ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2766-8882
Current Organisation
Università degli Studi di Milano Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia
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Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 25-08-2015
Abstract: Plasma adiponectin levels have previously been inversely associated with carotid intima‐media thickness ( IMT ), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. In this study, we used a sex‐stratified Mendelian randomization approach to investigate whether adiponectin has a causal protective influence on IMT . Baseline plasma adiponectin concentration was tested for association with baseline IMT , IMT progression over 30 months, and occurrence of cardiovascular events within 3 years in 3430 participants (women, n=1777 men, n=1653) with high cardiovascular risk but no prevalent disease. Plasma adiponectin levels were inversely associated with baseline mean bifurcation IMT after adjustment for established risk factors (β=−0.018, P .001) in men but not in women (β=−0.006, P =0.185 P for interaction=0.061). Adiponectin levels were inversely associated with progression of mean common carotid IMT in men (β=−0.0022, P =0.047), whereas no association was seen in women (0.0007, P =0.475 P for interaction=0.018). Moreover, we observed that adiponectin levels were inversely associated with coronary events in women (hazard ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.87) but not in men (hazard ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.54 to 1.25). A gene score of adiponectin‐raising alleles in 6 loci, reported recently in a large multi‐ethnic meta‐analysis, was inversely associated with baseline mean bifurcation IMT in men (β=−0.0008, P =0.004) but not in women (β=−0.0003, P =0.522 P for interaction=0.007). This report provides some evidence for adiponectin protecting against atherosclerosis, with effects being confined to men however, compared with established cardiovascular risk factors, the effect of plasma adiponectin was modest. Further investigation involving mechanistic studies is warranted.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 05-08-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.03.21261494
Abstract: We performed the largest genome-wide meta-analysis (GWAMA) (Max N=26,494) of the levels of 184 cardiovascular-related plasma protein levels to date and reported 592 independent loci (pQTL) associated with the level of at least one protein (1308 significant associations, median 6 per protein). We estimated that only between 8-37% of testable pQTL overlap with established expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) using multiple methods, while 132 out of 1064 lead variants show evidence for transcription factor binding, and found that 75% of our pQTL are known DNA methylation QTL. We highlight the variation in genetic architecture between proteins and that proteins share genetic architecture with cardiometabolic complex traits. Using cis -instrument Mendelian randomisation (MR), we infer causal relationships for 11 proteins, recapitulating the previously reported relationship between PCSK9 and LDL cholesterol, replicating previous pQTL MR findings and discovering 16 causal relationships between protein levels and disease. Our MR results highlight IL2-RA as a candidate for drug repurposing for Crohn’s Disease as well as 2 novel therapeutic targets: IL-27 (Crohn’s disease) and TNFRSF14 (Inflammatory bowel disease, Multiple sclerosis and Ulcerative colitis). We have demonstrated the discoveries possible using our pQTL and highlight the potential of this work as a resource for genetic epidemiology.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.ATHEROSCLEROSIS.2020.01.011
Abstract: Genetic loci associated with CHD show different relationships with intima-media thickness in the common carotid artery (IMT-CCA) and in the bulb (IMT-bulb). We evaluated if IMT-CCA and IMT-bulb differ also with respect to circulating protein profiles and risk of incident atherosclerotic disease. In three Swedish cohorts (MDC, IMPROVE, PIVUS, total n > 7000), IMT-CCA and IMT-bulb were assessed by ultrasound at baseline, and 86 cardiovascular-related proteins were analyzed. In the PIVUS study only, IMT-CCA and IMT-bulb were investigated in relation to incident atherosclerotic disease over 10 years of follow-up. In a meta-analysis of the analysis performed separately in the cohorts, three proteins, matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP-12), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), were associated with IMT-CCA when adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Five proteins were associated with IMT-bulb (MMP-12, growth/differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), osteoprotegerin, growth hormone and renin). Following adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, IMT-bulb was significantly more closely related to incident stroke or myocardial infarction (total number of cases, 111) than IMT-CCA in the PIVUS study (HR 1.51 for 1 SD, 95%CI 1.21-1.87, p < 0.001 vs HR 1.17, 95%CI 0.93-1.47, p = 0.16). MMP-12 levels were related to this combined end-point (HR 1.30, 95%CI 1.08-1.56, p = 0.0061). Elevated levels of MMP-12 were associated with both IMT-CCA and IMT-bulb, but other proteins were significantly related to IMT in only one of these locations. The finding that IMT-bulb was more closely related to incident atherosclerotic disease than IMT-CCA emphasizes a difference between these measurements of IMT.
