Medical Bulletin 5/August/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

New mechanism that accelerates aging of adipose tissues

A research team led by researchers from POSTECH, Korea University, and Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) announced the discovery of a new mechanism where the BCAA metabolic pathway becomes impaired due to aging, resulting in dysfunctions of adipose cells and chronic metabolic disorders. In their earlier research, the research team uncovered that over-activation of CRTC2 induces insulin resistance, fatty liver, and obesity. However, until now, no research findings explored the impact of CRTC2 in adipocytes on aging and its related disorders.

This recent research marks the first confirmation that an increase in adipose CRTC2 due to aging accelerates cellular senescence, leading to a loss of adipocyte functions and aging-related chronic metabolic disorders. CRTC2 reduces the expression of PPAR gamma in adipocytes and impairs the catabolism of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA). Consequently, the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex (mTORC1) becomes activated, as revealed by the composite analysis of metabolome-transcriptome. Increased mTORC1 activation triggers cellular senescence and controls mitochondrial hemostasis, thereby accelerating aging.

Reference: Nature Aging, DOI 10.1038/s43587-023-00460-8, Impaired BCAA catabolism in adipose tissues promotes age-associated metabolic derangement

Risk of subsequent pregnancy complications heigtened with Childhood trauma

Childhood trauma, such as abuse, emotional neglect, and exposure to domestic violence, may heighten a woman’s subsequent risk of pregnancy complications, and of giving birth to a low birthweight or premature baby, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

The risks of pregnancy-related diabetes, high blood pressure, depression/anxiety, and giving birth to underweight and or premature babies may all be significantly higher, the analysis suggests.

Reference: Adverse childhood experiences, the risk of pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis, BMJ Open, DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063826

Peppermint oil aromatherapy may help with pain severity after heart surgery

The use of essential peppermint oil aromatherapy may ease pain severity after open heart surgery and enhance sleep quality as well, suggest the results of a small comparative clinical trial, published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. The researchers wanted to investigate the potential of peppermint essential oil as an alternative therapy to reduce pain and improve the sleep quality of patients after open heart surgery.

Sixty-four adults were therefore randomly assigned either to treatment with 0.1ml of 10% essential peppermint oil or 10 ml distilled water administered 30 minutes before their breathing tube was removed and then 3 times daily via nebulizer until the second night following their procedure—7 doses in all. The final analysis included 59 patients: 30 in the aromatherapy group and 29 in the comparison group.

Reference: Pain and sleep after open-heart surgery—inhalation peppermint essence: double-blind randomized clinical trial, 10.1136/spcare-2023-004214