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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2025 at 9:16am

Researchers uncover surprising limit on human imagination

Human beings can juggle up to 10 balls at once. But how many can they move through the air with their imaginations?

The answer, published in Nature Communications, astonished even the researchers pursuing the question. The cognitive psychologists found people could easily imagine the trajectory of a single ball after it disappeared. But the imagination couldn't simultaneously keep tabs on two moving balls that fell from view.

The researchers set out to test the capacity limits of the imagination, and they found that it was just one!

Halely Balaban et al, The capacity limits of moving objects in the imagination, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61021-8

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2025 at 9:07am

In-mouth hydrogel releases artificial saliva to treat dry mouth

Saliva is more than spit. It helps with chewing and swallowing, protects teeth and gums, and even has antimicrobial and digestive properties. However, certain conditions or medical treatments, such as hemodialysis, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, reduce natural saliva production. Now, researchers publishing in ACS Applied Polymer Materials have created a reusable hydrogel that releases artificial saliva over time, which could help provide sustained relief from dry mouth.

Dry mouth is a condition whereby the salivary glands do not produce enough saliva. Many medications to treat dry mouth boost natural saliva production, but they either provide temporary relief or have unwanted side effects, including mouth irritation and tooth erosion. Previous research identified that artificial saliva, often used in laboratory studies, could be a promising alternative to current medications.

Like natural saliva, artificial saliva is mostly water and contains mucins—a class of compounds that lubricate the mouth and have antimicrobial properties.

To create the reservoir, the researchers mixed artificial saliva with a biocompatible polymer poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), which is commonly used in medical applications such as contact lenses. The resulting hydrogel is a clear blob roughly the size of a U.S. quarter and small enough to fit in the inner cheek or below the tongue.

To determine how much artificial saliva a single reservoir could absorb, the researchers submerged it in artificial saliva for 6 hours. The saliva gel expanded up to 400% of its original volume, indicating that the gel has a high saliva storage capacity.

Next, the researchers tested the reservoir's ability to release stored saliva. The gel released all stored saliva over a 4-hour time span at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), starting off a little faster and then slowing over time. This demonstrates that human body temperature helps initiate saliva release from the hydrogel.

The researchers also report consistent saliva release rates across five consecutive tests with a single reservoir, demonstrating its potential as a reusable treatment option. Lastly, cultured cells in contact with the gel had no change to their survival or growth rates, indicating the reservoir's biocompatibility.

 Suman Debnath et al, Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Saliva-Gel: A Polymer-Based Solution for Xerostomia Treatment, ACS Applied Polymer Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.5c00881

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2025 at 9:01am

Ultimately, HAR123 promotes a particularly advanced human trait called cognitive flexibility, or the ability to unlearn and replace previous knowledge.
In addition to providing new insights into the biology of the human brain, the results also offer a molecular explanation for some of the radical changes that have occurred in the human brain over the course of our evolution. This is supported, for example, by the authors' finding that the human version of HAR123 exerts different molecular and cellular effects than the chimpanzee version in both stem cells and neuron precursor cells in a petri dish.

 Kun Tan et al, An ancient enhancer rapidly evolving in the human lineage promotes neural development and cognitive flexibility, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt0534. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt0534

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2025 at 9:00am

A genetic twist that sets human brains apart

Research  has shed new light on an age-old question: what makes the human brain unique? The study is published online in Science Advances.

The  discovery comes from their investigation of human-accelerated regions (HARs)—sections of the human genome that have accumulated an unusually high level of mutations as humans have evolved. There is a lot of scientific interest in HARs, as they are hypothesized to play an essential role in conferring human-specific traits, and also have links to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

One reason why scientists think that HARs confer human-specific traits is they have undergone rapid changes in their genetic sequences since we split from our closest living relative—the chimpanzee—approximately 5 million years ago.

Now researchers have identified one particular HAR—called HAR123—that appears to be instrumental in shaping the human brain. The researchers found that HAR123 itself is not a gene, but is instead a type of molecular "volume control" known as a transcriptional enhancer. Transcriptional enhancers control which genes are activated, how much they are activated, and at what times they are activated during an organism's development.

Through its role as a transcriptional enhancer, HAR123 promotes the development of neural progenitor cells, the cells that give rise to the two main types of brain cells—neurons and glial cells. HAR123 also influences the ratio of neurons and glial cells that form from neural progenitor cells. 

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2025 at 8:55am

How small changes in walking technique may help treat knee osteoarthritis

Gait analysis and pain measures show that subtly adjusting the angle of the foot during walking may reduce knee pain caused by osteoarthritis. This approach may also slow progression of the condition, an incurable disease in which the cartilage cushion inside a joint breaks down.

A new study explored whether changing the way patients position their feet when walking could lessen extra loading—stress on the joint during motion—and help treat the disease.

For the investigation, the scientists tested this intervention in 68 men and women with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis and then used advanced MRI scans to track how well it worked.

The results suggest that those trained to angle their feet slightly inward or outward from their natural alignment experienced slower cartilage degeneration in the inner part of their knee compared with those who were encouraged to walk more frequently without changing their foot position. A report on the study is published online in the journal The Lancet Rheumatology.

The findings also revealed that those who adjusted their foot angle reduced their pain score by 2.5 points on a 10-point scale, an effect equivalent to that of over-the-counter pain medications. By contrast, those who did not change their gait reduced their pain scores by little more than a point.

