therapeutic intervention Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Hormone Exposure in the Womb Potentially Linked to Migraine Risk in Later Life

AHA Publisher — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 08:00:28 +0000

Frontiers via Newswise – Hormone levels in the womb before birth have been potentially linked to the risk of developing migraine in adulthood, reveals a new study of genetic and environmental information from the world’s largest database of twins. The research is also the first to show that genetic factors related to migraine risk may be different for men and women. The researchers hope these findings will enable more effective and targeted treatment options for this debilitating disease. The risk of experiencing migraine in adulthood has been linked to factors in the womb, finds a new study published in Frontiers in Pain Research. It also found evidence to suggest that different genes influence migraine risk in men and women. “We are the first to show that females with a male co-twin have a higher risk of migraine compared to females with a female co-twin, suggesting that prenatal factors, possibly relating to in utero hormone levels, may contribute to migraine risk,” said Morgan Fitzgerald, lead author of the study, from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. “We are also the first to present evidence that genetic factors related to migraine risk may be different between females and males.” Debilitating Disease Migraine is a severe, debilitating neurological disease that affects more than 12% of the world’s population. Females are more likely to suffer from migraine by a factor of nearly seven to one, and it is a leading cause of disability in young women. “Despite its prevalence, the factors that contribute to migraine are poorly understood,” said Dr Matthew Panizzon, principal investigator of the study, also based at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. “With the data from the Swedish Twin Registry, the largest twin registry in the world, there was a unique opportunity to probe factors contributing to female-male differences in migraine.” The researchers examined data from 51,872 individuals who had participated in prior Swedish Twin Registry studies. They identified those who experienced migraine without aura based on criteria set by the International Headache Society Classification of Headache Disorders. “Since the data were collected from twins, we were able to use analytic methods that allowed us to test whether migraine risk was driven by different genes in females and males, and whether the presence of an opposite-sex twin in utero, which is believed to impact prenatal hormone levels, had an influence,” explained Fitzgerald. “We found that the prenatal environment may contribute to migraine risk, and that some of the genetic factors that contribute to migraine risk may be different between females and males.” Improved Treatment Options “The findings of our study are important because the more we understand the factors that contribute to migraine, and especially the differences between males and females, the more opportunity there is to improve clinical care, diagnostic abilities, and therapeutic interventions for both men and women,” added Panizzon. Further questions remain, such as what factors dictate the presence or absence of aura with migraine, and at what age and in what stage of life does migraine begin. “Unfortunately, age at onset was not available in the Swedish Twin Registry data. In fact, most studies do not ask individuals when their migraine attacks first start,” explained Fitzgerald. “In the future, we hope to examine how age at migraine onset coincides with the timing of critical hormonal events like puberty.” To read the original article click here.

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COVID-19 Infection Can Be Inhibited by Elements of the Human Microbiome

AHA Publisher — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 08:00:39 +0000

