Our last common ancestor
The shared forebearer of all life — known as the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) — was a complex microbe that lived around 4.2 billion years ago, ate carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and produced acetate that might have fed other life. Researchers inferred information about our great-great-grandblob’s genetics and biology by tracing duplicated, lost and mutated genes back up the microbial family tree. LUCA probably possessed an early immune system, too — hinting that it lived in an established ecosystem with other microbes and was already involved in an arms race with viruses.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02461-1?utm_source=Live+...

https://www.science.org/content/article/our-last-common-ancestor-li...

Study shows promise for a universal influenza vaccine: Scientists validate theory using 1918 flu virus

New research  reveals a promising approach to developing a universal influenza vaccine—a so-called "one and done" vaccine that confers lifetime immunity against an evolving virus.

The study, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, tested an OHSU-developed vaccine platform against the virus considered most likely to trigger the next pandemic.

Researchers reported the vaccine generated a robust immune response in nonhuman primates that were exposed to the avian H5N1 influenza virus. But the vaccine wasn't based on the contemporary H5N1 virus; instead, the primates were inoculated against the influenza virus of 1918 that killed millions of people worldwide.

Researchers reported that six of 11 nonhuman primates inoculated against the virus that circulated a century ago—the 1918 flu—survived exposure to one of the deadliest viruses in the world today, H5N1. In contrast, a control group of six unvaccinated primates exposed to the H5N1 virus succumbed to the disease.

This approach harnesses a vaccine platform previously developed by scientists at OHSU to fight HIV and tuberculosis, and in fact is already being used in a clinical trial against HIV.

The method involves inserting small pieces of target pathogens into the common herpes virus cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which infects most people in their lifetimes and typically produces mild or no symptoms. The virus acts as a vector specifically designed to induce an immune response from the body's own T cells.

This approach differs from common vaccines—including the existing flu vaccines—which are designed to induce an antibody response that targets the most recent evolution of the virus, distinguished by the arrangement of proteins covering the exterior surface.

Part 1

The problem with influenza is that it's not just one virus. Like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it's always evolving the next variant and we're always left to chase where the virus was, not where it's going to be.

The spike proteins on the virus exterior surface evolve to elude antibodies. In the case of flu, vaccines are updated regularly using a best estimate of the next evolution of the virus. Sometimes it's accurate, sometimes less so.

In contrast, a specific type of T cell in the lungs, known as effector memory T cell, targets the internal structural proteins of the virus, rather than its continually mutating outer envelope. This internal structure doesn't change much over time—presenting a stationary target for T cells to search out and destroy any cells infected by an old or newly evolved influenza virus.
To test their T cell theory, researchers designed a CMV-based vaccine using the 1918 influenza virus as a template. Working within a highly secure biosafety level 3 laboratory, they exposed the vaccinated nonhuman primates to small particle aerosols containing the avian H5N1 influenza virus—an especially severe virus that is currently circulating among dairy cows in the United States.

Remarkably, six of the 11 vaccinated primates survived the exposure, despite the century-long period of virus evolution.

It worked because the interior protein of the virus was so well preserved. So much so, that even after almost 100 years of evolution, the virus can't change those critically important parts of itself.

The study raises the potential for developing a protective vaccine against H5N1 in people.

Cytomegalovirus vaccine vector-induced effector memory CD4+ T cells protect cynomolgus macaques from lethal aerosolized heterologous avian influenza, Nature Communications (2024).

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50345-6

Part 2

Study suggests prenatal diet may play a role in autism

A small team of public health specialists from the University of Glasgow and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health reports a possible link between some cases of autism and prenatal diet.

As part of their analysis, the researchers found a pattern—women who adhered to a "healthy diet" have a 22% lower chance of delivering a child with autism than women who ate a less-than-healthy diet.

In their work, they defined a healthy diet as one that included regular servings of vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish and whole grains, and excluded foods high in fat, processed meats, soft drinks and refined carbohydrates.

They also found that children born to mothers who regularly ate a healthy diet while pregnant were 24% less likely to develop social and/or communication problems irrespective of autism. The researchers noted that the association in both cases was stronger in mother/daughter pairs than in mother/son pairs.

The research team points out that the study does not explain why women eating a healthier diet may reduce their risk of having an autistic child, though they theorize that it might have something to do with how foods affect DNA or the immune process. They also note that their data was not able to show whether the impact of diet was causal in nature or due to other factors.

Catherine Friel et al, Healthy Prenatal Dietary Pattern and Offspring Autism, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22815

Part 2

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 How our brains track time

According to an old adage time flies when you're having fun. A new study by a team of  researchers suggests that although there's ‘some’ truth to the trope, the reality is 'time flies when you're doing a lot.'

Many people think of their brains as being intrinsically synced to the man-made clocks on their electronic devices, counting time in very specific, minute-by-minute increments. But a study, published in Current Biology, shows that our brains don't work that way.

By analyzing changes in brain activity patterns,  researchers found that we perceive the passage of time based on the number of experiences we have—not some kind of internal clock. What's more, increasing speed or output during an activity appears to affect how our brains perceive time.

We tell time in our own experience by things we do, things that happen to us, they conclude.

When we're still and we're bored, time goes very slowly because we're not doing anything or nothing is happening. On the contrary, when a lot of events happen, each one of those activities is advancing our brains forward. And if this is how our brains objectively tell time, then the more that we do and the more that happens to us, the faster time goes.

Part 1

The findings are based on analysis of activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain important for monitoring activity and tracking experiences. To do this, rodents were tasked with using their noses to respond to a prompt 200 times.
Scientists already knew that brain patterns are similar, but slightly different, each time you do a repetitive motion, so they set out to answer: Is it possible to detect whether these slight differences in brain pattern changes correspond with doing the first versus 200th motion in series? And does the amount of time it takes to complete a series of motions impact brain wave activity?

By comparing pattern changes throughout the course of the task, researchers observed that there are indeed detectable changes in brain activity that occur as one moves from the beginning to middle to end of carrying out a task. And regardless of how slowly or quickly the animals moved, the brain patterns followed the same path.
The patterns were consistent when researchers applied a machine learning-based mathematical model to predict the flow of brain activity, bolstering evidence that it's experiences—not time, or a prescribed number of minutes, as you would measure it on a clock—that produce changes in our neurons' activity patterns.
The researchers drove home the crux of the findings by sharing an anecdote of two factory workers tasked with making 100 widgets during their shift, with one worker completing the task in 30 minutes and the other in 90 minutes.