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 26-10-2023
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-12-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-018-07340-5
Abstract: Carotid artery intima media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaque are measures of subclinical atherosclerosis associated with ischemic stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Here, we undertake meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in 71,128 in iduals for cIMT, and 48,434 in iduals for carotid plaque traits. We identify eight novel susceptibility loci for cIMT, one independent association at the previously-identified PINX1 locus, and one novel locus for carotid plaque. Colocalization analysis with nearby vascular expression quantitative loci (cis-eQTLs) derived from arterial wall and metabolic tissues obtained from patients with CHD identifies candidate genes at two potentially additional loci, ADAMTS9 and LOXL4 . LD score regression reveals significant genetic correlations between cIMT and plaque traits, and both cIMT and plaque with CHD, any stroke subtype and ischemic stroke. Our study provides insights into genes and tissue-specific regulatory mechanisms linking atherosclerosis both to its functional genomic origins and its clinical consequences in humans.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 05-05-2021
DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.315597
Abstract: To identify causal pathophysiological mechanisms for atherosclerosis and incident cardiovascular events using protein measurements. Carotid artery atherosclerosis was assessed by ultrasound, and 86 cardiovascular-related proteins were measured using the Olink CVD-I panel in 7 Swedish prospective studies (11 754 in iduals). The proteins were analyzed in relation to intima-media thickness in the common carotid artery (IMT-CCA), plaque occurrence, and incident cardiovascular events (composite end point of myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke) using a discovery/replication approach in different studies. After adjustments for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, 11 proteins remained significantly associated with IMT-CCA in the replication stage, whereas 9 proteins were replicated for plaque occurrence and 17 proteins for incident cardiovascular events. NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) and MMP (matrix metalloproteinase)-12 were associated with both IMT-CCA and incident events, but the overlap was considerably larger between plaque occurrence and incident events, including MMP-12, TIM-1 (T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 1), GDF (growth/differentiation factor)-15, IL (interleukin)-6, U-PAR (urokinase plasminogen activator surface receptor), LOX-1 (lectin-like oxidized LDL [low-density lipoprotein] receptor 1), and TRAIL-R2 (TNF [tumor necrosis factor]-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor 2). Only MMP-12 was associated with IMT-CCA, plaque, and incident events with a positive and concordant direction of effect. However, a 2-s le Mendelian randomization analysis suggested that increased MMP-12 may be protective against ischemic stroke ( P =5.5×10 −7 ), which is in the opposite direction of the observational analyses. The present meta-analysis discovered several proteins related to carotid atherosclerosis that partly differed in their association with IMT-CCA, plaque, and incident atherosclerotic disease. Mendelian randomization analysis for the top finding, MMP-12, suggests that the increased levels of MMP-12 could be a consequence of atherosclerotic burden rather than the opposite chain of events.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-02-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NG.2897
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-09-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NG.3667
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-04-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS14977
Abstract: Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for environmental exposures, like smoking, potentially impacting the overall trait variance when investigating the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits. Here, we use GWAS data from 51,080 current smokers and 190,178 nonsmokers (87% European descent) to identify loci influencing BMI and central adiposity, measured as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio both adjusted for BMI. We identify 23 novel genetic loci, and 9 loci with convincing evidence of gene-smoking interaction (GxSMK) on obesity-related traits. We show consistent direction of effect for all identified loci and significance for 18 novel and for 5 interaction loci in an independent study s le. These loci highlight novel biological functions, including response to oxidative stress, addictive behaviour, and regulatory functions emphasizing the importance of accounting for environment in genetic analyses. Our results suggest that tobacco smoking may alter the genetic susceptibility to overall adiposity and body fat distribution.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 20-06-2023
Abstract: The association between common carotid artery intima‐media thickness (CCA‐IMT) and incident carotid plaque has not been characterized fully. We therefore aimed to precisely quantify the relationship between CCA‐IMT and carotid plaque development. We undertook an in idual participant data meta‐analysis of 20 prospective studies from the Proof‐ATHERO (Prospective Studies of Atherosclerosis) consortium that recorded baseline CCA‐IMT and incident carotid plaque involving 21 494 in iduals without a history of cardiovascular disease and without preexisting carotid plaque at baseline. Mean baseline age was 56 years (SD, 9 years), 55% were women, and mean baseline CCA‐IMT was 0.71 mm (SD, 0.17 mm). Over a median follow‐up of 5.9 years (5th–95th percentile, 1.9–19.0 years), 8278 in iduals developed first‐ever carotid plaque. We combined study‐specific odds ratios (ORs) for incident carotid plaque using random‐effects meta‐analysis. Baseline CCA‐IMT was approximately log‐linearly associated with the odds of developing carotid plaque. The age‐, sex‐, and trial arm–adjusted OR for carotid plaque per SD higher baseline CCA‐IMT was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.31–1.50 I 2 =63.9%). The corresponding OR that was further adjusted for ethnicity, smoking, diabetes, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, low‐ and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipid‐lowering and antihypertensive medication was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.24–1.45 I 2 =59.4% 14 studies 16 297 participants 6381 incident plaques). We observed no significant effect modification across clinically relevant subgroups. Sensitivity analysis restricted to studies defining plaque as focal thickening yielded a comparable OR (1.38 [95% CI, 1.29–1.47] I 2 =57.1% 14 studies 17 352 participants 6991 incident plaques). Our large‐scale in idual participant data meta‐analysis demonstrated that CCA‐IMT is associated with the long‐term risk of developing first‐ever carotid plaque, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
Location: Italy
Location: Italy
No related grants have been discovered for Damiano Baldassarre.