Lipid nanoparticle delivery of TALEN mRNA targeting LPA causes gene disruption and plasma lipoprotein(a) reduction in transgenic mice.

Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), is encoded by the LPA gene and is a causal genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Individuals with high Lp(a) are at risk for cardiovascular morbidity and are refractory to standard lipid-lowering agents. Lp(a)-lowering therapies currently in clinical development require repetitive dosing, while a gene editing approach presents an opportunity for a single-dose treatment.

Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in COVID-19 Pandemic Worries.

Background: Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores whether these disparities extend to the content of worries.

Methods: We surveyed 1,222 participants from three metropolitan New York City (NYC) based cohorts through telephone interviews conducted from March to September 2020.

Characteristics of Adolescents with and without a Family History of Substance Use Disorder from a Minority Cohort.

Family history (FH+) of substance use disorder (SUD) is an established risk factor for offspring SUD. The extent to which offspring psychological traits or the family environment, each of which may be relevant to familial transmission of SUD risk, vary by FH+ in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations is less clear. We compared the family/social environmental and psychological characteristics of 73 FH+ and 69 FH- youth ages 12-16, from a study of parental criminal justice system involvement in a primarily low-income, minority urban population.