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By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor

Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we highlight early animal studies of a drug showing promise against one of the toughest to tackle conditions affecting a third of the world’s population, a fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) that has become a leading cause of liver transplants. We also shine a light on the added dangers of  vaping products with menthol flavoring and risks of COVID-19 during pregnancy.

In breaking news, see these stories from our Reuters journalists: U.S. spending $5 billion to speed up development of new COVID vaccines; Britain braces for ‘unparalleled’ disruption from doctors’ strike; and Moderna’s experimental mRNA flu vaccine misses ‘early success’ bar.

Menthol flavoring makes vaping fluid more toxic to lungs, according to experiments in “vaping robots” and a review of humans’ medical records. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri.

An experimental drug studied in monkeys may hold a key to treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a progressive condition that causes scarring and inflammation in the liver and is estimated to affect nearly one-third of the world’s population, researchers reported.

The drug, DT-109 from Diapin Therapeutics, reversed fat buildup and prevented the progression of liver scarring in mice and monkeys with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – an advanced stage of the disease that has proven extremely tricky to treat – according to a report published on Monday in Cell Metabolism.

NASH-related liver-scarring has become one of the most common reasons for liver transplantation.

For years, scientists have been trying to develop a medication that treats NASH, but many attempts have failed, study leader Dr. Eugene Chen of the University of Michigan Medical School said in a statement.

DT-109, a combination of three amino acids, works by stimulating the liver’s breakdown of fatty acids and its production of anti-inflammatory molecules, and by inhibiting its production of a toxic acid known to be linked with higher risk for fatty liver disease.

“With this significant breakthrough in preclinical models, we can now consider evaluating DT-109 as a potential drug candidate for the treatment of NASH in future clinical trials,” study coauthor Jifeng Zhang of Michigan Medicine said in a statement. “With millions of people suffering from NASH, the need for an effective treatment is more pressing than ever.”

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Akero Therapautics and 89Bio presently have experimental drugs for NASH in clinical trials. 

Read more about experimental NASH drugs on Reuters.com

• 89Bio’s NASH drug succeeds in mid-stage study
• Madrigal leads race for NASH treatments after trial success
• Akero’s drug meets main goal in NASH trial

Adding menthol flavoring to e-cigarette liquids produces more toxic vapor particles and is linked with worse lung function in smokers, new research has found.

Using a specially designed “vaping robot” that mimics the mechanics of human breathing, researchers were able to assess how the size and number of aerosolized particles vary with different commercially available vaping liquids. The robot was able to account for variables like temperature, humidity, and puff volume and duration.

Compared to non-menthol liquids, the menthol-flavored pods generated significantly higher quantities of toxic particles small enough to enter and damage the lungs, according to a report published on Tuesday in Respiratory Research.

When the researchers analyzed the medical records of 25 menthol vapers and 69 users of other flavored vaping products, they found that menthol vapers took shallower breaths and had poorer lung function compared to vapers who did not use menthol flavoring, regardless of age, gender, race, years of smoking and whether the vaping products contained nicotine or cannabis.

The researchers said this new information is especially important “for young adults, who haven’t smoked before.”

“Switching to e-cigarettes may be a better, safer alternative for someone who is trying to quit smoking regular tobacco products. But it’s important to have full knowledge of e-cigarettes’ risks and benefits before trying them,” study leader Kambez Benam of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said in a statement.

Read more about vaping on Reuters.com

• Britain to encourage smokers to swap cigarettes for vapes
• Juul, Altria face first trial over claims of marketing e-cigarettes to teens

Three recent studies highlight risks associated with COVID-19 during pregnancy.

Doctors at the University of Miami reported on Thursday what they believe are the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed a mother’s placenta and caused brain damage in the infants they were carrying.

Doctors previously had suspected this was possible, but there had been no direct evidence of COVID-19 in a mother’s placenta or an infant’s brain, the team told reporters at a news briefing.

Separately, U.S. public health researchers studied more than 40,000 infants up to age 6 months whose mothers had been infected with the coronavirus while pregnant and found a sharp increase in infections among their infants after Omicron became the predominant variant.

The rate of positive COVID tests was five times higher among the 14,115 babies born during the Omicron period than among the 27,403 born earlier in the pandemic, the researchers reported on Friday in Pediatrics.

In a third study, researchers looking back at childbirth complications early in the pandemic, when circulating variants were generally causing more severe disease, found that pregnant patients with COVID-19 at delivery were more than twice as likely as those without the virus to need mechanical assistance with breathing and to develop heart attacks, sepsis, cardiac arrest, and blood clotting problems, according to a report on Friday in JAMA Network Open.

Read more about COVID-19 and pregnancy on Reuters.com

• COVID caused brain damage in 2 infants infected during pregnancy
• Pregnancy-related deaths in US surged during pandemic

This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot. Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen.

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