Research questions:This research project aims to explore how gene-environment interactions modify the effects of lifestyle (e.g., diet, physical activity, smoking, etc.) factors on the new onset and prognosis of cardiovascular kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome (e.g. disease progression and mortality).
Research objectives:
1.To investigate the impact of specific lifestyle factors (e.g., diet, physical activity, smoking, etc.) on the risk of developing and the prognosis of CKM syndrome.
2.To identify key genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to incident CKM syndrome and its progression.
3.To investigate the role of both social (e.g. social determinants of health, etc.) and environmental factors (e.g. air pollution, etc.) on the risk of incident and the prognosis of cardiovascular kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome.
4.To determine whether certain genetic profiles amplify or mitigate the influence of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors on the progression of CKM syndrome.
5.To assess whether healthy lifestyle interventions can offset genetic predisposition to CKM syndrome.
6.To quantify the relative contribution of modifiable social and environmental factors to genetic predisposition to the development of CKM syndrome.
The scientific rationale:
Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a disease entity that interconnected burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
While it is well known that both genes and lifestyle affect our risk of chronic diseases separately, their combined influence on CKM onset and progression remains underexplored.
To address these critical knowledge gaps, this study aims to leverage the UK Biobank. By quantifying the relative contributions of modifiable and genetic risk factors, this research will generate insights into CKM pathogenesis and inform precision prevention strategies to reduce the global burden of CKM.
