Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Nutrition, Ophthalmology / 16.01.2016

More on Ophthalmology on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jae Hee Kang, MSc, SC Associate Epidemiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Medicine Channing Division of Network Medicine Boston, MA 02115 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kang: Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form of the disease. Little is known on the causes of glaucoma but dysfunction in the regulation of blood flow to the optic nerve, which transmits visual information to the brain, may be involved. Nitric oxide is important for maintenance of blood flow and its signaling may be impaired in glaucoma. We were interested in whether dietary nitrates, an exogenous source of nitric oxide mostly found in green-leafy vegetables, may be related to lower risk of POAG. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kang: We (Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers) used 25+ years of data from over 100,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study (63,893 women) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (41,094 men). Participants were nurses or other health professionals and were aged 40 years or older and reported eye exams. We collected information on their diet and other health information every two years with questionnaires. During follow-up, 1,483 new cases of primary open-angle glaucoma with visual field loss were identified and confirmed with medical record review. Participants were divided into quintiles (one of five groups) of dietary nitrate intake (quintile 5, approximately 240 mg/day; quintile 1, approximately 80 mg/day) and of green leafy vegetables (quintile 5, approximately 1.5 servings/day; quintile 1, approximately one-third of a serving/day). We observed that greater intake of dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetables (e.g., romaine and iceberg lettuce and kale/chard/mustard greens) was associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower POAG risk; the association was particularly strong (40 percent-50 percent lower risk) for POAG with early paracentral visual field loss (a subtype of POAG most linked to dysfunction in blood flow autoregulation). (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, NYU / 16.01.2016

More on Breast Cancer Research on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Benjamin Neel MD PhD Professor, Department of Medicine Director Perlmutter Cancer Center NYU Langone Medical Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Neel:  Over the past 10 years, there have been major advances in cancer genomics--i.e., defining what changes in genes are found in different types of cancer cells.  Sometimes, such studies have resulted in the identification of new drug targets, such as EGF receptor mutations or EML-ALK translocations in lung cancer, RAF mutations in melanoma and hairy cell leukemia, and KIT or PDGFR mutations in GIST.  More often, though, either the genetic changes that genomic studies reveal are difficult to target by conventional small molecule drugs or we dont know which of the many mutations found in a given tumor are critical to its proliferation/survival. "Functional genomics" is a parallel approach to tumor genomics, that aims to use large scale screening technology to identify which genes are essential to cancer cell survival/proliferation.  This approach can reveal which genetic changes in cancer cells "drive" the cancer--but it also can find genes on which the cancer becomes dependent because of the other "driver" genes.  One major approach to functional genomics uses short hairpin RNAs (a type of RNAinterference/RNAi) to "knock down" the expression of each gene in a cell.  Scientists can generate a "library" of designer virus particles, each of which expresses a different hairpin that can "knockdown" a different gene.  A large population of tumor cells is then infected with the virus, and scientists use gene sequencing or array based approaches to see which shRNAs become depleted from the starting population of shRNAs; this type of screen is called a "dropout screen". Earlier studies, including by our group, performed dropout screens on smaller numbers of cancer cell lines.  Yet because these screens involved only a few cell lines, they could not represent the large number of sub-types knownt to occur in, for example, breast cancer.  Our study, by using 77 breast cancer lines, has adequate power to survey the landscape of breast cancer. Furthermore, by obtaining parallel genomic information, as well as some information on the breast cancer cell "proteome" (the proteins in these cells), we can couple genomic analysis with functional genomics. In addition, we had drug response information for a large number of these lines, and so were able to make some predictions for drugs that might prove additive for breast cancer therapy. The result is a large number of potential new targets linked to genetic information, as well as new insights into how the different sub-types of breast cancer "rewire" their respective signaling diagrams compared with normal cells. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Technology / 15.01.2016

