New optical technique could revolutionize medical diagnostics

 An Aston University researcher has developed a new technique using light which could revolutionise non-invasive medical diagnostics and optical communication.

The research showcases how a type of light called the Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) can be harnessed to improve imaging and data transmission through skin and other biological tissues.A team led by Professor Igor Meglinski found that OAM light has unmatched sensitivity and accuracy that could result in making procedures such as surgery or biopsies unnecessary. In addition it could enable doctors to track the progression of diseases and plan appropriate treatment options.

OAM is defined as a type of structured light beams, which are light fields which have a tailored spatial structure. Often referred to as vortex beams, they have previously been applied to a number of developments in different applications including astronomy, microscopy, imaging, metrology, sensing, and optical communications.

Professor Meglinski in collaboration with researchers from the University of Oulu, Finland conducted the research which is detailed in the paper "Phase preservation of orbital angular momentum of light in multiple scattering environment" which is published in the Nature journal Light Science & Application. The paper has since been named as one of the year's most exciting pieces of research by international optics and photonics membership organisation, Optica.

The study reveals that OAM retains its phase characteristics even when passing through highly scattering media, unlike regular light signals. This means it can detect extremely small changes with an accuracy of up to 0.000001 on the refractive index, far surpassing the capabilities of many current diagnostic technologies.

Professor Meglinski who is based at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies said: "By showing that OAM light can travel through turbid or cloudy and scattering media, the study opens up new possibilities for advanced biomedical applications.

"For example, this technology could lead to more accurate and non-invasive ways to monitor blood glucose levels, providing an easier and less painful method for people with diabetes."

The research team conducted a series of controlled experiments, transmitting OAM beams through media with varying levels of turbidity and refractive indices. They used advanced detection techniques, including interferometry and digital holography, to capture and analyse the light's behaviour. They found that the consistency between experimental results and theoretical models highlighted the ability of the OAM-based approach.

Source: ScienceDaily

Non-electric touchpad takes sensor technology to extreme conditions

 Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world's first soft touchpad that can sense the force, area and location of contact without electricity. The device utilises pneumatic channels, enabling its use in environments such as MRI machines and other conditions that are unsuitable for electronic devices. Soft devices like soft robots and rehabilitation aids could also benefit from this new technology.

Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world's first soft touchpad that is able to sense the force, area and location of contact without electricity.

That has traditionally required electronic sensors, but the newly developed touchpad does not need electricity as it uses pneumatic channels embedded in the device for detection.

Made entirely of soft silicone, the device contains 32 channels that adapt to touch, each only a few hundred micrometres wide.

In addition to detecting the force, area, and location of touch, the device is precise enough to recognise handwritten letters on its surface and it can even distinguish multiple simultaneous touches.

"Electronic sensors may stop functioning in extreme conditions, such as in a strong magnetic field. Since the touchpad is not electric, a strong magnetic field does not affect it, which makes it ideal for use in devices such as MRI machines," says Doctoral Researcher Vilma Lampinen.

The sensor technology used in the touchpad enables, for example, that if cancer tumours are found during an MRI scan, a pneumatic robot can take a biopsy while the patient is being scanned.

The sensor technology guides this robot together with the data produced by the MRI images.

The pneumatic device can also be used in strong radiation or conditions where even a small spark of electricity would cause a serious hazard.

The flexibility of silicone as a material allows the integration of sensors into applications where traditional hard electronics cannot be used.

These include soft robots, which are made of soft rubber-like materials and typically move using pneumatic power.

By adding data collected by sensors to such soft, non-electric devices, it will be possible to map the location, force, and area of touch across the entire surface of the device in the future.

In addition to soft robots, advanced prosthetic hands would also benefit from adding a sense of touch.

"Soft robotic hands could be used to replace current prosthetic hands on, e.g., production lines. Being soft, they are safer, lighter and potentially cheaper to manufacture. Touch sensors around the hand would also enable a more delicate grip," says Lampinen.

Source: ScienceDaily

New imaging technique accurately detects aggressive kidney cancer

 A new study led by investigators from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has demonstrated a new, non-invasive imaging technique can accurately detect clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer.

The findings, published in The Lancet Oncology, could greatly reduce the number of unnecessary surgeries and ensure that patients receive the right treatment at the right time, potentially changing how doctors diagnose and treat the disease in the future.

