Rui Zhou

Southern Medical University | FIMMU · Department of Epidemiology

Data are limited on the viral load, viral shedding patterns and potential infectivity of asymptomatic patients (APs) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We included 31 adult patients who were virologically confirmed to have COVID-19 but were asymptomatic on admission. Among these 31 patients, 22 presented symptoms after admission and were def...

Background Research on the association of physical activity and sedentary time with dementia is accumulating, though elusive, and the interaction effects of the two remain unclear. We analysed the joint associations of accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time with risk of incident dementia (all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease...

Objective: To evaluate associations of Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score, the recently updated metric for promoting cardiovascular health (CVH), with the risk of incident dementia and its subtypes, cognition, and neuroimaging outcomes and to determine whether these associations differ among apolipoprotein E (APOE)-ε4 genotypes. Design: Prospective...

Background To evaluate the sex‐specific associations of total and regional fat/muscle mass ratio (FMR) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality, and to explore the underlying mechanisms driven by cardiometabolites and inflammatory cells. We compared the predictive value of FMRs to body mass index. Methods and Results This populati...

Background and Objectives Mobility limitations has been linked to cognition. However, little is known about the relationship between mobility decline and cognitive decline. This study investigated the effect of mobility limitations and decline on cognitive decline in a population-based cohort of older adults. Result Design and Methods A population...

Background It’s unclear if excess visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass in individuals with prediabetes can be countered by adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle (MEDLIFE). We aimed to examine VAT mass, MEDLIFE adherence, and their impact on type 2 diabetes (T2D) and diabetic microvascular complications (DMC) in individuals with prediabetes. Methods...

Background The association of a broad spectrum of infectious diseases with cardiovascular outcomes remains unclear. Objectives We aim to provide the cardiovascular risk profiles associated with a wide range of infectious diseases and explore the extent to which infections reduce life expectancy. Methods We ascertained exposure to 900+ infectious...

The human gut microbiota (GM) has been recognized as a significant factor in the development of insomnia, primarily through inflammatory pathways, making it a promising target for therapeutic interventions. Considering the principles of primary prediction, targeted prevention, and personalized treatment medicine (PPPM), identifying specific gut mic...

Background: Arterial stiffness contributes to additional cardiovascular risks in diabetic patients by triggering the loss of vascular and myocardial compliance and promoting endothelial dysfunction. Thus, prevention of arterial stiffness is a public health priority, and the identification of potential biomarkers may provide benefits for early prev...

Background The human gut microbiota (GM) has been recognized as a significant factor in the development of insomnia, primarily through inflammatory pathways, making it a promising target for therapeutic interventions. In light of the principles of primary prediction, targeted prevention, and personalized treatment medicine (PPPM), identifying of sp...

Background The combined effect of serum uric acid (SUA) and blood glucose on cognition has not been explored. This study aimed to examine the separate and combined association of SUA and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or diabetes mellitus (DM) with cognition in a sample of Chinese middle-aged and elderly population. Methods A total of 6,509 particip...

Background: Existing evidence concerning the relationship between daytime napping and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is inconsistent, and whether the effects of napping differ by body fat percentage (BFP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between daytime napping frequency and T2D risk and whether such an assoc...

Background Previous studies involving uric acid (UA) in some specialized disease populations have found that high UA is associated with enhanced patient function. The mechanism to explain this association may be that UA, an important antioxidant, exerts neuroprotective effects. Patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) have severe oxidative stress abnormal...

Importance:The American Heart Association (AHA)’s Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) score, a recently updated metric for promoting cardiovascular health (CVH), has addressed the limitations of the original metrics (Life’s Simple 7) and is able to quantify CVH. Objective:To evaluate the associations of LE8 score with the risk of incident dementia and its sub...

Objectives: To examine the association between visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) and incident diabetes mellitus (DM) risk in a Chinese population. Methods: Data comes from China Health and Nutrition Survey ( n = 15,084). BPV was estimated as the average real variability (ARV) using at least three BP measurements from the year precedin...

Background Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) may have suppressed the transmission of other infectious diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different degrees of NPIs during the COVID-19 pandemic on hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Guangzhou, China. Methods Weekly reported HFMD...

Background The association between blood lipids and cognitive function in schizophrenia is still controversial. Thus, the present study aimed to verify the association between various lipid parameters and cognitive impairment in schizophrenic patients and potential lipid pathways. Methods A total of 447 adult inpatients with schizophrenia were div...

Background Preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) is a heterogeneous condition characterized by a normal forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio with underlying impairment of pulmonary function. Data relating to the association of baseline and trajectories of PRISm with diverse cardiovascular outcomes is sparse...

Objective Emerging evidence indicates that hyperglycemia has an adverse impact on the knee joint which, in turn, may increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA), but evidence from the real‐life settings of large‐scale cohort studies remains unclear. We sought to evaluate the association of glycemic control and the risk of symptomatic knee OA in a...

Background: Greater lipid variability may cause adverse health events among diabetic patients. We aimed to examine the effect of lipid variability on the risk of diabetic microvascular outcomes among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Methods: We assessed the association between visit-to-visit variability (measured by variability independent of...

