Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical

Scientists unlock gut-healing power of fruits and nuts paired with the right gut microbes

University of Louisville researchers have discovered how a naturally occurring microbial compound may help protect the gut and support future treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

IBD, which includes conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects millions of people worldwide. The disease is characterized by chronic inflammation and damage to the intestinal lining. A healthy gut barrier helps keep harmful bacteria from leaking out of the intestines while allowing nutrients to enter the body. In people with IBD, that barrier becomes weakened, leading to inflammation, pain and long-term complications.

A research team led by Venkatakrishna Rao Jala, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and UofL’s Brown Cancer Center, discovered how a naturally occurring microbial metabolite called urolithin A, or UroA, which is generated by gut bacteria after digestion of foods such as pomegranates, walnuts and berries, activates a protective pathway in the intestine that may help preserve gut health.

My podcast episode of Frameshifts is now available!

🧬 Benjamin Arya interviews me about my research on gene therapy delivery systems, about my first startup company Cathedral Therapeutics (see link to website and a bit about my newer venture towards solving the brain delivery problem.

“Putting an AAV inside of a protein vault shields the AAV from the preexisting antibodies that humans produce.”

Early warning sign of Alzheimer’s!

When most people think about Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss is usually the first thing that comes to mind. Forgetting a loved one’s name, missing appointments or repeatedly misplacing everyday items are often considered early warning signs.

But what if the disease begins affecting the brain long before memory problems become noticeable? New research suggests that another change in brain function may appear even earlier: difficulty adapting when circumstances change.

In a recent study, researchers found that animal models with Alzheimer’s-related brain changes developed problems with cognitive flexibility months before they showed signs of memory impairment. Cognitive flexibility refers to the brain’s ability to adjust behavior, learn new rules and adapt when situations change.

Proteomics Analysis of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Patients in Early Dengue Infection Reveals Potential Markers of Subsequent Fluid Leakage

Infections caused by dengue virus (DENV) result in significant morbidity and mortality. A proportion of infected individuals develop dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) characterized by circulatory collapse and multiorgan failure. Early detection of individuals likely to develop DHF could lead to improved outcomes for patients and help us use healthcare resources more efficiently. We identified proteins that are differentially regulated during early disease in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients who subsequently developed DHF. Four dengue fever (DF), four DHF and two healthy control PBMCs were subjected to tandem mass tag mass spectrometry. Differentially regulated proteins were used to identify up- or down-regulated Gene Ontology pathways. One hundred and sixty proteins were differentially expressed in DENV-infected samples compared to healthy controls. PBMCs from DHF patients differentially expressed 90 proteins compared to DF; these were involved in down-regulation of platelet activation and aggregation, cell adhesion, and cytoskeleton arrangement pathways. Proteins involved in oxidative stress and p38 MAPK signalling were upregulated in DHF samples during early infection compared to DF. This study has identified 90 proteins differentially regulated in PBMCs that could potentially serve as biomarkers to identify patients at risk of developing DHF at an early disease stage.

Gut microbiota can predict risk of type 2 diabetes years before it develops

The presence of certain bacteria in the gut microbiota, and fluctuations in a person’s metabolism, can be seen in people who go on to develop type 2 diabetes years later. This has been shown in a large Swedish study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology. The study is published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

The discovery paves the way for identifying people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes at an early stage, enabling preventive measures to be introduced.

“Our study was able to show changes in the gut microbiota several years before the disease developed. This could indicate that the composition of the microbiome plays a role in the development of diabetes, and not the other way around,” says Gaël Toubon, a postdoctoral researcher in food science at Chalmers’ Department of Life Sciences.

Dysregulated calcium signaling underlies hyposalivation and microbial dysbiosis in Down syndrome

People with Down syndrome (DS) show reduced saliva flow and high periodontal disease burden. In Dp16 mice, a model of DS, Son et al. show that deficient calcium signaling in salivary glands underlies hyposalivation and is associated with oral and gut microbial dysbiosis and altered succinate levels.

Beyond Immunosuppression: The Rise of T-Cell Engagers for Autoimmune Disease | Dr. Jeffrey Jones

Dr. jeff jones, MD — chief medical officer cullinan therapeutics.

For decades we’ve treated autoimmune diseases by suppressing the immune system — but what if we’ve been approaching the problem all wrong? What if, instead of lifelong immunosuppression, we could selectively eliminate the immune cells causing disease and allow the immune system to rebuild itself? Today we’re exploring one of the hottest areas in biotechnology: T-cell engagers and the possibility of an \.

/* */