Biology & Medicine News and Discussions

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U.S. maternal death rate grew 38% in 2021, CDC data shows
Source: UPI

The percentage of mothers who died while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of their pregnancy grew at an alarming rate in 2021, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

The new CDC report published Thursday used data from the National Vital Statistics System, and could show how the rise in mortality rates may have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the report, the CDC calculated mortality rates as the number of deaths per 100,000 births. The data shows that mortality rates have been rising since well before the pandemic but began to spike after the emergence of COVID-19.

In 2018, the CDC recorded 3,791,712 live births and the death of 658 expectant or new mothers for a mortality rate of 17.4 per 100,000 live births.

Read more: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/03 ... 679024799/

[Ken_J]

some older stuff but worth knowing

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 073845.htm

what if you could find out how our genes respond to the foods we eat, and what this does to the cellular processes that make us healthy -- or not? That's precisely what biologists in Norway have done... A healthy diet shouldn't be made up of more than one-third carbohydrates (up to 40 per cent of calories) in each meal, otherwise we stimulate our genes to initiate the activity that creates inflammation in the body... "It took just six days to change the gene expression of each of the volunteers,"... "Salad is made up of carbohydrates," says Johansen. "But you have to eat a lot of greens to get a lot of calories. Steamed broccoli is a great alternative to boiled potatoes. Fruit is good, but you have to be careful not to eat large quantities of the high-glycemic fruits at one time. Variety is important."... we must also make sure to eat carbohydrates, proteins and fats in five to six smaller meals, not just for the main meal, at dinner. Eating several small and medium-sized meals throughout the day is important. Don't skip breakfast and don't skip dinner. One-third of every meal should be carbohydrates, one-third protein and one-third fat. That's the recipe for keeping inflammatory and other disease-enhancing genes in check

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 131522.htm

They found that study participants all gained similar amounts of weight regardless of diet composition; however, there was a vast difference in how the body stored the excess calories. Those who consumed normal- and high- protein diets stored 45% of the excess calories as lean tissue, or muscle mass, while those on the low-protein diet stored 95% of the excess calories as fat.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 164137.htm

A type of dietary fiber called inulin, commonly used in health supplements and known to have certain anti-inflammatory properties, can also promote an allergy-related type of inflammation in the lung and gut, and other parts of the body, according to a preclinical study.

there's also one that links the same fiber to increases in liver cancer among certain populations.

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How a polymeric nanoparticle gene delivery system can promote bone formation

by Tokyo Medical and Dental University
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-polymeric ... -bone.html

Does a "magic bullet" exist in regenerative medicine? Researchers have long wished to design a cutting-edge gene therapy that regenerates tissues damaged by disease or trauma. That wish may come true now that a research team has developed a polymeric gene delivery therapy that promotes new bone formation after traumatic inflammation.

In a study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have revealed that a gene delivery therapy can effectively suppress inflammation to enhance tissue healing after tooth extraction.

Tooth extraction is a common surgical procedure in dental medicine. When a tooth is removed, sores are formed on the socket, which triggers a physiological healing process involving the reconstruction of damaged soft and hard tissues. One phase of wound healing, known as hemostasis, begins by stopping the bleeding from blood clots, which stimulates an inflammatory phase.

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Study uncovers mechanisms of protein misfolding linked to neurodegenerative diseases
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-uncovers- ... inked.html
by UT Southwestern Medical Center

A team at UT Southwestern has developed a computational approach to uncover mechanisms of protein misfolding linked to neurodegenerative diseases. The study, published in Nature Communications, offers key insights that could help identify new treatments for patients.

The study analyzed structures of amyloid fibrils, which are made up of proteins that are normally soluble but have assembled in a way that makes them insoluble and often dangerous. Many types of amyloids are associated with different neurodegenerative diseases.

