Cholesterol Goldilocks zone

High HDL cholesterol seems to increase the risk of dementia.

Low HDL cholesterol seems to increase the risk of dementia.

This bit of unexpected data^* comes out of Boston University, and it’s based on data from about 184,000 older-ish people.

People with the highest levels of HDL cholesterol had a 15% higher rate of dementia compared to those in the middle group. Those with the lowest levels had a 7% higher rate of dementia compared to those in the middle group.

But those are the highest and lowest HDL levels. In general, when it comes to the risk of dementia from HDL, “these increases are small, and their clinical significance is uncertain,” per the lead author. (Side note: LDL levels didn’t seem to have any effect.)

^* Yes, technically it’s a datum. Hush, you.

Prebiotics aren’t for preemies

Apparently it’s not uncommon to give preemies a dose of probiotics (e.g., Evivo with MCT Oil). But that can cause complications, and now one infant has died from “sepsis caused by a type of bacteria that turned out to be a genetic match to the bacteria contained in the probiotic.”

Ergo, the FDA is warning hospitals: Don’t give probiotics to preemies.

GPhA out and about

GPhA’s VP of the AIP, Jonathan Marquess joined interim CEO Mahlon Davidson for a trip to UGA’s College of Pharmacy to explain to students (and faculty and staff) why legislative advocacy is so important to keep the pharmacy profession movin’ and groovin’^*.

Here they are flanking UGA COP Dean Kelly Smith:

^* They did not use these exact terms, but the sentiment was similar.

MRSA vaccine?

USC scientists have made what they describe as a vaccine against MRSA — something they suggest giving to patients going into hospital to help prevent catching an infection there.

Rather than getting the body to make antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus or Acinetobacter baumannii, this vaccine — which lasts about 28 days…

… gooses the body’s preexisting supply of pathogen-gobbling immune cells called macrophages, which engulf and digest bacteria, fungi and other bad actors. These activated fighters, found in all tissues, quickly neutralize incoming invaders which might otherwise multiply rapidly and overwhelm the body’s defenses.

They’ve already taken the most important next step: Getting a patent and forming a startup (ExBaq LLC) to eventually sell it. Oh, and working to begin clinical trials.

Speaking of MRSA…

It seems — per Duke researchers — that ceftobiprole (the pneumonia drug) also works against MRSA, and just as well as daptomycin. If the FDA approves it to treat S. aureus, that would be the first new drug for that indication in more than 15 years.

Keeping a nano eye on vancomycin

When someone’s given vancomycin, they, and it, have to be monitored carefully — we’re talking hourly blood tests to ensure it’s killing the bad stuff (the infection) and not the good stuff (the patient). It’s not an antibiotic to be trifled with.

Nanoscience might have a better way, courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories. Researchers there have developed a ‘microneedle patch with nanoscale sensors’ that can turn vancomycin levels into electrical impulses, enabling real-time monitoring using a patch the size of a silver dollar^*.

So far, like many grad students, it’s successful in the lab but still needs to be tested in the real world.

^* Whether they mean the big ol’ Eisenhower silver dollars or the newfangled ones isn’t clear. 

Covid vaccines quickies

Put it in a scrapbook

The CDC has stopped printing Covid-19 vaccination cards.

Two weeks, four million

In the two weeks of September that the new Covid vaccines were available, about 4 million Americans got their shots “even as some people have found it difficult to book vaccination appointments or find the vaccines at no cost.”