More on Cancer Research on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elena V. Batrakova, Ph.D. Associate Professor Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics Eshelman School of Pharmacy University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Batrakova: Deep down I was always was fascinated by the ability of biological systems to deliver various compounds to the disease sites. I believe, we have a lot to learn from living things. For example, immune cells, macrophages can feel inflammation and travel to this sited to deal with the problem, for example, kill bacteria, virus, or regenerate and support dying cells. So, when I realized that specific and targeted transport of therapeutics to cancer cells is very difficult task, I turned to nature. Exosomes are naturally occurring vesicles (bubbles) that offer distinct advantages that uniquely position them as highly effective drug carriers. They consist of cellular membranes with multiple sticky proteins on their surface. Exosomes by nature specialize in cell-cell communication and provide an approach for the delivery drugs to target disease sites. Plus, exosomes released by patient’s white blood cells are not immunogenic, because they are part of the immune system, so these tiny bubbles can be used for very precise and effective delivery of anticancer drugs to treat metastases, as well as primary tumors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 15.01.2016

More on Health Care Costs on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alisa Prager BS Bernard and Shirlee Brown Glaucoma Research Laboratory Department of Ophthalmology Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study?  Response: The goal of this research was to better understand the impact of glaucoma on non-ophthalmic healthcare use and costs. While there have been other studies assessing costs associated with glaucoma, these studies were primarily derived from either claims data or chart review. Our study used the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, which is a dataset that links claims data with survey results. The advantage of this is that the survey data allowed us to assess patient reported outcomes that did not necessarily prompt an encounter with the health care system, such as recent falls or feelings of sadness. The MCBS also provides complete expenditure and source of payment data on health services, including those not covered by Medicare, which allowed us to look at a more full spectrum of both private and public healthcare use and costs among Medicare beneficiaries. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Response: We found that Medicare beneficiaries with glaucoma have 27% higher likelihood of inpatient hospitalizations and home health aide visits compared to those without glaucoma, even after adjusting for covariates and excluding individuals who were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of glaucoma. When we stratified glaucoma patients based on self-reported visual disability, we found that those with self-reported visual disability were more likely to complain of depression, falls and difficulty walking compared to those without. We also found that glaucoma patients incurred a predicted $2,903 higher mean annual total healthcare costs from all sources compared to those without glaucoma after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and comorbidities. Costs were higher among those who reported visual disability, and remained higher after excluding outpatient payments. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Radiology / 15.01.2016

More on Heart Disease on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: John Nance, MD Division of Cardiovascular Imaging, Department of Radiology and Radiological Science Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Nance: There are known ethnic and racial disparities in the burden, morbidity, and mortality of cardiovascular disease. The causes, of course, are multifactorial, and range from genetic differences to healthcare access issues. Our goal was to further explore these differences by utilize a dataset encompassing black and white patients who had undergone a coronary CT angiogram for the assessment of acute chest pain. We compared various measures of myocardial morphology and function, namely myocardial mass, interventricular septal wall thickness, left ventricular inner diameter in diastole and systole, and ejection fraction. We found that black patients had significantly higher myocardial mass than whites despite adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, and hypertension. Likewise, the septal wall was thicker in black patients. Interestingly, ejection fraction was slightly lower in black patients, but this finding was not statistically significant.  (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, NYU, Pain Research / 15.01.2016

More on Mental Health Research on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Mia Tova Minen Department of Neurology NYU Langone Medical Center New York, NY 10016 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Minen: Migraine affects 12% of adults in the United States, and is thus a very common condition. There are effective treatments for migraine patients, but we also know that if patients and their doctors do not consider the psychiatric disorders that can co-occur with migraine, migraines can worsen, a term called migraine chronification. Thus, we felt that it was important to discuss the various psychiatric disorders associated with migraine, the screening tools available to assess for them, and various treatment considerations for patients with migraine and psychiatric conditions. We also discussed potential explanations for the relationship between migraine and these psychiatric conditions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Pancreatic, Pharmacology, PLoS / 15.01.2016