"Understanding the mechanisms of amyloid folding will help identify novel methods to treat protein misfolding diseases," said Lukasz Joachimiak, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and in the Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UTSW's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute. Dr. Joachimiak is an Effie Marie Cain Scholar in Medical Research and the lead author of the study.

According to Dr. Joachimiak, tau proteins play key roles in healthy brain cells. However, when a tau protein misfolds in a way that exposes certain motifs that allow it to self-replicate and build on itself, it wreaks havoc in the brain. This assembly of proteins creates distinct shapes of aggregated tau proteins that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases known as "tauopathies." The study looked at conformations from diseases classified as tauopathies, including Alzheimer's and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

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A puff of air could deliver your next vaccine
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-puff-air-vaccine.html
by American Chemical Society

Nobody likes needles, but they're necessary for delivering many vaccines and biologics into the body. But what if those could be puffed through the skin instead, with just a little pressure, like being hit in the arm with a foam toy? Today, scientists report steps toward making that a reality. Using powdered vaccines that don't require refrigeration and a system driven by compressed gas, their "MOF-Jet" could easily deliver therapeutics against cancer and other diseases in a relatively painless way.

The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2023 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in-person March 26–30.

The idea for the project was formed out of pandemic-induced boredom. The project's principal investigator, Jeremiah Gassensmith, Ph.D., had ordered inexpensive pieces of a compressed gas-powered jet injection system to mess around with while stuck at home. Later, after everyone was back on campus, he handed the pieces over to Yalini Wijesundara, a graduate student in the lab, with the instructions, "See what you can do with this."

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Monthly injections of fitusiran found to reduce bleeds in patients with hemophilia A and B
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03- ... hilia.html
by Lancet

Monthly prophylactic injections of fitusiran are effective in reducing bleeds in patients with hemophilia A or B, according to randomized controlled trials publishing simultaneously in The Lancet and The Lancet Haematology journals.

Hemophilia is a lifelong, inherited bleeding disorder, which mostly affects men and results in patients with hemophilia A or B missing partially or completely different clotting factors—natural proteins that help form blood clots to stop bleeding (VIII and IX, respectively). People with hemophilia A and B bleed spontaneously into joints or muscles and may take much longer to stop bleeding after injury. Prophylactic treatment is aimed at reducing spontaneous bleeding by regularly administering drugs that enhance haemostasis.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapies are a new type of treatment that work by interfering with the production of specific proteins. Fitusiran is the first siRNA developed for hemophilia and targets antithrombin (a protein that reduces blood clotting) to increase clotting ability. Its novel way of stopping bleeds means that it is the first prophylactic treatment that works for both hemophilia A and B patients with or without inhibitors. However, it is not yet approved for use outside of clinical trials.

Patients with hemophilia who are given the replacement clotting factor they are missing, can develop an immune reaction against this treatment. This immune reaction triggers the development of inhibitors which render the replacement therapy ineffective and creates the need for alternative treatments that can avoid this immune reaction.

The authors note that the comparator groups in both studies received on-demand rather than prophylactic treatment. At the time the trial began, there was no effective prophylactic treatment for patients with inhibitors. For patients without inhibitors as well, comparison with on-demand treatment was the norm for an investigational agent. However, this does mean that it is difficult to compare the efficacy data in this trial with other prophylactic treatments for hemophilia A or B that are currently now in use.

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Therapy shows promise to help clear tuberculosis
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... losis.html
by Texas Biomedical Research Institute

Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists have identified a promising way to help fight tuberculosis (TB), a disease that still kills nearly 2 million people annually. The research focuses on a potential host-directed therapy targeting the immune system to bolster the body's ability to control the infection, a method shown to improve cancer treatments.

Specifically, the team found that inhibiting a particular enzyme, known as IDO—short for Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase—helped nonhuman primates completely eliminate active TB infection. Blocking IDO for four weeks in conjunction with antibiotics led to improved health metrics compared with antibiotics alone. The findings were reported in JCI Insight.

