Beneficial Bacteria in Our Nose!

Beneficial bacterial strains reside in our skin, genital tracts and guts and have been shown to play an important role in human health. Researchers have now found that some of these good bacteria also reside in our noses!

The team found that people with chronic sinus and nasal inflammation have fewer lactobacilli in their upper respiratory tract than healthy controls. They were also able to identify a specific strain of this bacteria which has evolved to better survive the oxygen rich environment of the nose.

For part of their study, the team developed a proof of concept nasal spray which could deliver lactobacilli to the nose. Here the bacteria were able to colonize the upper respiratory tract of healthy participants.

To see if bacteria we typically associate with gut health have a role in the health of the upper respiratory tract, the team compared the nose bacteria between 100 healthy participants and 225 patients who suffered from chronic rhinosinusitis. They looked at the prevalence of 30 varying families of bacteria in the upper respiratory tract of the participants. They found that the healthy participants had a greater abundance of lactobacilli than the patients – up to ten times more in some areas of the nose.

Lactobacilli are well known rod shaped, beneficial bacteria that contain pathogen inhibiting properties because they produce lactic acid through the fermentation of sugar. However, these bacteria have never been studied in detail in the nose.

The team took a closer look and found a specific strain of the Lacticaseibacillus that not only showed some antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects against pathogens, but also some unique features that enables the strain to adapt better to the environment of the nose. Most lactobacilli prefer to grow in the absence of oxygen, however the identified strain showed unique genes that made it capable in coping with the higher oxidative stress levels in the nose.

The team also observed the bacteria was covered with flexible, hair like tubes called fimbriae which enable them to adhere to the surface cells in the nose which indicated an interaction between the host and the bacteria.

The team looked to verify their findings in vivo. However, a limitation is that there are actually no good mechanistic models or animal models to study the interaction of bacteria in the nose and human host. The microbiome of the nose of mice compared to humans is certainly different. Also, mice breathe through their nose and they do not get chronic rhinosinusitis and have fewer allergies and inflammations.

However, the results from the lab and the long history of the safe use of lacatobacilli allowed the team to study the bacteria in humans instead of using animal models. They created a kind of probiotic nasal spray with a selected lactobacillus strain in the unique formulation for 20 healthy participants.

Introducing bacteria to the nose can be a challenge because the nose is so good at filtering out foreign substances. Any substance introduced to the nose will typically disappear within 15 minutes. However, after administering the spray twice daily for two weeks, the bacteria remained in the nose longer than 15 minutes. They colonized the nose for up to two weeks without any adverse effects.

The study using the spray was not set up to look at beneficial effects, however anecdotally some of the participants noted having fewer nasal problems and said they could also breathe better.

The next step for the team is to understand if the fimbraie and the ability to endure oxidative stress are key to the beneficial anti-inflammatory properties of the strain. They also want to identify which antimicrobial molecules the stain produces in addition to the lactic acid.

Ultimately, their goal is the develop therapeutics based on nasal probiotics to help improve the symptoms of people suffering from sinusitis. Sinusitis people don’t have a lot of treatment options. And with treatments that are available, problems like antibiotic resistance and side effects often occur. The team believes there are certain patients who would benefit from remodeling their microbiome and introducing beneficial bacteria in their nose to help reduce certain symptoms.

To view the original scientific study click below

Lactobacilli Have a Niche in the Human Nose.

Physical Activity Helps Prevent Early Death

Researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh have shown that at least 3.9 million early deaths are being averted throughout the world every year by people being physically active. The study shows that too often we focus on the negative health results of poor levels of being physically active when we should be celebrating the positive benefits of being active.

All research into lifestyle factors such as poor diet, smoking, drinking alcohol and physical activity tends to focus on the harms these factors play in poor health. This helps create a narrative to try and prevent and reduce these behaviors.

The team believe there is value in trying to understand that behaviors that are healthy confer in order to argue for increasing and maintaining them. They decided to look instead at population activity levels and then estimate the health benefits of physical activity to society.

In the study, the team used a number of known as the Prevented Fraction for the Population. In this case, the proportion of deaths that were prevented due to people being more physically active.

They examined previously published models for 168 countries on the proportion of the population meeting the World Health Organizations global recommendation of over 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity throughout a week, or 75 minutes of strenuous intensity activity, or an equivalent combination of both. The proportion of populations meeting the recommended level of physical activity varied quite substantially between countries. Kuwait showed a low of 33%, 64% for the United Kingdom, and a high of 94% for Mozambique.

