New Antibiotic Approach Proves Promising Against Lyme Bacterium

The AHA! Team — Fri, 31 May 2024 05:32:44 +0000

Duke Health – A technique that has demonstrated success against cancer tumors could also be lethal to bacteria and other pathogens DURHAM, N.C. – Using a technique that has shown promise in targeting cancer tumors, a Duke Health team has found a way to deploy a molecular warhead that can annihilate the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Tested in cell cultures using the Borrelia burgdoferi bacterium, the approach holds the potential to target not only bacteria, but also fungi such as yeast and viruses. The findings appear in the journal Cell Chemical Biology. Duke Health team has found a way to deploy a molecular warhead that can annihilate the bacterium that causes Lyme disease “This transport mechanism gets internalized in the bacterium and brings in a molecule that causes what we’ve described as a berserker reaction – a programmed death response,” said lead author Timothy Haystead, Ph.D., professor in Duke’s Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. “It wipes out the bacteria — sterilizes the culture with a single dose of light. And then when you look at what occurs with electron microscopy, you see the collapse of the chromosome.” Haystead and colleagues used a molecular facilitator called high-temperature protein G (HtpG), which is involved in protecting cells that are undergoing heat stress. This family of proteins has been the focus of drug development programs for possible cancer therapies. Studies of this protein as an antimicrobial have also been encouraging, but the Duke team’s work appears to be the first to tether an HtpG inhibitor to a drug that enhances sensitivity to light. The researchers found that the HtpG inhibitor, armed with the photosensitive drug, was rapidly absorbed into the cells of the Lyme bacteria. When hit with light, the bacteria’s cells went into disarray and ultimately collapsed, killing them. “Our findings point to a new, alternate antibiotic development strategy, whereby one can exploit a potentially vast number of previously unexplored druggable areas within bacteria to deliver cellular toxins,” Haystead said. In addition to Haystead, study authors include Dave L. Carlson, Mark Kowalewski, Khaldon Bodoor, Adam D. Lietzan, Philip Hughes, David Gooden, David L. Loiselle, David Alcorta, Zoey Dingman, Elizabeth A. Mueller, Irnov Irnov, Shannon Modla, Tim Chaya, Jeffrey Caplan, Monica Embers, Jennifer C. Miller, Christine Jacobs-Wagner, Matthew R. Redinbo, and Neil Spector (deceased). The study received funding support from the Steven and Alexander Cohen foundation and Bay Area Lyme Foundation. To read the original article click here.

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Sleep and Biological Rhythm Variables Linked to Severity of Depression, Anxiety During Pregnancy

AHA Publisher — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:00:54 +0000

McMaster University via News-Medical – A set of parameters including sleep and biological rhythm variables are closely associated with the severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms, starting in the third trimester of pregnancy to the third postpartum month, according to a new study. The three-month period before and after giving birth is a vulnerable time for women’s mental health. It is estimated that 15 to 18 per cent of women experience anxiety and seven to 13 per cent experience depression during this peripartum period. In addition, nearly 10 per cent of women experience clinical levels of comorbid anxiety and depression during this time. In the largest observational study to date investigating changes in sleep and biological rhythms during the peripartum period, researchers identified several variables that are linked to depression and anxiety. Most notably, changes in the circadian quotient (the strength of the circadian rhythms), the average amount of activity during nighttime rest, and the amount of fragmentation of nighttime rest were strongly linked to higher depressive and anxiety symptoms. “Our findings highlight the importance of stabilizing the internal biological clock during the peripartum period to maintain healthy mood and minimize anxiety,” said Benicio Frey, senior author of the study and professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at McMaster University. “Given the findings, future efforts should be made to standardize evidence-based interventions targeting these biological rhythms variables identified by our team, either as treatment or prevention strategies.” Frey and his research team conducted the study from the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. This clinic specializes in psychiatric disorders during the peripartum, premenstrual, and perimenopausal periods. Researchers recruited 100 women, 73 of whom they followed from the start of the third trimester to three months postpartum. They analyzed subjective and objective measures of sleep, biological rhythms, melatonin levels, and light exposure using a variety of tools, including questionnaires, actigraphs (wearable sleep monitors), laboratory assays, and other methods. Interestingly, the findings indicate that certain biological rhythms variables may be important to depressive symptoms at specific points along the peripartum timeline. For instance, higher fragmentation of nighttime rest was linked to a decrease in depressive symptoms at six to 12 weeks postpartum – a period that tends to coincide with a higher risk of developing postpartum depression. To read the original article click here.

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New Antibiotic Approach Proves Promising Against Lyme Bacterium

Sleep and Biological Rhythm Variables Linked to Severity of Depression, Anxiety During Pregnancy