The length of time it took to complete the task didn't impact the brain patterns. The brain is not a clock; it acts like a counter. Our brains register a vibe, a feeling about time. And what that means for our workers making widgets is that you can tell the difference between making widget No. 85 and widget No. 60, but not necessarily between No. 85 and No. 88.
But exactly "how" does the brain count? Researchers discovered that as the brain progresses through a task involving a series of motions, various small groups of firing cells begin to collaborate—essentially passing off the task to a different group of neurons every few repetitions, similar to runners passing the baton in a relay race.
Part2

So, the cells are working together and over time randomly align to get the job done: one cell will take a few tasks and then another takes a few tasks. The cells are tracking motions and, thus, chunks of activities and time over the course of the task.

And the study's findings about our brains' perception of time applies to activities-based actions other than physical motions too.
By observing the rodents who worked quickly, scientists also concluded that keeping up a good pace helps influence time perception: "The more we do, the faster time moves. They say that time flies when you're having fun. As opposed to having fun, maybe it should be 'time flies when you're doing a lot.'

 Ryan A. Wirt et al, Temporal information in the anterior cingulate cortex relates to accumulated experiences, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.045

Part 3

One drop of blood, many diagnoses: Infrared spectroscopy for screening health

Envision a scenario where a single drop of blood provides comprehensive health insights within minutes. Thanks to recent scientific advancements, this vision may become reality in the near future.

Scientists have developed a health screening tool that uses infrared light and machine learning to detect multiple health conditions with just one measurement. The work is published in Cell Reports Medicine.

Infrared spectroscopy, a technique that employs infrared light to analyze the molecular composition of substances, has been a foundational tool in chemistry for decades. It's like giving molecules a fingerprint that can be delivered by a specialized machine called a spectrometer.

When applied to complex biofluids like blood plasma, this physico-chemical technique can reveal detailed information about molecular signals, making it a promising tool for medical diagnostics. Despite its long-standing use in chemistry and industry, infrared spectroscopy has not been established nor integrated into the canon of medical diagnostics.

Researchers initiated an effort to tackle this issue now.

More than 5,000 blood plasma samples were measured using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

The researchers applied machine learning to analyze the molecular fingerprints and correlated them with medical data.

They discovered that these fingerprints contain valuable information that enables rapid health screening. A multi-task computer algorithm that is now capable of distinguishing between various health states, including abnormal levels of blood lipids, various changes in blood pressure, seeing type-2 diabetes but also spotting even pre-diabetes, a precursor to diabetes often undetected.

Interestingly, the algorithm could also single out individuals who were healthy and remained healthy over the investigated years. This was very significant for two reasons. First, most people in any random population experience abnormal health changes and, given that we are all different, as well as that we all change over time, it is all but trivial to find fully healthy individuals. Second, many individuals suffer from multiple conditions in various combinations. Traditionally, doctors would need a new test for each disease.

However, this new approach doesn't just pinpoint one condition at a time—it accurately identifies a range of health issues. This machine learning-powered system not only identifies healthy individuals but also detects complex conditions involving multiple illnesses simultaneously. Moreover, it can predict the development of metabolic syndrome years before symptoms appear, providing a window for interventions.

Part 1

This study lays the groundwork for infrared molecular fingerprinting to become a routine part of health screening, enabling doctors to detect and manage conditions more efficiently, the researchers say. This is especially important for metabolic disorders such as cholesterol abnormalities and diabetes, where timely and effective interventions can significantly improve outcomes.
The potential applications of this technology extend even further. As researchers continue to refine the system and expand its capabilities, by means of technology development and the establishment of these in the context of clinical studies, there will be even more health conditions and their combinations added to the diagnostic repertoire, the researchers think.
This could lead to personalized health monitoring, where individuals regularly check their health status and catch potential issues long before they become serious.

The combination of infrared spectroscopy with machine learning is set to transform health diagnostics, the researchers say. With a single drop of blood and infrared light, there will be a powerful new tool to keep tabs on our health, catching problems more efficiently and potentially improving health care globally.

 Tarek Eissa et al, Plasma infrared fingerprinting with machine learning enables single-measurement multi-phenotype health screening, Cell Reports Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101625

Part 2

Testing menstrual blood for health conditions

There's good news for anyone who menstruates and doesn't like the needles involved in blood testing. In January 2024, the biotechnology research company Qvin won FDA approval for their Q-Pad product—a menstrual pad with a removable strip to collect blood samples for clinical tests. It offers a needle-free way of testing menstrual blood for signs of diabetes and other health conditions.

Part of that involves a shift away from seeing this blood as a waste product.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qvin-introduces-q-pad-tran...

Study highlights association between urinary and vaginal pathogenic E. coli in recurrent cystitis

The human body hosts a diverse array of microorganisms that maintain a delicate balance crucial for overall health. This microbial harmony can be disrupted by factors such as infections, aging, and hormonal changes, leading to dysbiosis—a condition where microbial communities become imbalanced and harmful to health.

Postmenopausal women, for instance, are particularly susceptible to recurrent urinary tract infections and inflammation, including cystitis, due to these microbial shifts.

In postmenopausal women, the vaginal flora changes with a decrease in Lactobacillus species. Women experiencing recurrent infections of the urinary system, also known as recurrent cystitis have distinctive vaginal microbial colony compared to those with non-recurring cystitis.

The study, published online in Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy on June 4, 2024, highlights the association between urinary and vaginal pathogenic Escherichia coli in recurrent cystitis.

Pathogenic E. coli causes urinary tract infections. In this study, the team isolated pathogenic Escherichia coli from the urine and vagina of patients with recurrent cystitis and examined the bacterial genome using multiple molecular techniques. The team also examined the sensitivity of isolated E. coli to a panel of anti-microbial agents.

A dendrogram based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed that, in a majority of the cases, the pathogenic E. coli isolated from urine and vagina were highly similar or identical. Genomic analysis of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) gene PCR and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed that the pathogenic E. coli isolated from urine and vagina were identical. The E. coli also showed similar sensitivity to the panel of anti-microbial drugs.