The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive impairment remains controversial, especially in older people. This study aims to confirm the association of phenotypic and genetic obesity with cognitive impairment and the benefits of adhering to a healthy lifestyle. This prospective study included 10,798 participants (aged ≥ 50 years) w...

Background: Obesity is associated with adverse health events among diabetic patients, however, the relationship between obesity fluctuation and risk of microvascular complications among this specific population is unclear. We aimed to examine the effect of waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) variability on the risk of diabetic micro...

Background The evidence of the association between parity and risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia is mixed, and the relationship between parity and longitudinal cognitive changes is less clear. We investigated these issues in a large population of older women who were carefully monitored for development of MCI and probable dementia....

Objectives : An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant occurred in Guangzhou in 2021. This study aimed to identify the transmission dynamics and epidemiological characteristics of the Delta variant outbreak to formulate an effective prevention strategy. Methods : A total of 13102 close contacts and 6...

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a recognised risk factor for cognitive dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between active treatment for DM and cognitive function in middle-aged (< 60 years) and older adults (≥60 years), respectively. Methods: A total of 13,691 participants (58.55 ± 9.64 years, 47.40% of men)...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008648.].

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mimics the influenza A (H1N1) virus in terms of clinical presentation, transmission mechanism, and seasonal coincidence. Comprehensive data for the clinical severity of adult patients co-infected by both H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2, and, particularly, the relationship with PCR cycle threshold (Ct...

Background Lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM) have been shown to have different associations with several chronic diseases but little is known about the sex-specific association of LBM and FM with diabetic nephropathy (DN) risk among participants with diabetes. Methods Participants from the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (AC...

Background The prevalence of diabetes is on the rise globally coupled with its associated complications, such as diabetic nephropathy (DN). Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for the development of DN but it is still unclear which obesity index is the best predictor of incident DN. Methods Data from the participants with type 2 diabetes...

Background To investigate the influence of diabetes duration and glycemic control, assessed by glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, on risk of incident dementia. Methods The present study is a prospective study of 461,563 participants from the UK Biobank. The age at diabetes diagnosis was determined by self-report. Diabetes duration was calculated...

Introduction The relationship between variability in cardiometabolic and inflammatory parameters and cognitive changes is unknown. This study investigates the association of visit-to-visit variability in BMI, mean arterial pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HbA1c, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, ferritin, and fibrinogen with cognitive...

Background: Higher visit-to-visit cholesterol has been associated with cognitive decline. However, the association between long-term increase or decrease in cholesterol and cognitive decline remains unclear. Methods: A total of 4,915 participants aged ≥45 years with normal cognition in baseline were included. The participants were divided into four...

Background: As magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) has been increasingly used in the follow-up of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) as a non-invasive technique, the knowledge framework and areas of research interest in intracranial aneurysms magnetic resonance angiography (IAMRA) change approximately every 10 years. However, few studies have quantitat...

Background: Wealth and income are potential modifiable risk factors for dementia, but whether wealth status, which is composed of a combination of debt and poverty, and assessed by wealth and income, is associated with cognitive impairment among elderly adults remains unknown. Objective: To examine the associations of different combinations of d...

Background: Medical resources have been exhausted in many countries because of the current worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The identification of factors influencing the length of hospital stay (LOS) and complications may have the potential to guide decisions regarding resource allocation as well as significantly and safel...

Background & aims Dietary diversity is widely recommended in national and international guidelines; however, whether the beneficial effects on cognitive function still apply in the oldest-old (80+) has rarely been studied. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of dietary diversity with cognitive function among the oldest-old in a large pros...

Background Higher fluctuation of cholesterol has been shown associated with cognitive decline. But the association between unidirectional variation of cholesterol and cognition remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the association between variation of cholesterol from normal to high level or from high to normal level and cognition. Me...

Objective: The 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association blood pressure (BP) guidelines lowered the hypertension threshold from a SBP/DBP level of at least 140/90 mmHg to at least 130/80 mmHg. The cardiovascular impact of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) under the new definition re...

Aims: To assess the associations of diabetes duration and glycaemic control (defined by plasma glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c] level) with the risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality and to determine whether the addition of either or both to the established CVD risk factors can improve predictions. Materials and methods: A tot...

Background The relationship between variability in cardiometabolic and inflammatory parameters and cognitive changes is unknown. We aimed to investigate the association of visit-to-visit variability (VVV) in body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, glycated hemoglobin...

The phenomenon of COVID-19 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after discharge (redetectable as positive, RP) emerged globally. The data of incidence rate and risk factors for RP event and the clinical features of RP patients may provide recommendations for virus containment and cases management for COVID-19. We prospectively collected and anal...

Background Previous epidemiological evidence on the sex‐specific association of obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, as reflected by larger waist circumference (WC), with incident diabetic neuropathy (DN) remains limited. Methods We used data from a patient cohort with a median 10‐year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus at the time of recruit...

Background: The phenomenon of COVID-19 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after discharge (redetectable as positive, RP) emerged globally. The data of incidence rate and risk factors for RP event and the clinical features of RP patients may provide recommendations for virus containment and discharge assessment for COVID-19. Methods: The baseli...