Anticholinergic drugs and incident dementia, mild cognitive impairment and cognitive decline:a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: the long-term effect of the use of drugs with anticholinergic activity on cognitive function remains unclear. METHODS: we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitive decline in the older population. We identified studies published between January 2002 and April 2018 with ≥12 weeks follow-up between strongly anticholinergic drug exposure and the study outcome measurement. We pooled adjusted odds ratios (OR) for studies reporting any, and at least short-term (90+ days) or long-term (365+ days) anticholinergic use for dementia and MCI outcomes, and standardised mean differences (SMD) in global cognition test scores for cognitive decline outcomes. Statistical heterogeneity was measured using the I2 statistic and risk of bias using ROBINS-I. RESULTS: twenty-six studies (including 621,548 participants) met our inclusion criteria. 'Any' anticholinergic use was associated with incident dementia (OR 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.32, I2 = 86%). Short-term and long-term use were also associated with incident dementia (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.17-1.29, I2 = 2%; and OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.22-1.85, I2 = 90%). 'Any' anticholinergic use was associated with cognitive decline (SMD 0.15; 95% CI 0.09-0.21, I2 = 3%) but showed no statistically significant difference for MCI (OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.97-1.59, I2 = 0%). CONCLUSIONS: anticholinergic drug use is associated with increased dementia incidence and cognitive decline in observational studies. However, a causal link cannot yet be inferred, as studies were observational with considerable risk of bias. Stronger evidence from high-quality studies is needed to guide the management of long-term use

The FANCM:p.Arg658* truncating variant is associated with risk of triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract: Breast cancer is a common disease partially caused by genetic risk factors. Germline pathogenic variants in DNA repair genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM, and CHEK2 are associated with breast cancer risk. FANCM, which encodes for a DNA translocase, has been proposed as a breast cancer predisposition gene, with greater effects for the ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. We tested the three recurrent protein-truncating variants FANCM:p.Arg658*, p.Gln1701*, and p.Arg1931* for association with breast cancer risk in 67,112 cases, 53,766 controls, and 26,662 carriers of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2. These three variants were also studied functionally by measuring survival and chromosome fragility in FANCM−/− patient-derived immortalized fibroblasts treated with diepoxybutane or olaparib. We observed that FANCM:p.Arg658* was associated with increased risk of ER-negative disease and TNBC (OR = 2.44, P = 0.034 and OR = 3.79; P = 0.009, respectively). In a country-restricted analysis, we confirmed the associations detected for FANCM:p.Arg658* and found that also FANCM:p.Arg1931* was associated with ER-negative breast cancer risk (OR = 1.96; P = 0.006). The functional results indicated that all three variants were deleterious affecting cell survival and chromosome stability with FANCM:p.Arg658* causing more severe phenotypes. In conclusion, we confirmed that the two rare FANCM deleterious variants p.Arg658* and p.Arg1931* are risk factors for ER-negative and TNBC subtypes. Overall our data suggest that the effect of truncating variants on breast cancer risk may depend on their position in the gene. Cell sensitivity to olaparib exposure, identifies a possible therapeutic option to treat FANCM-associated tumors

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Rationale, Design, and Baseline Characteristics of ARTS-DN:A Randomized Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Finerenone in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and a Clinical Diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy

Background/Aims: Finerenone decreases albuminuria in patients having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and mild-to-moderate (stage 2-3) chronic kidney disease. The MinerAlocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Tolerability Study-Diabetic Nephropathy (ARTS-DN; NCT01874431) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2b study. ARTS-DN investigated whether the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone reduces albuminuria without causing major alterations in serum potassium levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN who were receiving a renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) inhibitor. Methods: Patients were randomized to oral finerenone 1.25-20 mg or placebo once daily. The primary objectives were to assess the ratio of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio at day 90 to that at baseline in patients receiving finerenone, and to compare it with that in the placebo group. Additional exploratory analyses included evaluating changes from baseline in serum potassium levels, efficacy and safety biomarkers, and health-related quality of life. Results: Of 1,501 patients screened, 821 (the sample population) received at least one dose of finerenone/placebo. Baseline characteristics included: male, 77.8%; white, 84.2%; very high albuminuria (formerly macroalbuminuria), 38.4%; high albuminuria (formerly microalbuminuria), 60.3%; median (range) estimated glomerular filtration rate, 66.3 (24.5-130.7) ml/min/1.73 m(2); and systolic blood pressure (mean +/- standard deviation), 138.1 +/- 14.4 mm Hg. There was a history of cardiovascular disease in 39.6%, diabetic neuropathy in 20.0%, and diabetic retinopathy in 19.9% of patients. Conclusion: ARTS-DN is the first phase 2b trial of finerenone in combination with a RAS inhibitor in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Base

Rationale, design, and baseline characteristics of ARTS-DN: A randomized study to assess the safety and efficacy of finerenone in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy

