It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Krill provide insights into how marine species can adapt to warmer waters
Uppsala University
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Genes controlling eye development and light sensitivity differed between the Northern krill from the Atlantic Ocean versus the Mediterranean Sea. The researchers believe this reflects genetic adaptations of behaviour and development to different waters.
Krill in our northern waters show how key marine species can adapt genetically to cope with climate change. This is the discovery made by researchers at Uppsala University in collaboration with an international research group. According to the researchers, their study – published in Nature Communications – provides important knowledge that can help protect marine ecosystems when the climate changes.
“Understanding how genetic adaptation works in krill can help us better predict which populations are more or less resilient to climate change. Since so many species in the ocean depend on krill, this knowledge is an important element in protecting marine ecosystems when the climate changes,” says Per Unneberg, a bioinformatician at Uppsala University and first author of the study of Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica).
Krill, small marine crustaceans that live in large schools, are some of the most common animals on Earth and a crucial food source for many marine species such as whales, seals and fish. But rapid climate change is threatening their survival, with potentially serious consequences for marine ecosystems. If and how zooplankton such as krill can adapt to a warmer ocean has been poorly understood until now. By sequencing and comparing the DNA of 74 specimens from different parts of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, researchers have now gained a deeper understanding of how these plankton are genetically adapted to their environment.
“Different populations of Northern krill have historically adapted to very different conditions in different parts of the Atlantic. This makes it a perfect model for understanding which genes and functions contribute to adaptation to different marine environments,” says Andreas Wallberg, researcher at Uppsala University and main author of the study.
The study shows that there is extensive genetic variation within Northern krill, which is critical for their ability to adapt to different climates. The researchers identified hundreds of genes associated with adaptation to hot and cold environments. This includes genes related to light and heat sensitivity, as well as to nutrient uptake and reproduction, which are crucial for the species to survive and reproduce under varying conditions in different climates.
“The krill genome is six times larger than that of humans and has unique copies of many genes. Our research shows that specific gene copies may have played an important role in the krill’s ability to adapt to both cold and warm waters. Our results may be of great importance for the conservation of important genetic diversity and marine ecosystems,” says Per Unneberg.
For example, the study suggests that populations of Northern krill living in Scandinavian fjords may be genetic “hot spots” for future adaptation to a warmer North Atlantic and Arctic. This makes conservation of these populations particularly important, according to the researchers.
“This research gives us a new insight into how plankton can survive in a world of rapidly changing climate by adapting genetically. What we have learned about the Northern krill can also be used to understand how other species can cope with climate change – such as the Antarctic krill, which is an important but declining species in the Antarctic ecosystem. This study emphasises the importance of mapping and conserving genetic diversity in marine species to ensure the stability of our marine ecosystems,” says Andreas Wallberg.
The Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica) from Gullmarsfjorden. Photographer, Andreas Wallberg
How do rabbits go from fluffy pets to marauding invaders? Rabbits have colonized countries worldwide, often with dire economic and ecological consequences, but their secret has until now been a mystery. In a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, an international consortium led by scientists from BIOPOLIS-CIBIO (Portugal) and Uppsala University (Sweden) sequenced the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits from across three continents to unveil the key genetic changes that make these animals master colonizers.
Throughout history, people have taken animals under their care. Your dear pet - furry kitten, loyal dog, or colorful goldfish - is just part of an amazing variety of domestic forms. “Some changed so much from their wild ancestors, it is difficult to imagine they are related, like chihuahuas that descend from wolves” explains Dr Pedro Andrade, a researcher at BIOPOLIS-CIBIO and first author of the study. “Changes are often so drastic, that if you put your pet back in the wilderness, it will be very challenging for it to survive”.
But sometimes, they do rise to the challenge. When they do, we call them ferals, populations of a once domestic species that successfully readapted to the wild. Rabbits are a classic example. Through frequent and independent releases, rabbits have colonized locations worldwide. But despite years of research, a central question has eluded scientists: how can a domestic animal, optimized for thousands of years to live in captivity, not only survive but thrive when returned to the wild?
