Publications
573 results found
Nafees AA, Iqbal AR, Cullinan P, et al., 2021, Use of low-cost particle counters for cotton dust exposure assessment in textile mills in low- and middle-income countries, Annals of Work Exposures and Health, Vol: 66, ISSN: 2398-7308
OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of consensus on methods for cotton dust measurement in the textile industry, and techniques vary between countries-relying mostly on cumbersome, traditional approaches. We undertook comparisons of standard, gravimetric methods with low-cost optical particle counters for personal and area dust measurements in textile mills in Pakistan. METHODS: We included male textile workers from the weaving sections of seven cotton mills in Karachi. We used the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampler with a Casella Apex 2 standard pump and the Purple Air (PA-II-SD) for measuring personal exposures to inhalable airborne particles (n = 31). We used the Dylos DC1700 particle counter, in addition to the two above, for area-level measurements (n = 29). RESULTS: There were no significant correlations between the IOM and PA for personal dust measurements using the original (r = -0.15, P = 0.4) or log-transformed data (r = -0.32, P = 0.07). Similarly, there were no significant correlations when comparing the IOM with either of the particle counters (PA and Dylos) for area dust measurements, using the original (r = -0.07, P = 0.7; r = 0.10, P = 0.6) or log-transformed data (r = -0.09, P = 0.6; r = 0.07, P = 0.7). CONCLUSION: Our findings show a lack of correlation between the gravimetric method and the use of particle counters in both personal and area measurements of cotton dust, precluding their use for measuring occupational exposures to airborne dust in textile mills. There continues to be a need to develop low-cost instruments to help textile industries in low- and middle-income countries to perform cotton dust exposure assessment.
Marcon A, Locatelli F, Dharmage SC, et al., 2021, The coexistence of asthma and COPD: risk factors, clinical history and lung function trajectories, EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL, Vol: 58, ISSN: 0903-1936
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- Citations: 13
Njoroge MW, Mjojo P, Chirwa C, et al., 2021, Changing lung function and associated health-related quality-of-life: A five-year cohort study of Malawian adults, ECLINICALMEDICINE, Vol: 41
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- Citations: 1
Patel J, Amaral AFS, Minelli C, et al., 2021, Poverty and chronic airflow obstruction in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study: An update, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Denguezli M, Daldoul H, Lakhdar N, et al., 2021, Undiagnosed COPD in adults 40 years and older: Reports from the Tunisian Population-Based Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease Study, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Bagkeris E, Mulhern O, Amaral A, et al., 2021, Forced Vital Capacity and Mortality in The BOLD Study: Preliminary Findings, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Bagkeris E, Patel J, Janson C, et al., 2021, Forced Vital Capacity and Quality of Life: BOLD Study Cross-Sectional Analysis, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Mulhern O, Algharbi F, Amaral AFS, et al., 2021, Association of asthma diagnosis with chronic airflow obstruction: a multi-site cross-sectional study, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Tan WC, Li P, Choi R, et al., 2021, The population risk attribution associated with chronic airway obstruction from the results of the Canadian Obstructive Lung Disease study, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Ratanachina J, Amaral A, De Matteis S, et al., 2021, Farming, pesticide exposure and respiratory health: a cross-sectional study in Thailand, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol: 79, ISSN: 1351-0711
Objective: To assess the association of lung function and respiratory symptoms with farming, particularly pesticide use, in an agricultural province in Thailand.Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional survey of adults aged 40–65 in Nan province, Thailand, between May and August 2019. We randomly recruited 345 villagers and enriched the sample with 82 government employees. All participants performed post-bronchodilator spirometry and completed a questionnaire covering information on respiratory symptoms, farming activities, pesticide use and known risk factors for respiratory disease. Associations of respiratory outcomes with farming and pesticide exposures were examined by multivariable regression analysis.Results: The response rate was 94%. The prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction among villagers was 5.5%. Villagers had, on average, a lower percent predicted post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) than government employees (98.3% vs 100.3%; p=0.04). There was no evidence of association of lung function with farming activities, the use of specific herbicides (glyphosate and paraquat), insecticides (organophosphates and pyrethroids) or fungicides. The exceptions were poultry farming, associated with chronic cough and an increase of FEV1/FVC, and atrazine, for which duration (p-trend <0.01), intensity (p-trend <0.01) and cumulative hours (p-trend=0.01) of use were all associated with higher FEV1/FVC in an exposure–response manner. Cumulative hours (−280 mL/hour), low duration (−270 mL/year) and intensity (−270 mL/hour/year) of atrazine use were associated with lower FVC.Conclusions: Chronic airflow obstruction is uncommon among villagers of an agricultural province in Nan, Thailand. Farming and pesticide use are unlikely to be major causes of respiratory problems there.
