Medicine & Healthcare

A novel branched lipid that has a high stability in storage and a high efficiency in the delivery of mRNA to cells has been developed.

Giants in History: Indian scientist and physician Upendranath Brahmachari (19 December 1873–6 February 1946) is best known for creating a drug called Urea Stibamine, used to safely and reliably treat visceral leishmaniasis (or Kala-azar), a severe infection caused by the Leishmania parasite.

Injury from falls lowers healthy life expectancy and quality of life, especially for older people. In Japan, patients discharged from acute care hospitals have higher incidences of falls. These falls occur more often indoors in places used frequently in daily life. A group of Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted a 6-month follow-up survey, after discharge from an acute care hospital, on falls and near-falls, of orthopedic disease patients with a fall history aged 65 or older. The results suggest that preventive intervention instructing patients using their home floor plans may help prevent falls during the early post-discharge period.

Researchers from Osaka University and Dusseldorf University have found a new theranostic compound that effectively shrinks prostate tumor in mice. Theranostics is a cancer treatment that involves finding cancer cells anywhere in the body and delivering targeted radiation to kill those cells, by drugs that contain radioactive isotopes. It means that this compound could be a promising option for treating hormone-resistant metastases in patients with recurrent cancers. This is stated to be tested in an upcoming clinical trial.

The costliness of drug development and the limitations of studying physiological processes in the lab are two separate scientific issues that may share the same solution. Microphysical systems (MPSs) are in vitro platforms made up of cells in a microenvironment that closely mimics that found in the body, allowing scientists to recreate the conditions of tissues found within the body for both further elucidation of biological conditions and systems and for applications such as testing drugs in a more precise model than animal testing allows. However, the advancements that MPSs could provide have been limited up to this point by an inability to accurately record what is happening at a cellular level. Now, a team of scientists has developed an electrochemical sensing platform that could solve this issue. The results were published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

Researchers led by Osaka University show that a molecule called T-cadherin can be secreted in a soluble form. Soluble T-cadherin interacts with pancreatic insulin-producing β cells via the Notch signaling pathway to promote their proliferation and increase the production of insulin. Recombinant T-cadherin stimulated Notch signaling in isolated mouse pancreatic islets, which contain β cells, indicating that T-cadherin may have therapeutic potential for diabetes.

Research in Singapore confirms a link between tiny particulates in air pollution and sudden cardiac arrests in the general population.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumors gain immunosuppression and chemoresistance through interactions between interleukin 34 and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, researchers find.

While both protect from severe disease, inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and spike mRNA vaccines trigger different T-cell responses.

Call To Action urges G20 member countries and partners to mobilize adequate resources to close the TB funding gap and save lives.

A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has developed a drug delivery system that activates a strong cellular immune response to attack cancer cells, using one-tenth of the amount of antigen needed in the group’s previous work. By incorporating positively charged cationic lipids into liposomes and adding negatively charged pH-responsive polysaccharides to the surface, the research group increased the uptake efficiency of liposomes encapsulating cancer antigens by dendritic cells by approximately five times, which increased cytokine production by about 100 times. This increased M1-type macrophages, which activate cancer immunity, and decreased M2-type macrophages, which promote cancer growth.

Researchers from Osaka University used a combination of genetic manipulation and protein structural analysis to determine how the position of “bulky” amino acids influences the ability of efflux pump inhibitors to bind bacterial pump proteins and so reduce their resistance to antibiotics. This work has implications for our understanding of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and may be useful in the rational design of drugs that target bacteria that have evolved antibiotic resistance.

Leading global scientists and policymakers will exchange learnings to promote multi-sectoral collaboration to address complex global health challenges

Research led by the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has identified cryptotanshinone, a compound extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza, with the potential for the treatment and prevention of gastric cancer associated with bile reflux. The researchers unveiled the mechanism of how bile reflux induces gastritis and gastric cancer. They explained that refluxed bile acids (BAs) lead to the proliferation of pro-inflammation bacteria that promote gastric carcinogenesis, the formation of cancer.

