Biology & Medicine News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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New clues in fight against lethal bacteria
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05- ... teria.html
by Australian National University
New research from The Australian National University (ANU) could lead to better treatment options for a rare but very lethal type of bacterial infection.

Professor Si Ming Man and his team say their latest research focuses on the family of bacteria that causes things like gangrene, sepsis and tetanus.

"While we understand a select few members of this family of bacteria, we were interested in what the others were doing to cause infection," Professor Man said.

"Thankfully, this group of bacteria is rare—less than 1,000 cases a year in the US.

"But one in particular we looked at for this study, Clostridium septicum, kills four out of five people who get it within two days. It's incredibly lethal."

The team discovered Clostridium septicum can rapidly kill cells by releasing a toxin that acts "like a hammer" punching holes in the surface of the cell.

This sends a danger signal to the immune system, but when our body swings into action it can actually cause more harm than good.

"The intention of the immune system is good—it's trying to fight against the bacteria—but the infected cells also explode and die," Professor Man said.

"When the bacteria spreads and you have lots of dying cells all over the body that's when it can lead to sepsis and shock. That is why patients die very rapidly."
weatheriscool
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Respiratory syncytial virus accounted for more than 100,000 deaths worldwide in children under five during 2019
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05- ... eaths.html
by Lancet
A new study published in The Lancet estimates that RSV-attributable acute lower respiratory infection was responsible for more than 100,000 deaths in children under five across the globe in 2019. The study is the first to examine RSV disease burden in narrow age brackets, reporting that there were over 45,000 deaths in infants under six months old in 2019, with one in five of the total global cases of RSV occurring in this age group.

"RSV is the predominant cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children and our updated estimates reveal that children six months and younger are particularly vulnerable, especially with cases surging as COVID-19 restrictions are easing around the world and majority of the young children born in the last two years have never been exposed to RSV (and therefore have no immunity against this virus). With numerous RSV vaccine candidates in the pipeline, our estimates by narrower age ranges help to identify groups that should be prioritized, including pregnant people, so that children in the youngest age groups can be protected, similarly to current strategies which offer vaccines for whooping cough, typhoid, and tetanus to pregnant people," says Harish Nair, co-author of the paper, University of Edinburgh, UK.
weatheriscool
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Intelligent Drug-Releasing Contact Lenses Could Help Treat Glaucoma

By Adrianna Nine on May 20, 2022 at 10:30 am
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/335 ... t-glaucoma
A new type of contact lenses capable of detecting pressure build-up and releasing drug reserves could be used to treat glaucoma.

Glaucoma—which is technically a group of ophthalmic conditions—typically occurs in older adults and results in gradual vision loss, with some patients experiencing total blindness. The most common form of the condition is called open-angle glaucoma and begins when the patient’s drain structure (located at the inner corner of the eye) loses its effectiveness. This results in fluid build-up that increases pressure in the eye. The pressure damages the eye’s optic nerve and prevents the nerve from conveying visual messages to the brain.

Traditional treatments for glaucoma include prescription eye drops, oral medication, or surgery. The first two options work to reduce fluid creation in the eye, but both can result in an uncomfortable dry feeling and they increase the patient’s risk of heart or lung disease. Laser surgery, while increasing in popularity over recent years, is a riskier and more invasive procedure than some patients are comfortable with.
weatheriscool
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First Human Trial of Experimental Cancer-Killing Virus Underway

By Adrianna Nine on May 20, 2022 at 10:17 am
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/335 ... s-underway
Researchers at California’s City of Hope National Medical Center have created a virus that kills cancer cells, and its first human trial is officially underway.

The CF33-hNIS virus (referred to as Vaxinia) is an oncolytic virus, a genetically-engineered variety that habitually targets cancer cells while ignoring healthy cells. But beyond infecting and killing cancer cells, Vaxinia works overtime by delivering specially-engineered white blood cells, known as CAR T cells, to solid tumors. While CAR T cells are vital to helping the body’s immune system recognize cancer cells as a threat, solid tumors possess immunosuppressive microenvironments that act as barriers, preventing the CAR T cells from entering and doing their job. By infecting solid tumors, Vaxinia can deliver the CAR T cells to this environment and help the immune system tackle cancer the way it’s supposed to—all while proactively killing off cancer cells along the way.
weatheriscool
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Genetic roots of three mitochondrial diseases identified via new approach
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-genetic-r ... roach.html
by Washington University School of Medicine

When something goes wrong in mitochondria, the tiny organelles that power cells, it can cause a bewildering variety of symptoms such as poor growth, fatigue and weakness, seizures, developmental and cognitive disabilities, and vision problems. The culprit could be a defect in any of the 1,300 or so proteins that make up mitochondria, but scientists have very little idea what many of those proteins do, making it difficult to identify the faulty protein and treat the condition.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Wisconsin–Madison systematically analyzed dozens of mitochondrial proteins of unknown function and suggested functions for many of them. Using these data as a starting point, they identified the genetic causes of three mitochondrial diseases and proposed another 20 possibilities for further investigation. The findings, published May 25 in Nature, indicate that understanding how mitochondria's hundreds of proteins work together to generate power and perform the organelles' other functions could be a promising path to finding better ways to diagnose and treat such conditions.