More on Pancreatic Cancer on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dai Fukumura, M.D., Ph.D. Joao Incio, M.D. and Rakesh K. Jain, Ph.D Edwin L. Steele Laboratory Department of Radiation Oncology Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Fukumura: This study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of pancreatic cancer, which accounts for almost 40,000 cancer death in the U.S. ever year. Half of those diagnosed with this form of pancreatic cancer are overweight or obese, and up to 80 percent have type 2 diabetes or are insulin resistant. Diabetic patients taking metformin – a commonly used generic medication for type 2 diabetes – are known to have a reduced risk of developing pancreatic cancer; and among patients who develop the tumor, those taking the drug may have a reduced risk of death. But prior to the current study the mechanism of metformin’s action against pancreatic cancer was unclear, and no potential biomarkers of response to metformin had been reported. We have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of the diabetes drug metformin to inhibit the progression of pancreatic cancer. Metformin decreases the inflammation and fibrosis characteristic of the most common form of pancreatic cancer. We found that metformin alleviates desmoplasia – an accumulation of dense connective tissue and tumor-associated immune cells that is a hallmark of pancreatic cancer – by inhibiting the activation of the pancreatic stellate cells that produce the extracellular matrix and by reprogramming immune cells to reduce inflammation. Our findings in cellular and animal models and in patient tumor samples also indicate that this beneficial effect may be most prevalent in overweight and obese patients, who appear to have tumors with increased fibrosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, OBGYNE, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 15.01.2016

More on Racial Disparities in Health Care on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emily A. DeFranco, D.O., M.S. Associate Professor Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth, Perinatal Institute Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Medical Sciences Building, Room 4553B Cincinnati, OH Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. DeFranco: The Infant Mortality Rate in the state of Ohio is higher than many other states.  Additionally, there is a large disparity in the IMR with black infants impacted to a higher degree compared to white infants. For this reason, we are particularly interested in identifying factors that contribute to this disparity in order to identify potential areas where public health efforts can be focused. We know that preterm birth is a major contributor to infant mortality, and that all babies born alive prior to 23 weeks of gestational age, i.e. "previable", die after birth and contribute to the infant mortality rate.  In this study, we wanted to assess whether black women are more likely to have early preterm births at less than 23 weeks, and if so whether that may be part of the explanation of why black mothers are at higher risk of experiencing an infant mortality. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. DeFranco: In this study, we found that black mothers were more likely to deliver than white mothers  at very early preterm gestational ages, less than 23 weeks.  We also found that the earlier the delivery, the larger the disparity with black mothers being at higher risk for the earliest deliveries compared to white mothers.  From this data, we estimated that in Ohio, 44% of all infant mortality in black mothers is caused by previable preterm birth, whereas only 28% of infant mortality in white mothers is attributed to the same cause.  We concluded that very early preterm birth in black mothers is a large contributor to the racial disparity observed in the infant mortality dilemma here in Ohio. (more…)
Author Interviews, Geriatrics, Heart Disease, Lancet / 15.01.2016

Click Here for More on Heart Disease on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bjørn Bendz MD PhD and Nicolai K. Tegn, MD Department of Cardiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet Oslo, Norway  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: According to life expectancy statistics, a person who reaches age 80 can expect to live an average of 8 years (in men) and 9 years (in women). People over 80 yrs are underrepresented in clinical trials, they are less likely to receive treatment according to guidelines. Our study, which directly targets the over-80 population, is the first to demonstrate that a more invasive strategy results in better outcomes in these patients. We believe our study provides a sufficient basis to recommend an invasive approach.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pain Research / 15.01.2016

More on Gastroenterology on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Guy Boeckxstaens Translational Research in GastroIntestinal Disorders KU Leuven, Belgium Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Boeckxstaens: Patients with IBS have increased abdominal pain for which no efficient therapy is available, mainly as the underlying cause is unclear. In our study, we checked the hypothesis that pain receptors (in particular TRPV1) in the gut wall of IBS patients are more sensitive (sensitized) than those of control subjects. Based on previous work, we focused on histamine, mainly as we had indications that mast cells releasing histamine may be involved in IBS. Interestingly, we noticed that neurons in rectal biopsies were indeed more sensitive to capsaicin, a substance of which we know it selectively acts on the pain receptors of interest. We could demonstrate that histamine sensitizes TRPV1 via interaction with its histamine 1 receptor (H1R). We next showed that treatment with a H1R blocker was able to prevent TRPV1 sensitization. Based on this observation, we decided to start a pilot study evaluating the effect of a H1R blocker, ebastine, in patients suffering from IBS. This study showed that 12 weeks treatment with ebastine indeed improved abdominal symptoms, in particular pain. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Science / 15.01.2016