"If kidney cancer is diagnosed late, the chances of survival drop significantly, especially if the cancer has spread," said Dr. Brian Shuch, director of the Kidney Cancer Program and the Alvin & Carrie Meinhardt Endowed Chair in Kidney Cancer Research at UCLA, and lead author of the study. "But if caught early, over 90% of patients can survive for at least five years. If we are going to survey more tumors, it's crucial to accurately identify clear-cell renal cell carcinoma early on as they have a greater propensity to grow and spread."

Kidney cancers, known as renal cell carcinomas, make up 90% of solid kidney tumors. Every year more than 81,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with kidney cancer. Among the many types of these cancers, the most common and deadly is clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, which accounts for 75% of cases and 90% of kidney cancer deaths. Traditional imaging methods like CT or MRI often struggle to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors, leading to either unnecessary surgeries or delayed treatment.

To help improve the detection of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, the team tested a non-invasive method that uses a monoclonal antibody drug called 89Zr-TLX250, which targets the protein CA9 that is often found in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

The phase 3 trial, called ZIRCON, included 332 patients with suspect lesions detected on their kidney from 36 research hospitals from nine different countries with UCLA leading international accrual. The average age of participants was 61 years, with 71% being male and 29% female.

The patients were injected with 89Zr-TLX250, which travels through the body and attaches to the protein CA9 if present in the kidney mass. CA9 is highly expressed in up to 95% of clear cell kidney cancers with minimal expression in normal tissue.

A few days after the injection, patients received a PET-CT scan to detect the radioactive part of the drug, which lights up on the scan wherever the protein is present, allowing doctors to see the cancer more clearly. By looking at the scan, doctors can determine if the kidney mass is likely to be cancerous based on whether or not the 89Zr-TLX250 has attached to the cancer cells.

The new imaging method accurately identified the presence of cancer in most cases while minimizing false positives, demonstrating a high performance with 85.5% sensitivity and 87.0% specificity.

Source: Science Daily

Ultrasound can be used as search and rescue tool for the brain

 Ultrasound, once used almost exclusively to take images of the body, is quickly developing into a targeted therapy that can have a potentially life-changing impact on our brains, according to the authors of a new article.

For decades, health professionals across the world have used ultrasound as a means of monitoring the development of unborn babies and assessing the health of patients' internal organs.

But writing in the journal PLOS Biology, researchers from Stanford University, the University of Plymouth, and Attune Neurosciences say it has now been demonstrated to offer a non-invasive and precise way of targeting specific areas of the human brain.

This is enabling them to investigate how a technique known as transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) can help people with conditions ranging from pain, alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and Parkinson's disease, all without the use of drugs or surgery.

Beyond the treatment, the researchers discuss in the new article how the technology can also be used to temporarily test areas before treating them, serving as a sort of "search and rescue tool for the brain."

This enables them to find the sources of brain-related issues and disorders prior to treating them, which may be on the critical path towards personalized treatments.

However, they acknowledge there are still a number of complex challenges that need to be addressed before TUS can be rolled out in healthcare settings -- and maybe even homes -- on a global scale.

These include the fact that each of the 8.2 billion brains and skulls on the planet is different, and work is still required to tailor the technique so that it can be delivered in such a way as to enable as many people as possible to benefit from it.

And while significant advances have been made to the technology, reaching a point where it can still be effective -- but also sustainable from a cost perspective -- is still some years away.

But at present the researchers have developed and are testing a TUS device small and simple enough for people to use them at home following a series of clinical assessments, rather than having to continually go into hospitals or other healthcare settings.

The article was written by Dr Keith Murphy, co-founder of Attune Neurosciences and researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine, and Professor Elsa Fouragnan, who leads the Brain Stimulation Lab in the University of Plymouth's Brain Research and Imaging Centre.

Dr Murphy said: "There are countless reasons people can't get to a clinic, whether it's financial strain or simply not having the time. In the past few years, we've made substantial progress towards a device that leverages MRI precision guidance but may still be used safely at home. We've always believed that portability was a critical step towards making advanced brain therapies accessible to everyone and we've made great strides in demonstrating that it works."