These findings reveal that the disease-causing pathogen was resident in both the urinary bladder and the vagina.

Part 1

The authors postulate that E. coli migrates back and forth between the two niches, infecting cells in both organs and causing the disease to recur despite the prior treatment with antibiotics.
The vagina can serve as a reservoir of enteric bacteria, including E. coli, and cystitis can become intractable. In recurrent cystitis, it is important to target E. coli not only in the urine but also in the vagina.
Researchers are developing Lactobacillus vaginal suppositories, as a means of prevention and treatment of recurrent cystitis. This new 'non-antimicrobial' prevention will reduce the unnecessary administration of antimicrobials and the consequent emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. The Lactobacillus suppositories will effectively regulate the vaginal environment and reduce the virulence of E. coli.
This study highlights the crucial need to balance the microbial environment to favor protective bacteria for better health outcomes. Implementing new medical strategies based on these insights promises to revolutionize the management of recurrent cystitis, ensuring more effective and targeted treatments.

Takanori Sekito et al, Homology of Escherichia coli isolated from urine and vagina and their antimicrobial susceptibility in postmenopausal women with recurrent cystitis, Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jiac.2024.05.015

Part 2

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Earth's Water Is Rapidly Losing Oxygen

Supplies of dissolved oxygen in bodies of water across the globe are dwindling rapidly, and scientists say it's one of the greatest risks to Earth's life support system.
Just as atmospheric oxygen is vital for animals like ourselves, dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is essential for healthy aquatic ecosystems, whether freshwater or marine. With billions of people relying on marine and freshwater habitats for food and income, it's concerning these ecosystems' oxygen has been substantially and rapidly declining.
A team of scientists is proposing that aquatic deoxygenation be added to the list of 'planetary boundaries', which in its latest form describes nine domains that impose thresholds "within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come."

So far, the planetary boundaries are climate change, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, interference with the global phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, rate of biodiversity loss, global freshwater use, land-system change, aerosol loading, and chemical pollution.
The observed deoxygenation of the Earth's freshwater and marine ecosystems represents an additional planetary boundary process," the authors write, "that is critical to the integrity of Earth's ecological and social systems, and both regulates and responds to ongoing changes in other planetary boundary processes.

"Relevant, critical oxygen thresholds are being approached at rates comparable to other planetary boundary processes."

The concentration of dissolved oxygen in water drops for a number of reasons. Warmer waters can't hold as much dissolved oxygen, for instance, and with greenhouse gas emissions continuing to raise air and water temperatures above their long-term averages, surface waters are becoming less able to hold on to this vital element.

Dissolved oxygen can also be depleted by aquatic life faster than it is replenished by the ecosystem's producers. Algal blooms and bacterial booms triggered by an influx of organic matter and nutrients in the form of agricultural and domestic fertilizers, sewage, and industrial waste, quickly soak up available dissolved oxygen.
Part1

In the worst cases, the oxygen becomes so depleted that the microbes suffocate and die, often taking larger species with them. Populations of microbe that don't rely on oxygen then feed on the bounty of dead organic material, growing to a density that reduces light and limits photosynthesis to trap the entire water body in a vicious, suffocating cycle called eutrophication.
Aquatic deoxygenation is also driven by an increase in the density difference between layers in the water column. This increase can be attributed to surface waters warming faster than deeper waters and melting ice decreasing surface salinity in the oceans.

The more distinctly defined those layers are, the less movement there is between those layers of the water column, which the vertical strata of underwater life relies upon. These density fluctuations power the movement of oxygenated surface water into the deep, and without this temperature-powered freight, ventilation in the lower depths of aquatic environments grinds to a halt.

All this has wrought havoc on aquatic ecosystems, many of which our own species rely on for our own food, water, incomes, and wellbeing.

The paper's authors call for a concerted, global effort to monitor and research deoxygenation of the 'blue' parts of our planet, along with policy efforts to prevent rapid deoxygenation and the associated challenges we are already beginning to face.

"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient runoff and organic carbon inputs (for example, raw sewage loading) would slow or potentially reverse deoxygenation," they write.

"The expansion of the planetary boundaries framework to include deoxygenation as a boundary [will help] to focus those efforts."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02448-y?utm_medium=affil...

Part 2

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 Eyelash Extension Dangers

Breakthrough Test Predicts Whether Organ Transplants Will Be Rejected

Scientists have figured out a non-invasive way to determine if a transplanted organ is failing to take in a patient – no matter if it's a kidney, liver, lung, or heart.

It's the first time that biomarkers of dysfunction have matched across multiple types of transplanted organs, and it hints at the possibility of a blood test that can diagnose early rejection in all transplant scenarios – a tool that doesn't yet exist.

If more research is done, the newly identified biomarkers could even be used to differentiate between various types of organ rejection, including immune issues, inadequate blood supply, or maladaptive repairs.

The survival of a transplant differs between organs, with a long-term success rate of 59 percent for the lungs, 80 percent for the liver, 82 percent for the kidney, and 73 percent for the heart. Rejection can occur at any time after the surgery, even years later, creating a lifelong threat for patients.

Usually, doctors suspect transplant rejection when there are signs that the organ in question is not working at full capacity. But sometimes, patients might not experience any symptoms before failure occurs, and an invasive biopsy is the only way to tell for sure what is going on.

In recent years, several studies have investigated whether there are signs of organ rejection flowing through a patient's blood or urine that can be accessed more easily than via surgery. But potential biomarkers that have been identified are not yet in clinical practice, and they aren't predictive of all organ rejections, usually just one type.

The current study is a meta-analysis that seeks to bridge that gap. Its authors, led by statistician Harry Robertson from the University of Sydney, have analyzed 54 datasets, including 40 kidney, 5 lung, 5 liver, and 4 heart transplant studies.
Part 1

Comparing individual patient blood samples to their biopsies, the team identified 158 genes that were differentially expressed across all four organs during cases of rejection. That's nearly 20 times higher than what was expected by chance.

