2023

Epigenome-Wide Association Study of Systemic Effects of Obesity Susceptibility in Human Twins

Duncan GE, Avery A, Maamar MB, Nilsson EE, Beck D, Skinner MK. The current study was designed to use an epigenome-wide association approach (EWAS) to identify potential systemic DNA methylation alterations that are associated with obesity using 22 discordant twin pairs. Buccal cells (from a cheek swab) were used as a non-obesity relevant purified marker […]

Quasi-causal associations between chronotype and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: A twin study

McCall CA, Turkheimer E, Tsang S, Avery A, Duncan GE, Watson NF. Objective The evening (“night owl”) chronotype is associated with greater severity and lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms compared to morning or intermediate chronotypes. This twin study investigated the gene-environment relationships between chronotype, recent PTSD symptoms, and lifetime intrusive symptoms. Methods […]

Cross-Sectional Study of Location-Based Built Environments, Physical Activity, Dietary Intake, and Body Mass Index in Adult Twins

Duncan GE, Sun F, Avery AR, Hurvitz PM, Moudon AV, Tsang S, Williams BD. We examined relationships between walkability and health behaviors between and within identical twin pairs, considering both home (neighborhood) walkability and each twin’s measured activity space. Continuous activity and location data (via accelerometry and GPS) were obtained in 79 pairs over 2 […]

Sex differences in lifetime prevalence of low back pain: A multinational study of opposite-sex twin pairs

Calais-Ferreira L, Pozzobon D, Pinheiro MB, Blyth FM, Ordoñana JR, Duncan GE, Hopper JL, Ferreira PH, Ferreira ML. Background Low back pain (LBP) is more likely to occur in people with a family history of this condition, highlighting the importance of accounting for familial factors when studying the individual risk of LBP. We conducted a […]