Image Courtesy: Shutterstock Researchers have developed a smart nanoparticle system designed to help surgeons spot tiny clusters of glioblastoma durin
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Resistant Hypertension Variants Link to Hyperaldosteronism and Potassium Levels
BACKGROUND: We aimed to characterize the genetic architecture of resistant hypertension (rHTN), which affects up to 18% of hypertensive individuals and increases cardiovascular disease risk. METHODS: We conducted a genome-wide association study on rHTN, defined as use of 3 or more concomitant antihypertensive drugs for at least 6 months without reaching blood pressure target (in the 3-drug case), comparing it to controlled hypertension (cHTN), in which persons on 1 or 2 antihypertensives for at least 6 months reach target BP after 30 days of therapy initiation. The study included 23 508 rHTN cases and 24 393 cHTN controls, identified through drug prescription and blood pressure data from Iceland (deCODE), the UK (UK Biobank), and the US (eMERGE).
A Meta-Analysis Uncovers Genetic Risk Factors for Fibromyalgia
People with fibromyalgia experience systemic muscular and skeletal pain, fatigue, and poor sleep. Fibromyalgia often coincides with other conditions including myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, psychiatric disorders, and some autoimmune diseases. Although researchers suspect that fibromyalgia is strongly influenced by genetics, so far, scientists have not pinpointed responsible genes, complicating research into the disease and treatment options.
As a result of the unclear disease mechanism of fibromyalgia, Kevin Hackshaw, a rheumatologist at the University of Texas at Austin, said that some physicians don’t take the condition seriously. “I would say greater than 50 percent of patients that eventually come to us for treatment are really individuals who have experienced rejection from other physicians along the way, believing that fibromyalgia is not real, is made up…and is kind of a wastebasket term, and it is quote unquote ‘all in your head,’” he said.
Recently, a study led by an international team of researchers tackled the complexity of gene associations in fibromyalgia with a meta-analysis of several genome-wise association studies encompassing 2.5 million people. In a study published in Nature Medicine, the researchers presented 26 loci associated with fibromyalgia risk.1 The researchers also found strong associations with genes involved in nervous system function and pain processing.
Alzheimer’s Damage in Mice Reversed With Just Two Injections
Slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease is the goal of most existing treatments, but reversing it is much harder. That’s because once neurons are lost, the adult brain lacks the ability to replace them.
But new research, led by scientists at the University of South Carolina, has shown promise in regrowing neurons in brain organoids, and restoring cognition in mouse models of Alzheimer’s.
“After just two injections, these mice became smarter,” says Peisheng Xu, professor of pharmaceutics at the University of South Carolina and corresponding author of the new study, published in the journal Cell Biomaterials.