Through combining the data with conjectures of the possible risk of premature death for people who were active compared to less active people, the team could estimate the proportion of premature death that were prevented due to people being physically active.

They discovered that all over the world, due to physical activity the number of premature deaths was an average of 15% lower than it would have been – 16% for men and 14% for women. This equates to approximately 3.9 millions lives saved each year.

Despite the large amount of variation in physical activity levels between the countries, the positive contribution of physical activity was quite consistent across the world. There was a broad trend towards a greater proportion of premature deaths averted for middle and low income countries. In the low income countries, an average of 18% of premature deaths were averted compared to 14% for the higher income countries.

In the United States, 140,200 premature deaths were prevented annually and in the United Kingdom 26,600.

Health experts will often times frame the debate in terms of the number of early deaths due to the lack of physical activity which estimates that 3.2 million die prematurely every year. The researchers however, say that through showing how many deaths are averted, it may also be possible to frame the debate in a positive manner which could have benefits to policy, advocacy and population messaging.

By focusing on the number of lives saved rather than looking at the downsides of not getting enough physical activity, we are able to tell a positive news story of what has already being achieved. This tells us how much good is being accomplished and helps us become more aware of how much benefit physical activity is already providing. This leads to finding ways to be even better by increasing physical activity levels further.

While there is a risk of complacency, people wondering why we need to invest more when it’s already providing benefit, gives the team hope that their hope findings will encourage local authorities and governments to protect and maintain services even in challenging economic climates.

To view the original scientific study click below

Use of the prevented fraction for the population to determine deaths averted by existing prevalence of physical activity: a descriptive study.

Super Antibodies may Provide Powerful Protection Against Covid-19

Researchers have discovered antibodies in the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients that may provide powerful protection against SARS-CoV-2, which is the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, when tested in human cell and animal cultures. The research offers a paradigm of swift reaction of the emergent and deadly pandemic and sets the stage for clinical trials and additional tests of the antibodies.

These antibodies are now being produced as potential preventatives and treatments for the virus. This discovery represents an extremely rapid response to this totally new pathogen.

Injections of such antibodies, in principle, could be given to people in the early states of COVID-19 to help reduce the level of the virus and also protect against severe disease. These antibodies may also be used to provide temporary, vaccine-like protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection of elderly people, healthcare workers, and others who respond poorly to traditional vaccines or may have had recent exposure to the virus.

The research project was led by groups at Scripps Research; IAVI which is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent and unmet global health challenges; and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

The research has been a tremendous collaborative effort, and the team is now focused on making large quantities of these promising antibodies for clinical trials. Currently the treatment or a vaccine for the virus is the world’s top public health priority. The daily toll of new infections is still rising which makes the efforts even more pressing.

One approach to new viral threats is to identify antibodies in the blood of recovering patients that neutralize the virus’s ability to infect cells. These antibodies can then be mass produced through biotech methods and potentially used as a treatment that would block severe disease and also as a vaccine-like preventative that circulates in the blood for several weeks to protect against infection. This particular approach has been successfully demonstrated against the Ebola virus and RSV which is the pneumonia causing respiratory syncytial virus.

For the project, part of the team took blood samples from patients who were recovered from mild to severe COVID-19. Another team developed test cells that express ACE2 which is the receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to get into human cells. In a set of the initial experiments, the team tested whether the antibody containing blood from the recovered patients could bind to the virus and then strongly block it from infecting the test cells.

The team was able to isolate more than 1,000 distinct antibody producing immune cells which are known as B cells, each of which produced a distinct anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody. They obtained the antibody gene sequences from these cells so they could produce the antibodies in the lab. Through screening these antibodies individually, they identified several that even in tiny quantities, could block the virus in test cells and additionally one that could also protect hamsters against heavy viral exposure.

All of the work including the development of the cell and animal infection models and studies to discover where the antibodies they were interested in bind to the virus, was completed in less than seven weeks. The team’s leveraged their institution’s decades of expertise in antibody isolation and then quickly pivoted their focus to SARS-CoV-2 to identify these highly potent antibodies.

If additional safe tests in clinical trials and animals go well, then the antibodies could conceivably be used in clinical settings as early as January 2021. The team intends to make them available to those who need them the most including low and middle income countries.

During the course of the researcher’s attempts to isolate anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from the COVID-19 recovered patients, they found one that can also neutralize SARS-CoV which is the related coronavirus that led to the 2002 to 2004 outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in Asia. This discovery gave the team hope that they will eventually find broadly neutralizing antibodies that will provide at least partial protection against all or most SARS coronaviruses which should be helpful if another virus jumps to humans.