More on Allergies on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yuxia Zhang PhD Population Healthy and Immunity Division Walter + Eliza Hall Institute Parkville VIC 3052 Australia  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Zhang: There has been a dramatic increase in hospital presentations due to food allergy over recent decades, most among children under five years of age. In Melbourne Australia, up to one in every 10 babies develop food allergy during the first year of life. To understand the mechanisms underlying the increased incidences of allergy and other diseases in children, Associate Professor Peter Vuillermin and colleagues established the Barwon Infant Studies (BIS), following and collecting bio-speciments  from pregnant mothers and their babies. Together with my colleagues Prof. Leonard  Harrison and Mr. Gaetano Naselli from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, we examined the immune cell composition and function in cord blood in babies who developed food allergy compared to allergy-free babies at one year of age.    Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Zhang: Our initial observation was that in cord blood the proportions of CD14+ monocytes and CD4+T cells were inversely associated. In infants who developed food allergy, there was a higher ratio of CD14+monoctypes/CD4+T cells and a lower ratio of naive natural regulatory T cells (nTreg).  The reduced nTreg frequency was also independently discovered by Dr. Fiona Collier in the BIS fresh blood cohort. CD14+ monocytes are the foot-solders of the immune system, which immediately release inflammatory cytokines upon infection. These inflammatory cytokines then guide the unexperienced CD4+T cells down to different paths to control infection. nTreg cells police the immune system to prevent unwanted damages during the elimination of the infections. Despite this widely accepted view of how our immune system are activated,  we do not know if and how these interactions may cause an allergic reaction in babies. Through a series of in vitro experiments, we found that the inflammatory cytokines- most likely in the mucosal sites where food allergy was initiated-could lead the development of both CD4+T cells and nTregs towards a Th2-type immune phenotype. These Th2-type immune cells secrete large amount of IL-4, a cytokine through which may cause allergic reactions to some foods. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA / 15.01.2016

More interviews with researchers from JAMA on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniela Kroshinsky, MD, MPH Department of Dermatology Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston  and Suchismita Paul, MD Medical student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, at the time of the study now with Department of Medicine and Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery Jackson Memorial Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Calciphylaxis is a life-threatening disease and the diagnosis is challenging with clinicians mostly relying on the clinical findings along with an assessment of risk factors. Tissue biopsy is often falsely negative, requiring multiple tissue biopsies, possibly propagating new lesion formation, and delaying treatment initiation. Therefore, a non-invasive tool would be of significant value for the diagnosis of calciphylaxis. The use of bone scans for the diagnosis of calciphylaxis has been reported in several case reports, yet its use remains controversial because of the reported low sensitivity and specificity. Only one previous study from 2002 reported that in fact the sensitivity is very high (97%), however, only 4 of 36 calciphylaxis patients were biopsy-confirmed and the specificity was not addressed. We investigated the potential role of bone scintigraphy for the early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of calciphylaxis. We performed a retrospective case-control study involving 49 patients, 18 calciphylaxis cases (biopsy-confirmed in 14) and 31 controls with end-stage renal disease without calciphylaxis. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Salt-Sodium / 15.01.2016

