Publications

These publications are examples of research made possible with data from CanPath and its regional cohorts.

2023

Added value of waist circumference to body mass index for predicting fracture risk in obesity: a prospective study from the CARTaGENE cohort

Authors: Anne-Frédérique Turcotte, Sonia Jean, Suzanne N Morin, Fabrice Mac-Way, Claudia Gagnon

The researchers aimed to assess associations between waist circumference (WC) and fracture incidence within BMI categories to examine whether BMI modifies the relationships. Using data from 18,236 CARTaGENE participants, they found that larger WC was associated with a greater risk for fractures among those in the normal-to-overweight category.

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2022

The role of ultra-processed food consumption and depression on type 2 diabetes incidence: a prospective community study in Quebec, Canada

Authors: Akankasha Sen, Anne-Sophie Brazeau, Sonya Deschênes, Hugo Ramiro Melgar-Quiñonez, Norbert Schmitz

Researchers analyzed the association between depression and ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption as risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) using baseline data (2009-2010) from 3,880 CARTaGENE participants. Participants with high depressive symptoms and high UPF consumption were at the highest risk for T2D. The study suggests that early management and monitoring of both risk factors could be essential for diabetes prevention.

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2022

Harnessing the power of data linkage to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada

Authors: Robin Urquhart, Philip Awadalla, Parveen Bhatti, Trevor Dummer, Simon Gravel, Jennifer Vena, Riaz Alvi, Philippe Broet, Cynthia Kendell, Victoria Kirsh, Guillaume Lettre, Kimberly Skead, Grace Shen-Tu, Ellen Sweeney, Donna Turner

This abstract discusses a project aimed at linking cancer registry and administrative health data to Canada’s largest population health study, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath). The project seeks to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada by providing researchers with a comprehensive dataset that includes genetics, environment, lifestyle, and behaviour data. The linked data will be made available through a cloud-based solution called the CanPath Data Safe Haven, which is accessible to researchers through secure access. The project will address concerns related to the accessibility of cancer data in Canada, bring more value to existing data, and support an enhanced understanding of the impacts of cancer on marginalized populations.

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2022

Evaluation of Adiposity and Cognitive Function in Adults

Authors: Sonia S. Anand, Matthias G. Friedrich, Douglas S. Lee, Phillip Awadalla, J. P. Després, Dipika Desai, Russell J. de Souza, Trevor Dummer, Grace Parraga, Eric Larose, Scott A. Lear, Koon K. Teo, Paul Poirier, Karleen M. Schulze, Dorota Szczesniak, Jean-Claude Tardif, Jennifer Vena, Katarzyna Zatonska, Salim Yusuf, Eric E. Smith, the Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM), the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) Study Investigators

Researchers sought to undercover the association between adipose tissue (amount and distribution) and cognitive scores. Using data from 9,189 participants, they found that higher visceral adipose tissue and body fat percentage correlated with increased vascular brain injuries and cardiovascular risk factors, as well as lower cognitive scores.

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2022

Association of essential tremor with novel risk loci: A genome-wide association study and meta-analysis

Authors: Calwing Liao, Charles-Etienne Castonguay, Karl Heilbron, Veikko Vuokila, Miranda Medeiros, Gabrielle Houle, Fulya Akçimen, Jay P. Ross, Helene Catoire, Monica Diez-Fairen, Jooeun Kang, Stefanie H. Mueller, Simon L. Girard, Franziska Hopfner, Delia Lorenz, Lorraine N. Clark, Alexandra I. Soto-Beasley, Stephan Klebe, Mark Hallett, Zbigniew K. Wszolek, Manuela Pendziwiat, Oswaldo Lorenzo-Betancor, Klaus Seppi, Daniela Berg, Carles Vilariño-Güell, Ronald B. Postuma, Geneviève Bernard, Nicolas Dupré, Joseph Jankovic, Claudia M. Testa, Owen A. Ross, Thomas Arzberger, Sylvain Chouinard, Elan D. Louis, Paola Mandich, Carmine Vitale, Paolo Barone, Elena García-Martín, Hortensia Alonso-Navarro, José A. G. Agúndez, Félix Javier Jiménez-Jiménez, Pau Pastor, Alex Rajput, Günther Deuschl, Gregor Kuhlenbaümer, Inge A. Meijer, Patrick A. Dion, Guy A. Rouleau, for the 23andMe Research Team

This study revealed five genome-wide significant loci associated with essential tremor (ET), one of the most common movement disorders. The researchers’ findings suggest that common genetic variation partly explains ET’s heritability.