Burney P, Patel J, Minelli C, et al., 2021, Prevalence and population attributable risk for chronic airflow obstruction in a large multinational study, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol: 203, Pages: 1353-1365, ISSN: 1073-449X
Rationale: The Global Burden of Disease programme identified smoking, and ambient and household air pollution as the main drivers of death and disability from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Objective: To estimate the attributable risk of chronic airflow obstruction (CAO), a quantifiable characteristic of COPD, due to several risk factors. Methods: The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study is a cross-sectional study of adults, aged≥40, in a globally distributed sample of 41 urban and rural sites. Based on data from 28,459 participants, we estimated the prevalence of CAO, defined as a post-bronchodilator one-second forced expiratory volume to forced vital capacity ratio < lower limit of normal, and the relative risks associated with different risk factors. Local RR were estimated using a Bayesian hierarchical model borrowing information from across sites. From these RR and the prevalence of risk factors, we estimated local Population Attributable Risks (PAR). Measurements and Main Results: Mean prevalence of CAO was 11.2% in men and 8.6% in women. Mean PAR for smoking was 5.1% in men and 2.2% in women. The next most influential risk factors were poor education levels, working in a dusty job for ≥10 years, low body mass index (BMI), and a history of tuberculosis. The risk of CAO attributable to the different risk factors varied across sites. Conclusions: While smoking remains the most important risk factor for CAO, in some areas poor education, low BMI and passive smoking are of greater importance. Dusty occupations and tuberculosis are important risk factors at some sites.
Lyons SA, Knulst AC, Burney PGJ, et al., 2021, Predicting food allergy: The value of patient history reinforced, ALLERGY, Vol: 76, Pages: 1454-1462, ISSN: 0105-4538
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- Citations: 6
Charles D, Gethings LA, Potts JF, et al., 2021, Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics for the discovery of candidate markers of flavonoid and polyphenolic intake in adults, Scientific Reports, Vol: 11, ISSN: 2045-2322
Robust biological markers of dietary exposure are essential in improving the understanding of the link between diet and health outcomes. Polyphenolic compounds, including flavonoids, have been proposed to mitigate the risk of chronic diseases where oxidative stress and inflammation play a central role. Biomarkers can provide objective measurement of the levels of polyphenolic compounds. In this study, we provide methodology to identify potential candidate markers of polyphenol intake in human serum. Seventeen participants from the UK arm of the Global Allergy and Asthma Network of Excellence (GA2LEN) had their dietary intake estimated using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and serum samples were assessed using mass spectrometry to identify potential candidate markers. 144 features were assigned identities, of these we identified four biologically relevant compounds (rhamnazin 3-rutinoside, 2-galloyl-1,4-galactarolactone methyl ester, 2″,32″-di-O-p-coumaroylafzelin and cyclocommunin), which were significantly increased in the serum of participants with high predicted level of fruit and vegetable intake. 2-galloyl-1,4-galactarolactone methyl ester was strongly correlated with total flavonoids (r = 0.62; P = 0.005), flavan-3-ols (r = 0.67; P = 0.002) as well as with other four subclasses. Rhamnazin 3-rutinoside showed strong correlation with pro-anthocyanidins (r = 0.68; P = 0.001), flavones (r = 0.62; P = 0.005). Our results suggest that serum profiling for these compounds might be an effective way of establishing the relative intake of flavonoids and could contribute to improve the accuracy of epidemiological methods to ascertain flavonoid intake.
Nafees AA, Rabbani U, Razzaq S, et al., 2021, Indoor air quality and its relationship with cluster type in urban Pakistani households, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TUBERCULOSIS AND LUNG DISEASE, Vol: 25, Pages: 113-+, ISSN: 1027-3719
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- Citations: 1
Ratanachina J, Amaral AFS, De Matteis S, et al., 2021, OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH: THE BURDEN OF OBSTRUCTIVE LUNG DISEASE (BOLD) STUDY RESULTS, Publisher: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, Pages: A2-A2, ISSN: 0040-6376
Akhter Z, Razzaq S, Rabbani U, et al., 2021, Prevalence of and risk factors for respiratory symptoms in an adult urban population, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TUBERCULOSIS AND LUNG DISEASE, Vol: 25, Pages: 16-+, ISSN: 1027-3719
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- Citations: 2
Njoroge MW, Rylance S, Nightingale R, et al., 2020, Cohort profile: The Chikwawa lung health cohort; a population-based observational non-communicable respiratory disease study of adults in Malawi, PLOS ONE, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1932-6203
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- Citations: 1
Lyons SA, Knulst AC, Burney PGJ, et al., 2020, Predictors of Food Sensitization in Children and Adults Across Europe, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY-IN PRACTICE, Vol: 8, Pages: 3074-+, ISSN: 2213-2198
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- Citations: 4