Click Here for More on Salt/Sodium on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sandra L Jackson PhD Epidemic Intelligence Service, CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Atlanta, Georgia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Jackson: Sodium reduction is an important public health strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease, and this study was the latest in CDC’s ongoing effort to monitor U.S. sodium intake. These findings reveal that nearly all Americans – regardless of age, race and gender – consume more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. Specifically, over 90 percent of children (2 to 18) and 89 percent of adults (19 and up) eat more than the recommended limits in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and that doesn’t even include salt added at the table. The newly released guidelines recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day for people over the age of 14, and less for those younger. The analysis also examined specific populations. Among adults, a larger proportion of men (98 percent) than women (80 percent) consume too much sodium. Among people at greater risk of developing heart disease or stroke – such as people age 51 and older, African Americans and individuals with high blood pressure or pre-hypertension (blood pressure higher than normal but not in the “high” range) – more than three out of four exceed 2,300 mg per day. Adults with hypertension consume slightly less sodium than other adults, and may be trying to follow physician’s advice to reduce sodium. However, 86 percent of adults with hypertension still consume too much. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 14.01.2016

More on Protein Kinases on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Angus Cameron Kinase Biology Laboratory Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London and Professor Peter Parker Protein Phosphorylation Laboratory The Francis Crick Institute Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A particular family of candidate targets for cancer therapies (the three members of the protein kinase, or PKN, family) have been largely overlooked in terms of our understanding of their roles in normal biology and also in disease. Since any programme to develop new treatments is well informed by understanding the normal roles of the drug targets in non-tumour settings, our research teams ‘knocked-out’ these genes in a model mammalian system, in mice, and observed the effect. A key finding is that whilst two of the protein kinases, PKN1 and PKN3, are not necessary for mammalian development or adulthood, for PKN2 there is an absolute requirement in embryo development, but evidence of little requirement in adulthood. Our teams then analysed in some detail the genetics and pathology of the developmental defects for PKN2 knock-outs. This established the importance of PKN2 in mesenchymal cell survival and proliferation during development. Mesenchymal cells are dynamic contractile cells which provide structure and shape to the developing embryo. This finding has profound effects on multiple developmental events. Mesenchymal cells are also important in many connective tissue conditions, including fibrosis of the lungs, and in cancer where mesenchymal cells can support invasion of cancer cells into tissues. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Colon Cancer, Dermatology, Nature, Testosterone / 14.01.2016

More on Colon Cancer on MedicalResearch.com MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nana Keum, PhD Department of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Keum: Male pattern baldness, the most common type of hair loss in men, is positively associated with androgens as well as IGF-1 and insulin, all of which are implicated in pathogenesis of colorectal neoplasia.  Therefore, it is biologically plausible that male pattern baldness, as a marker of underlying aberration in the regulation of the aforementioned hormones, may be associated with colorectal neoplasia.  In our study that examined the relationship between five male hair pattern at age 45 years (no-baldness, frontal-only-baldness, frontal-plus-mild-vertex-baldness, frontal-plus-moderate-vertex-baldness, and frontal-plus-severe-vertex-baldness) and the risk of colorectal adenoma and cancer, we found that frontal-only-baldness and frontal-plus-mild-vertex-baldness were associated with approximately 30% increased risk of colon cancer relative to no-baldness.  Frontal-only-baldness was also positively associated with colorectal adenoma. (more…)
Author Interviews, NEJM, NIH, Opiods / 14.01.2016

