Daily Med Bites - 13/05/2025

Dear reader, here are the summaries of some of the latest papers from PubMed.

Multiple Sclerosis:

• Source: Early use of highly active therapies in multiple sclerosis reduces the risk of transitioning to secondary progressive MS, but predictive factors for outcomes need further study.

• Source: Late-onset multiple sclerosis differs from adult-onset MS in clinical presentation and disease course, suggesting distinct characteristics that may influence treatment approaches for older patients.

• Source: The take-home message of this paper is that recent data indicate an improvement in survival rates for people with multiple sclerosis compared to previous trends.

• Source: The study highlights that autonomic dysfunction (AD) worsens over time in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), with specific predictors identified, contributing to a better understanding of long-term AD progression in MS.

• Source: The main contribution of this paper is the development of a predictive model using electronic health records to accurately distinguish between relapsing-remitting MS and secondary progressive MS at individual patient visits, enabling early detection of disease progression with high confidence.

• Source: Intrathecal methotrexate shows promising safety and tolerability for treating progressive multiple sclerosis, with stable disability scores in most patients over long-term follow-up.

• Source: The study finds an association between specific SNPs in the clusterin gene and multiple sclerosis, suggesting a potential role for clusterin in MS susceptibility.

• Source: Low-load resistance training with blood-flow restriction can improve functional outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis as effectively as heavy-load resistance training, offering a viable alternative for those unable to manage heavier loads.

• Source: As MS patients age, anxiety decreases while cognitive functions such as learning, memory, processing speed, and executive function decline.

• Source: The take-home message of this paper is that the written, oral, and electronic versions of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) have differing psychometric properties and should not be used interchangeably in assessing cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis.

• Source: The take-home message of this paper is that probiotics may have potential in reducing inflammation and slowing down the progression of Multiple Sclerosis, based on evidence from preclinical and clinical studies.

• Source: The paper suggests that optic nerve lesions detected by MRI should be considered as part of dissemination in space criteria for diagnosing multiple sclerosis, implying a need for further investigation into their diagnostic value.

• Source: Neuropsychological phenotypes in MS can be defined based on cognitive function, depression, and fatigue, providing a framework for personalized treatment approaches.

• Source: The study identifies a causal association between methylation at site cg19286687 of the DES gene and multiple sclerosis risk, suggesting that lower methylation levels may inhibit DES expression and potentially reduce MS risk. This highlights the role of sex hormone-related genes in MS pathogenesis.

Rosai-Dorfman disease:

• Source: Rosai-Dorfman disease can present with imaging features similar to metastatic lymph nodes, highlighting the need for histopathological confirmation in patients with a history of cancer.

• Source: The take-home message of this paper is that it describes the characteristic cytological features of primary cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman Disease, providing key diagnostic points and differentials for this rare condition.

Hearing Loss:

• Source: Children with mild to moderate hearing loss have impaired processing of auditory spectro-temporal fundamentals, which negatively affects their speech perception in noisy environments compared to children with normal hearing.

• Source: Hearing loss impairs spoken language processing and comprehension of faster speech in school-age children who are DHH.

• Source: The key takeaway is that children with developmental dyslexia have impaired processing of low-frequency sound envelope modulations, but their ability to process binaural temporal fine structure remains intact.

• Source: This study highlights significant gaps in existing research regarding sex and race differences in hearing loss prevalence and severity across adulthood, suggesting varied risk factors among different demographic groups.

• Source: The study found that children with prenatal Zika virus exposure and normal neonatal hearing screenings do not develop late-onset sensorineural hearing loss during their first four years of life; any hearing issues identified were transient and related to middle ear effusion. This indicates that congenital sensorineural hearing loss associated with ZIKV primarily manifests at birth, not later in early childhood.

• Source: The study highlights that patients with cleft palate have higher hearing thresholds, particularly at younger ages and when ventilation tubes are inserted. It recommends enhancing the ICHOM set by including more comprehensive hearing assessments to better capture conductive hearing loss in this population.

That’s enough for today, see you tomorrow!

As always, these extremely reduced summaries may be incomplete or inexact in some aspects. Make sure to always read the papers of interest.

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