Objective:To develop an R script that can efficiently and accurately filter genome-wide association studies (GWASs) from the GWAS Catalog Website.Methods:The selection principles of GWASs were established based on previous studies. The process of manual filtering in the GWAS Catalog was abstracted as standard algorithms. The R script (gwasfilter.R) was written by two programmers and tested many times.Results:It takes six steps for gwasfilter.R to filter GWASs. There are five main self-defined functions among this R script. GWASs can be filtered based on "whether the GWAS has been replicated" "sample size" "ethnicity of the study population" and other conditions. It takes no more than 1 second for this script to filter GWASs of a single trait.Conclusions:This R script (gwasfilter.R) is user-friendly and provides an efficient and standard process to filter GWASs flexibly. The source code is available at github ( https://github.com/lab319/gwas_filter).

Biological age (BA) can be used to measure the aging process of individuals and make up for the deficiency that chronological age cannot explain the discrepancy of health status among individuals at same chronological age. In recent years, multiple measurements of BA based on clinical or phenotypic, molecular biological, or compound indicators have emerged. In the paper, we summarize some common measurements of BA and compare their validities.

Somatic mosaicism is defined as the occurrence and accumulation of somatic mutations in humans, and mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCA) are recognized as one of the aging phenotypes due to their impact on genome integrity. With the coming acceleration of global population aging, understanding the prevalence and influencing factors of mCA will help to explore the "genomic instability" of human aging and its biological mechanisms and provide the scientific basis for the primary prevention of age-related diseases. This review aims to summarize the epidemiological distribution and influencing factors of autosomal mCA in peripheral blood based on previous large-scale population-based studies.

China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) conducted the baseline survey from June 2004 to July 2008 in five rural areas in Zhejiang, Hunan, Gansu, Sichuan and Henan Provinces and five urban areas in Heilongjiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi and Hainan Provinces (Autonomous Region). A total of 512 891 adults aged 30-79 years were recruited in the baseline survey, i.e. questionnaire survey, physical examination and blood sample collection. The first resurvey of 19 786 people was conducted from June to October in 2008, and the second resurvey of 25 239 people was conducted from August, 2013 to September, 2014. In 2016, with the support of the "Precision Medicine Research" Key Project, National Key Research and Development Program of China, CKB started a large natural population cohort demonstration study on the basis of the previous work. The third resurvey was conducted from August, 2020 to December, 2021 among 25087 people, including questionnaire survey (with additional aging related items), physical examination and biological sample collection (blood, urine, saliva, stool). By June, 2022, CKB had conducted the follow up in cohort population for an average 15 years, resulting an observation of 7.7 million person-years. which documented 74 000 deaths, 371 000 health insurance events (2.795 million episodes in total), 11 000 active follow-up events (12 000 episodes in total), 100 000 morbidity monitoring events (147 000 episodes). CKB Biobank has stored 1 292 000 blood samples, 150 000 urine samples, 780 000 DNA samples, 25 000 saliva samples, and 20 000 stool samples. CKB project team has developed the technical specifications for long-term follow-up, sample database construction and management, database and data sharing platform construction and management, which have been compiled and published as the Technical Specifications for Large Population Cohort Research. In addition, the group standards of field survey of large natural population cohort, long term follow up, biobank construction, data process and data security have been developed. Meanwhile, high-quality scientific research have been conducted consecutively based on the CKB cohort data, the research of the relationship between healthy lifestyle and major chronic diseases have provided specific evidence in Chinese population.

Metabonomics is a life science research that uses high-throughput omics technology to identify and quantify all metabolites and has been widely used to examine the etiology of cardiometabolic diseases in recent years. As a significant component of systemic epidemiology, metabolomics provides insights into disease etiology from the perspective of metabolic changes. Research questions of metabolomics include assessing the associations of metabolites with cardiometabolic diseases, discovering novel biomarkers, and constructing risk prediction models. This article reviews the applications of metabolomics in the etiological research on type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and subclinical atherosclerosis, as well as recent advance and future perspectives.

Objective:To explore the differences of physical activity levels between Chinese and British patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its influencing factors.Methods:Based on the baseline survey of China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) and United Kingdom Biobank (UKB), we identified the case and control group according to the self-reported disease history in the questionnaire. Metabolic equivalent of task, as the assessment of physical activity level, was graded according to the tertiles of specific ages and genders. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze the correlation between CVD status and physical activity levels.Results:We included 509 170 Chinese adults and 360 360 British adults in the analysis. After adjusting for multiple factors, we found a positive correlation between CVD patients and low physical activity levels in both CKB and UKB populations (CKB: OR=1.21, 95% CI:1.17-1.25; UKB: OR=1.24, 95% CI:1.20-1.28). There was a high correlation between the prevalence of CVD and low physical activity levels in males with CKB ( OR=1.33, 95% CI:1.27-1.40).Unlike the UKB population, as the length of CVD increased, the physical activity levels of CKB patients gradually approached that of the non-CVD population, and stroke was positively correlated with low physical activity levels ( OR=1.46, 95% CI:1.38-1.53). The decline in physical activity was more pronounced among CKB and UKB CVD patients with lower educational levels, current or former smokers or drinkers, and those with other chronic diseases. In CKB, there showed a high correlation between CVD disease and low physical activity levels in rural areas and non-retired populations. In UKB, there appeared a higher correlation between CVD disease and low physical activity levels in urban and non-working populations. Conclusions:The physical activity levels of CVD patients in both China and the UK were lower than that in non-CVD population. In addition to low-educated individuals, current or former smokers or drinkers, and those with other chronic diseases, it is critical to pay attention to the physical activity levels of rural, male, and non-retirees among Chinese patients.