“In a previous study by our team, which looked at the colonization of Australia by rabbits, we found that multiple releases of domestic rabbits had taken place for several decades before a single introduction of 24 rabbits with wild ancestry in 1859, by Englishman Thomas Austin, triggered the explosive population growth of rabbits which caused one of the largest environmental disasters in history” says Dr. Joel Alves, a researcher at BIOPOLIS-CIBIO and the University of Oxford.
Could this be the key to explaining why rabbits so frequently establish these feral populations? To answer this, the international team of researchers sequenced the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits, including six feral populations from three continents – Europe, South America, and Oceania – as well as domestic and wild rabbits from the native range in Southwest Europe. Armed with this treasure trove of information, the largest genetic dataset of rabbits ever produced, researchers could now understand what makes these introduced rabbits unique.
“Domestic rabbits are so common, that our initial expectation was that these feral populations would be composed of domestic rabbits that somehow managed to re-adapt to the wild, but our findings point to a more complex scenario” explains Dr. Miguel Carneiro, one of the senior authors of the study. According to him, “despite looking at six largely independent colonizations, all these feral rabbits share a mixed domestic and wild origin.”
The team found that during re-adaptation to the wild, genetic variants linked to domestication are often eliminated because they are often deleterious in the wild making animals more vulnerable to predation a pattern that is more striking depending on how extreme the trait had become during domestication. “In these feral populations, you will typically not see an albino, or a fully black rabbit, even if these fancy coat colors are very common in domestic rabbits. However, you may very well encounter rabbits that carry the mutation for diluted coat color, a domestic variant that has minimal effect on camouflage.” adds Dr. Leif Andersson, professor at Uppsala University and another senior author of the study, who continues “This is a concrete example of natural selection in action”.
This purging of domestic traits didn’t just target fancy coat colors. The team found evidence for strong natural selection operating on genes linked to behavior and the development of the nervous system. “Tameness is crucial for domestic animals to live close to humans, but it will not help a rabbit that finds itself back in the wild survive, so natural selection removes the genetic variants linked to tameness” explains Dr Andrade.
The study has implications for understanding evolution and will be closely followed by lawmakers and practitioners on the frontlines of conservation. Feral rabbits often turn into invasive pests causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and other domestic-turned-wild animals cause similar problems, like feral pigs or feral cats. “The best strategy to mitigate the impacts of invasive species is to prevent them from being introduced in the first place, so we hope our study provides important evidence to help evaluate and identify future invasion risks” concludes Dr. Carneiro.
Selection against domestication alleles in introduced rabbit populations
Universal flu vaccine candidate protects against infection in mice
American Society for Microbiology
Highlights:
Flu vaccine efficacy varies year to year.
A universal flu vaccine would protect people against all influenza strains that infect humans and last more than a season.
A new vaccine candidate incorporates proteins from 8 strains of influenza.
Recent tests of the candidate show efficacy in animal models, and the researchers hope to move to clinical trials soon.
Washington, D.C.—Annual flu vaccines protect against severe infection, but they vary in efficacy and may not match the most virulent strains of the season. The reality of a universal flu vaccine, which would protect people from all strains, and ideally longer than a single season, remains elusive. Findings published this week in the Journal of Virology suggest we’re getting closer. Researchers at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have reported that their universal flu vaccine candidate, tested on animal models, elicited a strong immune response and provided protection against severe infection after viral exposure. The new work builds on previous, similarly promising preclinical studies on mice from the same group, led by Ted M. Ross, Ph.D., Director of Global Vaccine Development at Cleveland Clinic. The researchers hope to launch human clinical trials within 1-3 years, said virologist Naoko Uno, Ph.D., who led the new study. “We want to make sure our vaccine can span multiple seasons, not just one, and protect against all the strains that affect humans,” she said. Scientists have identified 4 types of influenza virus, but 2 of them—Influenza A and Influenza B—pose the greatest risks to humans. Seasonal flu vaccines include proteins from 3 or 4 circulating subtypes of those viruses, which include H1N1, H3N2 and IBV. But because the virus mutates so quickly, predicting which strains will pose the biggest risk, and thus choosing which ingredients to include, is a guessing game. Researchers in Ross’ lab designed their new vaccine candidate using a methodology called COBRA, or Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive Antigens. They began by downloading thousands of genetic sequences of pathogenic influenza strains, spanning multiple seasons, from an online database. Then they digitally analyzed those sequences to identify which amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—are conserved across viruses and seasons. The researchers identified groups of proteins for different subtypes. To develop a wider-reaching