This discovery is pivotal as it allows us to develop strategies to enhance the success rates of all transplants.
Some of these shared biomarkers are involved in the secretion of proteins that stimulate white blood cells, enzymes that induce cell death, receptors on cells that allow materials in and out, and bone marrow cells involved in the immune response.
These findings demonstrate a "unifying pan-organ molecular marker".
The research team has made an interactive website that allows scientists around the world to compare possible biomarkers of transplant rejection against other methods, providing a much-needed standardized evaluation. This atlas has led to the development of a proof of principle for a universal blood test that can predict the likelihood of transplant rejection before it occurs.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03030-6

Part 2

Fire on Earth vs. in space - Gravity has more of an impact than you might think!

The Rarest Eye Colors in the World - Eye Colors Explained

NASA's Curiosity rover discovers yellow sulfur crystals in a Martian rock

On May 30th when a rock that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drove over cracked open to reveal something never seen before on the Red Planet: yellow sulfur crystals.

Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a region of Mars rich with sulfates, a kind of salt that contains sulfur and forms as water evaporates. But where past detections have been of sulfur-based minerals—in other words, a mix of sulfur and other materials—the rock Curiosity recently cracked open is made of elemental (pure) sulfur. It isn't clear what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area.

While people associate sulfur with the odor from rotten eggs (the result of hydrogen sulfide gas), elemental sulfur is odorless. It forms in only a narrow range of conditions that scientists haven't associated with the history of this location. And Curiosity found a lot of it—an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one the rover crushed.

It's one of several discoveries Curiosity has made while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014. Each layer of the mountain represents a different period of Martian history. Curiosity's mission is to study where and when the planet's ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars.

Source: NASA

Ovarian Egg Cells Live an Unusually Long Time, And We Finally Know Why

Mammals are born with all the oocytes (or egg cells) they'll ever need, but how the cells remain alive and active for so long is something of a mystery. A pair of studies have now revealed it could all come down to the robustness of their proteins. The two investigations used traceable isotopes incorporated into growing mouse fetuses to measure the lifespans of proteins in their ovaries, finding many of them survived far longer than proteins in the rest of the body. The presence of these 'long life' molecules and the support they give oocytes and the surrounding cells seem to be crucial in maintaining fertility.
the first study analyzed oocytes in 8-week-old mice, when the animals were at their reproductive prime. Around 10 percent of the oocyte proteins produced while the animals were in utero were still present.

The researchers then looked at older mice to see how long it took for these persistent proteins to break down. The answer: not very quickly at all, relatively speaking. Some of the proteins remained in the ovaries of the mice for most of the animals' short lives.
The data establishes that many proteins in oocytes and the ovary are unusually stable, with half-lives well above those reported in other cell types and organs, including the liver, heart, cartilage, muscle and the brain.
The half-lives of many proteins are much higher in the ovary than in other organs, and many additional proteins are uniquely long-lived in the ovary.
Part 1

A second study by researchers also found evidence of long-lasting ovary proteins in young mice, including proteins that were present before the mice were born. Certain long-lasting proteins, such as ZP3, were identified for future studies.

Some of these hardy proteins were present in the cell mitochondria, where a cell's energy is generated. Since mitochondria are inherited as part of the egg cell a mammal grows from, it could ensure these critical organelles can remain functional as they're passed from mother to offspring.

Eventually, even these proteins that live way beyond the norm fade away and die, the researchers report. That could be connected to the natural decline in a woman's ability to have children, the study suggests – and could ultimately point to ways to treat or at least better diagnose infertility.

The findings from these studies of mice still need to be replicated in humans, but if they are, it would represent a significant step forward in our understanding of fertility and how oocytes can be kept in a healthy state.

https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/93172

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-024-01442-7

Part 2

Biologists discover male elephants use infrasonic rumbles to signal 'let's go'

Bull elephants gather in the evening coolness to drink. After a spell, a senior male lifts his head and turns from the waterhole. With ears flapping gently, he lets out a deep, resonant rumble.

One by one, the others respond, their voices overlapping in a sonorous, infrasonic chorus that whispers across the savanna. This elephant barbershop quartet conveys a clear message: It's time to move on.

Gradually, the elephants shift, their massive bodies swaying as they follow their rumbling leader to the next stop on their nocturnal wanderings.

For the first time, scientists  have documented male elephants using "let's go" rumbles to signal the start of group departures from the Mushara waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia. The vocalizations are initiated by the most socially integrated, and often the most dominant, males in close-knit social groups.

The findings, detailed in the open-access journal PeerJ, are surprising because this behavior was previously thought to be exclusive to female elephants in family groups.

Male elephants, typically considered to have loose social ties, engaging in such sophisticated vocal coordination to trigger action is surprising. 

The "let's go" rumbles observed in male elephants bear striking similarities to those previously recorded in female elephants. The researchers hypothesized that male elephants likely learn the behaviour when they are young.

In the case of both male and female elephants, the initiator's call is followed by the next individual's rumble, with each elephant waiting for the preceding call to nearly finish before adding their own voice. This creates a harmonious, turn-taking pattern akin to a barbershop quartet.

It's very synchronized and ritualized. When one goes high, the other goes low, and they have this vocal space where they're coordinating.

PeerJ (2024). doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17767

Smell of human stress can affect dogs' emotions, leading them to make more pessimistic choices

Dogs experience emotional contagion from the smell of human stress, leading them to make more 'pessimistic' choices, new research finds. 

Evidence in humans suggests that the smell of a stressed person subconsciously affects the emotions and choices made by others around them.

The researchers recruited 18 dog-owner partnerships to take part in a series of trials with different human smells present. During the trials, dogs were trained that when a food bowl was placed in one location, it contained a treat, but when placed in another location, it was empty.

Once a dog learned the difference between these bowl locations, they were faster to approach the location with a treat than the empty location. Researchers then tested how quickly the dog would approach new, ambiguous bowl locations positioned between the original two.

A quick approach reflected 'optimism' about food being present in these ambiguous locations—a marker of a positive emotional state—while a slow approach indicated 'pessimism' and negative emotion. These trials were repeated while each dog was exposed to either no odor or the odors of sweat and breath samples from humans in either a stressed (arithmetic test) or relaxed (listening to soundscapes) state.