For more on Opioids on MedicalResearch.com please click here. MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wilson M. Compton, M.D., M.P.E. Deputy Director National Institute on Drug Abuse Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Compton: Deaths related to opioids (from both prescription pain killers and street drugs, like heroin) have dramatically increased in the past 15 years.  How these different types of opioids are related to each other is important because the pain killers ultimately are derived from prescriptions written by health care providers and street drugs, like heroin, are from illegal sources.  The different types of opioids vary in there source but are quite similar in their effects in the brain.  Given the different sources, interventions to reduce availability vary across the two categories. There is also a concern that interventions to reduce the availability of prescription opioids may be encouraging people to switch to heroin.  That’s the main question addressed in this review. (more…)
Author Interviews, NEJM, Surgical Research / 14.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jenny Löfgren Surgery and Perioperative Sciences Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Umeå Umeå Sweden  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are an estimated 220 million groin hernia patients in the World. 20 million are operated on annually making it one of the worlds most commonly performed surgeries. The surgical repair rate in low income settings is very low. Also, the quality of the surgery is lower than in high income settings. The superior technique that uses a synthetic mesh to reinforce the abdominal wall at the site of the hernia is not affordable due to the high cost of that mesh. Mosquito mesh, which is very similar to the expensive mesh, is already used in several settings but its safety and effectiveness had not previously been investigated in a randomized trial of sufficient size with follow up for as long as one year.   Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: The most important finding of the study is that it was not able to detect any differences in terms of safety, effectiveness and patient satisfaction when outcomes in the group receiving the low-cost (mosquito) mesh with the group receiving a commonly used commercial mesh. The study also shows that high quality surgery, on par with standards in high income settings, can be provided for an underserved population in rural Uganda, at an affordable cost. Finally, the study shows that it is possible to conduct high quality surgical (clinical) research with high follow up rates also in settings such as rural Uganda. This should encourage us and others to conduct other trials in the future.  (more…)
Annals Thoracic Surgery, Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 14.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Islam Elgendy, MD Clinical Pharmacology, Cardiology University of Florida Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Elgendy: This study aimed to review the current evidence for the effect of statin therapy before and after bypass surgery on different outcomes. The evidence suggests that statins can help reduce cardiac complications, such as atrial fibrillation, following the surgery. Statin use also seemed to be associated with a reduced risk of death during and immediately after bypass surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology / 14.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maria A. Woodward, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48105  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Woodward: The research was sparked by questions whether changes to the eye with keratoconus affect other parts of the body.  There is conflicting information from past research about connections between systemic diseases and keratoconus.  This creates confusion for patients and for doctors treating these patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 14.01.2016

Click Here for more Articles on Nutrition and Heart Disease MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James J. DiNicolantonio, PharmD Associate Editor BMJ Open Heart Cardiovascular Research Scientist Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. DiNicolantonio: We comprehensively reviewed the literature looking at the cardiovascular effects of saturated fat and compared them with refined sugars (sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup).  Our main finding is that saturated fat per se is not necessarily unhealthy.  Importantly, people eat foods, not saturated fat, and depending on what foods are consumed determines if saturated fat associates with health risk.  For example, the consumption of processed meat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, whereas dairy is not.  Importantly, the replacement of saturated fat with refined sugars seems to increase the risk of myocardial infarction.  Hence, reducing added sugars should be the main focus rather than reducing saturated fat, as the latter could translate to reductions in healthy whole foods that just so happen to also be high in saturated fat (but also provide other healthy fats). (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Nature, University Texas / 13.01.2016

Click Here for More Articles Related To Breast Cancer on MedicalResearch.com. MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Chunru Lin PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Division of Basic Science Research and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Lin: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) continues to be a serious healthcare problem despite improvements in early detection and treatment; lncRNAs are one of the emerging elements that make the process of understanding breast cancer development and progression so complex yet thorough. Thus, it is imperative to include an examination of lncRNAs when studying breast cancer, especially when researching challenging questions related to relapses and recurrences of breast cancer that occur after targeted therapeutic treatments. A perspective that incorporates lncRNAs into the discussion of breast cancer biology could be the conceptual advance that is necessary to encourage further breakthroughs. Our research reveals the biological functional roles of cytoplasmic lncRNAs as signaling pathway mediators and catalysts that serve as indispensable components of signal transduction cascades and gene networks. This understanding could transform the prevailing dogma of the field of signal transduction. This study has identified a previously unknown mechanism for HIF stabilization and signal transduction, which is triggered by the HB-EGF bound EGFR/GPNMB heterodimer and is mediated by LINK-A-dependent recruitment of two kinases, BRK and LRRK2, to phosphorylate HIF1α at two new sites, leading to HIF1α stabilization and interaction with p300 for transcriptional activation; this further results in cancer glycolytic reprogramming under normoxic conditions. LINK-A is the first demonstrated lncRNA that acts as a key mediator of biological signaling pathways, which suggests the potential for the involvement of other lncRNAs as mediators of numerous signaling pathways. Importantly, expression of LINK-A and activation of the LINK-A mediated signaling pathway are both correlated with TNBC. Targeting LINK-A with LNAs (Locked Nucleic Acids) serves as an encouraging strategy to block reprogramming of glucose metabolism in TNBC with therapeutic potential.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC / 13.01.2016

