MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. David Gaist[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The incidence of subdural hematoma (SDH; a bleed located within the skull, but outside the brain) has been reported to be on the increase. Previous studies have shown an association between use of antithrombotic drugs and SDH. However, studies with updated estimates of this risk and with focus on current more complex and aggressive regimens of antithrombotic treatment are scarce.
We therefore performed this study, where we identified 10,010 patients aged 20-89 years that were admitted with SDH in Denmark in 2000 through 2015. Preadmission use of antithrombotic drugs (low-dose aspirin, clopidogrel, vitamin K antagonist, e.g. warfarin, and direct oral anticoagulants) of these cases was compared to that of 400,380 individuals from the general population with no history of SDH (controls).
We found that use of antithrombotic drugs was associated with an increased risk of subdural hematoma . The magnitude of this risk varied by type of antithrombotic, and was, e.g., low for use of low-dose aspirin, and highest for warfarin. Further, with a single exception (low-dose aspirin and dipyridamole), concurrent use of more than one antithrombotic drug was associated with higher risk of SDH, particularly if warfarin was taken along with an antiplatelet drug, e.g., low-dose aspirin or
clopidogrel. Increasing use of antithrombotic drugs was observed in the study period. The incidence of subdural hematomas in the Danish population also increased markedly in the years 2000-2015, particularly among those aged 75+ years. Our study indicates that this increased incidence, can, at least partly, be explained by increased use of antithrombotic drugs.
Dr Chiara Manzini[/caption]
Dr Chiara Manzini PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, and Integrative Systems Biology
George Washington University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: I have been working on finding genes that are mutated in rare forms of muscular dystrophy associated with brain and eye deficits for many years.
In the current study, which was a large collaborative effort, we found that mutations in the INPP5K gene cause a new type of muscular dystrophy with short stature, intellectual disability and cataracts. INPP5K is critical for processing a chemical called inositol phosphate which has multiple functions within the cell. We found that the mutations in the patients severely disrupt INPP5K function and when we removed the gene during zebrafish development, the fish showed the same findings observed in the patients: small size, disrupted muscle structure and eye deficits. We are very excited because this is a new disease gene for muscular dystrophy and a novel disease mechanisms, which can open up multiple new lines of investigation.
