Introduction: It is well-documented that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with dementia. However, the genetic causality of this association remains unclear. Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to investigate the potential causal relationship between SLE and dementia risk in the current study.Methods: We selected 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with SLE from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Summary level statistics were obtained from the dementia GWAS database. MR estimates were performed using the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, MR-Egger method and weighted median (WM) method. Cochran’s Q test, the intercept of MR-Egger, MR-Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier method, leave-one-out analysis and funnel plot were applied for sensitivity analyses.Results: No significant causal association was found between SLE and any type of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. These findings were robust across several sensitivity analyses.Conclusion: Overall, our findings do not support a causal association between SLE and dementia risk.

Background: We aimed to investigate the association of post-thrombolytic D-dimer elevation with symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and functional outcome in AIS patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our database for patients with AIS who received intravenous thrombolysis between August 2018 and December 2021. ΔD-dimer was calculated as follow-up D-dimer minus baseline D-dimer. Poor functional outcome was defined as 3 months modified Rankin score (mRS) 3– 6. sICH was defined as cerebral hemorrhagic transformation in combination with clinical deterioration of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥ 4 points at 24 hours. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association of post-thrombolytic D-dimer parameters with sICH and poor functional outcome. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve derived optimal cut-off of different D-dimer parameters was determined at the maximal Youden’s Index. Results: A total of 325 patients were finally included. After controlling for clinical variables, follow-up D-dimer level (OR 1.230; 95% CI 1.119 to 1.351; P < 0.001) and ΔD-dimer (OR 1.347; 95% CI 1.165 to 1.559; P < 0.001) were independently associated with poor functional outcome. Additionally, follow-up D-dimer level (OR 1.095; 95% CI 1.009 to 1.188; P = 0.030) was independently related to sICH. The optimal cut-off value of follow-up D-dimer level for predicting sICH was 4185 μg/L (area under the curve 0.760; sensitivity 76.0%; specificity 81.3%); and the optimal cut-off value of follow-up D-dimer level and ΔD-dimer as a predictor for poor functional outcome was projected to be 3838 μg/L and 2190 μg/L, which yielded a sensitivity and a specificity of 62.3%, 84.5% and 73.8%, 85.2%, respectively. Conclusion: Elevated follow-up D-dimer levels are associated with sICH and poor functional outcome in AIS patients following intravenous rt-PA. Moreover, post-thrombolytic D-dimer elevation, measured by ΔD-dimer, was a better predictive biomarker for long-term outcome at 3 months.

Background: Numerous observational studies have revealed that circulating adiponectin (ADPN) is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. However, the causality remains unknown. We aimed to assess the causality of circulating ADPN on AD risk using Mendelian randomization (MR).Methods: Fourteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with ADPN were selected from publicly available genetic abstract data. We applied these SNPs to two recent large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of AD, one from the FinnGen consortium and the other from a large meta-analysis. The inverse variance weighted method, MR–Egger method, the weighted median method, the Cochran Q statistic, the MR-Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier methods, and the leave-one-out analysis were applied for MR analyses.Results: In MR analysis, no significant genetic association was found between plasma ADPN levels and AD risk by analyzing the FinnGen consortium GWAS database in the inverse variance weighted method [odds ratio (OR): 0.874, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.701–1.089, p = 0.230], MR–Egger (OR: 0.944, 95% CI: 0.692–1.288, p = 0.721), and weighted median method (OR: 0.900, 95% CI: 0.678–1.194, p = 0.449). Additionally, the same analysis was conducted for the meta-analysis database, and we found no significant association (OR: 1.000, 95% CI: 0.999–1.001, p = 0.683).Conclusion: Our findings reveal no significant causal association between circulating ADPN and AD risk.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) imposes a substantial public health burden. This study quantified and compared the ASD burden in China and globally from 1990 to 2021 to inform policy and planning. We analyzed Global Burden of Disease 2021 estimates of age-standardized prevalence rates (ASPR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year rates (ASDR) in China and worldwide, with analyses by sex and age. Joinpoint regression characterized historical trends. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models generated exploratory projections for 2022 to 2031; no temporal holdout validation or comparison with alternative forecasting approaches was performed. In 2021, ASPR per 100,000 population was 655.75 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 545.06–780.37) in China and 788.34 (95% UI 663.76–927.21) globally; ASDR was 124.19 (95% UI 83.70–175.10) and 147.56 (95% UI 100.21–208.16), respectively. From 1990 to 2021, the average annual percent changes in ASPR and ASDR were 0.22% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21–0.24) and 0.23% (95% CI 0.21–0.25) in China, compared with 0.06% (95% CI 0.06–0.07) and 0.07% (95% CI 0.06–0.08) globally. The estimated burden was higher in males. The exploratory ARIMA point projections suggested a modest decline in ASPR in both settings and in global ASDR but an increase in China’s ASDR. These directions have not been validated out of sample. Historical estimates indicate an increasing ASD burden in China and worldwide. The ARIMA results represent model-based scenarios, not validated future trajectories. The existing burden supports sustained attention to early identification, long-term care, and family support; resource planning should not rely on these projections alone.