Research

ORLANDO, Fla. – A group of researchers led by Mayo Clinic has discovered that disclosing genetic risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) results in lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol. The findings of the Myocardial Infarction Genes (MI-GENES) Study were presented today at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2015 as a late-breaking clinical trial. In this study, the investigators tested the hypothesis that incorporating genetic risk information into CHD risk estimates would lead to lowering of LDL levels. Participants were randomized to receive a CHD risk estimate that included genetic risk information versus an estimate based on conventional risk factors alone. Conventional risk factors include high blood pressure, diabetes, physical inactivity and a history of smoking. Six months after risk disclosure, the LDL levels were nearly 10 milligrams per deciliter of blood lower in those randomized to receive genetic risk information. The lower LDL levels resulted from a greater proportion of individuals in this group being started on statin medication. “This study demonstrates for the first time that disclosing genetic risk information for a common disease such as CHD can result in changes in a relevant health outcome, in this case, LDL levels,” says Iftikhar Kullo, M.D., Mayo Clinic cardiologist and lead author. “The study also demonstrates the feasibility of placing genetic risk information into the electronic health record to empower patients and physicians to make decisions related to initiation of a statin medication. This is an important advance in the area of precision medicine for cardiovascular diseases.” MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, Klein.traci@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Kullo are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHcGI91HJqA

Mayo Clinic rheumatologist Dr. Timothy Niewold has received the Lupus Foundation of America’s Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize for his research on the autoimmune ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — New research shows that drinking one 16-ounce energy drink can increase blood pressure and stress hormone responses significantly. This raises the concern that these response changes could increase the risk of cardiovascular events, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015. The findings also are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “In previous research, we found that energy drink consumption increased blood pressure in healthy young adults,” says Anna Svatikova, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiology fellow and the first author. “We now show that the increases in blood pressure are accompanied by increases in norepinephrine, a stress hormone chemical, and this could predispose an increased risk of cardiac events – even in healthy people.” Mayo Clinic researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study on 25 healthy volunteers with an average age of 29. Each participant consumed a 16-ounce energy drink and placebo drink within five minutes, in random order, on two separate days, with a maximum of two weeks apart. The placebo drink was similar in taste, texture and color, but lacked caffeine and other stimulants of the energy drink, such as taurine, guarana and ginseng. MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, Klein.traci@mayo.edu

ORLANDO, Fla. — Heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) — where the heart becomes stiff and cannot relax or fill properly — did not have increased exercise tolerance after taking isosorbide mononitrate, compared to a placebo, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015. The findings come from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Heart Failure Clinical Research Network and are also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Importantly, the HFpEF patients’ daily activity level was assessed with accelerometers, devices patients wore to measure movement throughout the study. Daily activity progressively and significantly decreased as the dose of the nitrate increased, says Margaret Redfield, M.D., first author and cardiologist at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, Minnesota, campus. “It is important to relieve symptoms in heart failure, so patients can be more active. Inactivity perpetuates deconditioning and frailty in heart failure,” Dr. Redfield says. “While nitrates are commonly prescribed for symptom relief in HFpEF, the effects of nitrates in patients with HFpEF have not been studied.” In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, two-period, 12-week crossover study called the Nitrate’s Effect on Activity Tolerance in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (NEAT-HFpEF) Trial, 110 patients with HFpEF at 20 sites were studied. Patients were randomized into one of two treatment groups: Six weeks of placebo first, followed by six weeks of isosorbide mononitrate Six weeks of isosorbide mononitrate, followed by six weeks of placebo MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, Klein.traci@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Redfield are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJTkB2Gy2Hc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR6klhuVeyw ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that a mild to moderate reduction in calories effectively prevents and reverses polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in mice. The results appear online today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. “Currently, there is no FDA-approved treatment, and the only thing that can be done is dialysis or renal transplantation,” explains Eduardo Chini, M.D., Ph.D., anesthesiologist and researcher for Mayo Clinic’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and lead author of the study. “We have found that a very simple measure, like decreasing the amount of calories that are taken in, even by only 10 percent, can very significantly decrease the burden of this disease.” Researchers say the finding is a critical step toward effective treatment for PKD, an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys. The National Kidney Foundation estimates that 600,000 individuals in the United States have PKD, the fourth leading cause of kidney failure. MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Forliti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Chini are available in the downloads.

