Genes may predict which cessation program will work best

SMOKING
There are several ways to snuff out that smoking habit - nicotine replacement therapy using gum, the patch, or sprays, or medications such as Zyban and Chantix. These strategies work great for some people and do nothing for others - but so far, the only way to tell which will help a particular person is by trial and error. Jed Rose, the director of the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, and colleagues decided to look for predictive clues in the DNA of 550 smokers readying to quit. The smokers began a course of nicotine replacement therapy, the medication Zyban, or placebo. Several weeks later, the investigators found that smokers who successfully quit with nicotine replacement therapy had a cluster of 41 genes in common, while those who quit with Zyban had a different cluster of 28 genes in common. Identifying these clusters might someday allow doctors to do a simple genetic analysis to predict the best treatment regimen for each patient. "These results contribute to the era of personalized medicine that is rapidly dawning," says Rose.

BOTTOM LINE: Success with certain smoking cessation techniques can be predicted based on the presence of specific clusters of genes.

CAUTIONS: All of these participants were eager to be a part of the study - whether these results hold for the general population of smokers needs to be further explored.

WHAT'S NEXT: Investigators plan on carrying out similar genetic analyses on patients taking the newer smoking cessation medication Chantix.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Archives of General Psychiatry, June.
SUSHRUT JANGI

PEDIATRICS

Sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, is the leading cause of death in infants ages one month to one year, but, although some triggers are understood - parents who smoke and tummy sleeping both raise a baby's risk - SIDS deaths are often unexplained and its underlying mechanisms are still a mystery. New research from London suggests that common microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli may play a role in the deaths. Scientists at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London analyzed autopsy results on 546 babies who died from SIDS between 1996 and 2005. They found dangerous bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli in some of the babies, suggesting that an infection may have played a role in their deaths.

BOTTOM LINE: A baby's immature immune system may make it more vulnerable to infections caused by bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, and therefore to sudden infant death syndrome.

CAUTIONS: Postmortem samples are frequently contaminated by bacteria during collection, potentially leading doctors to overstate their importance in the babies' deaths.

WHAT'S NEXT: Dr. James Morris of the Lancaster Royal Infirmary, who wrote an accompanying commentary on this study, is currently developing a test to look for bacterial toxins in bodily fluids, like urine.

WHERE TO FIND IT: The Lancet, May 31
KATHERINE LUTZ