 Personalised gait retraining for medial compartment knee osteoarthritis: a randomised controlled trial, The Lancet Rheumatology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S2665-9913(25)00151-1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:30am

Of particular concern is the combination of multiple environmental stressors: the multimodal exposome can magnify the detrimental effects of individual exposures.

Noise can intensify the impact of air pollutants, and heat can act as a catalyst for vascular damage caused by toxins.
The overlapping biological mechanisms range from oxidative stress and activation of the pro-inflammatory enzyme NOX-2 to endothelial dysfunction—all of which are early precursors of myocardial infarction and stroke.
The exposome concept offers a holistic framework that integrates the lifetime accumulation of environmental exposures and their biological interactions into cardiovascular risk assessment, enabling the development of more targeted preventive strategies. The researchers  stress that stricter environmental and noise protection laws, sustainable urban planning, and green infrastructure can help reduce exposure to these stressors.

Thomas Friedrich Münzel et al, A comprehensive review/expert statement on environmental risk factors of cardiovascular disease, Cardiovascular Research (2025). DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvaf119. academic.oup.com/cardiovascres … /cvr/cvaf119/8230112

Party 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:28am

How noise, air pollution, heat and chemicals act together to damage the cardiovascular system

Cardiovascular diseases comprise a broad range of disorders affecting the heart and blood vessels, including myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, heart failure, and arrhythmias. These conditions remain the number one cause of death worldwide.

Therefore, the demand for effective preventive strategies is substantial, and understanding the relevant risk factors is essential. Well-established contributors include obesity, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity, and an unhealthy diet.

An international research team now warns in a comprehensive review about another group of risk factors that have thus far received limited attention in current prevention strategies: environmental stressors. The authors report in Cardiovascular Research that chronic exposure to noise, fine particulate matter,  heat waves, and chemical pollutants in soil and water can exert harmful effects on the cardiovascular system.

Key findings of the current publication:

Chronic traffic noise activates stress hormone pathways, disrupts sleep, and induces hypertension and vascular inflammation.
Air pollution, fine particulate matter, particularly ultrafine particles (PM₂.₅, UFP), can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and promote oxidative stress, endothelial injury, and atherosclerosis.
Increasingly frequent heat waves place particular strain on elderly individuals and those with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In cities, impervious surfaces and lack of greenery exacerbate "heat island" effects, increasing the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke.
Persistent chemical pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which degrade slowly or not at all, can enter the body through food and drinking water. Early studies suggest they can enhance inflammation, impair vascular function, and elevate long-term cardiovascular risk.
Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:24am

Autoimmune diseases linked to cancers of the digestive tract

In a comprehensive study, researchers have provided reliable evidence for a link between chronic inflammatory diseases and the development of tumors in the digestive tract. The results were recently published in eClinicalMedicine.

Using data from over 1.5 million patients from 47 studies, the researchers analyzed the association between four autoimmune diseases, most of which are acquired in childhood or younger adulthood, and cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas.

The study shows that celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematosus and type 1 diabetes increase the risk of several types of cancer of the digestive tract. These include stomach and bowel cancer. In particular, the risk of small bowel cancer increases by a factor of 4.2 if celiac disease is present.

Multiple sclerosis, on the other hand, is associated with a lower risk of certain types of cancer, such as pancreatic, esophageal and rectal cancer.

These results underline the need for targeted monitoring of patients with autoimmune diseases and the development of personalized cancer prevention programs.

Julia Reizner et al, Evaluating the risk of digestive system cancer in autoimmune disease patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on bias assessment, eClinicalMedicine (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103410

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:16am

Microbial molecule may offer non-toxic way to restore liver and gut health

Researchers have discovered that a natural molecule made by gut bacteria can reverse liver damage and repair the gut lining after aflatoxin exposure. The treatment may offer a new, non-toxic way to prevent and treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a growing health problem.

The study revealed that 10-hydroxystearic acid (10-HSA), a compound produced by Lactobacillus bacteria, successfully restored gut-liver health in mice exposed to aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a toxic substance made by mold commonly found in peanuts, corn and other crops. It is known to cause liver injury.

"This is the first time a single microbial molecule has been shown to repair both the liver and gut together," say the researchers. 

The gut and the liver are intricately linked. They communicate through bile acids, immunity responses and lipid metabolism—a relationship known as the gut-liver axis. When one organ is damaged, the other suffers too. In diseases like NAFLD (now also called MASLD), this connection becomes a key therapeutic target.

Aflatoxin exposure affects many people, especially in developing countries. In agricultural areas with poor food safety, this exposure is a serious public health concern. This study lays the foundation for developing a simple, safe supplement that could be life changing.

Microbial biotherapeutic metabolite alleviates liver injury by restoring hepatic lipid metabolism through PPARα across the gut-liver axis, mBio (2025). DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01718-25

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 13, 2025 at 10:11am

The findings are correlational—they do not show that stomach activity causes mental illness. But the researchers think the pattern could point to a new physiological marker of mental health that is objective, measurable, and grounded in the body's rhythms.
If stomach–brain synchronization proves to be a stable feature of mental health, it could open new diagnostic or therapeutic possibilities.

Leah Banellis et al, Stomach–brain coupling indexes a dimensional signature of mental health, Nature Mental Health (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44220-025-00468-6

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