The Brain: Alzheimer's and dementia news and discussions

[firestar464]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03- ... sease.html

Unlocking how to use mRNA to target Alzheimer's disease

[weatheriscool]

Smartphone app may pave way to treatments for frontotemporal dementia in under-60s

by University of California, San Francisco
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... poral.html

A smartphone app could enable greater participation in clinical trials for people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a devastating neurological disorder that often manifests in midlife.

Research into the condition has been hampered by problems with early diagnosis and difficulty tracking how people are responding to treatments that are only likely to be effective at the early stages of disease.

To address this, a research team led by UC San Francisco deployed cognitive tests through a mobile app and found it could detect early signs of FTD in people who were genetically predisposed to get the disease but had not yet developed symptoms. These tests were at least as sensitive as neuropsychological evaluations done in the clinic.

[weatheriscool]

Diabetes drug shows promise against Parkinson's in clinical study
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... nical.html
by By Issam Ahmed and Lucie Aubourg

People play table tennis at the Ping Pong Parkinson initiative in Berlin on April 11, 2023, World Parkinson's Day -- the devastating disorder affects 10 million people worldwide.

A drug used to treat diabetes slowed the progression of motor issues associated with Parkinson's disease, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said Wednesday.

Parkinson's is a devastating nervous system disorder affecting 10 million people worldwide, with no current cure. Symptoms include rhythmic shaking known as tremors, slowed movement, impaired speech and problems balancing, which get worse over time.

Researchers have been interested in exploring a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists—which mimic a gut hormone and are commonly used to treat diabetes and obesity—for their potential to protect neurons.

[firestar464]

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... mouse.html

Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease shows promise in mouse study

[weatheriscool]

Human neuron model paves the way for new Alzheimer's therapies
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... apies.html
by Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have developed an innovative human neuron model that robustly simulates the spread of tau protein aggregates in the brain—a process that drives cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. This new model has led to the identification of novel therapeutic targets that could potentially block tau spread.

The preclinical study, published April 5 in Cell, is a significant advancement in Alzheimer's disease research

.

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

The study of the human brain can pose ethical problems not associated with the study of other organs of the body. At least, that is the case with the use of brain organoids.

Are Lab-grown Brain Tissues Ethical?
April 8, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Brain organoids, though often referred to as “mini brains,” are not truly human brains. But the concerns over these lab-grown brain tissues, especially when they are developed from human fetal tissues, can be very human indeed.

Researchers from the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hiroshima University offer valuable insights into the complexities inherent in brain organoid research, making significant contributions to the ongoing discourse surrounding this innovative biotechnology and paving the way for informed decision-making and legal and ethical stewardship in the pursuit of scientific advancement.
Their paper was published on March 4 in EMBO Reports.

Brain organoids are three-dimensional human brain tissues derived from stem cells, which are capable of developing into many different cell types. They replicate the complexity of the human brain in a laboratory setting, allowing researchers to study brain development and diseases in the hopes of acquiring vital insights and making innovative medical advancements.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1040355

From the EMBO Reports article:

FeBOs (foetal brain organoids) provide an accurate representation of foetal neural tissues at specific developmental stages and may actually help to reduce the use of foetal neural tissue in scientific research. However, initial and comparative studies still require growing BOs from foetal tissue. Consequently, research involving FeBOs finds itself at complex ethical crossroads, intertwining the moral quandaries associated with both BO research and the use of foetal tissues predominantly sourced through elective abortions from anonymous donors (Brumbaugh et al, 2023).

The ethical challenges associated with BO research (Sawai et al, 2022) apply to FeBO research as well. Dialogues among leading research organisations, including the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), have already addressed these challenges (https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26078/ ; https://www.isscr.org/guidelines/ ). Central concerns are the potential that lab-grown human BOs might achieve consciousness and the ethical implications of transplanting them into animal models (de Jongh et al, 2022). The discourse also encompasses issues related to consent (Kataoka et al, 2024), commercialisation (Boers et al, 2016), integration with computational technologies (Kagan et al, 2023), and legal ramifications (Kataoka et al, 2023b). In addition, the public perception of BOs, which is often shaped by media representations, frequently diverges from scientific reality (Presley et al, 2022).
…
The Hendriks et al study generated FeBOs from foetal brain tissue at gestational weeks 12–15, which underwent further maturation under modified culture conditions. This situation approaches the proposed ethical boundary in BO research, at the equivalence of the 20-week human brain (Koplin and Savulescu, 2019). Herein lies a dilemma: the increasing complexity of organoid development might inadvertently move them within broader bioethical debates.