Researchers discovered that the stress smell made dogs slower to approach the ambiguous bowl location nearest the trained location of the empty bowl. An effect that was not seen with the relaxed smell. These findings suggest that the stress smell may have increased the dogs' expectations that this new location contained no food, similar to the nearby empty bowl location.

Researchers suggest this 'pessimistic' response reflects a negative emotional state and could possibly be a way for the dog to conserve energy and avoid disappointment.

The team also found that dogs continued to improve their learning about the presence or absence of food in the two trained bowl locations and that they improved faster when the stress smell was present.

Parr-Cortes, Zoe ; Muller, Carsten T ; Talas, Laszlo et al, The odour of an unfamiliar stressed or relaxed person affects dogs' responses to a cognitive bias test, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66147-1

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Scientists uncover fundamental rules for how dengue virus infects its mosquito and human hosts

Mosquito-borne viral infections once confined to tropical regions are spreading. Dengue virus infects up to 400 million people worldwide each year according to World Health Organization estimates, and no available treatments exist for this disease.

Now, research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has uncovered surprising strategies for how dengue and hundreds of other viruses replicate in their hosts, with the potential to aid in developing novel antiviral treatments and vaccines.

Exposing Dengue’s Invasion Strategies

 Luciana A Castellano et al, Dengue virus preferentially uses human and mosquito non-optimal codons, bioRxiv (2023). DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.14.544804

Luciana A Castellano et al, Dengue virus preferentially uses human and mosquito non-optimal codons, Molecular Systems Biology (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s44320-024-00052-7

New study identifies two proteins that may contribute to stroke recurrence

People who experience an arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic stroke (TIA) are at an increased risk of suffering a second stroke or other major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), making it critically important to identify risk factors and treatments to prevent these subsequent occurrences.

A new study has identified new genetic and molecular risk factors that may reveal new pathways for treating patients after they experience their first stroke.

Published in Stroke, the study identified CCL27 and TNFRSF14, two proteins that are associated with subsequent MACE, but not initial strokes. These proteins are known to activate inflammation, which plays a key role in the development of strokes and many chronic conditions and diseases.

The findings suggest that inflammation is a contributing factor to MACE outcomes among people after they have their first stroke.

Utilizing genetic information and medical history data from two large biobanks, the VA's Million Veteran Program and UK Biobank, the research team conducted ancestry-specific genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to find associations between DNA and incident and subsequent AIS and MACE.

GWAS are typically performed to determine whether individuals have had a medical event for the first time, but applying this method to subsequent MACE events could shed novel insights about stroke progression, information that would be valuable for therapeutic drug identification, the researchers say.

Protein Identification for Stroke Progression via Mendelian Randomization in Million Veteran Program and UK Biobank, Stroke (2024). DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.124.047103

Blood proteins predict the risk of developing more than 60 diseases, study finds

Research on thousands of proteins measured from a drop of blood demonstrates the ability of proteins to predict the onset of many diverse diseases.

The researchers used data from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP), the largest proteomics study to date with measurements for approximately 3,000 plasma proteins from a randomly selected set of over 40,000 UK Biobank participants.

The protein data is linked to the participants' electronic health records. The authors used advanced analytical techniques to pinpoint, for each disease, a 'signature' of between the five and 20 proteins most important for prediction.

The researchers report the ability of protein 'signatures' to predict the onset of 67 diseases including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, motor neuron disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and dilated cardiomyopathy.

The protein prediction models out-performed models based on standard, clinically recorded information. Prediction based on blood cell counts, cholesterol, kidney function and diabetes tests (glycated hemoglobin) performed less well than the protein prediction models for most examples.

The patient benefits of measuring and discussing the risk of future heart attack and stroke ('cardiovascular risk scores') are well established. This research opens up new prediction possibilities for a wide range of diseases, including rarer conditions. Many of these can currently take months and years to diagnose, and this research offers wholly new opportunities for timely diagnoses.

These findings require validation in different populations, including people with and without symptoms and signs of diseases and in different ethnic groups.

 Proteomic signatures improve risk prediction for common and rare diseases', Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03142-z

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'New El Niño' discovered south of the equator

A small area of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, near New Zealand and Australia, can trigger temperature changes that affect the entire Southern Hemisphere, a new study has found.

The new climate pattern, which shares some characteristics with the El Niño phenomenon, has been named the "Southern Hemisphere Circumpolar Wavenumber-4 Pattern."

Unlike El Niño, which starts in the tropics, this new pattern begins in the mid-latitudes. The study, published this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, highlights how important the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere is for our climate.

This discovery is like finding a new switch in Earth's climate. It shows that a relatively small area of the ocean can have wide-reaching effects on global weather and climate patterns.

Understanding this new weather system could greatly improve weather forecasting and climate prediction, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. It might help explain climate changes that were previously mysterious and could improve our ability to predict extreme weather and climate events.

 Balaji Senapati et al, Southern Hemisphere Circumpolar Wavenumber‐4 Pattern Simulated in SINTEX‐F2 Coupled Model, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023JC020801

Switching from gas to electric stoves cuts indoor air pollution

Switching from a gas stove to an electric induction stove can reduce indoor nitrogen dioxide air pollution, a known health hazard, by more than 50 percent according to new research led by scientists.  The findings appear in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

this study is the the first to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of transitioning from gas to induction stoves in affordable housing. The study is the first to evaluate the effects of residential cooking electrification in a public housing setting.

 Misbath Daouda et al, Out of Gas, In with Justice: Findings from a gas-to-induction pilot in low-income housing in NYC, Energy Research & Social Science (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103662

Scientists use AI to predict a wildfire's next move accurately

Researchers  have developed a new method to accurately predict wildfire spread. By combining satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, their model offers a potential breakthrough in wildfire management and emergency response.

Detailed in an early study proof published in Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems, the new model uses satellite data to track a wildfire's progression in real time, then feeds this information into a sophisticated computer algorithm that can accurately forecast the fire's likely path, intensity and growth rate.

This model represents an important step forward in our ability to combat wildfires.

 Bryan Shaddy et al, Generative Algorithms for Fusion of Physics-Based Wildfire Spread Models with Satellite Data for Initializing Wildfire Forecasts, Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems (2024). DOI: 10.1175/AIES-D-23-0087.1

Dual action antibiotic could make bacterial resistance nearly impossible

A new antibiotic that works by disrupting two different cellular targets would make it 100 million times more difficult for bacteria to evolve resistance, according to new research.