vaccine, Uno said, the group identified 8 proteins from those previous studies associated with a sustained immune response. “We’ve been able to whittle down this list, to say these are the best at spanning multiple seasons and eliciting a broadly reactive antibody response,” she said. “It’s like creating a greatest hits album. We want to put only the best ones back in the vaccine.” Those greatest hits included proteins from H1 and H3 types of influenza viruses, Uno said, but they also included proteins from H2, H5 and H7 viruses, which are strains against which most people don’t have antibodies. Some of these have pandemic potential, Uno said. Past outbreaks of bird flu, or H5N1, have led to a high rate of human mortality, and in March 2024 the virus was found in dairy cattle in Texas. Since then, 4 people who work with cattle have been diagnosed. In addition, it has spread to dozens of herds in multiple states, and in other species including sea lions, birds, cats and alpacas. “We’ve shown that our H5 vaccine does cover many different clades,” Uno said. For the new work, the Cleveland Clinic researchers administered the vaccine candidate intranasally. Blood tests showed that 4 weeks later the animals had developed antibodies against the virus, and when the animals were exposed to the pathogen they were protected against developing infection. Ross currently leads his group’s efforts to advance testing of the candidate in the U.S., and Uno is collaborating with researchers in India and the European Union on an international effort. Uno noted that the COBRA methodology isn’t limited to finding and assembling recombinant proteins for the flu. It might be used to analyze mRNA or other biomolecules, she said, or explored for developing vaccines to viral diseases like dengue. “This can be used in a lot of viruses,” she said.
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The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of over 32,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
Journal
Journal of Virology
$20M community-driven research funding aims to reduce inequities, improve health outcomes
The American Heart Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are funding 4 teams of scientists and community leaders to engage historically underrepresented communities in research to improve health
American Heart Association
DALLAS, August 22, 2024 — A new $20 million research initiative will engage the people most impacted by health disparities in developing solutions that may help improve their overall health and well-being. The American Heart Association, celebrating 100 years of lifesaving service as the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health, are funding four research grants to foster collaboration between research scientists and community leaders to develop community-driven research projects aimed at improving health and saving lives.
The American Heart Association’s Health Equity Research Network (HERN) on Community-Driven Research Approaches will bring together teams of scientists from Furman University, Yale University and the University of California-San Diego to work collaboratively on research projects with community-based organizations in California, New York and South Carolina. A team from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will serve as the community engagement resource center for the network, leveraging expertise for training across network sites and nationally, providing consultation and guidance, compiling data reports and coordinating the administration of the initiative.
“This new innovative research network aligns with the American Heart Association’s multi-pronged approach to advance cardiovascular health for all, including identifying and removing barriers to health care access and quality, increasing equity, diversity and inclusion in science and fostering more diverse research,” said Keith Churchwell, M.D., FAHA, 2024-25 volunteer president of the Association and chair of the volunteer writing committee for the organization’s 2020 seminal presidential advisory on health disparities. “These networks are designed to identify ways to aggressively address adverse social determinants of health while engaging the very people who are most impacted in improving their individual and community health.”
“This initiative exemplifies our joint commitment to advancing health equity by harnessing the power of community-driven research,” said Alonzo L. Plough, Ph.D., M.P.H., RWJF Vice-president, Research-Evaluation-Learning and Chief Science Officer. “By working together with the communities most affected by health inequities, we are supporting innovative changes in conventional clinical research that better address health equity. We believe this collaborative effort will improve health outcomes, build a foundation of trust in the research process and contribute knowledge essential to achieving a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. "
COmmuNity eNgagEment for building Capacity, Trust, and Ownership of Research (CONNECTOR) is the name of the community engagement resource center managed by a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. This team will be led by Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., FAHA, professor and founding dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio and the Frank Harrison, M.D., Ph.D. distinguished chair in public health. Key activities will include supporting the network teams to identify, evaluate and manage community-based solutions for fighting heart disease that match what people think they need and are willing to support to bring about local changes for better health. This will include training the next generation of students on how they can work in communities and learn from and with the people in those communities to bring about change. Additionally, the team will share key learnings of the research projects.