This issue also extends to the domain of animal transplantation and integration with computational technology. Recent findings indicate that BOs, when transplanted into animals, tend to mature further within the host brain (Revah et al, 2022). However, the ramifications of in vivo maturation, particularly for FeBOs, and their impact on both organoids and host animals remain ambiguous and warrant scrutiny (Kataoka et al, 2023a).

Source: https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10. ... 4-00099-5

[weatheriscool]

The study of the human brain can pose ethical problems not associated with the study of other organs of the body. At least, that is the case with the use of brain organoids.

Are Lab-grown Brain Tissues Ethical?
April 8, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Brain organoids, though often referred to as “mini brains,” are not truly human brains. But the concerns over these lab-grown brain tissues, especially when they are developed from human fetal tissues, can be very human indeed.

Researchers from the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hiroshima University offer valuable insights into the complexities inherent in brain organoid research, making significant contributions to the ongoing discourse surrounding this innovative biotechnology and paving the way for informed decision-making and legal and ethical stewardship in the pursuit of scientific advancement.
Their paper was published on March 4 in EMBO Reports.

Brain organoids are three-dimensional human brain tissues derived from stem cells, which are capable of developing into many different cell types. They replicate the complexity of the human brain in a laboratory setting, allowing researchers to study brain development and diseases in the hopes of acquiring vital insights and making innovative medical advancements.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1040355

From the EMBO Reports article:

FeBOs (foetal brain organoids) provide an accurate representation of foetal neural tissues at specific developmental stages and may actually help to reduce the use of foetal neural tissue in scientific research. However, initial and comparative studies still require growing BOs from foetal tissue. Consequently, research involving FeBOs finds itself at complex ethical crossroads, intertwining the moral quandaries associated with both BO research and the use of foetal tissues predominantly sourced through elective abortions from anonymous donors (Brumbaugh et al, 2023).

The ethical challenges associated with BO research (Sawai et al, 2022) apply to FeBO research as well. Dialogues among leading research organisations, including the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), have already addressed these challenges (https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26078/ ; https://www.isscr.org/guidelines/ ). Central concerns are the potential that lab-grown human BOs might achieve consciousness and the ethical implications of transplanting them into animal models (de Jongh et al, 2022). The discourse also encompasses issues related to consent (Kataoka et al, 2024), commercialisation (Boers et al, 2016), integration with computational technologies (Kagan et al, 2023), and legal ramifications (Kataoka et al, 2023b). In addition, the public perception of BOs, which is often shaped by media representations, frequently diverges from scientific reality (Presley et al, 2022).
…
The Hendriks et al study generated FeBOs from foetal brain tissue at gestational weeks 12–15, which underwent further maturation under modified culture conditions. This situation approaches the proposed ethical boundary in BO research, at the equivalence of the 20-week human brain (Koplin and Savulescu, 2019). Herein lies a dilemma: the increasing complexity of organoid development might inadvertently move them within broader bioethical debates.

This issue also extends to the domain of animal transplantation and integration with computational technology. Recent findings indicate that BOs, when transplanted into animals, tend to mature further within the host brain (Revah et al, 2022). However, the ramifications of in vivo maturation, particularly for FeBOs, and their impact on both organoids and host animals remain ambiguous and warrant scrutiny (Kataoka et al, 2023a).

Source: https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10. ... 4-00099-5

The fucking religious are going to literally ban most of medical science based on this shit. Be careful.

[weatheriscool]

Researchers set new standards for nanoparticles, helping patients with MS, ALS, Parkinson's disease
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-standards ... s-als.html
by Dalin Clark, Michigan State University

Is it possible for nanoparticles to go through the digestive system and deliver medicine directly to the brain tissue? Researchers from Michigan State University say yes, and their latest findings are expected to benefit patients with neurodegenerative disorders like multiple sclerosis, or MS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS; and Parkinson's disease, or PD.

"Our work is focused on identifying the biological identity of nanoparticles, including the type of proteins that come to their surfaces," said Morteza Mahmoudi, an associate professor in the Department of Radiology in the MSU colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Human Medicine and Precision Health. "This is important because the type of proteins that come to the surface provide a unique pattern that can give the green light to pass the blood brain barrier and work directly in the brain tissues."