UNASSIGNED: Our study aimed to explore the correlation between Sjögren syndrome, sociodemographic factors, comorbid conditions, and optic neuritis.
UNASSIGNED: This retrospective, nationwide, population-based, matched case-control investigation involved 33,190 individuals diagnosed with optic neuritis, identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes 377.30 for optic neuritis or 377.32 for retrobulbar neuritis. Patient data were extracted from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Demographic characteristics, the presence of Sjögren syndrome, and pre-existing comorbid conditions were analyzed using univariate logistic regression. Continuous variables were assessed with a paired t-test. Adjusted logistic regression was employed to compare the prognosis odds ratio (OR) of patients with optic neuritis to controls.
UNASSIGNED: After adjusting for confounding variables, individuals with Sjögren syndrome exhibited a significantly higher likelihood of developing optic neuritis compared to controls (adjusted OR, 9.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.28-12.98; p < 0.0001). Other conditions associated with increased odds of optic neuritis included rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and granulomatous vasculitis (adjusted OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.33-1.86; adjusted OR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.65-2.48; adjusted OR: 140.77, 95% CI: 35.02-565.85; adjusted OR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.71-3.30; adjusted OR: 18.28, 95% CI: 2.21-151.45, respectively), as well as systemic infections such as human herpes viral infection and tuberculosis infection (adjusted OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.35-1.66; adjusted OR: 4.60, 95% CI: 3.81-5.56, respectively).
UNASSIGNED: Our findings strongly support the existence of an association between Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, granulomatous vasculitis, human herpes viral infection, tuberculosis, and optic neuritis.

BACKGROUND: Dry eye disease (DED) is a common chronic condition with increasing prevalence. Standard discriminative visual acuity is not reflective of real-world visual function, as patients can achieve normal acuities by blinking.
METHODS: Participants recruited from a tertiary referral eye centre were divided into two groups-Severe DED (with significant, central staining) and Mild DED (absence of such staining). Functional Visual Acuity (FVA) in both groups was assessed using the DryeyeKT mobile application and Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire to assess quality of life (QOL).
RESULTS: Among the 78 participants (74.4% women), 30 (38.5%) had Severe DED and 48 (61.5%) Mild DED. In women, Severe DED produced a significantly worse FVA of 0.53 ± 0.20 vs. 0.73 ± 0.30 in the Mild DED group (p = 0.006). FVA decreased with increasing age, showing a significant inverse correlation (r = -0.55). A poorer FVA ≤ 0.6 was seen in older patients (68.2 years ± 7.68) vs. an FVA > 0.6 in younger patients (58.9 years ± 10.7), p < 0.001. When adjusting for age, FVA was still 0.107 lower in the Severe DED group, p = 0.003. There was significant difficulty in performing specific daily activities in the Severe DED group, after adjusting for age, gender and FVA.
CONCLUSIONS: FVA is reduced in severe DED and older people. Severe DED significantly impacts certain aspects of QOL. However, no significant relationship was found between FVA and QOL. FVA is not the only reason for the compromise of health-related QOL in severe dry eye.

The objective was to understand the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in health professionals(HPs) in the Valencian Autonomous Community(Spain) who had completed a full vaccination regimen, both in terms of preventing infections and avoiding hospitalisations, according to the time elapsed since the vaccine administration. Case-controlled study with negative test results. HPs who had undergone at least one PCR or antigen(Ag) active infection diagnostic test(AIDT) to rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection between 25 January and 18 July 2021 were included. HPs with positive AIDT result were considered as cases and those with a negative result controls. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness(VEa) to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and its 95% confidence interval(95% CI) were calculated using the formula VEa = (1 - OR) × 100. The VEa for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection 12 to 120 days after completing the full two-dose vaccine regimen was 91.6%(95%CI[89.6%,93.2%]) for the BNT162b2 vaccine and 95.2%(95%CI[88.3%,98.1%]) for the mRNA-1273 vaccine. After 120 days the VEa was 71.5%(95%CI[67.0%,75.5%]) for the BNT162b2 vaccine and 88.3%(95%CI[75.7,94.4%]) for the mRNA-1273 vaccine. The VEa for prevention of hospitalisation for COVID-19 for the complete two-dose regimen of mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273) was 96.8%(95%CI[76.1%,99.6%]). The administration of the complete regimen of the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 was highly effective for the prevention of COVID-19 cases in HPs when 12 to 120 days had elapsed since the second dose. However, said effectiveness decreased as time from the vaccine administration elapsed, although it was maintained for the prevention of hospitalisation of HPs.