The researchers further discuss how focused ultrasound can also be integrated with other emerging technologies, for example improving the accuracy and effectiveness of interfaces that enable direct communication between the brain and external devices.

Professor Fouragnan added: "Over many years, we have improved our understanding of how the brain works and the failings within it that lead to neurological and mental health conditions. However, while advances have been made in treatments, they have not happened at a similar pace. We believe TUS can fill that gap and through our research to this point, we have discovered how it can be a genuine search and rescue tool for the brain. Clinicians and patients are excited about its potential, and if the current pace of development continues, we could have a risk-free technology that can positively impact millions, if not billions, of people."

Source: ScienceDaily

New imaging analysis technique revolutionizes diagnostics of head and neck cancers

 Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck area is among the ten most common types of cancer.

Using a method based on machine learning, researchers at the University of Helsinki in collaboration with the University of Turku and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Bio medicine in Germany analysed hundreds of bio bank patient samples at the level of accuracy of individual cells. The new technology combines indicators of cancer cell behavior and the architecture of the tumor and the surrounding healthy tissue to create a type of 'fingerprint' for each patient that can be used to assess the prognosis and treatment response to cancer.

The most significant finding of the study was the development of a new imaging analysis technique that combines analyses of biomarkers of cell behavior with morphological analyses of single cell shape and the structure of the entire tumor tissues. The method enabled the identification of two new previously undetected groups of patients. For the first group, the prognosis was exceptionally good, while in the second it was exceptionally bad. The difference was explained by the specif combination of a specific cancer cell state and the composition of the tissue surrounding the cancer cells. In the latter group, the aggressiveness of the disease was associated with signalling between cancer tissue and surrounding healthy connective tissue mediated by the epidermal growth factor (EGF).

"These results are a breakthrough in understanding cancer development and diagnostics. For the first time, we have shown that specific combinations of malignant cells and tissue cell types in what is considered healthy tissue have a strong prognostic effect on cancer progression. In addition, we identified a key signalling pathway that explains this compound effect and which can be pharmacological targeted, consequently significantly affecting the progression of the cancer," says Research Director Sara Wickström.

"In addition, our method was able to identify patients with a particularly poor prognosis who would benefit from an aggressive treatment strategy. On the other hand, we also identified a group of patients whose prognosis was good and for whom a less aggressive treatment, such as a surgical procedure alone, could be sufficient. This would help preserve patient quality of life" says Postdoctoral Researcher Karolina Punovuori from Wickström's research group.

Diagnostic test under development

The new imaging method opens the door for precision diagnoses for cancers in the head and neck area. The researchers are currently developing a diagnostic test for more accurate diagnosis of this type of cancer. In addition, they are also studying the use of the method in the diagnostics of other types of cancer, such as colorectal cancer. They have received Business Finland's Research to Business funding for the Multi vision Diagnostics project, which develops applications that may become available to cancer clinics.

Source: ScienceDaily

Keeping fewer friends protects aging monkeys from diseases

 Becoming less sociable protects older monkeys from getting ill, new research shows.

Many animals, including humans, are known to experience "social ageing" -- reductions in their number of social connections as they get older.

But why this happens remains a mystery.

The new study, led by the universities of Exeter and Edinburgh, used long-term data on rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago -- known as Monkey Island.

They found that older macaques are likely to suffer less from infectious disease, mostly because of their smaller social networks.

The study is published as part of a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, guest edited by Professor Lauren Brent from the University of Exeter.

"Social ties bring huge benefits to a vast range of species -- but sociality also comes with costs, including infectious disease risk," said Dr Erin Siracusa, from Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour.

"This cost-benefit ratio can change across individuals' lifespans, which may drive changes in social behaviour.

"Older individuals may be more susceptible to diseases -- but once we accounted for that in our data, we found that older macaques suffered lower infection costs than their younger counterparts.

"Our findings suggest a powerful reason why many animals, including humans, might reduce their social connections as they age."

The benefits macaques gained from social ageing depended on the diseases in question.

Unsurprisingly, the benefit was strongest when diseases were highly infectious and were more severe for older macaques.

Dr Matthew Silk, from the University of Edinburgh, said: "Our results point to illness potentially helping to explain why 'social ageing' evolves -- something we are keen to test in future research."

The research was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and Dr Silk's Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

The study is entitled: "Social ageing can protect against infectious disease in a group-living primate."