For a new paper in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers probed how a class of synthetic drugs called macrolones disrupt bacterial cell function to fight infectious diseases. Their experiments demonstrate that macrolones can work two different ways—either by interfering with protein production or corrupting DNA structure.

Because bacteria would need to implement defenses to both attacks simultaneously, the researchers calculated that drug resistance is nearly impossible.

The beauty of this antibiotic is that it kills through two different targets in bacteria. If the antibiotic hits both targets at the same concentration, then the bacteria lose their ability to become resistant via acquisition of random mutations in any of the two targets.

Macrolones are synthetic antibiotics that combine the structures of two widely used antibiotics with different mechanisms. Macrolides, such as erythromycin, block the ribosome, the protein manufacturing factories of the cell. Fluoroquinolones, such as ciprofloxacin, target a bacteria-specific enzyme called DNA gyrase.

Elena V. Aleksandrova et al, Macrolones target bacterial ribosomes and DNA gyrase and can evade resistance mechanisms, Nature Chemical Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01685-3

New findings shed light on risks and benefits of integrating AI into medical decision-making

Researchers have found that an artificial intelligence (AI) model solved medical quiz questions—designed to test health professionals' ability to diagnose patients based on clinical images and a brief text summary—with high accuracy. However, physician-graders found the AI model made mistakes when describing images and explaining how its decision-making led to the correct answer.

The findings, which shed light on AI's potential in the clinical setting, were published in npj Digital Medicine. 

Integration of AI into health care holds great promise as a tool to help medical professionals diagnose patients faster, allowing them to start treatment sooner.

However, as this study shows, AI is not advanced enough yet to replace human experience, which is crucial for accurate diagnosis.

Part 1

The AI model and human physicians answered questions from the New England Journal of Medicine's Image Challenge. The challenge is an online quiz that provides real clinical images and a short text description that includes details about the patient's symptoms and presentation, then asks users to choose the correct diagnosis from multiple-choice answers.

The researchers tasked the AI model to answer 207 image challenge questions and provide a written rationale to justify each answer. The prompt specified that the rationale should include a description of the image, a summary of relevant medical knowledge, and provide step-by-step reasoning for how the model chose the answer.

Nine physicians from various institutions were recruited, each with a different medical specialty, and answered their assigned questions first in a "closed-book" setting, (without referring to any external materials such as online resources) and then in an "open-book" setting (using external resources). The researchers then provided the physicians with the correct answer, along with the AI model's answer and corresponding rationale. Finally, the physicians were asked to score the AI model's ability to describe the image, summarize relevant medical knowledge, and provide its step-by-step reasoning.

The researchers found that the AI model and physicians scored highly in selecting the correct diagnosis. Interestingly, the AI model selected the correct diagnosis more often than physicians in closed-book settings, while physicians with open-book tools performed better than the AI model, especially when answering the questions ranked most difficult.

Importantly, based on physician evaluations, the AI model often made mistakes when describing the medical image and explaining its reasoning behind the diagnosis—even in cases where it made the correct final choice. In one example, the AI model was provided with a photo of a patient's arm with two lesions. A physician would easily recognize that both lesions were caused by the same condition. However, because the lesions were presented at different angles—causing the illusion of different colors and shapes—the AI model failed to recognize that both lesions could be related to the same diagnosis.

The researchers argue that these findings underpin the importance of evaluating multi-modal AI technology further before introducing it into the clinical setting.

 Hidden Flaws Behind Expert-Level Accuracy of Multimodal GPT-4 Vision in Medicine, npj Digital Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41746-024-01185-7. www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01185-7

Part 2

Electric scooter and bike accidents are soaring across the US, researchers report

In the crowded urban landscape, where small electric vehicles—primarily scooters and bicycles—have transformed short distance travel,  researchers are reporting a major national surge in accidents tied to "micromobility."

The researchers analyzed injuries and hospitalizations from electric bicycles, electric scooters, conventional bicycles and conventional scooters. The study, which appears July 23 in JAMA Network Open, is believed to be the first investigation into recent injury patterns in the U.S.

E-bicycle injuries doubled every year from 2017 to 2022, while e-scooter injuries rose by 45%. Injured e-riders tended to be slightly older and wore helmets less often than conventional riders. And e-scooter riders were more likely to sustain internal injuries than conventional scooter riders, while upper extremity injuries were more common among non-EV riders.

JAMA Network Open (2024). jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman … tworkopen.2024.24131

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Chinese lunar probe finds water in moon samples

A Chinese lunar probe found traces of water in samples of the moon's soil, scientists have said, as the country pushes its ambitious space program into high gear.

The Chang'e-5 rover completed its mission in 2020, returning to Earth with rock and  soil samples from the moon.

The lunar samples "revealed the presence of trace water", the group of scientists from Chinese universities wrote in the Nature Astronomy journal published recently.

Shifeng Jin et al, Evidence of a hydrated mineral enriched in water and ammonium molecules in the Chang'e-5 lunar sample, Nature Astronomy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02306-8 , www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02306-8

Evidence of ‘Dark oxygen’ production from the sea floor

A chemical reaction could be producing oxygen by splitting water molecules, but its source of energy remains unknown.

The phenomenon was discovered in a region strewn with ancient, plum-sized formations called polymetallic nodules, which could play a part in the oxygen production by catalysing the splitting of water molecules, researchers suspect. The findings are published in Nature Geoscience.
Something is pumping out large amounts of oxygen at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, at depths where a lack of sunlight makes photosynthesis impossible. The find has surprised scientists and the source remains a mystery. The oxygen might be generated by metal-rich mineral deposits, or nodules. To researchers’ surprise, they measured voltages of up to 0.95 volts across the surface of the nodules. It is possible that the nodules catalyse the splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen, but more experiments are needed.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01480-8?utm_source=Live+...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02393-7?utm_source=Live+...