Tanush Gupta, MD MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tanush Gupta, MD Chief Resident & Instructor of Medicine and Prakash Harikrishnan, MD Prakash Harikrishnan, MD Fellow in Cardiology New York Medical College at Westchester Medical Center Valhalla, NY   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Complete heart block (CHB) is a relatively frequent complication in patients hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Patients who develop complete heart block in the setting of STEMI have a 3- to 5-fold increase in in-hospital mortality compared to those without CHB. However, most of the existing reports on CHB complicating STEMI are from the pre-thrombolytic and thrombolytic era in the 1980s and 1990s, before the widespread use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and advent of modern adjunctive medical therapies. Hence, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the association of complete heart block with in-hospital outcomes in patients hospitalized with STEMI and to examine the temporal trends in the incidence and outcomes of CHB complicating STEMI using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) databases from 2003 to 2012. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, NIH, OBGYNE / 13.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cuilin Zhang MD, PhD Senior Investigator, Epidemiology Branch Division of Intramural Population Health Research NICHD/National Institutes of Health Rockville, MD 20852  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Zhang: Potatoes are the third most commonly consumed food crop in the world. In the United States, about 35% of women of reproductive age consume potatoes daily, accounting for 8% of daily total energy intake.  Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication of pregnancy characterized by glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. GDM is at the center of a vicious circle of 'diabetes begets diabetes' across generations. Potato foods are typically higher in glycemic index and glycemic load, but data are lacking regarding whether potato consumption is associated with the risk of Gestational diabetes mellitus. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Zhang: Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy may have higher risk of gestational diabetes—the form of diabetes that occurs or first diagnosed during pregnancy—compared to women who consume fewer potatoes. Substituting potatoes with other vegetables, legumes or whole grains may help lower gestational diabetes risk. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lung Cancer, Pharmacology / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Glen Weiss, MD, MBA Director of Clinical Research & Medical Oncologist and Dr. Zoltan Lohinai MD National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology Budapest, Hungary Western Regional Medical Center Cancer Treatment Centers of America Goodyear, Arizona MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: With nearly 1.4 million deaths each year, lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer-related mortality. In the U.S., more than 162,000 die annually of this disease. One subtype of this cancer, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), is one of the most progressive tumor types. No new class of systemic treatment has been adopted as a new benchmark for standard therapy against SCLC for nearly three decades. Lung cancer researchers focus on SCLC not only because of its scientific challenge, but also because of their great desire to help patients suffering from this aggressive tumor. Drug repurposing bioinformatical analysis, a new research direction, has found that FDA-approved drugs in non-malignant diseases may have antitumor effects. Our study attempted to evaluate the recent laboratory findings in a clinical setting. Statins are a class of drugs primarily used to lower cholesterol in patients at risk for heart disease. They have been hypothesized by preclinical data to affect tumor cells through the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, which regulates many cellular functions. Our study of 876 metastatic-stage  small cell lung cancer patients, published Jan. 6, 2015, in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, showed that statins appeared to provide an increase in overall survival for those cancer patients who were prescribed those medications. Patients prescribed other classes of drugs, including aspirin, antidepressants, and blood pressure-lowering agents, have reportedly shown anti-SCLC activity in previous preclinical studies. However, our study found no such survival benefits. All in all, our study is a good example of how to evaluate drug repurposing in oncology, and that statins might have clinical relevance in the treatment of SCLC. (more…)
ALS, Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Disorders, Stem Cells / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dimitrios Karussis M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Neurology Head, Multiple Sclerosis Center Hadassah BrainLabs Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Karussis: BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is developing innovative, autologous stem cell therapies for highly debilitating neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson’s Disease (PD).  Our technology, NurOwn™ is a first-of-its-kind approach that induces autologous bone marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) to secrete Neurotrophic Growth Factors (NTFs).  These MSC-NTF cells have been shown to be protective in several animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. Data from the clinical trials described in the recent issue of the Journal of American Medicine – Neurology (JAMA Neurology), suggest that NurOwn can help patients with ALS.  