To view the original scientific study click below

Isolation of potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and protection from disease in a small animal model.

Primitive Stem Cells Potential Use in Complicated Bone Fractures

Researchers at Texas A&M University have recently created superior bone grafts using primitive stem cells. These grafts could be used for complicated fractures that do not heal with a firm cast and may promote precise and swift bone healing so that patients with these type fractures maximally benefit from the surgical intervention.

The team found that these cells help create the fertile scaffolds that are needed for the bone to regenerate at the repair site. There are a variety of problems that can occur with orthopedic implants such as pain and inflammation. They can also loosen which requires surgical revisions that are many times more complicated than the original surgery. By speeding up the healing process of the bone, the bone graft materials can potentially reduce the number of these surgical revisions.

Every year about 600,000 people living in the United States experience incomplete or delayed bone healing. For some of these situations physicians will turn to surgical procedures that will involve transplanting bone tissue at the repair site. These bone grafts have typically come from two sources – either the patient’s own bone from another location on their body called autografts, or from highly processed human cadaver bones.

Unfortunately, both of these types of bone grafts have their share of drawbacks. Autografts for example require additional surgery for extraction of bone tissue which increases the recovery time for patients and sometimes chronic pain. However, grafts derived from cadaver bone preclude the need for two surgeries but these type implants tend to be devoid of many of the biomolecules which will promote bone repair.

Grafts obtained from cadaver bone have some of the physical properties of bone and even a bit of the biological essence, however they are very depleted in terms of their functionality. What the team wanted to accomplish was to engineer a bone graft where they could experimentally crank up the gears and make it more biologically active.

Earlier studies have shown that stem cells and particularly a type called mesenchymal stem cells, can be used to produce bone grafts that are biologically active. These stem cells convert to bone cells that will produce the materials needed to make a scaffolding or the extracellular matrix which bones need for growth and survival.

These cells are typically extracted from the marrow of an adult bone and are therefore older. The age of these cells affects their ability to divide and produce more of the precious extracellular matrix. In order to circumvent this problem, the team turned to the cellular ancestors of the mesenchymal stem cells which are known as pluripotent stem cells.

Unlike adult mesenchymal cells which have short lifetimes, these primitive cells can keep proliferating. This creates an unlimited supply of mesenchymal stem cells that are needed to make the extracellular matrix for the bone grafts. The pluripotent cells can be made by genetically reprogramming donated adult cells.

When the team induced the pluripotent stem cells to make brand new mesenchymal stem cells, they were able to generate an extracellular matrix that was far more biologically active compared to that generated by mesenchymal cells that had been obtained from adult bone.

To test the efficacy of the scaffolding materials as a bone graft, the team then carefully extracted and purified the enriched extracellular matrix. They then implanted it at a site of bone defects. When they examined the status of the bone repair in just a few weeks, they discovered that their pluripotent stem cell derived matrix was five to six times more effective than the best FDA approved graft stimulator.

Bone repairs that use the gold standard of grafts like those administered with the powerful bone growth stimulator known as bone morphogenic protein-2 can take approximately 8 weeks, but the team was getting complete healing in four weeks. Under these conditions their material surpassed the efficacy of bone morphogenic protein-2 by a long shot. This indicated that it is a huge improvement of current bone repair technologies.

The team also found that from a clinical standpoint, the grafts could be incorporated into numerous engineered implants such as metal screws or 3-D printed implants so that these parts integrate much better with the surrounding bone. The bone grafts would also be easier to produce which makes them more advantageous from a manufacturing standpoint.

The material is very promising in that these pluripotent stem cells can ideally generate many batches of the extracellular matrix from just a single donor. This will greatly simplify the large scale manufacturing of the bone grafts.

To view the original scientific study click below

Characterization of a pluripotent stem cell-derived matrix with powerful osteoregenerative capabilities.

Brain Health and Role of Body Composition & Cardiorespiratory Fitness

A recent study by a research team at the Beckman Institute for Advance Science and Technology examined how body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness are related to neuronal health. The team studied 290 healthy young adults.

This study adds to a growing body of research that suggests fitness has beneficial effects for the health of the brain. The study applied magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure and detect brain metabolites. They focused specifically on N-acetyl aspartic acid (NAA).

