Yearly Archives: 2017

When it’s about cholesterol, LDL cholesterol manifests as the prime risk factor in coronary artery disease (CAD). However, a recent study headed by Heribert Schunkert reported that the energy stores of the body—triglycerides—are the next harmful variants after LDL; and discovered that people having a particular gene mutation caused significant decrement in triglyceride levels thereby reducing the risk of heart attack by 50%.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, analysed 13,000 genes from 200,000 heart attack and healthy people. The authors found that apart from nutrition and predisposition, triglyceride levels are affected greatly by the ANGPTL4 (angiopoietin-like 4) gene. The ANGPTL4 gene trims the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) enzyme (that causes breakdown of triglycerides); thereby increasing triglyceride levels in blood. Mutation in ANGPTL4 gene is found to bring about radical cut down in triglyceride concentration.

Scientists also noticed that the body does not necessitate the presence of ANGPTL4 gene and therefore suggest that mutating or just switching off the gene is enough for drastic drop in triglyceride levels. Although, medications need to be developed to nullify the effect of this gene, animal trials have already showed successful results through a neutralizing antibody against ANGPTL4, paving way for human trials.

A recent study published in the journal PLoS ONE has unveiled that Women who used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy were more likely to give birth to newborns with longer umbilical cords. The researchers noted that longer umbilical cord may reduce fetal circulation, wrap around the fetus’s neck, or cause problems in later pregnancy and labor. Hitherto, mothers’ use of SSRI antidepressants has been associated with lower Apgar scores and birth weight of newborns, but this is the first study to find an association with SSRIs and umbilical cord length.

This study reviewed data on 369 pregnant women who used SSRIs. After adjusting for confounding factors, the researchers found that the infants with the longest umbilical cord lengths were more than 1.6 times as likely to have been exposed to prenatal SSRIs. Newborns exposed to SSRIs had significantly lower Apgar scores and more admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit than newborns not exposed to SSRIs. This effect was most associated with the SSRIs fluoxetine, citalopram, and paroxetine.

The study’s first author Julia Kivisto (Department of Psychiatry, University of Eastern Finland, Finland) deciphered that SSRIs may increase the activity and movement of the developing fetus, eventually umbilical cord stretches and gets longer. Ms. Kivistö added that while choosing the treatment for depression it is important to carefully consider the individual situation of each patient