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Background: Thyroid function has been associated with breast cancer risk, and breast cancer cell growth and proliferation. It is not clear whether thyroid function affects prognosis following breast cancer but, if so, this could have an important clinical impact. The present study analysed prospectively collected measurements of free tri-iodothyronine (T3), free thyroxine (T4), thyroid-stimulating
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of maternal BMI at start of pregnancy and maternal weight gain during pregnancy on the risk of various diseases later in life. Methods: In a population-based cohort from southern Sweden, women with at least one delivery registered in the Swedish Medical Birth Register ten or more years before answering a health questionnaire were identifie
Background: To investigate the effect of baseline clinical characteristics and glucocorticoid treatment on temporal artery biopsy (TAB) findings in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). Methods: Individuals who developed GCA after inclusion in two population-based health surveys were identified through linkage to the local and the national patient registers. In addition, other patients diagnos
Background: Allergy and asthma are closely linked. Inhalation of allergen induces an early allergic response (EAR) within the airways of allergic asthmatic subjects, which is followed by a late allergic response (LAR) in approximately 50% of the subjects. The LAR is defined as a drop in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) from baseline usually occurring 4-8 hours after exposure and is beli
Background: Exposure to airborne particles has a major impact on global health. The probability of these particles to deposit in the respiratory tract during breathing is essential for their toxic effects. Observations have shown that there is a substantial variability in deposition between subjects, not only due to respiratory diseases, but also among individuals with healthy lungs. The factors d
The tremendous increases in production of plastic materials has led to an accumulation of plastic pollution worldwide. Many studies have addressed the physical effects of large-sized plastics on organisms, whereas few have focused on plastic nanoparticles, despite their distinct chemical, physical and mechanical properties. Hence our understanding of their effects on ecosystem function, behaviour
Alcohol consumption is associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, but little is known about whether alcohol consumption is associated with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cancer, which we attempt to clarify in this study. Individuals with alcohol use disorders were identified from the nation-wide Swedish Hospital Discharge Register and Outpatient Register, the Crime Regi
High testosterone levels have been associated with breast cancer. BRCA1 may function as an androgen receptor (AR) co-regulator. We aimed to examine AR haplotype-tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (AR htSNPs) and diplotypes in relation to in vivo androgen levels, combined OC use, CAG and GGC genotypes, and BRCA1/2/X family status in 269 young healthy women from breast cancer high-risk families
Background: In atopic asthma, chronic Th2-biased inflammation is associated with an increased risk of pneumococcal infection. The anionic phosphoglycoprotein osteopontin (OPN) is highly expressed in asthma and has been ascribed several roles during inflammation. This study aimed to investigate whether OPN affects inflammation and vulnerability to pneumococcal infection in atopic asthma. Methods: H
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is often caused by smoking and other stressors. This causes oxidative stress, which induces numerous changes on both the transcriptome and proteome of the cell. We aimed to examine if the endomembrane pathway, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi, and lysosomes, was disrupted in fibroblasts from COPD patients as opposed to healthy ever-smoker
Background. Epidemiological studies indicate that physical activity reduces the risk of cancer. Physical inactivity or sedentary behavior, has recently been suggested as a risk factor independent of physical activity level. Breast and endometrial cancer incidence have both been associated with physical activity, and endometrial cancer incidence with physical inactivity/sedentary behavior. The purp
Differences in migratory behavior have been suggested to drive speciation, but the genetics underlying this process remain unknown. Identification and study of migratory divides can help us understand how differential migration can lead to reproductive isolation. Here, we genotyped Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus, from the Åland islands, located in between the ranges of the differentially m
To identify common alleles associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we pooled data from multiple genome-wide genotyping projects totaling 25,509 EOC cases and 40,941 controls. We identified nine new susceptibility loci for different EOC histotypes: six for serous EOC histotypes (3q28, 4q32.3, 8q21.11, 10q24.33, 18q11.2 and 22q12.1), two for mucinous EOC (3q22.3 and
Background: The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway is observed to be constitutively activated in several malignancies including prostate cancer (PCa). In the present study, we investigated the expression of total STAT3 (tSTAT3) and two forms of activated phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3 727 and pSTAT3 705 ) in tissue microarrays (TMA) of two cohorts of localized horm
BACKGROUND The association between neighborhood deprivation and mortality is well established, but knowledge about whether deprivation is best assessed regionally or nationally is scarce. OBJECTIVE The present study aims to examine whether there is a difference in results when using national and county-specific neighborhood deprivation indices and whether the level of urbanization modifies the ass
A hallmark of adult hematopoiesis is the continuous replacement of blood cells with limited lifespans. While active hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) contribution to multilineage hematopoiesis is the foundation of clinical HSC transplantation, recent reports have questioned the physiological contribution of HSCs to normal/steady-state adult hematopoiesis. Here, we use inducible lineage tracing from ge