The special issue of the journal is called: "Understanding age and society using natural populations."

 sources-science daily

Revolutionary high-speed 3D bioprinter hailed a game changer for drug discovery

 Biomedical engineers from the University of Melbourne have invented a 3D printing system, or bioprinter, capable of fabricating structures that closely mimic the diverse tissues in the human body, from soft brain tissue to harder materials like cartilage and bone.

This cutting-edge technology offers cancer researchers an advanced tool for replicating specific organs and tissues, significantly improving the potential to predict and develop new pharmaceutical therapies. This would pave the way for more advanced and ethical drug discovery by reducing the need for animal testing.

Head of the Collins BioMicrosystems Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor David Collins said: "In addition to drastically improving print speed, our approach enables a degree of cell positioning within printed tissues. Incorrect cell positioning is a big reason most 3D bioprinters fail to produce structures that accurately represent human tissue.

"Just as a car requires its mechanical components to be arranged precisely for proper function, so too must the cells in our tissues be organised correctly. Current 3D bioprinters depend on cells aligning naturally without guidance, which presents significant limitations.

"Our system, on the other hand, uses acoustic waves generated by a vibrating bubble to position cells within 3D printed structures. This method provides the necessary head start for cells to develop into the complex tissues found in the human body."

Most commercially available 3D bioprinters rely on a slow, layer-by-layer fabrication approach, which presents several challenges. This method can take hours to finish, jeopardising the viability of living cells during the printing process. Additionally, once printed, the cell structures must be carefully transferred into standard laboratory plates for analysis and imaging -- a delicate step that risks compromising the integrity of these fragile structures.

The University of Melbourne research team has flipped the current process on its head by developing a sophisticated optical-based system, replacing the need for a layer-by-layer approach.

The innovative technique uses vibrating bubbles to 3D print cellular structures in just a matter of seconds, which is around 350 times faster than traditional methods and enables researchers to accurately replicate human tissues with cellular resolution.

By dramatically reducing the 3D printing time and printing directly into standard lab plates, the team has been able to significantly increase the cell survival rate, whilst eliminating the need for physical handling. Ensuring the printed structures remain intact and sterile throughout the process.PhD student Callum Vidler, the lead author on this work, said the groundbreaking technology was already generating excitement in the medical research sector.

"Biologists recognise the immense potential of bioprinting, but until now, it has been limited to applications with a very low output," he said. "We've developed our technology to address this gap, offering significant advancements in speed, precision, and consistency. This creates a crucial bridge between lab research and clinical applications.

"So far, we've engaged with around 60 researchers from institutions including the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Harvard Medical School, and the Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."

sources-science daily

Sinuses prevented prehistoric crocodile relatives from deep diving

 An international team of paleobiologists have found that the sinuses of ocean dwelling relatives of modern-day crocodiles prevented them from evolving into deep divers like whales and dolphins.

A new paper published in Royal Society Open Science suggests that thalattosuchians, which lived at the time of the dinosaurs, were stopped from exploring the deep due to their large snout sinuses.

Whales and dolphins (cetaceans) evolved from land-dwelling mammals to become fully aquatic over the course of around 10 million years. During this time, their bone-enclosed sinuses reduced and they developed sinuses and air sacs outside of their skulls.

This would have alleviated increases in pressure during deeper dives, allowing them to reach depths of hundreds (dolphins) and thousands (whales) of meters without damaging their skulls.

Thalattosuchians lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and fall into two main groups. Teleosauridae, were similar to modern day gharial crocodiles, likely living in coastal waters and estuaries. Metriorhynchidae on the other hand were more fully adapted to life at sea, with streamlined bodies, flipper-like limbs and tail fins, amongst other marine adaptations.

Researchers from the University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh, and other institutions wanted to see if thalattosuchians had made similar sinus adaptations to whales and dolphins in their evolutionary journey from the land to the sea.

The team used computed tomography (a special kind of scan) to measure the sinuses of 11 thalattosuchian skulls, as well as the skulls of 14 modern crocodile species and six other fossil species.

Sinus changes

They found that braincase sinuses reduced across thalattosuchian evolution as they became more aquatic, in a similar way to those of whales and dolphins. The team think this is likely due to reasons relating to buoyancy, diving and feeding.

