Association of adiposity genetic variants with menarche timing in 92,105 women of European descent.

Obesity is of global health concern. There are well-described inverse relationships between female pubertal timing and obesity. Recent genome-wide association studies of age at menarche identified several obesity-related variants. Using data from the ReproGen Consortium, we employed meta-analytical techniques to estimate the associations of 95 a priori and recently identified obesity-related (body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m)(2)), waist circumference, and waist:hip ratio) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with age at menarche in 92,116 women of European descent from 38 studies (1970-2010), in order to estimate associations between genetic variants associated with central or overall adiposity and pubertal timing in girls. Investigators in each study performed a separate analysis of associations between the selected SNPs and age at menarche (ages 9-17 years) using linear regression models and adjusting for birth year, site (as appropriate), and population stratification. Heterogeneity of effect-measure estimates was investigated using meta-regression. Six novel associations of body mass index loci with age at menarche were identified, and 11 adiposity loci previously reported to be associated with age at menarche were confirmed, but none of the central adiposity variants individually showed significant associations. These findings suggest complex genetic relationships between menarche and overall obesity, and to a lesser extent central obesity, in normal processes of growth and development.

Incidence and burden of Staphylococcus aureus infection after orthopedic surgeries.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the 180-day incidence of Staphylococcus aureus infections following orthopedic surgeries using microbiology cultures. DESIGN: Retrospective observational epidemiology study. SETTING: National administrative hospital database. PATIENTS: Adult patients with an elective admission undergoing orthopedic surgeries in the inpatient and hospital-based outpatient settings discharged between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2015. METHODS: Patients were identified from 181 hospitals reporting microbiology results to the Premier Healthcare Database. Orthopedic surgeries were defined using International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) procedure and current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. Microbiology cultures and ICD-9/10 diagnosis codes identified surgical site infections (SSIs), bloodstream infections (BSIs), and other infections associated postoperatively (eg, respiratory and urinary tract infections). RESULTS: Among 359,268 inpatient orthopedic surgical encounters, the S. aureus infection incidence was 1.13%: SSI, 0.68%; BSI, 0.28%; and other types, 0.17%. Among 292,011 outpatient encounters, the S. aureus incidence was 0.78%: SSI, 0.55%; BSI, 0.12%; and other types, 0.11%. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections accounted for 46% and 44% in the respective settings. Plastic/hand-limb reattachment and amputation had the highest overall S. aureus incidence in both settings. S. aureus was the most commonly isolated microorganism among culture-confirmed SSIs (48.0%) and BSIs (35.0%), followed by other Enterobacteriaceae (14.0%) for SSIs and Escherichia spp (12.5%) for BSIs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that S. aureus infections continue to be an important contributor to the burden of postoperative infections after inpatient and outpatient orthopedic procedures.

Earlier menarche is associated with fatty liver and abdominal ectopic fat in midlife, independent of young adult BMI: The CARDIA study.

OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis that earlier menarche is associated with higher non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and ectopic adiposity, independent of young adult body mass index (BMI), was tested. METHODS: The data from 1,214 black and white women in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study who reliably reported menarche age at exam years 0 and 2, who had multiple-slice abdominal computed tomography (CT) at exam year 25, and who had no known liver disease or secondary causes of steatosis were included. Women were aged 18-30 at year 0 and 43-55 at year 25. Liver attenuation, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and inter-muscular adipose tissue (IMAT) were derived from CT. NAFLD was defined as liver attenuation less than 51 Hounsfield units. RESULTS: One-year earlier menarche was associated with higher NAFLD (RR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.24), and VAT (6.7 cc; 95% CI: 4.3, 9.0 cc), IMAT (1.0 cc; 95% CI: 0.6, 1.4 cc), and SAT (19.6 cc; 95% CI: 13.2, 26.0 cc) after confounder adjustment. Associations remained significant (P < 0.05) after further adjustment for year 0 BMI. Only VAT remained significant (P = 0.047) after adjustment for weight gain between years 0 and 25. CONCLUSIONS: Earlier menarche is positively associated with NAFLD and ectopic fat independent of confounders and young adult BMI. Weight gain between young adulthood and midlife explains some of this association.

Consumption of caffeinated and artificially sweetened soft drinks is associated with risk of early menarche.

BACKGROUND: Early menarche has been linked to risk of several chronic diseases. Prospective research on whether the intake of soft drinks containing caffeine, a modulator of the female reproductive axis, is associated with risk of early menarche is sparse. OBJECTIVE: We examined the hypothesis that consumption of caffeinated soft drinks in childhood is associated with higher risk of early menarche. DESIGN: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study recruited and enrolled 2379 (1213 African American, 1166 Caucasian) girls aged 9-10 y (from Richmond, CA; Cincinnati, OH; and Washington, DC) and followed them for 10 y. After exclusions were made, there were 1988 girls in whom we examined prospective associations between consumption of caffeinated and noncaffeinated sugar- and artificially sweetened soft drinks and early menarche (defined as menarche age <11 y). We also examined associations between intakes of caffeine, sucrose, fructose, and aspartame and early menarche. RESULTS: Incident early menarche occurred in 165 (8.3%) of the girls. After adjustment for confounders and premenarcheal percentage body fat, greater consumption of caffeinated soft drinks was associated with a higher risk of early menarche (RR for 1 serving/d increment: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.22, 1.79). Consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks was also positively associated with risk of early menarche (RR for 1 serving/d increment: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.88). Consumption of noncaffeinated soft drinks was not significantly associated with early menarche (RR for 1 serving/d increment: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.62, 1.25); nor was consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks (RR for 1 serving/d increment: 1.15; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.39). Consistent with the beverage findings, intakes of caffeine (RR for 1-SD increment: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.37) and aspartame (RR for 1-SD increment: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.31) were positively associated with risk of early menarche. CONCLUSION: Consumption of caffeinated and artificially sweetened soft drinks was positively associated with risk of early menarche in a US cohort of African American and Caucasian girls.