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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 20, 2025 at 9:01am

Artificial sweetener triggers insulin spike, leading to blood vessel inflammation in mice

From diet soda to zero-sugar ice cream, artificial sweeteners have been touted as a guilt-free way to indulge our sweet tooth. However, new research published in Cell Metabolism shows that aspartame, one of the most common sugar substitutes, may impact vascular health.

The team of cardiovascular health experts and clinicians found that aspartame triggers increased insulin levels in animals, which in turn contributes to atherosclerosis—buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries, which can lead to higher levels of inflammation and an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke over time.

Previous research has linked consumption of sugar substitutes to increased chronic disorders like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, the mechanisms involved were previously unexplored.

For this study, the researchers fed mice daily doses of food containing 0.15% aspartame for 12 weeks—an amount that corresponds to consuming about three cans of diet soda each day for humans.

Compared to mice without a sweetener-infused diet, aspartame-fed mice developed larger and more fatty plaques in their arteries and exhibited higher levels of inflammation, both of which are hallmarks of compromised cardiovascular health.

When the team analyzed the mice's blood, they found a surge in insulin levels after aspartame entered their system. The team noted that this wasn't a surprising result, given that our mouths, intestines, and other tissues are lined with sweetness-detecting receptors that help guide insulin release. But aspartame, 200 times sweeter than sugar, seemed to trick the receptors into releasing more insulin.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 20, 2025 at 8:54am

Synthetic diamond with hexagonal lattice outshines the natural kind with unprecedented hardness

A team of physicists, materials scientists and engineers has grown a diamond that is harder than those found in nature. In their project, reported in the journal Nature Materials, the group developed a process that involves heating and compressing graphite to create synthetic diamonds.

Diamonds are a prized gem the world over. Their sparkling appearance has made them one of the most treasured gemstones throughout human history. In more recent times, because they are so hard, diamonds have also been used in commercial applications, such as drilling holes through other hard materials. Such attributes have kept the price of diamonds high. Because of that, scientists have developed ways to synthesize them, and today, a host of synthetic diamonds are available for sale.

Researchers have previously pursued harder diamonds with hexagonal rather than cubic lattices, which is how most natural and synthetic diamonds form. However, past attempts to make hexagon-lattice synthetic diamonds have resulted in diamonds that were too small and of low purity.

In this new effort, the research team tried a different approach. They developed a process that involved heating graphene samples to high temperatures while inside a high-pressure chamber. By adjusting the parameters of their setup, the researchers found they could get the graphene to grow into a synthetic diamond with hexagonal lattices.

The first diamond made by the group was millimeter-sized and was tested at 155 GPa, with thermal stability up to 1,100°C. Natural diamonds typically range from 70 to 100 GPa and can only withstand temperatures up to 700°C.

The researchers note that it is unlikely diamonds made using their technique would be used for jewelry; instead, they would be used for drilling and machining applications. They also note that they might be used in other ways, such as for data storage or in thermal management applications.

Desi Chen et al, General approach for synthesizing hexagonal diamond by heating post-graphite phases, Nature Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02126-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 20, 2025 at 8:36am

Many different types of neurons are contained in the vagus nerve, but the researchers focused here on sensory neurons, which reacted most strongly to the presence of stomach cancer in mice. Some of these sensory neurons extended themselves deep into stomach tumors in response to a protein released by cancer cells called Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), drawing the cancer cells close to the neurons.

After establishing this connection, tumors signaled the sensory nerves to release the peptide Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide (CGRP), inducing electrical signals in the tumor.

Though the cancer cells and neurons may not form classical synapses where they meet—the team's electron micrographs are still a bit fuzzy—"there's no doubt that the neurons create an electric circuit with the cancer cells," the researchers say. "It's a slower response than a typical nerve-muscle synapse, but it's still an electrical response."
The researchers could see this electrical activity with calcium imaging, a technique that uses fluorescent tracers that light up when calcium ions surge into a cell as an electrical impulse travels through.