Background/Aims: Finerenone decreases albuminuria in patients having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and mild-to-moderate (stage 2-3) chronic kidney disease. The MinerAlocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Tolerability Study-Diabetic Nephropathy (ARTS-DN; NCT01874431) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2b study. ARTS-DN investigated whether the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone reduces albuminuria without causing major alterations in serum potassium levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN who were receiving a renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) inhibitor. Methods: Patients were randomized to oral finerenone 1.25-20 mg or placebo once daily. The primary objectives were to assess the ratio of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio at day 90 to that at baseline in patients receiving finerenone, and to compare it with that in the placebo group. Additional exploratory analyses included evaluating changes from baseline in serum potassium levels, efficacy and safety biomarkers, and health-related quality of life. Results: Of 1,501 patients screened, 821 (the sample population) received at least one dose of finerenone/placebo. Baseline characteristics included: male, 77.8%; white, 84.2%; very high albuminuria (formerly macroalbuminuria), 38.4%; high albuminuria (formerly microalbuminuria), 60.3%; median (range) estimated glomerular filtration rate, 66.3 (24.5-130.7) ml/min/1.73 m2; and systolic blood pressure (mean \ub1 standard deviation), 138.1 \ub1 14.4 mm Hg. There was a history of cardiovascular disease in 39.6%, diabetic neuropathy in 20.0%, and diabetic retinopathy in 19.9% of patients. Conclusion: ARTS-DN is the first phase 2b trial of finerenone in combination with a RAS inhibitor in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN

Pre-existing polymerase-specific T cells expand in abortive seronegative SARS-CoV-2.

Individuals with potential exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) do not necessarily develop PCR or antibody positivity, suggesting that some individuals may clear subclinical infection before seroconversion. T cells can contribute to the rapid clearance of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus infections1-3. Here we hypothesize that pre-existing memory T cell responses, with cross-protective potential against SARS-CoV-2 (refs. 4-11), would expand in vivo to support rapid viral control, aborting infection. We measured SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells, including those against the early transcribed replication-transcription complex (RTC)12,13, in intensively monitored healthcare workers (HCWs) who tested repeatedly negative according to PCR, antibody binding and neutralization assays (seronegative HCWs (SN-HCWs)). SN-HCWs had stronger, more multispecific memory T cells compared with a cohort of unexposed individuals from before the pandemic (prepandemic cohort), and these cells were more frequently directed against the RTC than the structural-protein-dominated responses observed after detectable infection (matched concurrent cohort). SN-HCWs with the strongest RTC-specific T cells had an increase in IFI27, a robust early innate signature of SARS-CoV-2 (ref. 14), suggesting abortive infection. RNA polymerase within RTC was the largest region of high sequence conservation across human seasonal coronaviruses (HCoV) and SARS-CoV-2 clades. RNA polymerase was preferentially targeted (among the regions tested) by T cells from prepandemic cohorts and SN-HCWs. RTC-epitope-specific T cells that cross-recognized HCoV variants were identified in SN-HCWs. Enriched pre-existing RNA-polymerase-specific T cells expanded in vivo to preferentially accumulate in the memory response after putative abortive compared to overt SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our data highlight RTC-specific T cells as targets for vaccines against endemic and emerging Coronaviridae

The FANCM:p.Arg658* truncating variant is associated with risk of triple-negative breast cancer

Breast cancer is a common disease partially caused by genetic risk factors. Germline pathogenic variants in DNA repair genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PAM, ATM, and CHEK2 are associated with breast cancer risk. FANCM, which encodes for a DNA translocase, has been proposed as a breast cancer predisposition gene, with greater effects for the ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. We tested the three recurrent protein-truncating variants FANCM:p.Arg658*, p.Gln1701*, and pArg1931* for association with breast cancer risk in 67,112 cases, 53,766 controls, and 26,662 carriers of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2. These three variants were also studied functionally by measuring survival and chromosome fragility in FANCM(-/-) patient-derived immortalized fibroblasts treated with diepoxybutane or olaparib. We observed that FANCM:p.Arg658* was associated with increased risk of ER-negative disease and TNBC (OR = 2.44, P = 0.034 and OR = 3.79; P = 0.009, respectively). In a country-restricted analysis, we confirmed the associations detected for FANCM:p.Arg658* and found that also FANCM:p.Arg1931* was associated with ER-negative breast cancer risk (OR = 1.96; P = 0.006). The functional results indicated that all three variants were deleterious affecting cell survival and chromosome stability with FANCM:p.Arg658* causing more severe phenotypes. In conclusion, we confirmed that the two rare FANCM deleterious variants p.Arg658* and p.Arg1931* are risk factors for ER-negative and TNBC subtypes. Overall our data suggest that the effect of truncating variants on breast cancer risk may depend on their position in the gene. Cell sensitivity to olaparib exposure, identifies a possible therapeutic option to treat FANCM-associated tumors