Virus spreading in Latin America may cause stillbirths and birth defects
Brazilian Ministry of Health tells doctors to closely monitor pregnant women infected with the little-known Oropouche virus
Fears over viral infection during pregnancy
The 2015-2016 outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil caused thousands of birth defects after women were infected during pregnancy; now the country is facing the same fears with the Oropouche virus. Brazil’s health ministry has reported four cases of microcephaly — a type of reduced brain development — in newborns of infected mothers and one fetal death that might be associated with the virus. The virus is transmitted by Culicoides paraensis, a tiny midge found across the Americas. Cases of Oropouche fever have surged in Brazil since late 2022. “The cases are worrisome and a sign to be alert,” says virologist Amilcar Tanuri.

https://www.science.org/content/article/virus-spreading-in-latin-am...

Plastic Was Found Inside More Than 50% of Plaques From Clogged Arteries

Plastics are now everywhere, with tiny fragments found in several major organs of the human body, including the placenta.
Given how easily the microscopic particles infiltrate our tissues, it's vital that we learn exactly what kinds of risks they could pose to our health.
Researchers have been busy studying the effects of microplastics in mini-replicas of organs, and in mice, to get a sense of how they might impact the human body. However, the concentrations of microplastics used in those studies might not reflect people's real-world exposure, and few studies have been done in humans.

In March, a small study in Italy found shards of microplastics in fatty deposits surgically removed from patients who had an operation to open up their clogged arteries – and reported their health outcomes nearly 3 years later.

Removing fatty plaques from narrowed arteries in a procedure called a carotid endarterectomy reduces the risk of future strokes.

The team behind this recent study, led by Raffaele Marfella, a medical researcher at the University of Campania in Naples, wondered how the risk of stroke – as well as heart attacks and death – compared between patients who had microplastics in their plaques and those who did not.
Following 257 patients for 34 months, the researchers found nearly 60 percent of them had measurable amounts of polyethylene in plaques pulled from their fat-thickened arteries, and 12 percent also had polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in extracted fat deposits.

PVC comes in both rigid and flexible forms, and is used to make water pipes, plastic bottles, flooring, and packaging. Polyethylene is the most commonly produced plastic, used for plastic bags, films, and bottles, too.
Part 1

With microplastics previously found coursing through people's bloodstream, the researchers were reasonably concerned about heart health. Lab-based studies suggest microplastics can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress in heart cells, and impair heart function, alter heart rate, and cause scarring of the heart in animals such as mice.

"Observational data from occupational-exposure studies [also] suggest an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among persons who are exposed to plastics-related pollution, including polyvinyl chloride, than that seen in the general population," Marfella and colleagues write.
In the study, patients with microplastics in their excised plaques were 4.5 times as likely to have experienced a stroke, non-fatal heart attack or died from any cause after 34 months than people who had no detectable microplastics in the plaques that surgeons had removed.

The amount of microplastics, and even smaller particles called nanoplastics, was measured using a technique called pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and their presence confirmed using another method, stable isotopes analysis, which can distinguish between the carbon of human tissues and that of plastics made from petrochemicals.

Microplastics were also visible under powerful microscopes: The researchers observed plastic fragments with jagged edges inside immune cells called macrophages, and within the fatty plaques. Examining the tissue samples, the team also found higher levels of inflammatory markers in patients with microplastics in their plaques.
Part 2

Bear in mind, however, that an observational study like this can't definitively conclude that microplastics are causing the downstream heart effects; only that there is an association. The study did not consider other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as smoking, physical inactivity, and air pollution.
"Although we do not know what other exposures may have contributed to the adverse outcomes among patients in this study, the finding of microplastics and nanoplastics in plaque tissue is itself a breakthrough discovery that raises a series of urgent questions," such as how to reduce exposure, explained pediatrician, public health physician and epidemiologist Philip J. Landrigan, of Boston College, in an accompanying editorial.

Plastic production has exploded in the past two decades, only a fraction of which has been recycled, and yet rates of cardiovascular disease have been falling in some parts of the world, so more research is needed to understand the link between the two.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

Part 3

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Study debunks link between moderate drinking and longer life

Probably everyone has heard the conventional wisdom that a glass of wine a day is good for you—or you've heard some variation of it. The problem is that it's based on flawed scientific research, according to a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Over the years, many studies have suggested that moderate drinkers enjoy longer lives with lower risks of heart disease and other chronic ills than abstainers do. That spurred the widespread belief that alcohol, in moderation, can be a health tonic. However, not all studies have painted such a rosy picture—and the new analysis sheds light on why.

In a nutshell, studies linking moderate drinking to health benefits suffer from fundamental design flaws, said lead researcher Tim Stockwell, Ph.D., a scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria.

The major issue: Those studies have generally focused on older adults and failed to account for people's lifetime drinking habits. So moderate drinkers were compared with "abstainer" and "occasional drinker" groups that included some older adults who had quit or cut down on drinking because they'd developed any number of health conditions.

That makes people who continue to drink look much healthier by comparison, And in this case, the researchers noted, looks are deceiving.

Part 1

For the analysis,  researchers identified 107 published studies that followed people over time and looked at the relationship between drinking habits and longevity. When the researchers combined all the data, it looked like light to moderate drinkers (that is, those who drank between one drink per week and two per day) had a 14% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with abstainers.

Things changed, however, when the investigators did a deeper dive. There were a handful of "higher quality" studies that included people who were relatively young at the outset (younger than 55, on average) and that made sure former and occasional drinkers were not considered "abstainers." In those studies, moderate drinking was not linked to a longer life.

Instead, it was the "lower quality" studies (older participants, no distinction between former drinkers and lifelong abstainers) that did link moderate drinking to greater longevity.

"If you look at the weakest studies," the researchers said, "that's where you see health benefits."

Part 2

The notion that moderate drinking leads to a longer, healthier life goes back decades. As an example, the scientists pointed to the "French paradox"—the idea, popularized in the 1990s, that red wine helps explain why the French enjoy relatively low rates of heart disease, despite a rich, fatty diet. That view of alcohol as an elixir still seems to be "ingrained" in the public imagination, Stockwell noted.

In reality, they said, moderate drinking likely does not extend people's lives—and, in fact, carries some potential health hazards, including increased risks of certain cancers. That's why no major health organization has ever established a risk-free level of alcohol consumption.

"There is simply no completely 'safe' level of drinking," the researchers confirm.

