Causal relationship between Helicobacter pylori antibodies and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): A mendelian study.

BACKGROUND: Observational studies have indicated that both Helicobacter pylori infection and the presence of Helicobacter pylori antibodies may increase the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the exact association between Helicobacter pylori antibodies and the occurrence of GERD remains largely unresolved. Therefore, this two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study aims to investigate the causal relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and GERD. METHODS: This study encompassed seven different specific protein antibodies targeting Helicobacter pylori and utilized a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on GERD. MR analysis was conducted to assess the causal relationship between Helicobacter pylori antibodies and the development of GERD. RESULTS: Genetically predicted serum levels of Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies were positively associated with an increased risk of GERD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.001, 95% CI 1.000-1.003, P = 0.043). No causal relationship was found between other Helicobacter pylori antibodies and gastroesophageal reflux disease. CONCLUSION: The outcomes derived from our two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis demonstrate a discernible link between the levels of Helicobacter pylori IgG antibodies and an augmented susceptibility to GERD. However, it is imperative to expand the sample size further in order to corroborate the correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and GERD.

Dietary inflammatory index and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and advanced hepatic fibrosis in US adults.

Background and aims: This study aims to investigate whether the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and advanced hepatic fibrosis (AHF) among non-institutionalized adults in the United States. Methods: Utilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2016, a total of 10,052 adults aged ≥18 years were included in the analysis. We used multivariable analysis, controlling for demographic variables, to evaluate the association between DII and NAFLD and AHF, a restricted cubic spline (RCS) was used to model the non-linear relationship between DII and NAFLD. Results: For 10,052 participants, DII ranges from -4.63 to 5.47. Compared with quartile 1, higher DII group were associated with higher levels of female, separated/divorced, lower education level, heavy alcohol use, current smoke status, BMI, poverty income ratio, and waist circumference. DII also showed a significantly positive correlation with ALT, AST. In the fully adjusted multivariable model, DII was positively associated with the presence of NAFLD (OR 1.09, 1.06-1.13 CI, p trend <0.0001), and AHF (OR 1.15, 1.07-1.23 CI, p trend <0.001). The association remained statistically significant after stratified by gender in terms of NAFLD, but in case of AHF only in males (Q4 vs. Q1: OR 2.68, 1.63-4.41 CI, p trend <0.0001) was statistically significant. In the RCS models, the relation of DII and NAFLD started increase rapidly until around 1.80 and then started relatively flat afterward. Conclusion: Higher pro-inflammatory level was associated with higher risk of NAFLD in males and females, and with higher risk of AHF in males but not in females. Therefore, strategies to promote an Zhang anti-inflammatory diet should be considered to prevent and ameliorate NAFLD and AHF in adults.

Association between secondhand smoke and cancers in adults in the US population.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer and premature death, smoking has a clear causal relationship with a variety of cancers. However, the relationship between exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and other cancers besides lung cancer is not clear. In this study, we intend to investigate the cancers mortality risks especially other cancers besides lung cancer associated with exposure to SHS. METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a longitudinal population-based, nationally representative health survey and mortality rates linked to the National Death Index (NDI) database. In this study, the participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic data, anthropometry, and lifestyle information, including smoking and alcohol consumption, meanwhile, all the participants were screened for serum cotinine. First, Spearman correlation analysis was performed to confirm the correlation between serum cotinine level and exposure status. And then, exposure to SHS was divided into two groups: low exposure group (serum cotinine level between 0.015 and 10) and high exposure group (serum cotinine level ≥ 10), Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to evaluate the association between exposure to SHS and eight different types of smoke-related cancer. RESULTS: In this study, we evaluated a cohort of 25,794 US residents older than 19 years from 2005 to 2016 and were followed for mortality through the February 2019. We conducted Spearman correlation analysis to confirm the correlation between serum cotinine level and exposure status (including smoking and exposure to SHS), it demonstrated the correlation coefficient between serum cotinine level and exposure to smoke was 0.976, p < 0.00001. By Cox proportional hazards regression modeling, high exposure group were found to be positively associated with all neoplasms with a total Hazard Ratio (HR) of 1.748 (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.415-2.159), had higher all-cause mortality risks than non-exposure to tobacco smoke. Regarding the specific types, we found the following associations: cancer of the lung (HR, 1.484; 95% CI, 1.191-1.849), stomach (HR, 1.491; 95% CI, 1.199-1.854), bladder (HR, 1.487; 95% CI, 1.198,1.846), esophageal (HR, 1.487; 95% CI 1.194-1.852), kidney (HR, 1.497; 95% CI, 1.201-1.865), pancreatic (HR, 1.479; 95% CI 1.189-1.841), leukemia (HR, 1.479; 95% CI 1.190-1.839), cervical (HR, 1.490; 95% CI 1.198-1.853). However, low exposure group were non-existent statistically significant with a Hazard Ratio (HR) of 1.062 (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.953-1.183). CONCLUSIONS: The research demonstrated that serum cotinine has a significant correlation with smoke exposure status, which confirmed serum cotinine can be used as an indicator to reflect human smoke exposure. What's more, our results confirmed high exposure of SHS (serum cotinine level ≥ 10) has a significant effect on lung, stomach, bladder, esophagus, kidney, pancreatic, leukemia, cervical cancer.