Medical Bulletin 20/February/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Study findings show that receptor location is very important for psychedelic drug effects

In a paper published Feb. 17 in Science, researchers at the University of California, Davis show that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not.

The findings will help guide efforts to discover new drugs for depression, PTSD and other disorders, said senior author David E. Olson, associate professor of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular medicine and director of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics at UC Davis.

Reference:

Psychedelics promote neuroplasticity through activation of intracellular 5-HT2A receptors et al,Science,doi 10.1126/science.adf0435

Humans need more winter sleep, finds study

Scientists studying sleep difficulties have now published data in Frontiers in Neuroscience that shows that, even in an urban population experiencing disrupted sleep, humans experience longer REM sleep in winter than summer and less deep sleep in autumn.

Whether we’re night owls or morning larks, our body clocks are set by the sun. Theoretically, changing day length and light exposure over the course of the year could affect the duration and quality of our sleep. But figuring out how this applies in practice is difficult. Although studies where people assess their own sleep have suggested an increase in sleep duration during winter, objective measures are needed to determine how exactly the seasons affect sleep.

Reference:

Seasonality of Human Sleep: Polysomnographic Data of a Neuropsychiatric Sleep Clinic,Frontiers in Neuroscience,doi10.3389/fnins.2023.1105233

NIH study found toxic protein linked to muscular dystrophy and arhinia

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy or FSHD type 2 (FSHD2) is an inherited form of muscular dystrophy that causes progressive muscle weakness. Arhinia is an extremely rare yet severe disorder that prevents the development of an external nose and the olfactory bulbs and tracts. Both diseases are caused by mutations in the SMCHD1 gene. In patients with FSHD2, there is overproduction of DUX4 which kills the muscle cells, and this leads to the progressive weakening of the muscles.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their colleagues have found that a toxic protein made by the body called DUX4 may be the cause of two very different rare genetic disorders. For patients who have FSHD, or a rare facial malformation called arhinia, this research discovery may eventually lead to therapies that can help people with these rare diseases.

Reference:

Kaoru Inoue, Hamed Bostan, MaKenna R. Browne, Owen F. Bevis, Carl D. Bortner, Steven A. Moore, Aaron A. Stence, Negin P. Martin, Shih-Heng Chen, Adam B. Burkholder, Jian-Liang Li, and Natalie D. Shaw. DUX4 double whammy: the transcription factor that causes a rare muscular dystrophy also kills the precursors of the human nose. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7744

Post-surgery Immunotherapy provides significant, durable benefits for high-risk bladder patients: Study

Bladder cancer patients’ chance of staying cancer-free is increased by immunotherapy after surgery compared to patients who received a placebo, according to clinical trial results shared in a late-breaking oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2023 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in February.

Matthew Galsky, MD, Co-Director of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, presented three-year follow-up results from the Phase 3 CheckMate 274 trial. Patients on the trial had urothelial cancer of the bladder or upper urinary tract and had tumor features indicating a high risk for recurrence.

Reference:

Matthew Galsky et al,THE MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL / MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE