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Category: biotech/medical – Page 48

Which genes make people more susceptible to depression and other psychiatric disorders?

A study by the University of Barcelona has identified nearly 20 genes that could contribute to some people being more susceptible to depression, anxiety and traits such as irritability and neuroticism. These genes are regulated by the RBFOX1 gene, which acts as the central hub of a genetic network linked to several key processes in brain function. According to the researchers, this genetic overlap between different disorders and traits could help explain why they often appear together in the same person.

“These results provide a new insight into the biological mechanisms shared by depression and various associated disorders, and could contribute in the future to the development of more personalized biomarkers and treatments,” explain the researchers who coordinated the study, Bru Cormand and Noèlia Fernández, from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics at the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB), the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD) and the CIBER Area for Rare Diseases (CIBERER).

The study, published in the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, also involved researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany).

International Group of Researchers Says We’re Thinking About Longevity at The Wrong Stage of Life

The science of longevity is an important topic for many researchers: how we might add years to our lifespans, and avoid disease and age-related decline at the same time.

There are a multitude of angles to approach the topic from too, whether it’s the genetics we’re born with or the food we eat along life’s journey.

Now, an international team of researchers is proposing that longevity interventions and research should start at the earliest ages possible – even before birth.

Immune therapy for Alzheimer’s takes a step forward: Phase I trial reports positive results

Dozens of research teams around the world are working to halt, treat and even prevent Alzheimer’s disease, which silently develops in the brain for more than a decade before symptoms appear. Although recent years have brought important advances, researchers continue to search for therapies that can more effectively alter the course of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Professor Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Brain Sciences Department has developed an innovative strategy for treating Alzheimer’s disease. A recipient of the Israel Prize in Life Sciences, Schwartz pioneered research showing that the body’s most protected organ—the brain—is tightly dependent on the immune system for its lifelong functioning, maintenance and repair.

These findings overturned the long-held dogma that the brain was entirely isolated from immune activity and that any immune activity within the brain was inherently detrimental and should therefore be suppressed.

Prognostic Value of Blood-Based P-Tau217 Levels for Progression to Cognitive Impairment

This cohort study examines the absolute risk of progression to cognitive impairment and rates of cognitive decline per the blood-based biomarker plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) among cognitively unimpaired older adults.

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The future of neurotechnology | Sri Sarma | TEDxBoston

NOTE FROM TED: This talk only represents the speaker’s personal approach to and understanding of neural systems, technology, and defense. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/t…

Autonomous systems can process vast amounts of information—but they struggle when the unexpected happens. The human brain, by contrast, thrives in uncertainty. In this provocative talk, Sri Sarma reveals how merging machine intelligence with living neural systems could create a new class of adaptive technologies, from resilient autonomous vehicles to precision therapies that operate inside the human body. The nations that lead this future in \.

Oxalate buildup triggers systemic inflammation and cardiac damage, study shows

People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. They also suffer from chronic inflammation, the causes of which are still only partly understood. Oxalic acid (oxalate) has so far been known primarily for its role in the formation of kidney stones. The molecule is a natural metabolic byproduct, is found in certain foods and is normally excreted by the kidneys in urine. However, when kidney function is impaired, oxalate accumulates in the body and can promote inflammatory processes.

The Experimental Biomedicine II department at Würzburg University Hospital (UKW), together with the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint institution of Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center, investigated the immunological mechanisms linking oxalate-induced kidney damage with systemic inflammation and cardiovascular injury.

“In our research project, an oxalate-enriched diet activated the immune system systemically in mice. In other words, inflammatory processes spread throughout the body. This led not only to kidney damage, but also to pathological changes in the heart that reduced cardiac function,” says Dr. Hendrik Bartolomaeus. The scientist, who is part of Professor Alma Zernecke-Madsen’s team at UKW, shares senior authorship of the study with Dr. Nicola Wilck of ECRC. The study was published in Cardiovascular Research. Bartolomaeus previously worked in Wilck’s laboratory.

Nanoparticles could remove harmful immune molecules from blood

The immune system, the body’s defense network against infections and injuries, can sometimes become too active. In these cases, it can produce too many immune mediators, fragments of genetic material or proteins that regulate immune responses.

An excess of these molecules in the bloodstream can cause severe inflammation, sometimes leading to life-threatening medical conditions such as sepsis and acute lung injury. Sepsis is an extreme and life-threatening response to a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. Acute lung injury, on the other hand, occurs when inflammation causes fluid to leak into the lungs, impairing breathing and potentially leading to respiratory failure.

Some biomedical scientists and engineers have been trying to identify promising solutions to remove these excess immune mediators from the bloodstream. Some proposed approaches rely on lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs), molecules that could remove proteins outside or on the surface of cells, directing them to lysosomes (i.e., organelles that dispose of or recycle food particles and other cell waste).

Machine learning improves identification of asthma risk in children

A machine learning tool that analyzes information already captured in a child’s electronic health record helped pediatricians more accurately assess asthma risk in standardized clinical case scenarios, according to a pilot randomized clinical trial led by a Regenstrief Institute researcher. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

The study evaluated a machine learning-enabled clinical decision support tool called the Passive Digital Marker, which uses routinely collected EHR data to classify young children as having a high or low risk of developing persistent asthma.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, but predicting which young children with wheezing or other respiratory symptoms will go on to develop persistent asthma remains difficult. While some children outgrow these symptoms, others require ongoing treatment, making early risk assessment an important but challenging part of pediatric care.

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