But the team also found that once thalattosuchians became fully aquatic, their snout sinuses expanded compared to their ancestors.

"The regression of braincase sinuses in thalattosuchians mirrors that of cetaceans, reducing during their semi-aquatic phases and then diminishing further as they became fully aquatic," explains Dr Mark Young, lead author of the paper from the University of Southampton.

"Both groups also developed extracranial sinuses. But whereas the cetacean's sinus system aids pressure regulation around the skull during deep dives, the expansive snout sinus systems of metriorhynchids precluded it from diving deeply.

"That's because at greater depths, air within the sinuses would compress, causing discomfort, damage, or even collapse in the snout due to its inability to withstand or equalise the increasing pressure."

Salt glands

While whales and dolphins have highly efficient kidneys that filter out salt from sea water, sea fairing reptiles and birds rely on salt glands to excrete salt from their systems.

The team believe that the larger, more complex snout sinuses of metriorhynchids may have helped to drain their salt glands, in a similar way to modern marine iguanas.

"A major problem for animals with salt glands is 'encrustation', where the salt dries and blocks the salt excreting ducts. Modern birds shake their heads to avoid this, while marine iguanas sneeze to force the salt out," says Dr Young.

"We think that the expanded sinuses of metriorhynchids helped to expel excess salt. Birds, like metriorhynchids, have sinuses that exit the snout and pass under the eye and when their jaw muscles contract, it creates a bellows-like effect within their sinuses. For metriorhynchids, when the sinuses where subjected to this effect, it would have compressed the salt glands within the skull and created a sneeze-like effect, similar to modern marine iguanas."

The study shows how major evolutionary transitions unfold and are shaped by species anatomy, biology and evolutionary history.

"It is fascinating to discover how ancient animals, such as thalattosuchians, adapted to a life in the ocean in their own unique way by showing both similarities and differences to modern day cetaceans," says Dr Julia Schwab, a coauthor on the paper from the University of Manchester.

Dr Young concludes: "Thalattosuchians became extinct in the Early Cretaceous period, so we'll never know for sure if given more evolutionary time they could have converged further with modern cetaceans or whether the need to mechanically drain their salts glands was an impassable barrier to further aquatic specialisation."

sources-science daily

Indigenous cultural burning has protected Australia's landscape for millennia, study finds

 Ancient cultural burning practices carried out by Indigenous Australians limited fuel availability and prevented high intensity fires in southeastern Australia for thousands of years, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Nottingham.

The research, published in Science, highlights how the intensity of forest fires in fire-prone southeastern Australia decreased over time alongside an increase in Indigenous populations in the area.

Dr Simon Connor from ANU said a better understanding of the link between human-induced climate change and the projected rise in the frequency and intensity of forest fires will lead to improved forest management and conservation in Australia.

"We often think about forests and woodlands in terms of trees, but this research shows that some of the biggest changes have happened not in the tree canopy but in the shrub layer. That's something we weren't expecting to find," he said."Indigenous peoples have shaped Australian landscapes over tens of thousands of years. They did this through cultural practices. We need to keep that in mind when we're thinking of the best way to live in the Australian environment."

Using tiny fossils preserved in ancient sediment, the research team reconstructed ancient landscapes across southeastern Australia to understand how the vegetation has changed over time.

The researchers focused on the shrub layer because this is what allows flames to climb from the ground to the canopy, leading to high intensity fires.

The team then compared this with archaeological data to analyse how human activity has impacted levels of shrub cover in Australian landscapes over time.

Lead researcher Dr Michela Mariani, from the University of Nottingham, said the expansion of Indigenous populations and a subsequent increase in the use of cultural burning led to a 50 per cent decrease in shrub cover, which in turn led to a decline in high intensity fires.

"The shrub layer in forests can often act as ladders for wildfires to climb up to tree canopies and spread," Dr Mariani said.

"Following British colonization and extensive fire suppression, shrub cover in Australia has increased to the highest ever recorded, which significantly increases the risk of high intensity fires in the future.

