News briefs

Haphazard cholesterol checks place Australians at risk

Researchers from Western Sydney University have found that many Australians may be at risk of developing cardiovascular disease because health checks are not being administered according to the national guidelines. They conducted an analysis of publicly available, linked patient records in the electronic databases of the Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS). On the basis of the PBS data, the researchers collated the de-identified records of patients who had received stable prescriptions of cholesterol-lowering medications during the 7-year period, 2008–2014, and could therefore be defined as being at high risk of developing heart disease. They found that 49% of patients receiving medications to lower their cholesterol levels did not undergo the recommended annual high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) test in a given year; and that 19% of the same population received more HDL-C tests than were necessary. The study, published in BMJ Open, explored several possible explanations for this finding. One pointed to a lack in continuity of care and to the fact that people often consult several different practitioners. The study also identified implications for the federal health budget of current practice. During the study period, the increased yearly expenditure associated with test overutilisation was approximately $4.3 million, while the cost averted because of test underutilisation was approximately $11.3 million per year.

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/3/e019041

Eliminating malaria through gene editing

Using the gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the US have found that inactivating the gene FREP1 reduces the susceptibility of mosquitoes to infection with Plasmodium, the genus of parasites that cause malaria in humans. In the study published in PLOS Pathogens, the investigators found that FREP1 inactivation significantly suppressed infection of the mosquitoes with both human and rodent Plasmodium parasites. This indicates the potential of using CRISPR/Cas9 editing to alter the genomes of wild mosquito populations in order to prevent the spread of malaria, which kills nearly 500 000 people each year. However, the permanent inactivation of FREP1 throughout all developmental stages and in all tissues also leads to fitness costs for the treated mosquitoes, including reduced blood-feeding ability, lower fertility, lower egg-hatching rate, slowed development, and reduced longevity after feeding on blood. This means that these mosquitoes may not be able to compete with non-mutant mosquitoes in the wild effectively enough to block malaria transmission. The investigators are now exploring ways to inactivate FREP1 in the gut of adult female mosquitoes only, with the hope of retaining resistance to the malaria parasite without reducing the survival fitness of the treated insects.

http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1006898