Jill Murphy

People who experience depressive symptoms may be more receptive to misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines because of an unconscious bias toward negative information over positive information, according to a study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“One of the notable things about depression is that it can cause people to see the world differently—sort of the opposite of rose-colored glasses. That is, for some depressed people, the world appears as a particularly dark and dangerous place,” said lead author Roy H. Perlis, MD, MSc, in a press release. “We wondered whether people seeing the world this way might also be more susceptible to believing misinformation about vaccines. If you already think the world is a dangerous place, you might be more inclined to believe that vaccines are dangerous—even though they are not.”

Perlis and colleagues examined responses from 15,464 adults from all 50 US states and Washington, DC, who completed an internet survey between May and July 2021 that included statements related to COVID-19 vaccines after answering a questionnaire that measured depressive symptoms.

The research team found that levels of depression are at least 3 times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants with moderate or greater major depressive symptoms on the initial questionnaire were more likely to endorse at least 1 of 4 false statements about COVID-19 vaccines on the survey, and those who recognized these statements were less likely to be vaccinated, the results showed.

Further, the presence of depression was associated with a 2.2 times higher likelihood of endorsing misinformation. The respondents endorsing at least 1 misinformation statement were half as likely to be vaccinated and 2.7 times more likely to report vaccine resistance, according to the survey.

The team analyzed data from a subset of 2809 respondents who answered a subsequent survey 2 months later. Those who suffered with depression in the first survey were twice as likely as those without depression to endorse more misinformation than they did in the prior survey.

“While we can’t conclude that depression caused this susceptibility, looking at a second wave of data at least told us that the depression came before the misinformation. That is, it wasn’t that misinformation was making people more depressed,” Perlis said in the press release.

The research team noted that the findings provide an additional motivation to ensure that people have access to treatment for depression and anxiety.

“Our result suggests that, by addressing the extremely high levels of depression in this country during COVID, we might decrease people’s susceptibility to misinformation,” Perlis said in the press release. “Of course, we can only show an association—we can’t show that the depression causes​ the susceptibility, but it’s certainly suggestive that it might.”

Perlis emphasized that the results do not aim to target misinformation on people with depression, but rather suggest that depression may cause people to be more vulnerable to believing this misinformation.

This article was originally published on Pharmacy Times®. 

People who are depressed may be more susceptible to misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Massachusetts General Hospital. January 21, 2022. January 25, 2022. 

https://www.massgeneral.org/news/press-release/People-who-are-depressed-may-be-more-susceptible-to-misinformation-about-covid-19-vaccines

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The research team found that levels of depression are at least 3 times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

People with depression may be more susceptible to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

A new study suggests that the use of artificial sweeteners during pregnancy may increase the obesity risk of the unborn child and can change bacterial populations in their gut, according to a study published in 

The study authors evaluated rat mothers who consumed sweeteners during pregnancy, which showed that the offspring had higher body fat percentage and changes in gut microbial communities, with increases in propionate- and butyrate-producing microbes and reductions in lactose-fermenting species. These results suggest that maternal diet during pregnancy can significantly affect obesity risk in children, according to the study authors.

“We know that a mother’s diet during pregnancy plays an extremely important role in determining whether their offspring will develop certain diseases later in life,” said senior author Raylene Reimer of the University of Calgary in the press release. “In this study, we were interested in determining how consuming low calorie sweeteners during pregnancy, specifically the artificial sweetener aspartame or the natural alternative stevia, affected the gut bacteria and obesity risk of offspring.”

The research team fed aspartame, stevia, or plain water to pregnant rats, followed by weighing the rat pups once they were born to examine their gut microbiomes and assess how the sweeteners had affected them.

Although the sweeteners had minimal effects on the rat mothers, it had significant effects in their offspring, according to the study. The pups who were born of sweetener-fed mothers gained more weight, had a higher body fat percentage, and showed key changes in their gut microbiomes. The team noted that these changes in microbial fermentation in the gut may have caused weight gain in the pups.

“Even though the offspring never consumed the low-calorie sweeteners themselves, their gut bacteria and obesity risk were influenced by the sweeteners that their mothers consumed during pregnancy,” Reimer said in the press release. “We found that specific bacteria and their enzymes were linked to how much weight the offspring gained and how much body fat they accumulated.”

Additional research is needed to provide clearer guidance for mothers and to analyze how it directly applies to human subjects, the study authors concluded.

Consuming sweeteners during pregnancy may affect baby’s microbiome and obesity risk. Frontiers Science News. January 14, 2022. Accessed January 17, 2022. 

https://blog.frontiersin.org/2022/01/14/consuming-sweeteners-during-pregnancy-may-affect-babys-microbiome-and-obesity-risk/

These results suggest that maternal diet during pregnancy can significantly affect obesity risk in children.

Consuming artificial sweeteners during pregnancy may affect baby's microbiome, obesity risk

New research from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences found that chronic hypertension is contributing substantially to maternal deaths in the United States, with a particular risk among Black women.

The study analyzed data from more than 155 million births and 3287 hypertension-related maternal deaths among women between 15 and 49 years of age from 1978 to 2018 in the United States. Additionally, the study showed a 15-fold increase in maternal mortality rates associated with chronic hypertension over the 40-year study period.

The incidence of hypertension-related maternal deaths increased with age, with the highest being among women between 45 and 49 years of age. The research team also found a substantial race disparity in the trends of maternal mortality rates due to hypertensive conditions.

“Black women were at anywhere from three- to four-fold increased risk of dying from a hypertension-related cause compared to white women in the United States, and this disparity has persisted for the last 40 years,” said study author Cande V. Ananth in a press release. She further noted that problems with access to care and many risk factors for hypertensive complications are higher among Black women than white women.

New strategies are needed to reduce hypertension-related maternal deaths by focusing on improvements in areas such as advanced maternal age, obesity, and racial inequities in care. The research team also mentioned that the findings underscore the need to better identify and treat women with chronic hypertension and develop targeted prenatal interventions, such as tight blood pressure control and efforts to reduce body mass index, according to the press release.

“We have gotten much better at treating women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia during pregnancy, which has undoubtedly contributed to the decline in maternal death rates, but we haven’t done as good a job in treating women with chronic hypertension,” Ananth said in the press release. “Part of that is because many of these women come in undiagnosed, and it’s often problematic to treat women with drugs to reduce their blood pressure, particularly early in pregnancy, so there’s a conflict of what’s the right approach.”

The findings also have implications for clinical providers, with Ananth noting that the burden of maternal death occurs within the first 6 weeks after pregnancy.

“Women who have any obstetrical complications, particularly hypertension-related complications, should be monitored very closely during the course of pregnancy and delivery, as well as in the postpartum period. Following these women after pregnancy is crucial,” Ananth said in the press release. “In general, approximately 80%-85% of women who experienced pre-eclampsia/eclampsia during their pregnancy see those symptoms resolve after the placenta is delivered, but for the remaining one-fifth of women, the hypertension condition persists for the remainder of her life. These women are particularly vulnerable and high risk, and need to be monitored carefully and treated for hypertensive conditions, particularly through medication and changes in lifestyle/behavior.”

Ananth added that the implementation of “obstetrics bundles” for high-risk conditions should be more widespread, implemented in all US hospitals.

“These bundles set the stage for identification, treatment and prevention of various obstetrical complications, including hypertension, and their effectiveness has been well documented in several studies, including those in New York, as well as in California,” he said in the press release.

Maternal deaths caused by chronic hypertension continue to rise. EurekAlert! January 3, 2022. Accessed January 4, 2022. 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/939127

This article was originally published in Pharmacy Times®. 

Additionally, the study showed a 15-fold increase in maternal mortality rates associated with chronic hypertension over the 40-year study period.

Maternal deaths caused by chronic hypertension continue to rise

A study from Gustave Roussy and the startup Owkin shows that deep learning analysis in digitized pathology slides can help classify patients with localized breast cancer between high- and low-risk of metastatic relapse in the next 5 years using artificial intelligence (AI).

This could help in therapeutic decision making and avoid unnecessary chemotherapy affecting the personal, professional, and social lives for low-risk women, according to the researchers. They added that this is one of the first proofs of concept illustrating the power of an AI model for identifying parameters associated with relapse that the human brain could not detect.

The RACE AI study was conducted among a cohort of 1400 patients managed at Gustave-Roussy between 2005 and 2013 for localized hormone-sensitive (hormone receptor-positive, humean epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative) breast cancer, and these women were treated with surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, and sometimes chemotherapy to reduce the risk of distant relapse.

Gustave Roussy and Owkin proposed a new method to direct patients identified as being at high risk towards new innovative therapies and avoiding unnecessary chemotherapy for low-risk patients. An AI model was developed in the RACE AI that would assess the risk of relapse with an area under the curve of 81% to help the practitioner determine the benefit/risk balance of chemotherapy.

The calculation is based on the patient’s clinical data combined with the analysis of stained and digitized histological slides of the tumor. The slides contain rich information for the management of cancer, making it unnecessary to develop a new technique or to equip a specific technical platform, according to the study.

A slide scanner is the only important equipment that can be found in most laboratories, as it digitized the morphological information present on the slide, according to the researchers.

This study opens up next steps for using the model on an independent cohort of patients treated outside of Gustave Roussy, and if the results are confirmed through reliable information to clinicians, this AI tool will prove to be a valuable aid to therapeutic decisions, according to the study.

This article was initially published by our sister publication Pharmacy Times.

Artificial intelligence predicts the risk of recurrence for women with the most common breast cancer. EurekAlert! September 21, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2021. 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/929023

They added that this is one of the first proofs of concept illustrating the power of an AI model for identifying parameters associated with relapse that the human brain could not detect.

Artificial intelligence can predict risk of recurrence for women with common breast cancer

The FDA has granted trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu, AstraZeneca/Daiichi Sankyo) Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer who have received 1 or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens.

The designation was based on data from the DESTINY-Breast03 phase 3 trial, and this is now the second BTD for trastuzumab deruxtecan in breast cancer, bringing its total number of BTDs to 4, according to an AstraZeneca press release.

“This is an important step in bringing Enhertu as a potential new option in earlier lines of treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, given the urgent need to improve outcomes,” said Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, in the press release. “This recognition by the FDA underscores the transformative possibility of Enhertu seen with the remarkable DESTINY-Breast03 results presented at ESMO just two weeks ago.”

The DESTINY-Breast03 trial demonstrated a 72% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to T-DM1 in patients with HER2-positive unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab and a taxane. The safety profile was consistent with previous clinical trials, with no new safety concerns identified and no grade 4 or 5 treatment-related interstitial lung disease events, according to the press release.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan is approved for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received 2 or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting in the United States, Japan, the EU, and other countries. It is being further looked at in a comprehensive clinical development program that evaluates the efficacy and safety across multiple HER2-targetable cancers, including breast, gastric, lung, and colorectal cancers.

This article was initially published by our sister publication Pharmacy Times

1. Enhertu granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation in US for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer treated with one or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens. AstraZeneca. October 4, 2021. Accessed October 4, 2021. 