Medical Bulletin 06/September/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

New Covid Variant ‘Pirola' raising alarm

Public health experts are expressing concern about a novel coronavirus variant known as BA.2.86. However, it's still too early to determine whether this variant is more contagious than existing strains of the virus, or if it will persist over time. The variant, informally referred to as "Pirola," derives its nickname from the combination of the Greek letters Pi and Rho. It exhibits over 30 mutations in its spike protein when compared to XBB.1.5, an Omicron variant.

Since the CDC's initial risk assessment, BA.2.86 has been detected in more countries through both human and wastewater samples. It has been found in at least four U.S. states, either in individuals or in wastewater samples. Researchers are currently conducting laboratory studies to gain insights into how the immune system responds to this virus

Reference: Yale medicine 

Statins linked to lower risk of colorectal cancer in patients with ulcerative colitis

Cholesterol-lowering statins might protect patients with ulcerative colitis from developing and dying from colorectal cancer. Statin treatment was also associated with a lower risk of death regardless of cause in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. This is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

The observational study conducted by Dr. Sun and his colleagues compared over 10,500 IBD patients from around the country, of whom half were statin users; the other half of the group, who were matched with the first, were not. After a follow-up period of, on average, 5.6 years, 70 of the statin group and 90 of the non-statin group had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer

Reference: “Statin use and risk of colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease”, Jiangwei Sun, Jonas Halfvarson, David Bergman, Fahim Ebrahimi, Bjorn Roelstraete, Paul Lochhead, Mingyang Song, Ola Olén, Jonas F. Ludvigsson, eClinicalMedicine, online 24 August 2023, DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102182.

Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against Heart Attack

Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all of the body’s cells and carbon dioxide back to the lungs. A new study, conducted at Karolinska Institute in collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital, now shows that red blood cells have an intrinsic function of protecting against heart injury caused by myocardial infarction. The effect is enhanced by a diet containing nitrate-rich vegetables, such as arugula and other green leafy vegetables.

Part of the study was conducted through experiments with red blood cells from mice that were added to a myocardial infarction model with hearts from mice. Before the experiment, the red blood cells were exposed to low oxygen pressure, while nitrate was added to the drinking water.

Reference: “Hypoxic erythrocytes mediate cardioprotection through activation of soluble guanylate cyclase and release of cyclic GMP”. Jiangning Yang, Michaela L. Sundqvist, Xiaowei Zheng, Tong Jiao, Aida Collado, Yahor Tratsiakovich, Ali Mahdi, John Tengbom, Evanthia Mergia, Sergiu-Bogdan Catrina, Zhichao Zhou, Mattias Carlström, Takaaki Akaike, Miriam M. Cortese-Krott, Eddie Weitzberg, Jon O. Lundberg, John Pernow. Journal of Clinical Investigation, online September 1, 2023, DOI: 10.1172/JCI167693