"This is exciting," says Texas Biomed Professor Smriti Mehra, Ph.D., who led the study. "We have promising results suggesting an IDO inhibitor could be a host-directed therapy that reduces the length of time and amount of antibiotics that TB patients have to take, especially those with multi-drug resistance."

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Less toxic conditioning regimen for bone marrow transplants using an existing drug
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... arrow.html
by Justin Jackson , Medical Xpress

A team of researchers led by Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, has found a less-intensive way to promote bone marrow transfusion success. In their paper, "Selective Bcl-2 inhibition promotes hematopoietic chimerism and allograft tolerance without myelosuppression in nonhuman primates," published in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers detail how a currently FDA-approved drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocyte leukemia (CLL) can be used to make hematopoietic stem cell transplantation conditioning regimens less toxic.

Hematopoietic stem cells can turn into any kind of blood cell. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the introduction of these cells to the bone marrow (where blood is produced) of patients who have blood manufacturing pathologies such as leukemias, lymphomas and immune deficiency disorders.

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New Findings Suggest a Potential Treatment for Fibrosis
https://scitechdaily.com/new-findings-s ... -fibrosis/

By Nagoya University April 9, 2023

According to a study published in Cell Death & Disease, scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have discovered two enzymes that play a role in macrophage polarization, a key factor affecting fibrosis. The findings of the study suggest a promising treatment possibility for human patients.

Kidney fibrosis is a deadly inflammatory disease that results in the stiffening and loss of normal function of the kidneys. The disease is associated with a mechanism known as macrophage polarization. Macrophages, which are white blood cells that assist the body in fighting infections and repairing tissues, undergo polarization in response to changes in their microenvironment. This polarization results in two different types of macrophages: M1, which causes inflammation, and M2, which possesses anti-inflammatory and tissue repair capabilities.

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Results in 8 Minutes: New Handheld Sensor Tests Sweat for Disease-Related Hormone

https://scitechdaily.com/results-in-8-m ... d-hormone/
By Oregon State University April 11, 2023
Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland in response to stress. It is commonly referred to as the “stress hormone” because it helps the body respond to and manage stress. Cortisol plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism, immune response, blood pressure, and other important bodily functions.

A team of researchers at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University has created a handheld sensor that can measure cortisol levels in sweat and provide results within eight minutes. This is a significant development in monitoring the hormone, whose levels serve as a marker for numerous illnesses, including various forms of cancer.

The findings were published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. The researchers state that the material and sensing mechanism in the new device can be easily modified to detect other specific hormones, such as progesterone, which is a crucial marker for women’s reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes.

“We took inspiration from the natural enzymes used in blood glucose meters s

[wjfox]

Ghana first to approve 'world-changer' malaria vaccine

14 hours ago

Ghana is the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine that has been described as a "world-changer" by the scientists who developed it.

The vaccine - called R21 - appears to be hugely effective, in stark contrast to previous ventures in the same field.

Ghana's drug regulators have assessed the final trial data on the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, which is not yet public, and have decided to use it.

The World Health Organization is also considering approving the vaccine.

Malaria kills about 620,000 people each year, most of them young children.

It has been a massive, century-long, scientific undertaking to develop a vaccine that protects the body from the malaria parasite.

Trial data from preliminary studies in Burkina Faso showed the R21 vaccine was up to 80% effective when given as three initial doses, and a booster a year later.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65252511

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Less painful, more convenient antibody treatments
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... ments.html
by Kim Krieger, University of Connecticut

Antibody treatments exist for many diseases, but require injections or IV infusions, which are painful, inconvenient and carry risks. Now, a team of researchers at the University of Connecticut has created a way to deliver multiple doses of antibodies over a period of weeks using a small, biodegradable skin patch instead.

"It solves a lot of problems," says Thanh Duc Nguyen, an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, a joint department between the UConn Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Engineering.