NAA is produced in the neurons and is an important biochemical marker of neuronal health and energy production. Prior work has demonstrated that neuronal health as measured by NAA, has positive associations with cognitive performance. The team was interested in exploring whether modifiable life style factors such as aerobic fitness and physical activity are also linked to NAA.

The team showed that a lower percentage of body fat is linked with higher NAA in the white matter and that this relationship largely accounts for the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and NAA.

The findings suggest that adults who are more fit benefit from improved structural brain connectivity. This led to the question raised by the work as to whether a person can modify NAA through fitness interventions and physical activity which could provide an effective method for enhancing cognitive performance and brain health across a person’s lifespan.

To view the original scientific study click below

Body mass and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with altered brain metabolism.

High Saturated Fat Meal and Loss of Focus

New research has suggested that eating just one meal that is high in saturated fat can limit our concentration abilities. At a time when people are working at home due to troubled times, that is not great news for those whose diets have taken a turn south during the COVID-19 pandemic!

The study which was led at The Ohio State University, compared how 50 females performed on an attention test following a meal that was high in saturated fat or the same meal made with unsaturated sunflower oil.

The women’s performance was worse following the high fat meal as opposed to the meal which contained a healthier fat. This signaled to the research team a link between the brain and fatty food.

The team additionally looked at whether a condition known as leaky gut which will allow bacteria in the intestines to enter the bloodstream, had effects on concentration. The participants who had leakier guts did worse on the attention test assessment with either of the meals they had consumed.

The loss of concentration and focus after just one meal was eye opening to the team. Earlier work looked at the causative effect of the diet over a period of time. The current research on consuming just one high saturated fat meal showed a remarkable difference on focus.

The team also noted that the meal that used sunflower oil which is low in saturated fat, still contained quite a bit of dietary fat. Because both of the meals were high fat and possibly problematic, the high saturated fat meal’s cognitive effect may be even greater if compared to a lower fat meal.

The women study participants compiled a baseline assessment of their attention while at a morning visit to the research lab. The tool used which is called a continuous performance test, measures sustained concentration, attention and reactive time based on 10 minutes of computer based activities.

The meal included biscuits, eggs, gravy and turkey sausage and contained 60 grams of fat – either a palmitic acid (a type of saturated fat) based oil high in saturated fat or the lower saturated fat sunflower oil. Both meals contained 930 calories and were designed to copy the contents of a variety of fast food meals.

Five hours after the participants consumed the meal, they retook the continuous performance test. Between one to four weeks later, they repeated the steps, however eating the opposite meal of what they consumed the first time.

The research team also analyzed the participant’s fasting baseline blood samples to see whether they contained an inflammatory molecule which will signal the presence of endotoxemia, which is the toxin that leaves the intestines and then enters the bloodstream when the barrier in the gut is compromised.

Following the meal high in saturated fat, all the women were on average 11% less able to detect target stimuli in the attention assessment test. Lapses in concentration and focus were also apparent in the participants who had signs of leaky gut. Their response times were more erratic and these participants were less able to sustain their attention during the 10 minute test.

If any of the participants had high levels of endotoxemia, that also wiped out the between meal differences. These women were performing poorly no matter which type of fat they consumed.

Although the study did not determine what was happening in the brain, earlier research has promoted that food high in saturated fat can increase inflammation throughout the body and possibly even the brain. Fatty acids can also cross the blood brain barrier. It may be that fatty acids are interacting directly with the brain. What it does indicate is the power of gut related deregulation.

The team’s statistical analysis did account for other possibly influences on cognition including symptoms of depression and the participant’s average dietary saturated fat consumption. The women in the recent study consumed three standardized meals and fasted for 12 hours prior to each lab visit in an effort to reduce diet variations that might have affected their physiological response to high fat meals.

The team’s findings do suggest concentration and focus might be more impaired in people who are feeling stressed due to the current pandemic and are turning to fatty type foods for comfort. What is known is that when peoples anxiety is high, a good subset will turn to high saturated fat foods more enticing than say broccoli. It is known from other research that anxiety and depression can interfere with attention and concentration. When that is added on top of a high fat meal, the real world effects can be even larger.

To view the original scientific study click below

Afternoon distraction: a high-saturated-fat meal and endotoxemia impact postmeal attention in a randomized crossover trial

8-Week Diet of Fruits & Vegetables Linked to Better Heart Health

A new observation study and analysis has looked at the links between markers of a healthy heart and three types of diets – the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet, a different fruit and vegetable rich diet, and a typical Western Diet. The conclusion is that diets which include lots of vegetables and fruits are associated with a healthy heart.

