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Background: The acute hepatic porphyrias (AHP) are associated with a risk of primary liver cancer (PLC), but risk estimates are unclear, and what AHP characteristics that predict PLC risk are unknown. In this register‐based, matched cohort study, we assessed the PLC risk in relation to biochemical and clinical porphyria severity, genotype, age, and sex. Methods: All patients in the Swedish porphyria register with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), variegate porphyria (VP), or hereditary coproporphyria (HCP) during 1987‒2015 were included. This AHP cohort was compared with age‐, sex‐, and county‐matched reference individuals from the general population. National register‐based hospital admissions for AHP were used to indicate the clinical severity. For AIP, the most common AHP type, patients were stratified by genotype and urinary porphobilinogen (U‐PBG). Incident PLC data were collected from national health registers. Results: We identified 1244 individuals with AHP (1063 [85%] AIP). During a median follow‐up of 19.5 years, we identified 108 incident PLC cases, including 83 AHP patients (6.7%) and 25 of 12,333 reference individuals (0.2%). The adjusted hazard ratio for AHP‐PLC was 38.0 (95% confidence interval: 24.3‒59.3). Previously elevated U‐PBG and hospitalizations for porphyria, but not AIP genotype or sex, were associated with increased PLC risk. Patients aged >50 years with previously elevated U‐PBG (n = 157) had an annual PLC incidence of 1.8%. Conclusion: This study confirmed a high PLC risk and identified a strong association with clinical and biochemical AIP activity. Regular PLC surveillance is motivated in patients older than 50 years with a history of active AIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is more frequent in females than males, with a female to male ratio ranging from 1.5 to 5 in the general population. The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the association of reproductive factors, particularly age at menarche, with SH risk. Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study, reproductive factors such as age at menarche, at menopause and at first birth, lactation, parity, full-term pregnancies, reproductive years, use of oral contraceptives and hormonal replacement therapy, somatometric data and insulin resistance parameters were recorded in 72 consecutive female patients with SH and 72 healthy female controls matched on age (±5 years) and date of diagnosis (±1 month). Results: SH cases exhibited significantly younger age at menarche than controls (12.6 ± 1.2 vs. 13.3 ± 0.8 years, respectively, p < 0.001). Cases presented later age at first pregnancy with a lower number of full-term pregnancies (p = 0.04). Early age at menarche was independently associated with SH risk, above and beyond thyroid autoimmunity, body mass index (BMI), hip circumference (HC), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and alcohol consumption [odds ratio (OR): 0.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.11–0.44; p < 0.001]. Conclusions: It is possible that an interplay of early exposure to estrogens, as expressed by early menarche, and induction of thyroid autoimmunity may be associated with SH risk. More prospective studies shedding light on the role of estrogens in SH are required to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is independently associated with psoriasis risk, severity, and quality of life: a cross-sectional observational study Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, immune-mediated disease, affecting equally both genders, with a prevalence rate of 2-4% in developed countries.[[1]] Both genetic and environmental factors, such as diet, obesity, stress, smoking, and alcohol consumption, play a pivotal role in the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis.[[1]] Recent studies have shown that nutrition and body weight are significant risk factors in psoriasis, exacerbating skin lesions and triggering comorbidities.[[1]] The Mediterranean diet, characterized by its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, has been associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular, metabolic, neoplastic, and chronic inflammatory diseases.[[4]] To date, very few studies have evaluated its association with psoriasis risk and severity.[[6]] Thus, our aim was to explore the independent association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with psoriasis occurrence, severity, and quality of life. A validated 12-item questionnaire (The Mediterranean Diet Score/MedDietScore) was used to evaluate the compliance with the Mediterranean Diet.[9] The severity and quality of life in psoriasis were determined by standardized Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). [Extracted from the article]

Highlights • Circulating chemerin is independently associated with NSCLC risk. • Chemerin correlates with metabolic, tumor, inflammatory and hemostatic parameters. • Hemostatic parameters are independent predictors of circulating chemerin in NSCLC. • Circulating chemerin presents a modest discriminative ability for NSCLC diagnosis. • Chemerin is at the intersection of inflammatory, hemostatic and metabolic networks. Abstract Objectives Chemerin is an emerging adipocytokine at the intersection of inflammation, chemotaxis, thrombosis, fibrinolysis and metabolism. Our aims were 1) to explore circulating chemerin in resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) taking into account its several interfaces; 2) to study its diagnostic potential; and 3) to assess its associations with clinicopathological features of NSCLC. Materials and Methods In a large case-control study, serum chemerin, insulin resistance and lipid parameters, classic adipocytokines, inflammatory, coagulation, fibrinolysis and tumor biomarkers were determined in 110 consecutive patients with resectable NSCLC and 110 healthy controls matched on age (± 5 years), gender and date of blood draw (± 1 month). Results NSCLC cases exhibited significantly elevated circulating chemerin compared to controls (p < 0.001). In NSCLC cases, chemerin was positively associated with Homeostasis model assessment score of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fibrinogen, plasminogen activity, tumor and inflammatory biomarkers, adiponectin, number of infiltrated lymph nodes and NSCLC stage. In control participants, circulating chemerin was positively correlated with somatometric, metabolic, lipid, hemostatic and inflammatory biomarkers, and leptin. Serum chemerin was independently associated with NSCLC, above and beyond NSCLC risk factors (OR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.09–4.40, p = 0.03). In cases, hemostatic parameters (platelet count and plasminogen activity), HOMA-IR, CYFRA 21-1, creatinine and plant food consumption emerged as independent predictors of circulating chemerin (p < 0.05). Serum chemerin greater than 220 μg/L (cut-off point) yielded a sensitivity and a specificity of 63% and 91.8% respectively with a modest discriminative ability (AUC = 0.72, 95% C.I. 0.64-0.79) for the diagnosis of NSCLC. Conclusion Chemerin may represent a potentially useful biomarker in NSCLC integrating tumor-promoting networks, inflammatory and hemostatic mechanisms, and cancer-related metabolic pathways. More preclinical, prospective and longitudinal studies highlighting the pathogenetic role of chemerin in NSCLC are needed to corroborate and extend these data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]