Biology & Medicine News and Discussions

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Scientists stumble on rheumatoid arthritis vaccine with huge potential
By Rich Haridy
October 04, 2021
https://newatlas.com/medical/preclinica ... s-vaccine/
Researchers from the University of Toledo have discovered a prospective new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The vaccine-based treatment strategy proved successful in preliminary animal studies and the researchers are looking to conduct more clinical trials in the future.

The research hinges around a protein called 14-3-3 zeta. Ritu Chakravarti, lead author on the new study, has been studying 14-3-3 zeta for several years due to its suspected role in a number of autoimmune conditions.

The initial hypothesis was this protein played a significant role in the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. If it was triggering the disease then knocking out the gene in arthritis mouse models should prevent the condition arising in the first place.

But to the researchers surprise, the exact opposite happened. When the mice were deprived of 14-3-3 zeta they demonstrated accelerated disease progression. More specifically, the researchers noted arthritis seemed to be induced in the animals alongside the loss of anti-14-3-3 zeta antibodies
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WHO announces "historic” roll-out of first malaria vaccine in Africa
By Rich Haridy
October 06, 2021

Following a successful pilot study encompassing nearly one million children, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now recommending widespread use of the world's first malaria vaccine across all sub-Saharan Africa. It is hoped the landmark vaccine can save tens of thousands of children’s lives over the coming years.

The vaccine, dubbed RTS,S/AS01 (or more recently Mosquirix), is the product of more than 30 years of research. Following expansive clinical trials, a massive pilot program began in 2019 to further validate the vaccine’s efficacy.

The pilot program spanned Malawi, Ghana and Kenya, immunizing more than 800,000 children. A recent WHO evaluation of the ongoing pilot program confirmed the vaccine is safe and effective. The evaluation also found the potentially complex four-dose schedule is a feasible protocol when scaled up to large communities.
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/w ... ne-africa/
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Targeted treatment may prevent chronic Lyme disease
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10- ... sease.html
by Eva Botkin-Kowacki, Northeastern University
Chronic Lyme disease has frustrated doctors and patients alike for years. The severe, lingering symptoms, such as chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain, arthritis, or cognitive difficulties, have disrupted patients' lives and treatments have been elusive.

But what if there was a way to prevent acute Lyme disease from progressing to the longer-term version?

That's the premise that has driven Kim Lewis' research. And now, the university distinguished professor of biology and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern says he has found a targeted treatment for acute Lyme disease that could do just that.

"Our educated guess is that it will prevent chronic Lyme," Lewis says. Along with co-lead authors Nadja Leimer, Xiaoqian Wu, and Yu Imai (all postdoctoral researchers at Northeastern), Lewis describes the revelation in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Cell.

The promise of this new treatment to prevent chronic Lyme arises from Lewis' previous research into how acute Lyme disease progresses to the chronic version.
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Fresh hope for improving treatments for deadly lung disease
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10- ... sease.html
by Trinity College Dublin
Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the biggest infectious killers in the world. Multiple drug resistant (MDR) TB has become a global health emergency, an emerging European crisis, and an important Irish public health concern. Many challenges remain in the global fight against this disease including a clinical need for effective treatments against MDR-TB.

Now a research team based in the Trinity Translational Medical Institute (TTMI) at St James's Hospital are offering fresh hope for improving treatments for what remains a deadly disease, by focusing on identifying potential host-directed therapies that can target a patient's own immune response to help them recover from TB.
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The discovery of red blood cells acting as micro-electrodes opens new doors in medical research
https://phys.org/news/2021-10-discovery ... rodes.html
by University of Surrey

In a paper published in Scientific Reports, academics at the University of Surrey have discovered that biological cells generate an electric field voltage that appears outside and not just within, meaning each cell acts as a tiny electrode. Since this voltage impacts how cells interact with their environment, including the way cells stick to one another, this has significant potential implications for future medical treatments.

Since the 1790s, scientists have known that electricity plays a role in the function of life, with the discovery in the 1940s that every cell contains a voltage that controls many of its functions. This is particularly the case in muscle and nerve cells but has also been shown to play an important role in diseases such as cancer.

However, until now, this voltage has always been understood to be contained within the cell. Through intricate experiments with red blood cells, the Surrey-led research team has shown that the voltage appears outside the cell as well. This means that cells effectively act as tiny transmitters, electrically changing the environment around them. Similar results in other types of biological cells could play a significant role in determining new types of medical treatment.

The paper also demonstrates that the electrical characteristics of red blood cells exhibit circadian rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycle followed by most living things, with peaks coinciding with the time of day when most cardiovascular disease events occur, such as heart attacks and strokes, presenting an important area for further research.