To investigate the association of comorbidities including hyperparathyroidism and sociodemographic factors with band keratopathy.
This retrospective, population-based, matched case-control study recruited 2,545 patients suffering from band keratopathy. They were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code 371.43. The control group included 15,270 sex-, age-, and index date-matched non-band keratopathy patients collected from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. To compare band keratopathy patients with controls, McNemar\'s test was used for nominal data and paired t- tests were used for continuous variables. Univariate conditional logistic regression analysis and multivariable conditional logistic regression were used to obtain the odds ratio (OR) and adjusted OR of developing band keratopathy.
Patients with hyperparathyroidism were more likely to develop band keratopathy than controls (OR, 43.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 23.789-79.544; P < 0.001) even after conditional logistic regression (adjusted OR, 11.28; 95% CI, 5.461-23.33; P < 0.001). Other conditions that increased the odds of scleritis development included systemic diseases such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) and ocular conditions such as iridocyclitis, phthisis bulbi, and ever silicone oil retention. Regarding sociodemographic factors, >40% of patients with band keratopathy were aged ≥65 years old. Moreover, patients living in Eastern Taiwan and fishermen had higher odds of developing band keratopathy.
Band keratopathy is significantly associated with hyperparathyroidism, CKD, DM, iridocyclitis, phthisis bulbi, and ever silicone oil retention.

To investigate the association of recurrent corneal erosion (RCE) with sociodemographic factors and associated ocular conditions or systemic diseases.
This nationwide, population-based, retrospective, matched case-controlled study included 98,895 RCE patients, identified by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code 371.42, were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The age-, sex-, and index date- matched control group included 98,895 non-RCE control group also selected from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. Sociodemographic factors and associated ocular conditions or systemic diseases were examined using univariate logistic regression analyses, and continuous variables were analyzed using paired t-test. The odds ratio (OR) of developing RCE were compared using adjusted logistic regression analysis.
Patients with ocular conditions including corneal abrasion, ocular allergic conditions, and corneal dystrophy were more likely to have RCE than the control group (adjusted OR = 63.56, 95% CI = 42.06-96.06, p < 0.0001; adjusted OR = 24.27, 95% CI = 20.51-28.72, p < 0.0001; adjusted OR = 17.10, 95% CI = 5.14-59.93, p < 0.0001, respectively). Patients with systemic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia, and atopy trait have significantly higher ORs for RCE development. Patients residing in either Northern Taiwan or a metropolis city had higher odds of developing RCE; however, there were no significant differences in income or occupation on the probability to develop RCE.
RCE is strongly associated with corneal abrasion, ocular allergic conditions, corneal dystrophy, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia, and atopy trait.

Background: Evidence of associations between a pro-inflammatory diet and asthenozoospermia risk is limited. We therefore performed a case-controlled study to investigate associations between pro-inflammatory diet using dietary inflammatory index (DII) scores and asthenozoospermia risk in China. Methods: Our hospital-based case-controlled study comprised 549 incident asthenozoospermia men and 581 healthy controls. All were interviewed at the infertility clinic in Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from June 2020 to December 2020. DII scores were calculated based on dietary intake which were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Semen parameters were analyzed according to World Health Organization guidelines. An unconditional logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for asthenozoospermia risk. The lowest tertile served as the reference category for regression analyses. Results: After adjustment for age in the primary multivariable model, we failed to determine a significant negative association between DII and asthenozoospermia risk (for the highest tertile of DII scores compared to the lowest tertile) (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.57-1.03). Similarly, non-significant associations were also identified in the multivariable model after adjusting for more potential confounders (OR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.58-1.27). Additionally, in subgroup analyses stratified by age, body mass index, and smoking status, non-significant results were consistent with the main findings. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring this particular topic. Our research does not support an association between DII scores and asthenozoospermia risk. Further prospective studies with more DII relevant foods and nutrients are warranted to confirm our findings.

The receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK) and the osteoprotegerin (OPG) cascade system have been reported to be essential in osteoclastogenesis. In recent years, several studies have investigated the association between polymorphisms of RANK, its ligand RANKL and OPG genes and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in different populations. However, the results arising from these studies were conflicting. To determine the association between RANK, RANKL and OPG gene polymorphisms and the risk of RA. We conducted a hospital-based case-controlled study in Changzhou with 574 RA cases and 804 controls. The genotyping of RANK gene rs1805034 polymorphism was conducted by single base extension combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). We also undertook a meta-analysis of the literature referring to polymorphisms of RANK, RANKL and OPG genes and RA risk. This case-controlled study found that the polymorphism in the RANK gene rs1805034 was not related to RA risk. Stratification analyses by sex and age suggested that RANK gene rs1805034 polymorphism was not associated with the risk of RA among groups of male, female, age ≤ 55 and age > 55. Our meta-analysis found that the rs2277438 polymorphism in RANKL gene increased the risk of RA, whereas RANK gene rs1805034, OPG gene rs3102735, OPG gene rs2073618, OPG gene rs3134069 polymorphisms were not related to RA susceptibility. In conclusion, this case-controlled study and meta-analysis indicated that the RANKL gene rs2277438 polymorphism increased the RA risk, and that RANK gene rs1805034, OPG gene rs3102735, OPG gene rs2073618, OPG gene rs3134069 polymorphisms were not related to RA risk.

Dendritic cells (DCs) have been reported to play an important role in pregnancy. However, the role of DCs in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) has not been investigated well.
Forty-three women affected by RPL and 16 fertile controls were recruited from June 2013 to December 2014. The peripheral blood DCs subsets, including myeloid DCs (mDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), the levels (%) of CD80(+) , CD86(+) , and CD200(+) DCs were analyzed using flow cytometry.
The levels of total DCs, mDCs, and CD86(+) DCs were significantly higher (all P<.05); however, the level of CD200(+) DCs in the RPL group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<.05). The logistical regression analyses showed that the elevated level of mDCs was significantly associated with RPL after adjustment for age (OR: 1.14, 95% CI, 1.01-1.29, P<.05).
The elevated level of mDCs was significantly associated with RPL, which might lead to the intervention of targeted immunosuppression in women with RPL.

OBJECTIVE: Coronary heart disease (CHD), the most severe form of coronary artery disease (CAD), is a complex disease that involves a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Recently, multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with CAD in Caucasians by genome-wide association (GWA) studies.However, the association of these SNPs with CHD in Asian populations has not yet been established. Here, we aim to investigate the genetic etiology of CHD in a Chinese population by genotyping SNPs previously been associated with CHD in other ethic origin in GWAS or candidate gene studies.
METHODS: Five SNPs, rs17114036, rs9369640, rs515135, rs579459 and rs8055236, from 5 different loci were genotyped using a sequenom Mass array system in 545CHD patients and 1008 unrelated controls from a Chinese population.
RESULTS: Our study showed that SNP rs515135 is strongly associated with CHD in a Chinese Han population (P-value=0.00333, OR=1.48). We also detected significant difference of SNP rs579459 in APOB gene in patients withsevere CAD compared to patients with mild CAD.
CONCLUSIONS: SNP rs515135 is associated with the susceptibility of CHD in Chinese Han population. The location of rs515135 in the APOB gene supports its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of CAD. Our study data also support that SNP rs579459 may be associated with the severity of CHD.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene polymorphisms rs8050136C>A and rs9939609T>A, and transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene polymorphisms rs12255372G>T and rs7903146C>T, in a sample group of pregnant Euro-Brazilian women with or without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
METHODS: Subjects were classified as either healthy pregnant control (n=200) or GDM (n=200) according to the 2010 criteria of the American Diabetes Association. The polymorphisms were genotyped using fluorescent probes (TaqMan®).
RESULTS: All groups were in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The genotype and allele frequencies of the examined polymorphisms did not exhibit significant difference (P>0.05) between the groups. In the healthy and GDM pregnant women groups, the A-allele frequencies (95% CI) of FTO polymorphisms rs8050136 and rs9939609 were 39% (34-44%); 38% (33-43%) and 40% (35-45%); 41% (36-46%), respectively; and the T-allele frequencies of TCF7L2 polymorphisms rs12255372 and rs7903146 were 30% (26-35%), 32% (27-37%) and 29% (25-34%), 36% (31-41%), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The examined polymorphisms were not associated with GDM in the Euro-Brazilian population studied.