The two trials featured in the article, a phase 1/2 and a phase 2a, studied the transplantation NurOwn cells in ALS patients.  These trials confirmed the excellent safety profile of NurOwn and suggest a clinically meaningful effect. The investigators used two well established clinical endpoints that measure disease activity in ALS, the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale and Forced Vital Capacity, and were able demonstrate a slowing of disease activity in the period following treatment. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, NIH, Nutrition, Sugar, Weight Research / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Caroline Fox, MD MPH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Fox: There is evidence linking sugar sweetened beverages with obesity and type 2 diabetes. There is also evidence suggesting that specific adipose tissue depots may play a role in the pathogenesis of these diseases. We found that higher levels of sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) intake was associated with more visceral fat (fat in the stomach cavity) over 6 years. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Surgical Research, UCLA, Weight Research / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aaron J. Dawes, MD Fellow, VA/RWJF Clinical Scholars Program Division of Health Services Research University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90024 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Dawes: We reviewed the published literature to answer three basic questions about bariatric surgery and mental health conditions. First, how common are mental health conditions among patients being referred for or undergoing bariatric surgery?
  • Second, do patients who carry a diagnosis of one of these conditions lose less weight after surgery than patients without these conditions?
  • And, third, what happens to the clinical course of mental health conditions after patients undergo surgery? Do they get better, worse, or stay the same?
We found that mental health conditions are surprisingly common among bariatric patients, especially depression and binge eating disorder, which occur at almost twice the rate among bariatric patients than in the general U.S. population. We also found no strong evidence to suggest that patients with depression lose less weight after surgery and some evidence that the condition may actually improve after surgery. Eleven of the twelve studies on the topic found either lower rates or fewer symptoms of depression, at least during the first 3 years post-operatively. (more…)
Author Interviews, Kidney Disease / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Navdeep Tangri, MD, PhD FRCPC Department of Medicine Seven Oaks General Hospital University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tangri: Chronic kidney disease is common and its end stage of kidney failure requiring dialysis can be devastating for patients and families. While 26 million North Americans are affected by CKD, the vast majority of them will not experience kidney failure during their lifetime. Predicting the risk of kidney failure for an individual patient can help doctors plan treatment, improve shared decision making, and provide patients with piece of mind. In 2011, we developed equations that accurately predict the risk of dialysis in more than 8,000 Canadian patients with CKD. While these equations are widely used, global implementation has been limited due to a lack of validation in other countries/health systems. The current study addresses all of these concerns by comprehensively validating the risk equations in more than 700,000 participants spanning 30+ countries, and demonstrating its accuracy in predicting the risk of dialysis. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Autism, JAMA / 12.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Diana Schendel, Professor MSO Department of Public Health Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine and Department of Economics and Business                             National Centre for Register-based Research Aarhus University Denmark Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Schende: Elevated mortality has been reported in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially with comorbid epilepsy and intellectual disability. The effect of comorbidity on the risk for mortality in ASD, however, has not been rigorously examined in large, population-based studies. Our study aim was to investigate ASD mortality patterns overall and to assess the specific effects of comorbid mental, behavioral, and neurologic disorders on ASD mortality into young adulthood. Our study comprised a nation-wide Danish cohort of 1.9 million children of whom 20,492 were diagnosed with ASD. We observed 68 deaths in persons with ASD; 83% of the persons with ASD who died had comorbid mental/behavioral or neurologic disorders. The risk for mortality was two-fold higher in persons with autism spectrum disorder overall. An elevated risk for mortality was also seen in persons who had ASD only, or had both ASD and other neurologic or mental/behavioral disorders, compared to persons without these other morbidities and no ASD. However, the co-occurrence of ASD in persons with neurologic, or with mental/behavioral disorders, added no additional mortality risk compared to persons with these disorders and no autism spectrum disorder. These results suggest that the mechanisms underlying mortality risk in ASD in part may be shared with these other disorders, although what might be the specific shared mechanisms cannot be determined with these data. (more…)