"We have a parts list for mitochondria, but we don't know what many of the parts do," said co-senior author David J. Pagliarini, Ph.D., the Hugo F. and Ina C. Urbauer Professor and a BJC Investigator at Washington University. "It's similar to if you had a problem with your car, and you brought it to a mechanic, and upon opening the hood they said, 'We've never seen half of these parts before.' They wouldn't know how to fix it. This study is an attempt to define the functions of as many of those mitochondrial parts as we can so we have a better understanding of what happens when they don't work and, ultimately, a better chance at devising therapeutics to rectify those problems."
weatheriscool
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Scientists identify how the brain links memories
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05- ... ories.html
by University of California, Los Angeles

Our brains rarely record single memories—instead, they store memories into groups so that the recollection of one significant memory triggers the recall of others connected by time. As we age, however, our brains gradually lose this ability to link related memories.

Now UCLA researchers have discovered a key molecular mechanism behind memory linking. They've also identified a way to restore this brain function in middle-aged mice—and an FDA-approved drug that achieves the same thing.

Published in Nature, the findings suggest a new method for strengthening human memory in middle age and a possible early intervention for dementia.

"Our memories are a huge part of who we are," explained Alcino Silva, a distinguished professor of neurobiology and psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "The ability to link related experiences teaches how to stay safe and operate successfully in the world."

A bit of Biology 101: cells are studded with receptors. To enter a cell, a molecule must latch onto its matching receptor, which operates like a doorknob to provide access inside.
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>
Psilocybin Causes ‘Significant Reduction’ in Symptoms of Depression, Largest of its Kind Study Shows

https://hightimes.com/study/psilocybin- ... udy-shows/

"At the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2022 Annual Meeting that began on May 21 in New Orleans, Louisiana, COMPASS Pathways unveiled the “largest randomized, controlled, double-blind study of psilocybin therapy ever completed,” according to a May 24 press release, and the data shows “significant” improvements to treatment-resistant depression (TRD) symptoms.

Participants were given a single dose of investigational COMP360 psilocybin, in doses of 25 mg or 10 mg, compared to 1 mg in patients with TRD. For the study, 233 patients with TRD received either 1 mg, 10 mg, or 25 mg COMP360 psilocybin, along with psychological support from therapists. Symptoms of depression were calculated using the Montgomery-Åsberg depression rating scale (MADRS).

The MADRS system has been used in the world of psychiatry since 1979 and measures apparent sadness (despondency, gloom), reported sadness, inner tension (discomfort, turmoil, dread), reduced sleep, reduced appetite, and concentration difficulty, typically in a ten-item questionnaire.

The people who received a 25 mg dose of COMP360 psilocybin with psychological support experienced a “highly statistically significant reduction in symptoms of depression after three weeks.” The difference between the group that received 25 mg and the group that received 1 mg was -6.6 on the MADRS depression scale at week three.

The effects also lasted very long—for three months, in some cases. The findings show that psilocybin provides “a rapid and durable response for up to 12 weeks.”

Twice the number of patients who received 25 mg (20.3%) had a “sustained response” at week 12, versus those who received 1 mg (10.1%). Tolerability and adverse effects were both reported mostly favorably, despite some reports commonly seen in people with TRD such as self-injury, but it was typically over a month after treatment."

Looks like psylocybin from psylocybin mushrooms is now proven to help with depression. I will ask my psychiatrist for it.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
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NHS performs world’s first double hand transplant for scleroderma

Thu 26 May 2022 06.00 BST

A roof tiler whose hands were left unusable by an autoimmune disease has told of his joy after NHS surgeons successfully performed the world’s first double hand transplant for the condition.

Steven Gallagher was forced to stop working after scleroderma, a condition that scars the skin and internal organs, caused his hands to close up into a fist position. After first developing an unusual rash about 13 years ago, the condition then affected his nose and mouth, his fingers began curling in and he suffered “horrendous” pain.

But after undergoing a 12-hour operation at Leeds teaching hospital NHS trust – the first time anywhere in the world that hand transplantation has been used to replace hands terminally affected by scleroderma – he can turn on the tap and fill a glass of water for the first time in years. Gallagher, 48, is now hoping to return to work.

[...]

“When Prof Hart in Glasgow mentioned to me about a double hand transplant, at the time I laughed and thought that’s space-age kind of things … My wife and I spoke about it and came to the agreement to go for it. I could end up losing my hands anyway, so it was just a case of letting them know I was going to go with it.”

Prof Simon Kay, of Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust, said the surgery was “a huge team effort” with as many as 30 health professionals involved.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... cleroderma


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Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
weatheriscool
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Using a robotic shoulder to grow tendon tissue
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05- ... issue.html
by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford and Devanthro GmbH has modified a robot shoulder to serve as a stretching mechanism in an effort to grow useful human tendon tissue. In their paper published in the journal Communications Engineering, the group describes modifying the robot shoulder and using it as a bioreactor to grow human tissue.

Over the past few decades, medical scientists have been investigating the possibility of using fibroblast cells to grow human tissue that can replace tissue lost or damaged in human patients. To that end, researchers have grown organs, skin, cartilage, and even a windpipe. But such endeavors are still in their infancy.
weatheriscool
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Scientists solve long-standing mystery: Why do some asthma patients respond poorly to treatment?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05- ... ients.html
by Rutgers University
When taking medicine during an asthma attack, patients with the most severe form of asthma produce in their airways special substances that block the treatment from working, according to a study where Rutgers scientists collaborated with researchers at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.

Reporting in the journal Science Translational Medicine, scientists said two different so-called growth factors—naturally occurring substances that stimulate cell proliferation—activate in the airways of severe asthma patients as they inhale corticosteroids used as an emergency treatment during an asthma attack.

The discovery was made as researchers investigated an enduring mystery in asthma treatment: Why do some patients who suffer the most from the disease often have the least success with conventional rescue treatments?
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