Objective:To compare physical activity and its influencing factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) between China and the United Kingdom.Methods:We analyzed baseline data from China Kadoorie Biobank and the United Kingdom Biobank among COPD patients who were diagnosed with a one-second rate (FEV 1/FVC) less than 70%. Physical activity level was calculated as metabolic equivalent (MET) and divided into three levels: low, medium, and high, according to tertiles stratified by gender and age. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for COPD and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grade about physical activity level, and subgroup analysis was conducted. Results:A total of 506 073 Chinese adults and 231 884 British adults were included. After adjusting for potential confounders, COPD was associated with lower physical activity levels in both Chinese and British COPD patients, with OR (95% CI) of 1.07(1.03-1.10) and 1.03(1.01-1.06) compared with non COPD patients, respectively. The GOLD grade was inversely correlated with physical activity level, particularly in a dose-response manner in the CKB population (trend test P<0.001). The negative relationship was stronger among the elderly, people with less education and lower economic status, and those with a smoking or chronic disease history. Chinese rural COPD patients were at high risk of decline of physical activity. Conclusions:Physical activity is inversely related to COPD, with a dose-response connection to GOLD grade. Therefore, physical activity maintenance and improvement should be encouraged and promoted in COPD patients, especially in high-risk groups.

Objective:To compare the differences in low-level physical activity (PA) and related influencing factors in patients with diabetes mellitus in China and the United Kingdom (UK).Methods:Using baseline survey data from the China Kadoorie Biobank and the UK Biobank, we analyzed the association between diabetes mellitus and low-level PA using logistic regression, with the participants' self-reported whether they had diabetes mellitus as the independent variable, and low-level PA as the dependent variable.Results:We included 509 254 Chinese adults and 359 763 British adults in the analysis. After adjusting for multiple factors, we found that both Chinese and British patients with diabetes mellitus were at elevated risk for low-level PA, with corresponding ORs (95% CIs) of 1.15 (1.12-1.19) and 1.37 (1.32-1.41), respectively. Patients with diabetes mellitus with longer disease duration and poorer glycemic control were at greater risk of having low-level of PA. Female, rural-distributed, employed, never-smoking Chinese diabetics, and male, urban-distributed, retired/unemployed, quit-smoking British diabetics were more likely to have low-level PA. Conclusions:Chinese and British patients with diabetes mellitus were more likely to have low-level PA compared with the general population, but the risk of low-level PA for patients in both countries varied by population characteristics. Therefore, PA guidelines and intervention measures should be based on the characteristics of individuals in the target countries and regions, which could improve PA levels among patients with diabetes mellitus.

Objective:To research the association between exposure to solid fuels for heating and its duration and the risk of respiratory diseases morbidity.Methods:Data from the China Kadoorie Biobank project sited in Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the association between exposure to solid fuels for heating and its duration and the risk of total respiratory diseases and the association between exposure to solid fuels for heating and the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia among respiratory diseases.Results:A total of 46 082 participants aged 30-79 years were enrolled, with 11 634 (25.25%) heating during the winter, of whom 8 885 (19.28%) used clean fuels and 2 749 (5.97%) used solid fuels, of whom 34 448 (74.75%) did not heat. After controlling for multiple confounding factors, Cox proportional hazard regression model was used, which revealed that compared with clean fuels, unheating could reduce the risk of total respiratory disease ( HR=0.81,95% CI:0.77-0.86), COPD ( HR=0.86,95% CI:0.78-0.95) and pneumonia ( HR=0.80,95% CI:0.74-0.86), respectively. Exposure to solid fuels increased the risk of total respiratory disease ( HR=1.10, 95% CI:1.01-1.20) and were not associated with COPD and pneumonia. Compared with no solid fuel exposure, the risk of total respiratory disease (1-19 years: HR=1.23, 95% CI:1.10-1.37; 20-39 years: HR=1.25, 95% CI:1.16-1.35; ≥40 years: HR=1.26, 95% CI:1.15-1.39) and COPD (1-19 years: HR=1.21, 95% CI:1.03-1.42; 20-39 years: HR=1.30, 95% CI:1.16-1.46; ≥40 years: HR=1.35, 95% CI:1.18-1.54) increased with the length of exposure of solid fuels (trend test P<0.001). Solid fuels exposure for 1-19 years and 20-39 years increased the risk of COPD by 23% ( HR=1.23,95% CI:1.02-1.49) and 16% ( HR=1.16, 95% CI:1.00-1.35). Conclusion:Heating solid fuels exposure increases the risk of total respiratory disease, COPD, and pneumonia.

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs. China is still among the high-burden tuberculosis countries in the world. Although the estimated incidence of tuberculosis in China has declined in recent years, the declining rate is slow. It still faces major issues such as a slower rate of decline, a widening gap between estimated and notified incidence, higher risk among middle-aged and older adults, a high number of cases among agriculture and related workers, and a heavier disease burden in the country's western regions. In addition, latent tuberculosis infection, drug-resistant tuberculosis, tuberculosis coinfection with HIV, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis have also exacerbated the disease burden of tuberculosis to some extent. This paper reviewed the epidemic characteristics of tuberculosis, the epidemiological triad, three links and two factors in the transmission process, the disease burden, and other aspects to provide a reference for formulating prevention and control strategies on tuberculosis.