Medical Bulletin 01/July/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Unlocking the healing power of oral keratinocytes

Japanese scientists have made significant progress in understanding the signals involved in regulating oral keratinocyte cell motility and proliferative capacity, offering new insights into potential pharmacological manipulation for regenerative medicine.

Professor Kenji Izumi and his team examined the impact of growth supplements on oral keratinocyte behavior. They discovered that EGF in the supplement significantly affected cell motility and proliferation. This finding indicates the crucial role of EGF in regulating the behavior and quality of oral keratinocytes.

Reference: The EGF/EGFR axis and its downstream signaling pathways regulate the motility and proliferation of cultured oral keratinocytes, FEBS Open Bio, DOI 10.1002/2211-5463.13653

Loneliness is tied to higher cardiovascular disease risk in diabetic patients.

Loneliness is a bigger risk factor for heart disease in patients with diabetes than diet, exercise, smoking, and depression, according to research published today in the European Heart Journal, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology.

The study included 18,509 adults aged 37 to 73 years in the UK Biobank with diabetes but no cardiovascular disease at baseline. High-risk loneliness features were feeling lonely and never or almost never be able to confide in someone, for a total score of 0 to 2. High-risk social isolation factors were living alone, having friends and family visit less than once a month, and not participating in a social activity at least once per week, for a total score of 0 to 3.

During an average follow-up of 10.7 years, 3,247 participants developed cardiovascular disease, of which 2,771 was coronary heart disease and 701 was stroke (some patients had both). Compared to participants with the lowest loneliness score, the risk of cardiovascular disease was 11% and 26% higher in those with scores of 1 or 2, respectively. Similar results were observed for coronary heart disease but the association with stroke was not significant. Social isolation scores were not significantly related to any of the cardiovascular outcomes.

Reference: Professor Lu Qi et al, European Heart Journal, DOI 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad306

Lean muscle may guard against Alzheimer's disease.

High levels of lean muscle might protect against Alzheimer’s disease, suggests a large study published in the open-access journal BMJ Medicine. Lower levels of lean muscle have also been associated with a heightened risk of the disease, but it’s not clear if this might precede or succeed a diagnosis.

To try and find out, the researchers used Mendelian randomization, a technique that uses genetic variants as proxies for a particular risk factor—in this case, lean muscle—to obtain genetic evidence in support of a particular outcome—in this study, Alzheimer’s disease risk.

They drew on 450, 243 UK Biobank participants; an independent sample of 21,982 people with, and 41,944 people without, Alzheimer’s disease; a further sample of 7329 people with, and 252,879 people without, Alzheimer’s disease to validate the findings; and 269,867 people taking part in genes and intelligence study.

Reference: Genetically proxied lean mass and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: mendelian randomization study, BMJ Medicine, DOI 10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000354