American Society for Microbiology (ASM) via Newswise – Washington, D.C. – December 1, 2021– Researchers have identified metabolites, intermediate or end products of metabolism, in the human microbiome that inhibit COVID-19 infection in cell-based models of the virus. The finding, reported this week in the journal mSphere, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, is yet another example of the wealth of information that can be gained by studying the human microbiome, the collection of microbes, bacteria, fungi and viruses that live on and inside the human body. The finding may also help in the development of new therapeutics that can battle COVID-19 infections. “We have found that bacteria that grow on and in you make specific molecules that can inhibit, at least in a laboratory setting, the cell based viral infection of SARS-CoV-2, and the molecules appear to do that by a number of different mechanisms,” said study principal investigator Sean Brady, Ph.D., professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetically Encoded Small Molecules, at the Rockefeller University, New York City. Brady said the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to identify additional antiviral small molecules to complement existing therapies. While increasing evidence suggests that metabolites produced by the human microbiome have diverse biological activities affecting the human host, there is comparatively little information on the metabolites’ antiviral properties. In the new study, Brady and colleagues used a cell-based SARS-CoV-2 infection assay to screen metabolites from a sample of bacteria from the human microbiome. They identified 3 bacterial metabolites capable of inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection: an adenosine analogue, tryptamine and a disubstituted pyrazine. The identified molecules display structural similarities to synthetic drugs that have been explored for the treatment of COVID-19. “It was intriguing that of all the chemistries available, the metabolites we uncovered from the microbiome all bore similarities to clinically-relevant antivirals,” said Frank Piscotta, Ph.D., lead author on the study and a post-doc in the Laboratory of Genetically Encoded Small Molecules. The researchers say these molecules could serve as starting points for the development of new antivirals. In addition, researchers could deliver the antiviral-producing bacteria as a therapeutic intervention. The researchers say they want to study the mechanisms by which the metabolites function and whether the bacteria producing these molecules have any effect on viral infection upon colonization of an animal. As more data becomes available, they also plan to examine whether the presence or absence of these antiviral-producing bacteria in humans can be linked to severity of viral infection. “Our discovery of structurally diverse metabolites with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity from screening a small fraction of the bacteria reported to be associated with the human microbiome suggests that continued exploration of phylogenetically diverse human-associated bacteria is likely to uncover additional small molecules that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 as well as other viral infections,” said Brady. Brady says this is one of the first studies to show that molecules produced by the human microbiome can inhibit viral infections, particularly of coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2. To read the original article click here.

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Targeting the Brain Should Be the Focus of ALS Therapy, Not Just Spinal Cord

AHA Publisher — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 08:00:40 +0000

Northwestern University via News-Medical – The brain is indeed a target for treating ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered. This flips a long-standing belief that the disease starts in the spinal motor neurons and any therapy would need to target the spine as the key focus. A new Northwestern study shows the degeneration of brain motor neurons (the nerve cells in the brain that control movement of the limbs) is not merely a byproduct of the spinal motor neuron degeneration, as had been previously thought. “We have discovered that the brain degenerates early in diseases like ALS, sends us warning signals and shows defects very early in the disease. Therefore, we need to repair the brain motor neurons if we want long-term and effective treatment strategies. The brain is important in ALS.” Hande Ozdinler, lead study author, associate professor of neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine The paper will be published Dec. 2 in Gene Therapy. ALS is a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. Upper motor neuron diseases, such as ALS, hereditary spastic paraplegia and primary lateral sclerosis affect more than 250,000 people a year in the U.S. alone. There is no cure and no effective long-term treatment strategy. This is the first study to clearly reveal the brain motor neuron degeneration is not a consequence of spinal motor neuron degeneration but is independent of the spinal motor neuron degeneration. The research also is the first to show that the gene UCHL1 is important for maintaining the health of brain motor neurons that are diseased due to two independent underlying causes. One is the accumulation of badly folded proteins and the other is the accumulation of sticky protein clumps inside the cells. These problems are observed in more than 90% of all ALS cases and also in other cases of upper motor neuron diseases. “Our findings not only give legitimacy for targeting brain motor neuron health in ALS as a therapeutic intervention, it also reveals the first target gene that can help these neurons be revitalized,” Ozdinler said. “This has huge clinical implications,” Ozdinler said. “Being able to modulate gene expression in diseased brain motor neurons in upper motor neuron disease patients is mind boggling. Since movement starts in the brain, if we can make the brain motor neurons happy and healthy, if we can boost their health and integrity with directed gene delivery, we may begin to develop personalized treatment options especially for patients with upper motor neuron disease, who currently have no effective treatment options. Northwestern University scientists have previously identified NU-9, the first compound that eliminates the ongoing degeneration of upper motor neurons that become diseased and are a key contributor to ALS. Now, this study reveals the importance and significance of treating upper motor neurons in ALS and identifies the first genetic target. The next step is to determine the best dose and the best site of injection with respect to improvement of movement and reduction of disease conditions in at least two different ALS disease models. After preclinical toxicology studies, scientists will move to translate these results into a clinical trial, a process that likely will take several years. To read the original article click here.

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