neutralization capacity. Further harmonization of antibody quantification might assist to monitor the humoral immune response after COVID-19 disease or vaccination.

Comparison of Heterosubtypic Protection in Ferrets and Pigs Induced by a Single-Cycle Influenza Vaccine.

Influenza is a major health threat, and a broadly protective influenza vaccine would be a significant advance. Signal Minus FLU (S-FLU) is a candidate broadly protective influenza vaccine that is limited to a single cycle of replication, which induces a strong cross-reactive T cell response but a minimal Ab response to hemagglutinin after intranasal or aerosol administration. We tested whether an H3N2 S-FLU can protect pigs and ferrets from heterosubtypic H1N1 influenza challenge. Aerosol administration of S-FLU to pigs induced lung tissue-resident memory T cells and reduced lung pathology but not the viral load. In contrast, in ferrets, S-FLU reduced viral replication and aerosol transmission. Our data show that S-FLU has different protective efficacy in pigs and ferrets, and that in the absence of Ab, lung T cell immunity can reduce disease severity without reducing challenge viral replication.

Higher levels of B-cell mutation in the early germinal centres of an inefficient secondary antibody response to a variant influenza haemagglutinin.

Designing improved vaccines against mutable viruses such as dengue and influenza would be helped by a better understanding of how the B-cell memory compartment responds to variant antigens. Towards this we have recently shown, after secondary immunization of mice with a widely variant dengue virus envelope protein with only 63% amino acid identity, that IgM+ memory B cells with few mutations supported an efficient secondary germinal centre (GC) and serum response, superior to a primary response to the same protein. Here, further investigation of memory responses to variant proteins, using more closely related influenza virus haemagglutinins (HA) that were 82% identical, produced a variant-induced boost response in the GC dominated by highly mutated B cells that failed, not efficiently improving serum avidity even in the presence of extra adjuvant, and that was worse than a primary response. This supports a hypothesis that over a certain level of antigenic differences, cross-reactive memory B-cell populations have reduced competency for affinity maturation. Combined with our previous observations, these findings also provide new parameters of success and failure in antibody memory responses.

Polymer-Ligand-Based ELISA for Robust, High-Throughput, Quantitative Detection of p53 Aggregates.

A growing number of diseases are being linked to protein misfolding and amyloid formation. Recently, p53 was also shown to associate into amyloid aggregates, raising the question of whether cancer development is associated with protein aggregation as well. However, a lack of suitable tools has hampered the evaluation of their clinical relevance. Herein, we report an enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA) system based on a polyionic, high-molecular-weight ligand that specifically captures aggregated oligomers and amyloid proteins. We proved that naturally occurring tetramers of p53 are not bound, but high-molecular-weight aggregates are bound and subsequently detected. For the first time, this assay allows the quantitative detection of p53 aggregates from cell lysates, which was demonstrated using 22 ovarian-cancer cell lines as well as 7 patient-derived tumor tissues. The levels of p53 aggregates within the missense-mutated tissue samples varied more than 12-fold. This simple, robust method allows studying the abundance and clinical relevance of protein aggregates. This could help our understanding of the role of protein misfolding in cancer or even in predicting therapy responses to aggregation-targeting drugs.

Protection of Cattle against Rinderpest by Vaccination with Wild-Type but Not Attenuated Strains of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus.

UNLABELLED: Although rinderpest virus (RPV) has been eradicated in the wild, efforts are still continuing to restrict the extent to which live virus is distributed in facilities around the world and to prepare for any reappearance of the disease, whether through deliberate or accidental release. In an effort to find an alternative vaccine which could be used in place of the traditional live attenuated RPV strains, we have determined whether cattle can be protected from rinderpest by inoculation with vaccine strains of the related morbillivirus, peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Cattle were vaccinated with wild-type PPRV or either of two established PPRV vaccine strains, Nigeria/75/1 or Sungri/96. All animals developed antibody and T cell immune responses to the inoculated PPRV. However, only the animals given wild-type PPRV were protected from RPV challenge. Animals given PPRV/Sungri/96 were only partially protected, and animals given PPRV/Nigeria/75/1 showed no protection against RPV challenge. While sera from animals vaccinated with the vaccine strain of RPV showed cross-neutralizing ability against PPRV, none of the sera from animals vaccinated with any strain of PPRV was able to neutralize RPV although sera from animals inoculated with wild-type PPRV were able to neutralize RPV-pseudotyped vesicular stomatitis virus. IMPORTANCE: Rinderpest virus has been eradicated, and it is only the second virus for which this is so. Significant efforts are still required to ensure preparedness for a possible escape of RPV from a laboratory or its deliberate release. Since RPV vaccine protects sheep and goats from PPRV, it is important to determine if the reverse is true as this would provide a non-RPV vaccine for dealing with suspected RPV outbreaks. This is probably the last in vivo study with live RPV that will be approved.

Evidence-based design recommendations for prevalence studies on multimorbidity: improving comparability of estimates.