The three targeted research projects, which began on July 1 and run for five years, include:
Advancing Food Justice Through Partnered Community-Driven Research - University of California San Diego and YMCA of San Diego County: This team will be led by Cheryl A.M. Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., FAHA, a professor and dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego and Earl M. Felisme, Tri- Chair for the San Diego Childhood Obesity Initiative Community Council. The theme of their work is “flipping paradigms”. This team will re-imagine and re-orient the ways in which resources, information and wisdom flow between communities, academia and other institutions. They will advance food justice – the belief that everyone should have access to healthy and sustainable food - in California’s San Diego County through three core programs: a community-led granting program that funds community priorities; an academic-led scientific methods program to support community-led grants; and a postdoctoral training program. The struggle of not eating enough nutritious high-quality food, coupled with concerns related to economics, environment, housing, education, safety and discrimination can lead to poor health outcomes. The team’s vision is that everyone, everywhere will eat healthful diets and achieve cardiovascular health through research and collective action work that is community-driven, diverse and inclusive.
JUSTResearch, FamJUSTICE and InJUSTICE - Yale UniversitySEICHE Center for Health and Justice and JustLeadershipUSA: This team will be led by Emily Wang, M.D., M.A.S., a professor of medicine and public health at Yale University and director of the SEICHE Center for Health and Justice and DeAnna Hoskins, M.A., the president and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA, a national organization based in New York. This team will explore why people who are incarcerated, along with their family members, are likely to have an increased risk of poor health, especially poor heart health. They will work with individuals who are formerly incarcerated to design research projects to identify health and wellness barriers. The team will collect data to determine what health risk factors may be most prevalent among people in prison and their family members and what types of interventions might be most successful in improving their health. The team plans to develop protocols and practices for a toolkit that can be used by community-academic partnerships to engage people impacted by mass incarceration in future research.
Amplifying Community Power in the Research to Identify Systems Changes Towards Health Equity – Furman University and LiveWell Greenville: This team will be led by Melissa Fair, Ph.D., community action director of the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health at Furman University and Sally Wills, M.P.H., the executive director of LiveWell Greenville (South Carolina). The team will study perception of community power among people from underrepresented communities, as well as how local government stakeholders view community input in their work. The team will form a community advisory board to create a model for training people to become more engaged in their community. They will study the effectiveness of community-based research projects in which individuals of lived experience have a more powerful voice, and specifically how that may improve chronic disease and health inequities. Additionally, the team will conduct an analysis of research studies that have included community participation in the decision-making process. The team will also explore how local policies have impacted chronic disease across counties in South Carolina and the deep South.
The American Heart Association has funded more than $5.9 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health research since 1949, making it the single largest non-government supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S. New knowledge resulting from this funding benefits millions of lives in every corner of the U.S. and around the world.
The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for a century. During 2024 - our Centennial year - we celebrate our rich 100-year history and accomplishments. As we forge ahead into our second century of bold discovery and impact our vision is to advance health and hope for everyone, everywhere. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
RWJF is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.
The future of robotics: Brain-inspired technologies paving the way
Beijing Institute of Technology Press Co., Ltd
image:
The research team at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at Northeastern University uses a variety of sensors to collect environmental data and employs multimodal information fusion to enhance environmental perception.
Credit: Yanan Bai, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Northeastern University
In the ever-evolving field of robotics, a groundbreaking approach has emerged, revolutionizing how robots perceive, navigate, and interact with their environments. This new frontier, known as brain-inspired navigation technology, integrates insights from neuroscience into robotics, offering enhanced capabilities and efficiency.
Brain-inspired navigation technologies are not just a mere improvement over traditional methods; they represent a paradigm shift. By mimicking the neural mechanisms of animals, these technologies provide robots with the ability to navigate through complex and unknown terrains with unprecedented accuracy and adaptability.
At the heart of this technology lies the concept of spatial cognition, which is central to how animals, including humans, navigate their environments. Spatial cognition involves the brain's ability to organize and interpret spatial data for navigation and memory. Robots equipped with brain-inspired navigation systems utilize a multi-layered network model that integrates sensory data from multiple sources. This model allows the robot to create a 'cognitive map' of its surroundings, much like the neural maps created by the hippocampus in the human brain.