Antibody therapies have been successful in treating HIV, autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, and certain types of cancer. But as Nguyen points out, administering antibody therapies can cause problems. Repeated injections can be painful, get infected, and scar veins. They also require a trained medical professional to administer, and the used needles are biohazardous waste.

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Healing the unhealable: New approach helps bones mend themselves
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... bones.html
by University of Pittsburgh

Young babies and newborn mice can naturally heal damage to the bones that form the top of the skull, but this ability is lost in adults. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Pittsburgh researchers developed a novel approach that promoted bone regeneration in mice without implantation of bone tissue or biomaterials.

The technique uses a device similar to an orthodontic wire used to realign teeth to carefully stretch the skull along its sutures, activating skeletal stem cells that reside in these wiggly seams. In adult mice, the technique repaired damage to the skull that otherwise would not have healed on its own.

"Our approach is inspired by babies because they have an amazing ability to regenerate bone defects in the calvarial bones that make up the top of the skull," said senior author Giuseppe Intini, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate professor of periodontics and preventive dentistry at the Pitt School of Dental Medicine, member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and an investigator at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

"By harnessing the body's own healing capacity with autotherapies, we can stimulate bone to heal itself. We hope to build on this research in the future to develop novel therapies for people."

Trauma, congenital defects and surgery to treat cancer or other diseases are common causes of damage to the skull. After people reach the age of about 2 years, such injuries don't heal on their own.

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Newly developed test allows for quick onsite salmonella detection
By Ben Coxworth
April 17, 2023
https://newatlas.com/science/quick-test ... almonella/

Salmonella bacteria are responsible for the most common type of food poisoning, which can cause people to become quite ill. A new test, however, is able to detect the microbes' presence in food faster and easier than ever before.

One of the problems with salmonella-tainted foods – most often meats, fruits and vegetables – is the fact that they typically don't look, smell or taste any different than they usually do. And while it already is possible to test food samples for the bacteria, those tests involve growing bacterial cultures in a lab over the course of at least one day.

By contrast, the new technique can be performed on location, and it delivers results within no more than an hour. It was designed by scientists at Canada's McMaster University.

At the heart of the technology is a novel McMaster-created synthetic nucleic acid molecule, which is sandwiched between layers of gold microparticles. That composite material lines the inside of the tip of a glass pipette, which is used to draw in a liquified sample of the food in question.

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Researchers develop wound dressing that can reveal infection
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-wound-rev ... ction.html
by Linköping University

A nanocellulose wound dressing that can reveal early signs of infection without interfering with the healing process has been developed by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden. Their study, published in Materials Today Bio, is one further step on the road to a new type of wound care.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. A wound disrupts the normal function of the skin and can take a long time to heal, be very painful for the patient, and may—in a worst-case scenario—lead to death if not treated correctly. Also, hard-to-heal wounds pose a great burden on society, representing about half of all costs of out-patient care.

In traditional wound care, dressings are changed regularly, about every two days. To check whether the wound is infected, care staff have to lift the dressing and make an assessment based on appearance and tests. This is a painful procedure that disturbs wound healing as the scab breaks repeatedly. The risk of infection also increases every time the wound is exposed.

Researchers at Linköping University, in collaboration with colleagues from Örebro and Luleå Universities, have now developed a wound dressing made of nanocellulose that can reveal early signs of infection without interfering with the healing process.

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Wearable patch can painlessly deliver drugs through the skin

by Anne Trafton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... -skin.html

The skin is an appealing route for drug delivery because it allows drugs to go directly to the site where they're needed, which could be useful for wound healing, pain relief, or other medical and cosmetic applications. However, delivering drugs through the skin is difficult because the tough outer layer of the skin prevents most small molecules from passing through it.

In hopes of making it easier to deliver drugs through the skin, MIT researchers have developed a wearable patch that applies painless ultrasonic waves to the skin, creating tiny channels that drugs can pass through. This approach could lend itself to delivery of treatments for a variety of skin conditions, and could also be adapted to deliver hormones, muscle relaxants, and other drugs, the researchers say.