Small neighboring galaxy filled with dark matter detected with gamma rays, How a virus induces heart inflammation, Shedding light on the happy hormone, Microfossils may hold key evolution clues. Read all in the October's Editor's Choice plus Upcoming event KNOWLEDGE MARKETPLACE – Bangkok 2022: Exchanging of ideas for a Democratic Myanmar.

Investigations in Japan have uncovered some molecular mechanisms behind mitochondrial dysfunction in chronic heart failure.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers interviewed active para-athletes with lower-limb disabilities who compete at an international level, about diet and nutrition. The research team found that what para-athletes considered an ideal diet was not necessarily optimized for improving athletic performance, and even when para-athletes understood diets geared towards athletic performance, characteristics of their disabilities impose barriers to implementing dietary changes. Understanding these concerns and struggles is important for nutritionists who support para-athletes in sports nutrition.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted a study of human mobility to find effective lifestyle changes that enable people to exist with the novel coronavirus COVID-19, while maintaining social and economic activities. They found that restricting the human mobility in specific areas according to the state of the pandemic, rather than uniformly controlling human mobility, could be effective in reducing the number of new COVID-19 infections.

When a cancer spreads, the invasion of tumor cells into the lymph nodes present various barriers to effective treatment. Harnessing a lymphatic drug delivery system, where drugs are injected directly into sentinel lymph nodes under ultrasound guidance, a collaborative research group has developed a novel drug formulation that enhances the therapeutic response of carboplatin, a commonly used chemotherapy medication.

Researchers from Osaka University have developed a skin-like device to measure brain activity via electroencephalography, which uses electrodes to measure electrical activity on the scalp (reflecting underlying brain activity). The device has other useful applications, such as measuring heart rate and blood oxygen levels. Wearable devices that can remotely assess brain health in everyday settings are likely to improve healthcare for millions of people worldwide.

Researchers from Osaka University have shown that deficiency of the protein Favine can lead to accelerated development of atherosclerosis. Loss of Favine in a mouse atherosclerosis model also led to calcification and thrombus development in the blood vessels of the mice. Prior to this, no mouse models for calcification or thrombus formation existed, hindering atherosclerosis research. This work also identifies Favine and its downstream signaling pathway, known as MEF2C-KLF2, as potential therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis.

The Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2022: SDG International Innovation Awards & Expo (SDGIIAE) returns for its 2nd edition and the awards encourage the development of innovative solutions for local and global challenges.

Researchers from Osaka University have found that the Vibrio cholerae colonization factor TcpF forms a flower-shaped trimer to specifically bind to the minor pilus protein TcpB resulting in secretion by the type 4 pilus secretion system into the extracellular space. This finding could help lead to the development of a novel anti-adhesive drug that selectively interrupts the TcpF-TcpB interaction, which may replace antibiotics in the treatment of cholera.

A study in Japan finds antibody response to the Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine does not vary depending on the time of day when the dose was received.

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant escapes the immune response better than its coronavirus ancestors, but has also facilitated our transition to a society that can live with COVID-19.

- DGIST Professor Jin Ho Chang and Jae Youn Hwang's joint research team revealed for the first time in the world that the depth focused light can be increased by using a bubble layer temporarily created using ultrasound. - The collaborative research of ultrasound and optical imaging experts is expected to overcome the physical limitations of optical imaging and treatment depth.

Researchers from Osaka University have found that serum albumin interferes with β2m amyloid fibril formation through macromolecular crowding. Monitoring serum albumin concentrations could therefore help prevent patients from developing dialysis-related amyloidosis, a serious complication of long-term dialysis.

Low concentrations of cetylpyridinium chloride, an antimicrobial agent present in mouthwashes, inhibit the infectivity of four variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Metastasis—when cancer spreads to form new tumors—causes approximately 90% of cancer-related deaths. Because metastatic cancer cells circulate in the blood, the liver—which filters the blood—is considered the most vulnerable organ, so treatments that prevent liver metastasis are urgently needed. A team of Osaka Metropolitan University researchers discovered a mechanism that allows metastatic cancer cells to infiltrate the liver, and how that infiltration can be blocked by inhibiting a related protein.

A simple and economical method of detecting SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in wastewater with high sensitivity has been developed, expanding the use of wastewater-based epidemiology for tracking the virus in populations.