One of the significant advantages of brain-inspired navigation is its robustness in challenging environments. Traditional navigation systems often struggle with dynamic and unpredictable settings, where the reliance on pre-mapped routes and landmarks can lead to failures. In contrast, brain-inspired systems continuously learn and adapt, improving their navigational strategies over time. This capability is particularly beneficial in environments like disaster zones or extraterrestrial surfaces, where prior mapping is either impossible or impractical.
Moreover, these systems significantly reduce energy consumption and computational needs. By focusing only on essential data and employing efficient neural network models, robots can operate longer and perform more complex tasks without the need for frequent recharging or maintenance.
The technology's applications are vast and varied. For instance, autonomous vehicles equipped with brain-inspired systems could navigate more safely and efficiently, reacting in real-time to sudden changes in traffic conditions or road layouts. Similarly, drones used for delivery services could plan their routes more effectively, avoiding obstacles and optimizing delivery times.
Despite its promising potential, the development of brain-inspired navigation technology faces several challenges. Integrating biological principles into mechanical systems is inherently complex, requiring multidisciplinary efforts from fields such as neuroscience, cognitive science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Moreover, these systems must be scalable and versatile enough to be customized for different types of robotic platforms and applications.
As researchers continue to unravel the mysteries of the brain's navigational capabilities, the future of robotics looks increasingly intertwined with the principles of neuroscience. The collaboration across disciplines promises not only to advance our understanding of the brain but also to pave the way for a new generation of intelligent robots. These robots will not only assist in mundane tasks but also perform critical roles in search and rescue operations, planetary exploration, and much more.
In conclusion, brain-inspired navigation technology represents a significant leap forward in robotics, merging the abstract with the applied, the biological with the mechanical, and the theoretical with the practical. As this technology continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly open new horizons for robotic applications, making machines an even more integral part of our daily lives and work.
The paper, "A Review of Brain-Inspired Cognition and Navigation Technology for Mobile Robots," was published in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems on Jun 27, 2024, at DOI: https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/cbsystems.0128
New study examines use of opioids for chronic cough
BABA USED LAUDUNUM FOR WHOOPING COUGH
Cough is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care
Regenstrief Institute
INDIANAPOLIS – Chronic cough, with symptoms lasting more than eight weeks, affects approximately one in 10 adults. Cough is among the most common reasons for seeking medical care in the United States, yet chronic cough is difficult to treat. One of the largest studies of chronic cough and one of the first to explore the use of opioids, which are known to suppress cough, to treat these patients, has found that 20 percent of patients with chronic cough received a prescription for a cough suppressant containing an opioid.
With the goals of estimating opioid prescription in the chronic cough population and of informing alternative treatment strategies, a research team led by Michael Weiner, M.D., MPH, of Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine, found that the odds of an opioid being prescribed were twice as great for chronic cough as for non-chronic cough.
Chronic cough is a symptom, a condition that can have a variety of causes including asthma, acid reflux, “postnasal drip”, neurological issues or a reaction to a drug.
“The magnitude of use and prescription of opioids for chronic cough is really very high. As we learned from our study, some subgroups were especially likely to be prescribed these drugs. Patients who had Medicaid insurance -- typically low-income individuals -- were more likely to be prescribed these drugs. Older patients were more likely to be prescribed these drugs than younger patients,” said Dr. Weiner. “Although over one-third of patients with chronic cough had at least three prescriptions for cough suppressants containing opioids, more than 10 prescriptions for these drugs were ordered for only half a percent of patients with chronic cough. This indicates that opioids, which play an important role in chronic cough care, are not used as long-term therapy in most cases.”
Opioid-containing cough suppressants were defined as drugs with codeine, dihydrocodeine, or hydrocodone. All opioids carry a risk of addiction.
The researchers studied the electronic health records of 23,210 patients seen by clinicians for cough at least three times over a period of about two to four months and 229,538 patients with non-chronic cough, ages 18 to 85. The deidentified data were obtained from the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), one of the nation’s first and largest clinical data repositories. It was created by Regenstrief Institute and is managed by the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE). Regenstrief Data Services is the custodian of data for research purposes.
Chronic cough does not have a diagnostic code, which has made it difficult to track the condition at both the individual and population levels.
