VA’s Office of Research and Development recently published three News Briefs highlighting findings on opioid overdoses, a potential new atherosclerosis treatment and lung cancer surgery.
Cognitive impairment increases opioid overdose risk
A study by VA Connecticut and Bedford, Massachusetts, researchers showed Veterans on long-term opioid therapy who showed signs of cognitive impairment were at nearly six times higher risk of an opioid overdose.
The study included more than 55,000 Veterans prescribed opioids for pain, 3% of whom had documented neurocognitive symptoms such as difficulties with attention, memory and executive functioning. The average time from the onset of neurocognitive symptoms to an overdose was five months. The findings demonstrate a need to incorporate cognitive screening into opioid safety assessments to prevent overdoses in Veterans with cognitive impairment.
View the full study from the “Substance Use & Addiction Journal.”
Blocking protein could help treat atherosclerosis
VA researchers at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, discovered that a protein called olfactomedin 2 (Olfm2) is critical to the development of atherosclerosis, opening the door for potential new treatments.
Using a mouse model, the researchers found Olfm2 expression is increased in atherosclerotic lesions and that Olfm2 leads to the transition of the smooth muscle cells in arteries to foam cells, which absorb fats and form plaques that impede blood flow. Blocking Olfm2 expression in the mouse model led to fewer plaques in arteries. The results suggest medications that target Olfm2 expression could be used to prevent or treat atherosclerosis.
View the full study from “Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.”
Lobectomy improves survival in lung cancer spread through air spaces
VA St. Louis researchers discovered that, for Veterans with early-stage lung cancer that had spread through their air spaces, who then underwent lobar resection (removing a full lobe of the lung) surgery, had better survival than those undergoing surgery to remove smaller lung sections (sub-lobar resection).
Among 2,234 Veterans with stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer, 37.7% had cancer cells spread through their air spaces beyond the main tumor. In these Veterans, patients having full lobar resection had a higher than 90% survival rate over five years, compared to 73% to 80% in patients having just sub-lobar resection. The study also showed adding chemotherapy after surgery did not significantly improve survival in these patients.
View the full study from the “Annals of Thoracic Surgery.”
For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit ORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.
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