Medical Bulletin 25/April/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Drinking alcohol while breastfeeding impacts health of newborns

Led by Kelly Huffman, a professor of psychology, a research team at the University of California, Riverside team found that infants’ exposure to alcohol through breastmilk can have long-lasting effects on their development. Specifically, young mice that were exposed to alcohol during early development show smaller body and brain growth, as well as decreased cortical lengths - a measure of brain size. The study appears in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Research shows approximately 36% of breastfeeding mothers in the United States consume alcohol. In Canada and Australia, the numbers are 20% and 60%, respectively. Women who consume alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to drink while breastfeeding. Also, many women who choose to abstain from drinking during pregnancy report beginning to drink again shortly after giving birth.

Reference:

Alcohol and lactation: Developmental deficits in a mouse model.,Frontiers in Neuroscience,doi 10.3389/fnins.2023.1147274 

How cadmium-induced inflammation increases the severity and mortality of lung infections

Lower respiratory tract infections, including bacterial pneumonia, are the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, with 120 million to 156 million cases and 1.4 million deaths a year. Streptococcus pneumoniae accounts for more than 55 percent of those deaths.

A key mechanism of cadmium-linked inflammation that increases severity and mortality of lung infections has been described, offering a promising therapeutic target to limit lung injury and death.

This study, led by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers Jennifer L. Larson-Casey, Ph.D., and A. Brent Carter, M.D., is based on an underserved, primarily African American community that is proposed as a National Priorities List area by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, due to heavy metals, including cadmium, in the soil and air that have caused lung disease. This North Birmingham, Alabama, community historically housed people who worked in mines, coke plants and heavy industries.

Reference:

Impaired PPARɣ activation by cadmium exacerbates infection-induced lung injury,JCI Insight,doi 10.1172/jci.insight.166608 

Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy increases risk for flu

A new study led by Dr. Natalie Johnson, associate professor in the Texas A&M University School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, shows that exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs) during pregnancy enhances respiratory viral infection risk. The results of the study were published recently in Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

During pregnancy, women are more susceptible to severe respiratory infections from multiple viruses, including influenza A virus (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Additionally, pregnant women are disproportionately affected by influenza, resulting in a more than 10-fold increase in hospitalization risk.

Reference:

Maternal exposure to ultrafine particles enhances influenza infection during pregnancy,Particle and Fibre Toxicology,doi 10.1186/s12989-023-00521-1