Watch today's Mayo Clinic Minute The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease has more than doubled since former President Reagan first declared November as National Alzheimer's ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Chronic inflammation, closely associated with frailty and age-related diseases, is a hallmark of aging. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that inhibiting key enzyme pathways reduces inflammation in human cells in culture dishes and decreases inflammation and frailty in aged mice. The results appear today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. While further studies are needed, researchers are hopeful that these findings will be a step toward treatments for frailty and other age-related chronic conditions. In the study, researchers found that Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, drugs that work to block activity of JAK enzymes, decreased the factors released by human senescent cells in culture dishes. Senescent cells are cells that contribute to frailty and diseases associated with aging. Also, these same JAK inhibitors reduced inflammatory mediators in mice. Researchers examined aged mice, equivalent to 90-year-old people, before and after JAK inhibitors. Over the course of two months, the researchers found substantial improvement in the physical function of the aged mice, including grip strength, endurance and physical activity. MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Forliti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu  Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Kirkland are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qHn73SK3I

Recommendations balance research participant privacy with family need for health information ROCHESTER, MINN. – A blue-ribbon project group funded by the National Institutes of Health has published the first consensus guidelines on how researchers should share genomic findings in research on adults and children with other family members. The recommendations, published in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, offer direction on sharing information before and after the death of an individual research participant. “These recommendations will have an impact on future human subject protection policies when genetic research is performed,” says Gloria Petersen, Ph.D. of Mayo Clinic, who co-authored the guidelines with Susan Wolf, J.D., of the University of Minnesota, and Barbara Koenig, Ph.D. of the University of California, San Francisco. The authors say the explosive growth of genomic research has led to tough questions about what to do with the resulting information. Should researchers share an individual’s private results with family members who may share that genetic risk? The question often pits individual privacy against family need. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu 

A collaborative study co-led by breast surgeon Judy Boughey, M.D.; surgical outcomes researcher Elizabeth Habermann, Ph.D.; and pathologist Gary Keeney, M.D.; that was published more ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), Mayo Clinic, and the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) have joined faculty and researchers from around the world to host the Sex and Gender Based Medical Education Summit at Mayo Clinic on October 18-19, 2015. The full program agenda can be found here: Final Summit Agenda.  "As we enter the world of precision medicine, medical research about basic sex differences between men and women must be incorporated into curriculum for physicians and all health care providers for it to be translated into better outcomes for patients," says Virginia Miller, Ph.D., director of Women’s Health Research Center at Mayo Clinic.  This summit is the first of its kind, a national collaboration dedicated to engaging educational thought leaders in creating a roadmap to integrate sex- and gender-based evidence into medical and interprofessional education. The meeting will feature world-renowned experts in the field of sex- and gender-based medicine as well as curriculum leaders in academic medicine. Over 100 representatives from medical schools in the United States and Canada will be in attendance. MEDIA CONTACT: Ethan Grove, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7Vt4v98-0 WHAT: “Feel the Beat” brings together families, researchers and clinicians to learn more about, and raise awareness of, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare and complex form of congenital heart disease in which the left side of a child's heart is severely underdeveloped. The event, built around science, advocacy, families and patients, invites those in the HLHS community to share experiences while discovering the unique regenerative therapies being pioneered for congenital heart disease. Children and families from across the U.S. will participate in team-building challenges and interactive sessions led by physicians and researchers. WHERE: Mayo Clinic, Gonda Building, Rochester, Minnesota WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. To view the itinerary, visit the HLHS Cause to Cure blog. WHO: Interviews are available with Timothy Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Christopher Moir, M.D., a Mayo Clinic pediatric surgeon who led the team to successfully separate 5-month-old conjoined twins in 2006. This year’s guests include Ethan Bortnick, a 14-year-old piano prodigy who has been playing for audiences worldwide and Joslynn Jarrett-Skelton, author of the book series “Charlie the Courageous.” At approximately 11:30 a.m., the children will be joined by the “superhero window washers,” who will make a surprise entrance to greet the children from the windows outside of the Gonda atrium and pose for pictures. MEDIA CONTACT: RSVP to Jennifer Schutz, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, at 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu

Rochester, Minn. — Mayo Clinic will host the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) symposium Oct. 9-10, 2015. The symposium aims to further the collaborative approach to initiate and accelerate discovery in brain science. Government, industry and academic leaders and researchers from across the globe will convene in Rochester to further their work in neuroscience research and therapies. Walter Koroshetz, M.D., the director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, will be the keynote speaker. “By bringing together stakeholders from across the range of groups involved in the BRAIN Initiative, we hope to highlight the dual promises of the BRAIN Initiative: to drive public/private collaboration toward developing revolutionary tools to aid the basic understanding of the brain and to quickly translate these discoveries into therapies,” says Kendall Lee, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon, who leads the Mayo Clinic Neural Engineering Laboratory, a team of more than 30 neurosurgeons, neurobiologists, engineers, imaging scientists and support staff. This team and the collaborators from the University of Texas in El Paso and Hanyang University in Korea won the BRAIN Initiative award to develop deep brain stimulation technology to detect the release of neurotransmitters in the living brain and modulate brain activity. MEDIA CONTACT: Duska Anastasijevic, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu