News briefs

Uncovering one of the driving forces of Alzheimer disease

A Flinders University study has shown how a protein called tau, a critical factor in the development of Alzheimer disease, turns from normal to a disease state — and demonstrates how this discovery could deliver a therapeutic target. Published in Science Advances, the mouse study set out to answer whether a change at one specific site in tau would make it easier for another site to be modified. The team focused on the relationship between tau and protein kinases, which are enzymes that introduce changes in tau. The researchers conducted a large experiment that included up to 20 different changes in tau and 12 enzymes, focusing on the most abundant type of change seen in tau from the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease. While the study did discover that one change in tau does makes it easier for another change to be introduced, it was also able to identify “master sites” in tau, being specific locations that govern subsequent modifications at most of the other sites. “By modifying these master sites, we were able to drive modification at multiple other spots within tau, leading to a similar state seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients,” said the authors. The team will now investigate how its findings can be translated into a treatment.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abl8809

Hospital readmissions for asthma on the rise among children

Hospital readmissions for asthma are increasing among children, according to research from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, . The study found about one in three children, mostly pre‐schoolers, are readmitted to hospital for asthma compared to one in five a decade ago. The study involved 767 children, aged 3 to 18years, who were admitted to three hospitals in Victoria between 2017 and 2018 with a diagnosis of asthma. It found 34.3% were readmitted to hospital for asthma, with those aged 3 to 5years accounting for 69.2%. Of the 767 participants, 20.6% were readmitted once and 13.7% had two or more readmissions in 12 months. “Our study highlighted gaps in the children’s asthma care,” lead author Dr Katherine Chen said. Over one‐third of children had not had a review of their inhaler technique and only about a quarter were prescribed a preventer or asked to continue using it. “Almost three‐quarters were discharged without a preventer medication and over 80% did not have a follow‐up clinic booked at the hospital, often reserved for children with difficult‐to‐control asthma. Most families therefore need to navigate their child’s asthma follow‐up with their GP.”

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02770903.2022.2089996