The study was led by engineer Professor Mike Hughes and biologist Dr. Fatima Labeed, both at the University of Surrey. The work is part of a broader study on how cells work as electrical, rather than just biochemical, entities.
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Intestinal drug shown to boost memory and cognition
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10- ... KGi0u8cwPg
by European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
The development of drugs to treat cognitive problems in patients with mental illness may be a step closer after a team of researchers discovered that an existing drug—used to treat constipation—may be able to boost our ability to think more clearly.

Severe psychiatric disorders can have a devastating impact on a patient's life. Cognitive impairments, including decreased attention and working memory, and disrupted social cognition and language, are widespread in psychiatric disorders such as major depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These common problems are poorly treated with current medications and often have a large impact on people's lives, so scientists are searching for ways of improving or restoring these functions.

Previous animal studies have shown that the drugs targeting the 5-HT4 serotonin receptor are promising for improving cognitive function (serotonin is the neurotransmitter targeted by SSRI antidepressants). However, it has been difficult to translate these animal findings to human studies because of worries about side effects. Now, a group of UK researchers have tested an existing approved drug, prucalopride, which targets the 5-HT4 receptor, and found that it may improve cognition. Prucalopride is primarily prescribed for constipation, and has an acceptable level of side effects if taken under medical supervision.
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Machine learning offers high-definition glimpse of how genomes organize in single cells
https://phys.org/news/2021-10-machine-h ... cells.html
by Carnegie Mellon University

Within the microscopic boundaries of a single human cell, the intricate folds and arrangements of protein and DNA bundles dictate a person's fate: which genes are expressed, which are suppressed, and—importantly—whether they stay healthy or develop disease.

Despite the potential impact these bundles have on human health, science knows little about how genome folding happens in the cell nucleus and how that influences the way genes are expressed. But a new algorithm developed by a team in Carnegie Mellon University's Computational Biology Department offers a powerful tool for illustrating the process at an unprecedented resolution.

The algorithm, known as Higashi, is based on hypergraph representation learning—the form of machine learning that can recommend music in an app and perform 3D object recognition.

School of Computer Science doctoral student Ruochi Zhang led the project with Ph.D. candidate Tianming Zhou and Jian Ma, the Ray and Stephanie Lane Professor of Computational Biology. Zhang named Higashi after a traditional Japanese sweet, continuing a tradition he began with other algorithms he developed.
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Phage therapy research brings scientists a step closer to harnessing viruses to fight antibiotic resistance
https://phys.org/news/2021-10-phage-the ... ssing.html
by University of Exeter
As antibiotics increasingly develop resistance to bacteria that cause infection, scientists have moved a step closer to harnessing viruses as an alternative form of therapy.

Phage therapy is the concept of using viruses (known as phage) to kill bacteria, instead of using antibiotics. A growing number of infections, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis, are becoming harder to treat, resulting in higher death rates, longer hospital stays and higher costs.

Bacteriophages (or phage for short) are viruses that kill bacteria. Unlike other viruses, they cannot harm humans and represent a promising alternative to antibiotics. Phage therapy was first used in 1919, when Parisian microbiologist Felix d'Herelle gave a phage cocktail to a 12-year-old boy, apparently curing his severe dysentery. Yet despite early promise, research dried up in the 40s as the world began to adopt the quick medical fix of antibiotics. Now, phage research is resurging as part of the solution to antibiotic resistance.

However, despite some remarkable case studies of phage therapy working in individuals, research has hit a number of obstacles. Among them is the challenge of recreating the way viruses behave in the body in lab environments.
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New test rapidly detects bacteria associated with greater risk of preterm birth
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10- ... birth.html
by Emily Head, Imperial College London

A study has found that a new device can rapidly and accurately detect changes in vaginal bacteria and corresponding immune responses in pregnant women

These changes are associated with increased risk of preterm birth.

The test could help identify women at risk of preterm birth sooner, potentially allowing obstetricians to monitor these women more closely and start preventative treatments earlier and in a more targeted way than currently possible. This is according to the researchers from the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Imperial College London, who have published their work in Nature Communications.

"We've known for some time that the vaginal microbiome can contribute to the risk of preterm birth, but now we have developed a device which in just a few minutes can report both the microbiome composition and inflammatory status of a sample collected during pregnancy," said Dr. David MacIntyre, from the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction at Imperial College London.
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Monitoring glucose levels, no needles required
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10- ... uired.html
by Gabrielle Stewart, Pennsylvania State University
Noninvasive glucose monitoring devices are not currently commercially available in the United States, so people with diabetes must collect blood samples or use sensors embedded under the skin to measure their blood sugar levels. Now, with a new wearable device created by Penn State researchers, less intrusive glucose monitoring could become the norm.
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