Medical Bulletin 25/Jun/2025

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Are Seed Oils Actually Good for Your Heart and Metabolic Health?

A new study presented at NUTRITION 2025, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, adds to the growing body of evidence that linoleic acid - an omega-6 fatty acid found in seed oils may help reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The research, to be published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, challenges popular claims that seed oils are harmful to cardiometabolic health.

Linoleic acid is the most common omega-6 fatty acid in the diet and is found primarily in plant-based oils like soybean, corn, and sunflower oil, as well as in many nuts and seeds. Recently, some critics have claimed that seed oils promote inflammation and worsen metabolic health, but the new study offers data that suggest the opposite.

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,894 adults participating in a Covid-19-related observational cohort. Unlike prior studies that relied on self-reported diet data, this research used blood markers to objectively assess linoleic acid levels, providing a more accurate picture of dietary intake.

The study found that individuals with higher levels of linoleic acid in their blood had significantly lower levels of glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR, an indicator of insulin resistance. They also showed reduced levels of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein, glycoprotein acetyls, and serum amyloid A.

"We saw consistent results across the different biomarkers measured," said Kevin C. Maki, Ph.D., adjunct professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington and chief scientist at Midwest Biomedical Research. "People with higher levels of linoleic acid in their blood tended to have a healthier overall risk profile for heart disease and diabetes."

Reference: https://nutrition.org/

Simple Blood Test Identifies Alzheimer’s Patients at Risk of Faster Decline: Study Finds

Insulin resistance, as measured by a routine triglyceride-glucose index, may help identify early Alzheimer’s patients at risk of rapid cognitive decline, according to new research presented at the European Academy of Neurology Congress 2025 and soon to be published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. The study suggests a low-cost, widely available blood test could play a vital role in predicting disease progression and guiding early interventions.

In this study, neurologists at the University of Brescia reviewed clinical records of 315 non-diabetic patients with cognitive deficits, including 200 with biologically confirmed Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Each participant underwent triglyceride-glucose index testing to assess insulin resistance and was followed for three years to monitor cognitive changes using the Mini Mental State Examination.

The researchers divided participants into thirds based on their triglyceride-glucose index. Among patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s, those in the highest triglyceride-glucose group experienced significantly faster cognitive decline—losing over 2.5 Mini Mental State Examination points per year—compared to those in the lower two-thirds. The hazard ratio for rapid decline in this group was 4.08. No similar trend was found in patients with non-Alzheimer’s forms of cognitive impairment.

"Once mild cognitive impairment is diagnosed, families always ask how fast it will progress," said lead investigator Dr. Bianca Gumina. "Our data show that a simple metabolic marker available in every hospital laboratory can help identify more vulnerable subjects who may be suitable candidates for targeted therapy or specific intervention strategies."

High triglyceride-glucose levels were also linked to cardiovascular risks and blood-brain barrier disruption, but showed no interaction with the APOE ε4 gene, suggesting metabolic and genetic risks operate through different pathways.

“If targeting metabolism can delay progression, we will have a readily modifiable target that works alongside emerging disease-modifying drugs,” Dr. Gumina concluded.

Reference: https://www.ean.org/congress2025

New Cancer Test May Identify Who Won’t Respond to Chemotherapy

A new study, published in Nature Genetics, introduced biomarkers that can predict resistance to widely used chemotherapy drugs, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of cancer patients annually.

Researchers developed a genomic test that identifies patients unlikely to respond to platinum-, taxane-, or anthracycline-based chemotherapies.

The method relies on identifying biomarkers linked to chromosomal instability—genetic changes in tumor cells caused by abnormal chromosome numbers. These variations form distinctive patterns unique to each tumor. The study demonstrated how these patterns can predict treatment resistance before chemotherapy begins.

To validate the approach, researchers analyzed data from 840 cancer patients—including breast, prostate, ovarian, and sarcoma cases—who had already undergone chemotherapy.

“Taking a biomarker from the discovery phase to the clinic is rarely easy,” explained Geoff Macintyre, head of CNIO’s Computational Oncology Group. “But with persistence and collaboration, it’s possible to turn a research project into a truly promising technology.”

Reference: Thompson, J.S., Madrid, L., Hernando, B. et al. Predicting resistance to chemotherapy using chromosomal instability signatures. Nat Genet (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02233-y