Stockwell, T., et al. Why do only some cohort studies find health benefits from low volume alcohol use? A systematic review and meta-analysis of study characteristics that may bias mortality risk estimates. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (2024). DOI: 10.15288/jsad.23-00283. www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.23-00283

New study confirms mammal-to-mammal avian flu spread

A new study provides evidence that a spillover of avian influenza from birds to dairy cattle across several U.S. states has now led to mammal-to-mammal transmission—between cows and from cows to cats and a raccoon.

This is one of the first times that we are seeing evidence of efficient and sustained mammalian-to-mammalian transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1.

Whole genome sequencing of the virus did not reveal any mutations in the virus that would lead to enhanced transmissibility of H5N1 in humans, although the data clearly shows mammal-to-mammal transmission, which is concerning as the virus may adapt in mammals.

So far, 11 human cases have been reported in the U.S., with the first dating back to April 2022, each with mild symptoms: four were linked to cattle farms and seven have been linked to poultry farms, including an outbreak of four cases reported in the last few weeks.

Part1

These recent patients fell ill with the same strain identified in the study as circulating in dairy cows, leading the researchers to suspect that the virus likely originated from dairy farms in the same county.

While the virus does have the ability to infect and replicate in people, the efficiency of those infections is low.

How epigenetics influence memory formation

When we form a new memory, the brain undergoes physical and functional changes known collectively as a "memory trace." A memory trace represents the specific patterns of activity and structural modifications of neurons that occur when a memory is formed and later recalled.

But how does the brain "decide" which neurons will be involved in a memory trace? Studies have suggested that the inherent excitability of neurons plays a role, but the currently accepted view of learning has neglected to look inside the command center of the neuron itself, its nucleus. In the nucleus, there seems to be another dimension altogether that has gone unexplored: epigenetics.

Inside every cell of a given living organism, the genetic material encoded by the DNA is the same, yet the various cell types that make up the body, like skin cells, kidney cells, or nerve cells each express a different set of genes. Epigenetics is the mechanism of how cells control such gene activity without changing the DNA sequence.

Now, scientists  have explored whether epigenetics might affect the likelihood of neurons to be selected for memory formation. Their research on mice, published in Science, shows that the epigenetic state of a neuron is key to its role in memory encoding.

The researchers  wondered if epigenetic factors could influence the "mnemonic" function of a neuron. A neuron can be epigenetically open when the DNA inside its nucleus is unraveled or relaxed; and closed when the DNA is compact and tight.

They found that it is the open ones that are more likely to be recruited into the "memory trace," the sparse set of neurons in the brain that shows electrical activity when learning something new. Indeed, the neurons that were in a more open chromatin state were also the ones demonstrating higher electrical activity.

The 

scientists then used a virus to deliver epigenetic enzymes to artificially induce openness of the neurons. They found that the corresponding mice learned much better. When the scientists used the opposite approach to close the neurons' DNA, the mice's ability to learn was canceled.

The findings open up new ways to understand learning that encompass the neuron's nucleus, and may even lead one day to medication for improving learning.

Giulia Santoni et al, Chromatin plasticity predetermines neuronal eligibility for memory trace formation, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg9982. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg9982

Fecal matter transplant helps half of patients with GI cancers overcome immunotherapy resistance

Findings from a small, proof-of-concept clinical trial have suggested that fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) can boost the effectiveness of immunotherapy in a range of gastrointestinal cancers.

In the study, published July 25 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, six of 13 patients who had previously shown resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors benefited from receiving FMTs from donors who had previously responded to treatment. The investigators also identified specific strains of bacteria associated with better or worse responses to FMT and immune checkpoint drugs.

This research highlights the complex interplay between beneficial and detrimental bacteria within the gut microbiota in determining treatment outcomes.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer treatment, but many patients never respond or develop resistance after an initial response. The researchers decided to study FMT in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors because emerging evidence suggests that the gut microbiota plays a crucial role in modulating the immune system and can significantly impact the efficacy of these therapies.

Part 1

This study is the first to show the potential benefits of this treatment in clinical settings beyond melanoma.

The trial included patients with metastatic solid-tumor cancers who were resistant to the anti-PD-1 drug nivolumab. Four had gastric cancer, five had esophageal cancer, and four had hepatocellular carcinoma.

The six FMT donors, who also had gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma, had had a complete or partial response for at least six months after treatment with nivolumab or pembrolizumab. The FMTs were given via colonoscopy after the recipients had received antibiotics to tamp down their own microbiotas.
One of the most surprising results was from a hepatocellular carcinoma patient who initially showed no response to the first FMT and continued to experience cancer progression. However, after switching the donor for the second FMT, the patient exhibited remarkable tumor shrinkage.
The investigators then took a closer look at which bacteria were most likely to affect whether patients benefited from FMT combined with checkpoint inhibitors. In doing so, they identified a novel bacterial strain that helped to improve FMT efficacy, Prevotella merdae Immunoactis.

They also identified two strains that had a detrimental impact on FMT efficacy, Lactobacillus salivarius and Bacteroides plebeius.

They plan to continue studying these and other strains with the goal of developing better ways to boost immunotherapy effectiveness by altering the gut microbiota.
By examining the complex interactions within the microbiome, the researchers hope to identify optimal microbial communities that can be used to enhance cancer treatment outcomes.
This comprehensive approach will help us understand how the microbial ecosystem as a whole contributes to therapeutic success.
Fecal microbiota transplantation improves anti-PD-1 inhibitor efficacy in refractory unresectable or metastatic solid cancers refractory to anti-PD-1 inhibitor, Cell Host & Microbe (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.06.010. www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe … 1931-3128(24)00228-2

Fears over viral infection during pregnancy
The 2015-2016 outbreak of the Zika virus caused thousands of birth defects among Brazilians infected during pregnancy; now the country is facing the same fears with the Oropouche virus. Brazil’s health ministry has reported four cases of microcephaly — a type of reduced brain development — in newborns of infected mothers and one fetal death that might be associated with the virus. Oropouche is transmitted by Culicoides paraensis, a tiny midge found across the Americas. Cases of Oropouche fever have surged in Brazil since late 2022. The cases are worrisome and a sign to be alert.

https://www.science.org/content/article/virus-spreading-in-latin-am...