News briefs

Disadvantaged children at higher risk of later heart disease

Researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute have found that children from socially and economically disadvantaged families and neighbourhoods are more likely to have thicker carotid artery walls, which may a indicate higher risk of heart attack and stroke in later life. The research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, analysed both family and neighbourhood socio-economic position data from 1477 Australian families. Socio-economic measures included income, education and the occupation of parents, as well as the relative socio-economic status of the immediate neighbourhood. Between the ages of 11 and 12 years, each child’s right carotid artery was imaged and the maximum carotid intima media thickness measured. The study found that both family and neighbourhood socio-economic position were statistically associated with the thickness of the carotid artery inner layer, but the family association was stronger; at age 11–12, children from families in the lowest socio-economic quartile (most disadvantaged) were 46% more likely to have thicker carotid measurements (above the 75th percentile). Further, socio-economic status as early as age 2–3 years was linked with thicker carotid artery measurements at age 11–12. The researchers noted that their findings were not modified after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including body weight, blood pressure and exposure to second hand smoke. Based on findings from their other investigations, the authors proposed that infection and inflammation may be among the additional underlying factors. Infection, which leads to inflammation, is more common among people who are socio-economically disadvantaged, they noted. The authors wrote that, given the link between socio-economic status during infancy and carotid artery measurements in mid-childhood, it may be that cardiovascular disease risk increases before the baby is born. As this was an observational study, a cause-and-effect association between socio-economic position and carotid intima media thickness could not be established. It is also not yet known whether thicker carotid arteries in mid-childhood are linked with cardiovascular risk during adulthood. All study participants were Australians, which may limit the application of findings to other populations.

http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/6/8/e005925

Bendable batteries in your body

Chinese researchers have engineered bendable batteries that can run on body-inspired liquids, such as normal IV saline solution and cell culture medium. In their work, published in the journal Chem, the authors designed alternatives to lithium ion batteries by focusing on the mechanical stress demands of wearable electronics, such as smartwatches, and the safety requirements of implantable electronics. Safety measures for wearable and implantable batteries have generally involved structural reinforcement to prevent hazardous chemicals from leaking. The researchers instead replaced the toxic and flammable liquids with cheap and environment-friendly sodium ion solutions, including two biocompatible solutions suitable for implantable devices because they pose no harm to the surface or interior of the body. Although electrolyte leakage is still undesirable, its danger is minimised by using either normal saline solution or a cell culture medium that contains amino acids, sugars and vitamins as well as sodium ions, mimicking the fluid that surrounds living cells. The researchers designed two types of flexible batteries: a 2D “belt”-shaped battery, in which they adhered thin electrode films to a net of steel strands, and a 1D fibre-shaped battery, in which they embedded nanoparticles of electrode material around a carbon nanotube backbone. With sodium sulfate solution as the electrolyte, both battery types outperformed most similarly sized wearable lithium ion batteries in terms of charge-holding capacity (an indicator of how long a battery can function without recharging) and power output. Performance was maintained when the authors folded and bent the batteries to mimic the effect of wrapping a sensor, watch or similar device around an arm. Charge-holding capacity was only marginally reduced in the saline and cell culture-based batteries, probably because sodium ion content was slightly lower than with the sodium sulfate solution. An undesirable side reaction to their fibre-shaped battery is even pointing the researchers toward possible therapeutic applications: the carbon nanotubes that constitute the skeleton of the 1D battery can also accelerate the conversion of dissolved oxygen to hydroxide ions, a process that, if uncontrolled, harms battery effectiveness, but the process involved also has therapeutic potential for treating cancer and bacterial infections.

www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(17)30217-6