Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is known to exacerbate chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Here, the authors discuss the role of ER stress in kidney disease and the link between ER stress, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.
As aging bodies decline, the brain loses the ability to cleanse itself of waste, a scenario that scientists think could be contributing to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others.
Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have found a way around that problem by targeting the network of vessels that drain waste from the brain. Rejuvenating those vessels, they have shown, improves memory in old mice.
The study, published online in the journal Cell, lays the groundwork to develop therapies for age-related cognitive decline that overcome the challenges faced by conventional medications that struggle to pass through the blood-brain barrier to reach the brain.
Posted in biotech/medical, life extension | Leave a Comment on Impact of physical activity on physical function, mitochondrial energetics, ROS production, and Ca2+ handling across the adult lifespan in men
Cefis et al. show that mitochondrial respiration and ROS production are not affected during healthy muscle aging but identify altered mitochondrial calcium handling as a potential key driving mechanism. They also highlight physical activity as a powerful stimulus to enhance physical performance and mitochondrial energetics throughout the human adult lifespan.
Filipino researchers have optimized the traditional method of producing Philippine rice wine, known as tapuy, to enhance its nutritional value, potentially making it a superfood rich in antioxidants and anti-aging compounds.
Edward Kevin B. Bragais of Ateneo de Manila University and Paul Mark B. Medina of the University of the Philippines investigated how different starter cultures, specific microorganisms used to initiate fermentation, locally called bubod, affect the solid byproducts of winemaking. These byproducts, known as lees, consist mainly of rice residues, yeast, and other microbial compounds and are typically discarded.
The researchers found that by optimizing the fermentation process with a well-defined microbial culture, tapuy lees could become a valuable source of natural compounds with potential medical and nutritional benefits.
Posted in biotech/medical, computing, genetics, health, information science | Leave a Comment on Deadly bacteria have developed the ability to produce antimicrobials and wipe out competitors, scientists discover
A drug-resistant type of bacteria that has adapted to health care settings evolved in the past several years to weaponize an antimicrobial genetic tool, eliminating its cousins and replacing them as the dominant strain. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists made the discovery when combing through local hospital data—and then confirmed that it was a global phenomenon.
The finding, published in Nature Microbiology, may be the impetus for new approaches in developing therapeutics against some of the world’s deadliest bacteria. It also validates a new use for a system developed at Pitt and UPMC that couples genomic sequencing with computer algorithms to rapidly detect infectious disease outbreaks.
“Our lab has a front row seat to the parade of pathogens that move through the hospital setting,” said senior author Daria Van Tyne, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine in Pitt’s Division of Infectious Diseases. “And when we took a step back and zoomed out, it quickly became apparent that big changes were afoot with one of the world’s more difficult-to-treat bacteria.”
Artificial intelligence in various forms has been used in medicine for decades — but not like this. Experts predict that the adoption of large language models will reshape medicine. Some compare the potential impact with the decoding of the human genome, even the rise of the internet. The impact is expected to show up in doctor-patient interactions, physicians’ paperwork load, hospital and physician practice administration, medical research, and medical education.
Most of these effects are likely to be positive, increasing efficiency, reducing mistakes, easing the nationwide crunch in primary care, bringing data to bear more fully on decision-making, reducing administrative burdens, and creating space for longer, deeper person-to-person interactions.
Paralyzed patients in China regained mobility within 24 hours of groundbreaking brain-spinal implant surgery.
Extracellular vesicles can be designed to serve as delivery platforms for gene therapy. This Review discusses the application and engineering of extracellular vesicles for different gene-therapy modalities, outlining crucial steps to advance this technology into the clinic.
Sleep is known to contribute to the healthy functioning of the brain and the consolidation of memories. Past psychology research specifically highlighted its role in retaining episodic memories, which are memories of specific events or experiences.
Researchers at Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, University of Toronto and other institutes recently carried out a study to better understand the extent to which sleep transforms how we remember real-world experiences over time and what processes could underpin this transformation. Their findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, suggest that sleep actively and selectively improves the accuracy with which we remember one-time real-world experiences.
“My lab studies real-life memory such as the memory of events that occur as part of daily experiences,” Brian Levine, senior author of the paper, told Medical Xpress. “We are interested in how these memories are transformed over time and why some elements are remembered while others are forgotten. This is hard to do with naturalistic events in peoples’ lives where we have no control over what happened. So we set up the Baycrest Tour as a controlled but naturalistic event that we could use to test memory.”