"There's a circuit that starts from the tumor, goes up toward the brain, and then turns back down toward the tumor again," they confirm. It's like a feed-forward loop that keeps stimulating the cancer and promoting its growth and spread."

For stomach cancer, CGRP inhibitors that are currently used to treat migraines could potentially short-circuit the electrical connection between tumors and sensory neurons.

Timothy Wang, Nociceptive neurons promote gastric tumor progression via a CGRPRamp1 axis, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08591-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08591-1

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 20, 2025 at 8:33am

Stomach cancers make electrical connections with the nervous system to fuel spread, study finds

Researchers have discovered that stomach cancers make electrical connections with nearby sensory nerves and use these malignant circuits to stimulate the cancer's growth and spread.

It is the first time that electrical contacts between nerves and a cancer outside the brain have been found, raising the possibility that many other cancers progress by making similar connections.

Many cancers exploit nearby neurons to fuel their growth, but outside of cancers in the brain, these interactions have been attributed to the secretion of growth factors broadly or through indirect effects.

Now that we know the communication between the two is more direct and electrical, it raises the possibility of repurposing drugs designed for neurological conditions to treat cancer.

The wiring of neurons to cancer cells also suggests that cancer can commandeer a particularly rapid mechanism to stimulate growth.

There are many different cells surrounding cancers, and this microenvironment can sometimes provide a rich soil for their growth.

Researchers have been focusing on the role of the microenvironment's immune cells, connective tissue, and blood vessels in cancer growth but have only started to examine the role of nerves in the last two decades. What's emerged recently is how advantageous the nervous system can be to cancer.

The nervous system works faster than any of these other cells in the tumor microenvironment, which allows tumors to more quickly communicate and remodel their surroundings to promote their growth and survival.

Earlier the researchers discovered that cutting the vagus nerve in mice with stomach cancer significantly slowed tumor growth and increased survival rate.

Part 1 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 2:27pm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 11:33am

Swimming in some lakes can lead to infection with Legionella, warn scientists

Swimming in some lakes with still water can lead to infection with Legionella, bacteria that can cause pneumonia, and people who engage in open water swimming should be aware of this risk, say the authors of a practice article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Legionella infection represents a public health hazard owing to its ability to spread through exposure to natural water bodies and human-made water reservoirs.

Legionella infection is an atypical cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Referred to as legionnaires' disease, it presents with fever, fatigue, respiratory symptoms, and sometimes diarrhea. Legionella bacteria thrive in the warm, stagnant water in plumbing systems, air conditioners, public spas, and even lakes and rivers.

Risk factors for legionnaires' disease include age older than 50 years, smoking history, chronic cardiovascular or kidney disease, diabetes, and a compromised immune system.

 Legionnaires' disease following lake swimming in Iowa, Canadian Medical Association Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.241086. www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241086

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 11:28am

Using CRISPR to remove extra chromosomes in Down syndrome

Gene editing techniques may eventually allow trisomy to be treated at the cellular level, according to an in vitro proof-of-concept study.

Down syndrome is caused by the presence of a third copy of the 21st chromosome. The condition occurs in approximately 1 in 700 live births and is relatively easy to diagnose at early stages of development. However, there are no treatments.

Researchers used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system to cleave the third chromosome in previously generated trisomy 21 cell lines derived from both pluripotent cells and skin fibroblasts. The technique is able to identify which chromosome has been duplicated, which is necessary to ensure the cell does not end up with two identical copies after removal, but instead has one from each parent. 

The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

The researchers were able to remove duplicate chromosomes from both induced pluripotent stem cells and fibroblasts. Suppressing chromosomal DNA repair ability increased the rate of duplicate chromosome elimination.

The authors show that the chromosomal rescue reversibly restores both gene expression and cellular phenotypes. The approach is not yet ready for in vivo application, however, in part because the current technique can also change the retained chromosomes.