"Australia's fire crisis can be tamed with the involvement of Indigenous practitioners in fire management. It's important to rekindle ancient cultural burning practices together with Traditional Owners to reduce the risk of catastrophic blazes."

sources-science daily

Skeletal muscle health amid growing use of weight loss medications

 A recent commentary published in The Lancet journal highlights the critical importance of skeletal muscle mass in the context of medically induced weight loss, particularly with the widespread use of GLP-1 receptor agonists. These medications, celebrated for their effectiveness in treating obesity, have raised concerns regarding the potential for substantial muscle loss as part of the weight loss process.

Dr. Steven Heymsfield, professor of metabolism and body composition, and Dr. M. Cristina Gonzalez, adjunct and visiting professor in metabolism-body composition, both of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, joined colleagues Dr. Carla Prado of the University of Alberta, and Dr. Stuart Phillips of McMaster University on authoring The Lancet commentary, titled "Muscle Matters: The Effects of Medically Induced Weight Loss on Skeletal Muscle."

The authors emphasize that muscle loss, as measured by decreases in fat-free mass, can account for 25 to 39 percent of total weight lost over a period of 36 to 72 weeks. This rate of muscle decline is significantly higher than what is typically observed with non-pharmacological caloric restriction or normal aging and could lead to unintended negative health consequences.

Despite the promising metabolic benefits associated with GLP-1 receptor agonists, including improvements in fat-to-fat-free tissue ratios, the potential adverse effects of muscle loss are gaining attention. Skeletal muscle plays critical roles not only in physical strength and function but also in metabolic health and immune system regulation.

A decline in muscle mass has been linked to decreased immunity, increased risk of infections, poor glucose regulation, and other health risks. The authors suggest that muscle loss due to weight reduction may exacerbate conditions like sarcopenic obesity, which is prevalent among individuals with obesity and contributes to poorer health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and higher mortality rates.

While the short-term effects of muscle loss on physical strength and function remain unclear, the commentary calls for future research to explore how reductions in muscle mass might improve muscle composition and quality. The authors stress the need for a multimodal approach to weight loss treatment, combining GLP-1 receptor agonists with exercise and nutritional interventions to preserve muscle mass.

"We have to be mindful of the side effects that we are seeing with the new weight loss medications, such as a person eating less while on the medications and not getting the appropriate amount of dietary vitamins and minerals," Dr. Heymsfield said. "Also, when a person loses weight, they are not only losing fat, they also lose muscle. We are looking at how that muscle loss can be better managed with consumption of an adequate amount of protein along with an optimum amount of exercise."

sources-science daily

Crunching fruit fly and human data via machine learning and systems biology results in the identification of key metabolites that impact lifespan in both species

 Discoveries that impact lifespan and healthspan in fruit flies are usually tested in mice before being considered potentially relevant in humans, a process that is expensive and time intensive. A pioneering approach taken at the Buck Institute leapfrogs over that standard methodology.

Utilizing cutting-edge machine learning and systems biology, researchers analyzed and correlated huge data sets from flies and humans to identify key metabolites that impact lifespan in both species.Results published online in Nature Communicationssuggest that one of the metabolites, threonine, may hold promise as a potential therapeutic for aging interventions.

"These results would not have been possible without this pioneering approach," says Buck professor Pankaj Kapahi, PhD, senior author of the paper. "There is a lot of data sitting out there that is not being correlated between species. I think this approach could be a game-changer when it comes to identifying potential interventions to improve human health."

Threonine has been shown to protect against diabetes in mice. The essential amino acid plays an important role in collagen and elastin production and is also involved in blood clotting, fat metabolism and immune function.

The method -- simplified

The work began with former Buck postdoc Tyler Hilsabeck, PhD, crunching data (involving metabolomics, phenotypes and genomics) to analyze 120 metabolites in 160 strains of fruit flies on both restricted and normal diets. The goal was to reveal how different genotypes responded to the diets to influence lifespan and healthspan. "This allowed us to find the 'needles in the haystack' when it came to identifying relevant metabolites," Hilsabeck says.

Vikram Narayan, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow then cross-referenced findings with human data from the massive UK Biobank. "Using the human data allowed us to focus on interesting metabolites to those that are conserved in both species. It also allowed us to uncover the impact of those metabolites in humans," he says. Importantly, the team then brought those relevant metabolites back into the fly to validate results.