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2021

A functionally impaired missense variant identified in French Canadian families implicates FANCI as a candidate ovarian cancer-predisposing gene

Authors: Caitlin T. Fierheller, Laure Guitton-Sert, Wejdan M. Alenezi, Timothée Revil, Kathleen K. Oros, Yuandi Gao, Karine Bedard, Suzanna L. Arcand, Corinne Serruya, Supriya Behl, Liliane Meunier, Hubert Fleury, Eleanor Fewings, Deepak N. Subramanian, Javad Nadaf, Jeffrey P. Bruce, Rachel Bell, Diane Provencher, William D. Foulkes, Zaki El Haffaf, Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Jacek Majewski, Trevor J. Pugh, Marc Tischkowitz, Paul A. James, Ian G. Campbell, Celia M. T. Greenwood, Jiannis Ragoussis, Jean-Yves Masson, Patricia N. Tonin

Researchers sought to describe how new genes might be associated with ovarian cancer risk amongst 5,249 CARTaGENE participants. They found that a FANCI gene mutation is more common in familial ovarian cancer patients.

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2021

Estimated prevalence of Niemann–Pick type C disease in Quebec

Authors: Marjorie Labrecque, Lahoud Touma, Claude Bhérer, Antoine Duquette & Martine Tétreault

Researchers sought to estimate the prevalence of Niemann-Pick type C disease – an autosomal recessive disease that often results in psychiatric problems in adults – in Québec and determine whether it is underdiagnosed in this province. With CARTaGENE RNA-sequencing data from 911 participants and exome sequencing from 198 participants, researchers estimated the prevalence as 0.61 in 100,000 births.

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2021

The impact of reporting magnetic resonance imaging incidental findings in the Canadian alliance for healthy hearts and minds cohort

Authors: Judy M. Luu, Anand K. Sergeant, Sonia S. Anand, Dipika Desai, Karleen Schulze, Bartha M. Knoppers, Ma’n H. Zawati, Eric E. Smith, Alan R. Moody, Sandra E. Black, Eric Larose, Francois Marcotte, Erika Kleiderman, Jean-Claude Tardif, Douglas S. Lee, Matthias G. Friedrich on behalf of the CAHHM Study Investigators

This study aimed to describe the management policy for incidental findings (IFs) for the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort and understand IF disclosure effects for participants. IF management is challenging, though results are promising for the CAHHM’s policies since 97% of participants with an IF reported no change in their quality of life.

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2021

Common variants in the CD36 gene are associated with dietary fat intake, high-fat food consumption and serum triglycerides in a cohort of Quebec adults

Authors: Tongzhu Meng, Stan Kubow, Daiva E. Nielsen

This study found that CD36 variants are associated with habitual fat consumption, which may play a role in subsequent associations with chronic-disease biomarkers. Associations differ by BMI status and dietary fat type.

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2021

Predictors of long-term use of prescription opioids in the community-dwelling population of adults without a cancer diagnosis: a retrospective cohort study

Authors: Audrey Béliveau, Anne-Marie Castilloux, Cara Tannenbaum, Philippe Vincent, Cristiano Soares de Moura, Sasha Bernatsky, Yola Moride

This study aimed to identify risk factors for and predictors of long-term use of prescription opioids in the community-dwelling population of adults without a diagnosis of cancer, to inform practice change at the point of care. It was found that limiting the initial supply to no more than 7 days and limiting doses to 90 MME/day or less are actions that could be undertaken at the point of care to prevent long-term use.

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