Ratanachina J, Amaral A, De Matteis S, et al., 2020, Farming and respiratory health: a cross-sectional study in Thailand, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Amaral AFS, Patel J, Buist AS, et al., 2020, Risk factors for low forced vital capacity in the multinational BOLD study: An update, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Rabbani U, Razzak S, Burney P, et al., 2020, Indoor air pollutants and respiratory outcomes among adult Pakistani papulation: A cross sectional survey, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Denguezli M, Daldoul H, Harrabi I, et al., 2020, Prevalence and Characteristics of Undiagnosed COPD in Adults 40 Years and Older - Reports from the Tunisian Population-Based Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease Study, COPD-JOURNAL OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE, Vol: 17, Pages: 515-522, ISSN: 1541-2555
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- Citations: 5
Lyons SA, Clausen M, Knulst AC, et al., 2020, Prevalence of Food Sensitization and Food Allergy in Children Across Europe, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY-IN PRACTICE, Vol: 8, Pages: 2736-+, ISSN: 2213-2198
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- Citations: 84
Lyons SA, Knulst AC, Burney PGJ, et al., 2020, Predictors of food sensitisation in European children and adults, European-Academy-of-Allergology-and-Clinical-Immunology Digital Congress (EAACI), Publisher: WILEY, Pages: 250-251, ISSN: 0105-4538
Lyons SA, Clausen M, Knulst AC, et al., 2020, Prevalence of food sensitisation and food allergy in children across Europe, European-Academy-of-Allergology-and-Clinical-Immunology Digital Congress (EAACI), Publisher: WILEY, Pages: 89-90, ISSN: 0105-4538
Portas L, Pereira M, Shaheen SO, et al., 2020, Lung development genes and adult lung function, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol: 202, Pages: 853-865, ISSN: 1073-449X
RATIONALE: Poor lung health in adult life may occur partly through suboptimal growth and development, as suggested by epidemiological evidence pointing to early life risk factors. OBJECTIVES: To systematically investigate the effects of lung development genes on adult lung function. METHODS: Using UK Biobank data, we tested the association of 391 genes known to influence lung development with FVC and FEV1/FVC. We split the dataset into two random subsets of 207,616 and 138,411 individuals, using the larger to select the most promising signals and the smaller for replication. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified 55 genes, of which 36 (16 for FVC; 19 for FEV1/FVC; 1 for both) had not been identified in the largest, most recent genome-wide study of lung function. Most of these 36 signals were intronic variants; expression data from blood and lung tissue showed that the majority affect the expression of the genes they lie within. Further testing of 34 of these 36 signals in the CHARGE and SpiroMeta consortia showed that 16 replicated after Bonferroni correction and another 12 at nominal significance level. 53 of the 55 genes fell into four biological categories whose function is to regulate organ size and cell integrity (growth factors; transcriptional regulators; cell-cell adhesion; extra-cellular matrix), suggesting that these specific processes are important for adult lung health. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the importance of lung development genes in regulating adult lung function and influencing both restrictive and obstructive patterns. Further investigation of these developmental pathways could lead to druggable targets.
Conyette L, Lutchmansingh F, Sakhamuri S, et al., 2020, Prevalence and risk factors of airflow obstruction in a Caribbean population, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TUBERCULOSIS AND LUNG DISEASE, Vol: 24, Pages: 512-519, ISSN: 1027-3719
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- Citations: 1
Burney P, Amaral AF, 2020, Asthma exacerbations, air pollution and allergens: Authors' reply, The Lancet, ISSN: 0140-6736
Li J, Ogorodova LM, Mahesh PA, et al., 2020, Comparative Study of Food Allergies in Children from China, India, and Russia: The EuroPrevall-INCO Surveys, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY-IN PRACTICE, Vol: 8, Pages: 1349-+, ISSN: 2213-2198
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- Citations: 47
Amaral A, Burney P, Fuertes E, et al., 2020, Body mass index and weight change are associated with adult lung function trajectories: a prospective European survey, Thorax, Vol: 4, Pages: 313-320, ISSN: 0040-6376
Background: Previous studies have reported an association between weight increase and excess lung function decline in young adults followed for short periods. We aimed to estimate lung function trajectories during adulthood according to 20-years weight change profiles, using data from the population-based European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS).Methods: We included 3,673 participants recruited at age 20-44 years with repeated measurements of weight and lung function (FVC, FEV1) in three study waves (1991-93, 1999-2003, 2010-14) until they were 39-67 years. We classified subjects into weight change profiles according to baseline BMI categories and weight change over 20 years. We estimated trajectories of lung function over time as a function of weight change profiles using population-averaged generalised estimating equations.Results: In individuals with normal BMI, overweight and obesity at baseline, moderate (0.25–1kg/year) and high weight gain (>1kg/year) during follow-up were associated with accelerated FVC and FEV1 declines. Compared to participants with baseline normal BMI and stable weight (±0.25kg/year), obese with high weight gain during follow-up had -1,011 ml [95%CI: -1,259 to -763] lower estimated FVC at 65 years, despite similar estimated FVC levels at 25 years. Obese individuals at baseline who lost weight (<-0.25kg/year) exhibited an attenuation of FVC and FEV1 declines. We found no association between weight change profiles and FEV1/FVC decline. Conclusion: Moderate and high weight gain over 20-years was associated with accelerated lung function decline, while weight loss was related to its attenuation. Control of weight gain is important for maintaining good lung function in adult life.
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