The results

In flies, threonine extended lifespan in a strain-and-sex-specific manner. Individuals with higher levels of threonine-related metabolites had longer, healthier lives. "We're not saying that threonine is going to work in all conditions," says Kapahi. "Our research shows it works in subsets of both flies and people. I think most of us have stopped expecting to find a 'magic-bullet' intervention for aging. Our method provides another way to develop precision medicine for geroscience."

sources-science daily

Restricting sugar consumption in utero and in early childhood significantly reduces risk of midlife chronic disease

 A low-sugar diet in utero and in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, a new study has found, providing compelling new evidence of the lifelong health effects of early-life sugar consumption.

Published in Science, the study finds that children who experienced sugar restrictions during their first 1,000 days after conception had up to 35% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and as much as 20% less risk of hypertension as adults. Low sugar intake by the mother prior to birth was enough to lower risks, but continued sugar restriction after birth increased the benefits.

Taking advantage of an unintended "natural experiment" from World War II, researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, McGill University in Montreal, and the University of California, Berkeley, examined how sugar rationing during the war influenced long-term health outcomes.

The United Kingdom introduced limits on sugar distribution in 1942 as part of its wartime food rationing program. Rationing ended in September 1953.

The researchers used contemporary data from the U.K. Biobank, a database of medical histories and genetic, lifestyle and other disease risk factors, to study the effect of those early-life sugar restrictions on health outcomes of adults conceived in the U.K. just before and after the end of wartime sugar rationing.

"Studying the long-term effects of added sugar on health is challenging," says study corresponding author Tadeja Gracner, senior economist at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research. "It is hard to find situations where people are randomly exposed to different nutritional environments early in life and follow them for 50 to 60 years. The end of rationing provided us with a novel natural experiment to overcome these problems."

Sugar intake during rationing was about 8 teaspoons (40 grams) per day on average. When rationing ended, sugar and sweets consumption skyrocketed to about 16 teaspoons (80 grams) per day.

Notably, rationing did not involve extreme food deprivation overall. Diets generally appeared to have been, in fact, within today's guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the World Health Organization, which recommend no added sugars for children under two and not more than 12 teaspoons (50g) of added sugar daily for adults.

The immediate and large increase in sugar consumption but no other foods after rationing ended created an interesting natural experiment: Individuals were exposed to varying levels of sugar intake early in life, depending on whether they were conceived or born before or after September 1953. Those conceived or born just before the end of rationing experienced sugar-scarce conditions compared to those born just after who were born into a more sugar-rich environment.

sources-science daily

Water fern gains more evidence as safe potential global food insecurity solution

 Is the floating freshwater fern commonly called Carolina azolla the potential answer to global food insecurity or a possible threat to humanity? On the heels of a study published earlier this year by researchers at Penn State on the plant's nutrition and digestibility, the team learned of concerns about the plant's potential toxin content. The researchers joined an international effort to test Azolla and found that it does not contain cyanotoxins, potent toxins produced by a type of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, associated with the plant.

The team published their findings in a new study in Plants.

"That finding suggests that azolla is food safe and has the potential to safely feed millions of people due to its rapid growth while free-floating on shallow fresh water without the need for nitrogen fertilizers," said Daniel Winstead, research technologist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and lead author on the earlier study. He works in the labs of Michael Jacobson, professor of ecosystem science and management, and Francesco Di Gioia, assistant professor of vegetable crop science. "Azolla is an amazing plant that can double its biomass in two days and capture nitrogen from the air."

After the original study published, Winstead said, it was brought to his attention that the cyanobacteria that live inside azolla could produce powerful cyanotoxins that dissuade animals from eating the plant. Cyanotoxins have been linked to neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease, liver and kidney failure, muscle paralysis and other severe health issues. Despite the threat of the toxins and the use and study of azolla, he explained they learned that no scientists had definitively tested for the presence of these toxins in azolla.

"I felt a sense of responsibility to help answer this question because we had just published about azolla's nutritional quality," Winstead said. "I didn't want to be promoting the consumption of a potentially harmful plant. As I was preparing an experimental design, I was contacted by the Azolla Foundation about that organization's interest in our research. I reached out to them and asked if they knew anyone who was looking into azolla's toxicity from cyanotoxins."

sources-science daily

Investigating the power of music for dementia

 In this episode of our podcast, we delve into the science behind how sounds and silence affect our cognitive health and seek to uncover whether music can be healing for people with dementia. Joining the conversation this month with Dr. Hilary Guite and global news editor Yasemin Nicola Sakay are Dr. Kelly Jakubowski, assistant professor in music psychology at Durham University in the United Kingdom, and Beatie Wolfe, singer, songwriter, and ambassador for the charity Music for Dementia, who witnessed music’s direct effect in a care home for people with dementia.

