The impact of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) on pulmonary function in US adults: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES (2007-2012).

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a group of chemicals widely used in various applications to prevent or slow down the spread of fire. However, they have adverse effects on human health. There is a relative scarcity of population-based studies regarding BFRs, particularly their impact on the respiratory system. This study aimed to investigate the influence of BFRs on pulmonary function using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The study found that elevated serum concentrations of certain BFRs were associated with pulmonary ventilatory dysfunction. Adjusted analyses revealed positive correlations between PBDE47, PBDE183, and PBDE209 concentrations and ventilatory dysfunction. The analysis of mixed BFRs showed a positive relationship with pulmonary ventilation dysfunction, with PBDE47 making the most significant contribution. Our study demonstrates that both individual and combined BFRs exposure can lead to impaired pulmonary ventilation function. These findings provide evidence of the adverse effects of BFRs on lung function, emphasizing the importance of further investigating the potential health consequences of these compounds. Further large-scale longitudinal studies are needed to investigate this relationship in the future.

Association between lactate-to-albumin ratio and 28-days all-cause mortality in patients with sepsis-associated liver injury: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The mortality rate of sepsis-associated liver injury (SALI) is relatively high, but there is currently no authoritative prognostic criterion for the outcome of SALI. Meanwhile, lactate-to-albumin ratio (LAR) has been confirmed to be associated with mortality rates in conditions such as sepsis, heart failure, and respiratory failure. However, there is a scarcity of research reporting on the association between LAR and SALI. This study aimed to elucidate the association between LAR and the 28-day mortality rate of SALI. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, data were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (v2.2). Adult patients with SALI were admitted to the intensive care unit in this study. The LAR level at admission was included, and the primary aim was to assess the relationship between the LAR and 28-day all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 341 patients with SALI (SALI) were screened. They were divided into a survival group (241) and a non-survival group (100), and the 28-day mortality rate was 29.3%. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that for every 1-unit increase in LAR, the 28-day mortality risk for SALI patients increased by 21%, with an HR of 1.21 (95% CI 1.11 ~ 1.31, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that in patients with SALI, a higher LAR is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality within 28 days of admission. This suggests that LAR may serve as an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes in SALI patients.

Analysis of the correlation between serum Klotho and FeNO: a cross-sectional study from NHANES (2007-2012).

BACKGROUND: Klotho is an anti-aging protein that has multiple functions and may play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) is a non-invasive and novel biomarker that has the advantages of being simple, fast and reproducible. It can effectively assess the degree of airway inflammation in diseases such as asthma and COPD. Despite these insights, the relationship between serum Klotho levels and FeNO has not been explored yet. METHODS: Leveraging data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning 2007 to 2012, we investigated the correlation between FeNO and serum Klotho levels. This association was scrutinized both as continuous variables and within quartile distributions, utilizing the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The correlation between the two variables was assessed through Spearman rank analysis. Employing survey weight-adjusted linear regression models, we gauged the strength of these associations. RESULTS: This study included 6,527 participants with a median FeNO level of 14.5 parts per billion (ppb). We found that FeNO levels varied significantly across different quartiles of Klotho protein (H = 7.985, P = 0.046). We also found a significant positive correlation between serum Klotho levels and FeNO levels in the whole population (Spearman's rho = 0.029, P = 0.019). This correlation remained significant after adjusting for covariates such as age, gender, lung function, smoking status, alcohol use, BMI, cardiovascular disease (including hypertension, heart failure, coronary heart disease, and myocardial infarction), diabetes, inflammatory markers, serum vitamin D level and BUN (P < 0.05 for all). Furthermore, this correlation was stronger at the high (K3) and super high (K4) levels of Klotho than at the low (K1) and medium (K2) levels (ß = 1.979 ppb and ß = 1.993 ppb for K3 and K4 vs. K1, respectively; 95% CI: 0.497 ~ 2.953 and 95% CI: 0.129 ~ 2.827, respectively; P = 0.007 and P = 0.032, respectively). The ß coefficient for serum Klotho was 0.002 ppb/pg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: Our study illuminates a positive correlation between serum Klotho levels and FeNO. Further study is needed to verify the causality of this association and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Vitamin D and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a two-sample mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: A prospective study of multiple small samples found that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is often accompanied by a deficiency in Vitamin D levels. However, the causal relationship between the two remains to be determined. Therefore, our study aims to investigate the causal effect of serum 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) on the risk of IPF through a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. METHODS: Through data analysis from two European ancestry-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 401,460 individuals for 25(OH)D levels and 1028 individuals for IPF, we primarily employed inverse-variance weighted (IVW) to assess the causal effect of 25(OH)D levels on IPF risk. MR-Egger regression test was used to determine pleiotropy, and Cochran's Q test was conducted for heterogeneity testing. Leave-one-out analysis was conducted to examine the robustness of the results. RESULTS: 158 SNPs related to serum 25(OH)D were used as instrumental variables (IVs). The MR analyses revealed no evidence supporting a causal association between the level of circulating 25(OH)D and the risk of IPF. The IVW method [OR 0.891, 95%CI (0.523-1.518), P = 0.670]; There was no significant level of heterogeneity, pleiotropy and bias in IVs. Cochran's Q test for heterogeneity (MR Egger P = 0.081; IVW P = 0.089); MR-Egger regression for pleiotropy (P = 0.774). CONCLUSIONS: This MR Study suggests that genetically predicted circulating vitamin D concentrations in the general population are not causally related to IPF.