BACKGROUND: In aging populations, multimorbidity causes a disease burden of growing importance and cost. However, estimates of the prevalence of multimorbidity (prevMM) vary widely across studies, impeding valid comparisons and interpretation of differences. With this study we pursued two research objectives: (1) to identify a set of study design and demographic factors related to prevMM, and (2) based on (1), to formulate design recommendations for future studies with improved comparability of prevalence estimates. METHODS: Study data were obtained through systematic review of the literature. UsingPubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, BIOSIS, and Google Scholar, we looked for articles with the terms "multimorbidity," "comorbidity," "polymorbidity," and variations of these published in English or German in the years 1990 to 2011. We selected quantitative studies of the prevalence of multimorbidity (two or more chronic medical conditions) with a minimum sample size of 50 and a study population with a majority of Caucasians. Our database consisted of prevalence estimates in 108 age groups taken from 45 studies. To assess the effects of study design variables, we used meta regression models. RESULTS: In 58% of the studies, there was only one age group, i.e., no stratification by age. The number of persons per age group ranged from 136 to 5.6 million. Our analyses identified the following variables as highly significant: "mean age," "number of age groups", and "data reporting quality" (all p < 0.0001). "Setting," "disease classification," and "number of diseases in the classification" were significant (0.01 < p ≤ 0.03), and "data collection period" and "data source" were non-significant. A separate analysis showed that prevMM was significantly higher in women than men (sign test, p = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Comparable prevalence estimates are urgently needed for realistic description of the magnitude of the problem of multimorbidity. Based on the results of our analyses of variables affecting prevMM, we make some design recommendations. Our suggestions were guided by a pragmatic approach and aimed at facilitating the implementation of a uniform methodology. This should aid progress towards a more uniform operationalization of multimorbidity.

Determination of the minimum fully protective dose of adenovirus-based DIVA vaccine against peste des petits ruminants virus challenge in East African goats.

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes an economically important disease of sheep and goats, primarily in developing countries. It is becoming the object of intensive international control efforts. Current vaccines do not allow vaccinated and infected animals to be distinguished (no DIVA capability). We have previously shown that recombinant, replication-defective, adenovirus expressing the PPRV H glycoprotein (AdH) gives full protection against wild type PPRV challenge. We have now tested lower doses of the vaccine, as well as AdH in combination with a similar construct expressing the PPRV F glycoprotein (AdF). We show here that, in a local breed of goat in a country where PPR disease is common (Kenya), as little as 10(7) pfu of AdH gives significant protection against PPRV challenge, while a vaccine consisting of 10(8) pfu of each of AdH and AdF gives apparently sterile protection. These findings underline the utility of these constructs as DIVA vaccines for use in PPR control.

Different functions of the common P/V/W and V-specific domains of rinderpest virus V protein in blocking IFN signalling.

The V proteins of paramyxoviruses are composed of two evolutionarily distinct domains, the N-terminal 75 % being common to the viral P, V and W proteins, and not highly conserved between viruses, whilst the remaining 25 % consists of a cysteine-rich V-specific domain, which is conserved across almost all paramyxoviruses. There is evidence supporting a number of different functions of the V proteins of morbilliviruses in blocking the signalling pathways of type I and II IFNs, but it is not clear which domains of V are responsible for which activities and whether all these activities are required for effective blockade of IFN signalling. We have shown here that the two domains of rinderpest virus V protein have distinct functions: the N-terminal domain acted to bind STAT1, whilst the C-terminal V-specific domain interacted with the IFN receptor-associated kinases Jak1 and Tyk2. Effective blockade of IFN signalling required the intact V protein.

Prevalence of chronic medical conditions in Switzerland: exploring estimates validity by comparing complementary data sources.

BACKGROUND: Prevalence estimates of chronic medical conditions and their multiples (multimorbidity) in the general population are scarce and often rather speculative in Switzerland. Using complementary data sources, we assessed estimates validity of population-based prevalence rates of four common chronic medical conditions with high impact on cardiovascular health (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity). METHODS: We restricted our analyses to patients 15-94 years old living in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Data sources were: Swiss Health Survey (SHS, 2007, n = 13,580); Family Medicine ICPC Research using Electronic Medical Record Database (FIRE, 2010-12, n = 99,441); and hospital discharge statistics (MEDSTAT, 2009-10, n = 883,936). We defined chronic medical conditions based on use of drugs, diagnoses, and measurements. RESULTS: After a careful harmonization of the definitions, a high degree of concordance, especially regarding the age- and gender-specific distribution patterns, was found for diabetes mellitus (defined as drug use or diagnosis in SHS, drug use or diagnosis or blood glucose measurement in FIRE, and ICD-10 codes E10-14 as secondary diagnosis in MEDSTAT) and for hypertension (defined as drug use alone in SHS and FIRE, and ICD-10 codes I10-15 or I67.4 as secondary diagnosis in MEDSTAT). A lesser degree of concordance was found for dyslipidemia (defined as drug use alone in SHS and FIRE, and ICD-10 code E78 in MEDSTAT), and for obesity (defined as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2) derived from self-reported height and weight in SHS, from measured height and weight or diagnosis of obesity in FIRE, and ICD-10 code E66 as secondary diagnosis in MEDSTAT). MEDSTAT performed well for clearly defined diagnoses (diabetes, hypertension), but underrepresented systematically more symptomatic conditions (dyslipidemia, obesity). CONCLUSION: Complementary data sources can provide different prevalence estimates of chronic medical conditions in the general population. However, common age and sex patterns indicate that a careful harmonization of the definition of each chronic medical condition permits a high degree of concordance.