“With our decades of experience with electronic health records, we were well aware that symptoms, such as cough – both chronic and non-chronic – are hard to identify. But using a natural language processing method that we developed and tested in a previous study of chronic cough, helped us identify these cases of chronic cough in the clinical notes,” said study co-author Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Paul Dexter, M.D., a biomedical informatician who has conducted multiple prior studies using natural language processing.
“Chronic cough is a significant problem -- at home, at work and when out in the community -- for a very large number of patients and warrants not only better diagnosis plans and management pathways, but also a larger array of treatment options so that we don't have to rely on opioids to such a great extent,” added Dr. Weiner, who studies the effects of health information and information technology on physician practice and patient outcomes. “We may, for example, discover chemical compounds with new mechanisms of action to suppress cough or attack its root causes. There are drugs already in the pipeline that may be less addictive, more effective or safer with fewer side effects and complications than opioids. I'm optimistic that the future of treating patients with chronic cough will be brighter than it has been in the past.”
1Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc., 1101 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-4800, USA.
2School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
3Center for Health Information and Communication, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Systems Research CIN 13-416, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
4Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence (CORE), Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.
5Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, USA.
6Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
7Regenstrief Data Services, Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Michael Weiner, M.D., MPH In addition to his role as a research scientist with the William M. Tierney Center for Health Services Research at Regenstrief Institute, Michael Weiner, M.D., MPH, is a research health scientist at the VA Health Systems Research Center for Health Information and Communication, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, and a professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Paul R. Dexter, M.D.
In addition to his role as a research scientist with the Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical Informatics at Regenstrief Institute, Paul R. Dexter, M.D., is an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Prescriptions of opioid-containing drugs in patients with chronic cough
Chronic cough may be hereditary
Uppsala University
image:
Össur Ingi Emilsson, Docent in Lung, Allergy and Sleep Research at the Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University. Photographer: Emil Össurarson
Chronic cough is among the most common reasons for seeking medical care, with middle-aged women the group most affected. New studies at Uppsala University also show that this condition appears to be a hereditary phenomenon. The studies have been published in ERJ Open Research and PLOS ONE.
“More than 10% of the population has a chronic cough, which has been shown to entail several negative consequences: reduced quality of life, reduced ability to work and voice problems. At present, we have insufficient knowledge about what causes coughing and how best to treat it,” notes Össur Ingi Emilsson, Docent in Lung, Allergy and Sleep Research at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University.
Two recently published studies from the department have investigated both how cough is currently managed in Swedish healthcare, and whether chronic cough can be hereditary. One of the studies, based on data from the Swedish healthcare register, showed that one to two percent of the entire Swedish population sought care for chronic cough between 2016 and 2018, usually in primary care. Of those who sought care, the majority appear to have had a long-standing cough. The prevalence is highest among women between the ages of 40 and 60, with around 21,000 women seeking treatment for cough in these three years.
“Women generally seem to have a slightly more sensitive cough reflex, so the threshold for abnormal coughing is lower in women than in men. For me, it was unexpected that only one to two percent of patients seek help for a troublesome cough when over ten percent are affected. This can be partly explained by the lack of effective treatments. There also appeared to be some differences in care between different parts of the country, suggesting that better guidelines are needed for investigating and treating chronic cough,” continues Emilsson.
Another study by the same research team has provided a clue as to why some individuals develop chronic cough. Cough appears to be a hereditary phenomenon. In a large population study in northern Europe of 7,155 parents and their 8,176 adult children aged 20 years and over, it was found that if one parent has had chronic dry cough, their offspring were over 50% more likely to have chronic dry cough. This link was independent of confounding factors such as asthma, biological sex and smoking.
“A similar relationship was seen for productive cough, but in those cases smoking had a greater impact on prevalence. These results suggest that there is a genetic link to chronic cough,” adds Emilsson.
The research team has already begun a treatment study into chronic cough. Based on these new findings, the group is now moving forward with studies on genetic variants in collaboration with the Icelandic company deCODE genetics, which analyses the human genome. The aim is to identify which genetic variants are linked to chronic cough.
“This could provide a better understanding of the occurrence of chronic cough, which may ultimately result in better treatments for this difficult-to-treat condition,” explains Emilsson.
