Medical Bulletin 15/June/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Use of inhaled beta-2 agonists does not appear to be linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease.

Beta-2 agonists are bronchodilators commonly used in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although beta-2 agonists have been associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease in some previous epidemiological studies, this association was not found in a recent register-based study from the University of Eastern Finland.

Accumulation of the alpha-synuclein protein in the brain plays a central role in Parkinson’s disease. Beta-2 agonists were found to decrease the expression of alpha-synuclein gene in animal and cell models, which could be beneficial in terms of Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, despite beta-2 agonists having been associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease in some earlier epidemiological studies, confounding factors such as smoking may have influenced this association.

Reference:β2-Adrenoceptor Agonists in Asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease: Nested Case-Control Study.,Clinical Epidemiology, DOI 10.2147/CLEP.S405325

Novel imaging technique captures the effects of COVID-19 on the brain

A University of Waterloo engineer’s MRI invention reveals better than many existing imaging technologies how COVID-19 can change the human brain.

The new imaging technique known as correlated diffusion imaging (CDI) was developed by systems design engineering professor Alexander Wong and recently used in a groundbreaking study by scientists at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute and Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

Researchers at Rotman, saw Wong’s imaging discovery and thought it could likely also be used to identify changes to the brain due to COVID-19. Subsequent tests proved that theory right. The CDI imaging of frontal-lobe white matter revealed a less restricted diffusion of water molecules in COVID-19 patients. At the same time, it showed a more restricted diffusion of water molecules in the cerebellum of patients with COVID-19.

Reference: Feasibility of diffusion-tensor and correlated diffusion imaging for studying white-matter microstructural abnormalities: Application in COVID-19, which involves Wong and his student Hayden Gunraj as co-authors, is published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

Gene discovery offers insights into preventing a common side effect of corticosteroid treatment in diabetes

A study led by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research shows for the first time how a gene called RELA, known to regulate inflammation, also plays an essential role in maintaining normal blood sugar levels. The findings have implications for the prevention of steroid-induced diabetes, a temporary form of diabetes that affects up to half of hospital patients treated with high-dose steroids.

To better understand the mechanisms behind inflammation and how they may be better targeted, the Garvan-led researchers studied different genes that control inflammation in the body, using mouse models. They found a surprising effect – removing a gene called RELA, which helps regulate the expression of proteins involved in inflammation, leading to abnormally high blood sugar levels.

Reference: Dr. Nathan Zammit et al,Diabetologia, DOI 10.1007/s00125-023-05931-6