Similar approaches could eventually be used in neurons and glial cells and form the basis of novel medical interventions for people with Down syndrome, say the researchers.

Ryotaro Hashizume et al, Trisomic rescue via allele-specific multiple chromosome cleavage using CRISPR-Cas9 in trisomy 21 cells, PNAS Nexus (2025). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf022

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 11:17am

Scientists decode diet from stool DNA

You can cheat your strict and disciplined parents or partner, you can lie to your doctor or people who make surveys but you cannot escape from scientists!

Scientists have developed a breakthrough method to track diet using stool metagenomic data.

Developed by researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), the new method, called MEDI (Metagenomic Estimation of Dietary Intake), detects food-derived DNA in stool samples to estimate dietary intake. MEDI leverages stool metagenomics, which refers to sequencing all the DNA present in fecal samples (including microbial, human, and food-derived DNA). This non-invasive, data-driven approach offers an objective alternative to traditional food diaries and questionnaires, which are still the gold standard in dietary assessment but can suffer from misreporting and compliance issues.

 Metagenomic estimation of dietary intake from human stool, Nature Metabolism (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01220-1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 11:14am

Dream recall, defined as the probability of waking up in the morning with impressions and memories from a dream experience, showed considerable variability between individuals and was influenced by multiple factors. The study revealed that people with a positive attitude toward dreams and a tendency for mind-wandering were significantly more likely to recall their dreams. Sleep patterns also seemed to play a critical role: individuals who experienced longer periods of light sleep had a greater likelihood of waking with a memory of their dreams.
Younger participants showed higher rates of dream recall, while older individuals often experienced "white dreams" (a sensation of having dreamed without recalling any details). This suggests age-related changes in memory processes during sleep. Moreover, seasonal variations emerged, with participants reporting lower dream recall during winter compared to spring, hinting at the potential influence of environmental or circadian factors.
The findings suggest that dream recall is not just a matter of chance but a reflection of how personal attitudes, cognitive traits, and sleep dynamics interact.

The individual determinants of morning dream recall, Communications Psychology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-025-00191-z

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 19, 2025 at 11:11am

What makes us remember our dreams? How sleep patterns and mindset shape recall

Some people wake up vividly recalling their dreams from the night, and can tell precise stories experienced during the night, while others struggle to remember even a single detail. Why does this happen? A new study, conducted by researchers  and published in Communications Psychology explores the factors that influence so-called "dream recall"—the ability to remember dreams upon awakening—and uncovers which individual traits and sleep patterns shape this phenomenon.

The reason why there is such a difference in recalling dreams remains a mystery. Some studies found that women, young persons, or people with a tendency to daydream, tend to better recall night dreams. But other studies did not confirm these findings.

Other hypotheses, such as that personality traits or cognitive abilities count, received even less support from data. During the recent COVID pandemic, the phenomenon of individual differences in morning dream recall attracted renewed public and scientific attention when an abrupt surge in morning dream recall was reported worldwide.

The new research was conducted in the years from 2020 to 2024, and involved over 200 participants, aged 18 to 70, who recorded their dreams daily for 15 days while their sleep and cognitive data were tracked using wearable devices and psychometric tests.

Each study participant was given a voice recorder to report, every day right after the awakening, about the experiences they had during sleep. Participants had to report whether they remembered having dreamed or not, if they had the impression of having dreamed but did not remember anything about the experience, and to describe the content of the dream if they were able to remember it.

For the duration of the study, participants also wore an actigraph, a sleep monitoring wristwatch that detects sleep duration, efficiency, and disturbances. At the beginning and end of the dream recording period, participants were subjected to psychological tests and questionnaires that measure various factors, from anxiety levels to interest in dreams, proneness to mind-wandering (the tendency to frequently shift attention away from the task at hand toward unrelated thoughts, or internal reflections), up to memory and selective attention tests.

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