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Study finds early RSV infection linked to significantly increased risk of asthma in children
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04- ... antly.html
by Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection has long been associated with the onset of childhood wheezing diseases, but the relationship between RSV infection during infancy and the development of childhood asthma has remained unclear.

A new observational study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers has found that RSV infection in the first year of life is associated with a significantly increased risk of asthma in children. The study, the first to look at the effects of RSV infections of all different severities on childhood asthma risk at a population level, was published in The Lancet.

RSV is a seasonal respiratory virus that affects almost all children by the age of 2 and repeatedly throughout life. It is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, a lower respiratory tract infection that presents as coughing and wheezing in infants and young children. The symptoms are mild in most children and usually resolve in about a week, but it can lead to serious illness and death especially in premature or very young infants and those with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease.

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A quarter of Mississippi's rural hospitals could close within three years, report shows

Mississippi’s struggling rural hospitals haven’t improved their financial outlook much over the past quarter, a newly updated report shows.

A report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform shows that about a third of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are still at risk of closure, and over a half of those still at risk of immediate closure.

The report, which the organization updates every three months, shows 27 hospitals are currently at risk of closure in Mississippi, with 20 of those at risk of immediate closure.

The January version of the report previously showed that 28 of Mississippi’s 74 rural hospitals were at risk of closure. Of those, 19 were at risk of closing immediately.

https://mississippitoday.org/2023/04/25 ... -closures/

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Innovative therapy brings hope to chronic lower back pain sufferers
By Bronwyn Thompson
May 03, 2023

https://newatlas.com/medical/innovative ... sufferers/

There’s new hope for chronic lower back pain sufferers after an innovative trial combining psychological and physical approaches empowered patients to manage pain and movement, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the condition and related mobility issues.

It’s estimated around 80% of adults will experience lower back pain during their lives, with its prevalence only increasing with age. For around a quarter of people, it turns into a frustrating chronic condition, lasting more than three months and can persist for years.

A new treatment known as cognitive functional therapy (CFT) was put to work in a randomized controlled clinical trial of nearly 500 chronic back pain sufferers across 20 physiotherapy practices. The findings of the trial revealed that those receiving CFT – which involved seven individual sessions with specially trained clinicians over 12 weeks, and a booster visit six months later – reported greatly improved movement and pain levels, which continued long after therapy.

CFT, developed by professor Peter O’Sullivan from Perth's Curtin School of Allied Health, Australia, takes a physical and psychological approach, arming chronic pain suffers with the tools to confidently manage their condition and the skills to move in ways that reduces disibility.

“This new treatment takes on board the individual characteristics of the person who has been living with chronic back pain by addressing their concerns and movement limitations under the skilled guidance of a trained physiotherapist,” said O’Sullivan. “This differs to traditional, more passive approaches – including massage, spinal manipulation, medication and injections – because it puts the person in charge of their condition, helping them to understand the factors contributing to their pain, building control and confidence in their body to get back to valued activities.

“It was particularly rare and thrilling to discover that the significant reduction in pain and distress that these people living with chronic back pain experienced had remained right up to one year,” he added.

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Team discovers new drugs with potential for treating world's leading causes of blindness in AMD, other diseases
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05- ... d-amd.html
by University of California, Irvine

In a University of California, Irvine-led study, researchers have discovered small-molecule drugs with potential clinical utility in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

The study, titled, "Stress resilience-enhancing drugs preserve tissue structure and function in degenerating retina via phosphodiesterase inhibition," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"In this study, we introduce a new class of therapeutics called "Stress Resilience-Enhancing Drugs" (SREDs) for the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions, specifically the world's leading causes of blindness in age-related and inherited retinal diseases," said Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., Donald Bren Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCI School of Medicine and corresponding author on the study. "Through selective, pharmacological inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, our prototypical SREDs slowed or halted the development and progression of retinopathies in a number of genetic and environmental animal models."