How diet may help with endometriosis

In this episode, we discuss how and why diet could help manage the symptoms of endometriosis and which interventions might be the most effective. We are in conversation with Dr. Hana Kahleova, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine — a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC — and Hannah Alderson, a registered nutritionist with the British Association For Nutrition And Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and founder of The Positive Method – The Path to Happier Hormones. Dr. Kahleova is the co-author of a recent study looking at nutrition as a factor in the risk for and management of endometriosis. Alderson’s precepts for well-being stem from her own long journey seeking a diagnosis and treatment for PCOS and endometriosis.

Is the ketogenic diet right for autoimmune conditions?

In this episode of our podcast, we discuss the possible benefits and drawbacks of adopting the ketogenic diet for managing chronic pain and autoimmune conditions. We also address the many controversies surrounding this diet. Joining the conversation with Dr. Hilary Guite and Global News editor Yasemin Nicola Sakay are Dr. Susan A. Masino of Trinity College, CT, who is the Vernon D. Roosa professor of Applied Science and author of “Ketogenic Diet and Metabolic Therapies: Expanded Roles in Health and Disease,” and Shea, who has trialed the diet with his lupus.

Can diet help improve depression symptoms?

This episode of our podcast discusses the links between diet, the gut, and depression symptoms, asking one crucial question: Can changing our diet help improve symptoms of depression? Our guests are Dr. Najaf Amin, senior research associate in the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Rachel Kelly, a U.K.-based mental health campaigner who has been outspoken about how diet helped treat her own depression.

Research highlights of 2022

For our final “In Conversation” episode of 2022, Feature Editor Maria Cohut, Global News Editor Yasemin Sakay, and Managing Editor James McIntosh reflect on the research highlights of 2022. Topics include the twists and turns of dementia research, why scientists are studying psychedelics for mental health, and how stem cell research is advancing at a steady pace.

How Viagra became a new ‘tool’ for young men

In this episode, we discuss the stigma surrounding male psychosexual health and how Viagra—the little blue ‘magic’ pill once only marketed to older males as an erectile dysfunction drug—is now becoming a new tool for young men. Joining the conversation with Dr. Hilary Guite and Global News editor Yasemin Nicola Sakay are Dr. Edward Ratush, board certified psychiatrist and co-founder of telepsychiatry and psychotherapy practice SOHOMD in the United States, Dr. Peter Saddington, accredited psychotherapist specializing in sexual addiction, counseling, and psychosexual therapy at Relate, and three guests who frankly share their experience with using Viagra.

Editor’s note: This podcast includes commentaries that mention the use of illegal drugs. Medical News Today does not condone or encourage their use.

What makes breast cancer come back?

In this episode, we discuss breast cancer recurrence, why cancer spreads, and whether it is possible to reduce recurrence risk. Our guests are Dr. Rachael Natrajan, head of the functional genomics team in the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, and Dr. Liz O’Riordan, former consultant breast cancer surgeon and a breast cancer patient and advocate. She is co-author of The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer.

How to understand chronic pain

In this episode, we discuss all things chronic pain — from how it feels to live with it to how the body reacts to pain and transitions from an acute state to a chronic reactive state. Joining the conversation with Dr. Hilary Guite and Global News editor Yasemin Nicola Sakay are Dr. Tony L. Yaksh, professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, who shares his insights about the latest research, and Joel Nelson, a longtime psoriatic disease and arthritis patient and advocate, who discusses his personal journey with pain.

What is behind vaccine hesitancy?

In this episode, we discuss vaccine hesitancy, what really makes people unsure about accepting vaccines, and whether science communicators can do anything to heal the relationship between the public and health organizations. We are in conversation with Prof. Maya Goldenberg, who is a professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and specializes in the phenomenon of vaccine hesitancy, and reporter Aaron Khemchandani, a science communication MSc student at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, who has studied the phenomenon of mistrust in science.

Source - Medical News Today