The team’s analysis drew on data from the DASH trial which was a trial that assessed the effects of a specially designed diet on blood pressure, and other types of diets in comparison. The DASH Diet was developed by nutrition specialists who were affiliated with NIH (National Institute of Health).

The DASH Diet mainly focuses on the intake of vegetables, fruits, low fat diary products, whole grains, fish, nuts, poultry and beans over a diet consisting mostly of red meats, sugar, fatty and salty foods.

The current study focused on the comparison of the effects of the three different diets on markers of heart health. The typical Western or American Diet reflected levels of nutrient consumption as reported by an average U. S. adult, while the diet rich in vegetables and fruits was in many ways similar however, it contained more natural fiber and contained fewer sweets and snacks.

The team looked at data from three randomly assigned groups of study participants from the DASH trial. The total number of participants in the current analysis was 326 and each followed one of the three diets noted above for 8 weeks.

The team then assessed the levels of three biomarkers which are related to heart health in serum samples, a component of blood that was collected from the participants. The samples had been collected initially after a 12 hour fast before the participants had begun their respective diets, and then at the end of the 8 week study period.

The serum biomarkers the team assessed were high sensitivity cardiac troponin I, N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein. Troponin helps regulate contractions of the heart muscle and overly high levels of this particular protein can indicate damage to the heart. High levels of C-reactive protein in the bloodstream can indicate inflammation, and very high levels of pro-B natriuretic peptide are a marker of heart failure.

After assessing all serum samples which were take before and after the 8 week diet period, the researchers found that people who had followed either the fruit and vegetable rich diet or the DASH diet had consistently and significantly lower concentrations of two of the biomarkers – pro-B type natriuretic peptide and troponin, over their peers who had followed the typical American diet.

The team suggests that these results indicate better heart health in those two groups of participants. Levels of the two biomarkers did not differ with the people who had followed either of the plant rich diets. C-reactive protein levels which can indicate inflammation, were not affected by any of the diets.

Although it isn’t quite clear which aspects of the DASH and fruit and vegetable rich diets may have benefited the health of the heart, the team do hypothesize that dietary features which are common to both of these diets including but not limited to higher magnesium, potassium, and fiber content, may be possible causative factors.

The team does caution that more research is needed to confirm whether similar diets might improve cardiac function in adults who have established heart failure.

To view the original scientific study click below

Associations Between Dietary Patterns and Subclinical Cardiac Injury.

Sugar Cravings Explained by Gut to Brain Circuit

New research has shown that while the sensation of sweetness begins on the tongue, sugar molecules also trip sensors found in the gut which directly send signals to the brain. A little bit of sugar can make a person desire just about anything, but its sweetness doesn’t totally explain our desire. The new study shows that this molecule has a indirect channel to the brain.

The team at Howard Hughes Medical Institute shows while sugar triggers specialized taste buds found on the tongue, it also turns on a completely separate neurological pathway that beings in the gut. Signals in the intestines heralding the arrival of sugar travel to the brain. Here they nurture a desire for more, the researcher’s experiments with mice have shown. This particular gut to brain pathway appears to be selective responding primarily to sugar molecules and not artificial sweeteners.

Scientists have already known that sugar exerted unique control over the brain. In a 2008 study, mice that do not have the ability to taste sweetness could still desire sugar. The recent study’s discovery of the sugar sensing pathway can help explain why sugar is different and directs ways a person might quell their insatiable appetite for it. By separating the concepts of sweet and sugar, the team says sweet is linking and sugar is wanting.

The term sugar is a group which encompasses a variety of substances our bodies use as fuel. Consuming sugar activates the brain’s system of reward making mice and humans alike feel good. But, in our world where sugar that has been refined is plentiful, this deeply ingrained appetite could run out of control.

The normal American’s yearly sugar intake has skyrocketed from less than 10 lbs. in the late 1800s increasing to more than 100 lbs. currently with that increase coming at a cost. Studies have tied together excess consumption of sugar to a variety of health problems including type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Earlier research has shown that sugar and artificial sweeteners turn on the same taste sensing system. In the mouth, these molecules start up the sweet taste receptors found on taste buds which activates signals that travel to the part of the brain that processes the sweetness.

However, sugar affects behavior in a way that artificial sweeteners do not. The team ran a test pitting sugar against the artificial sweetener Acesulfame K which is typically found in diet sodas, sweetening packets and other food and beverage products. When offered water with the sugar or sweetener, mice initially drank both. However, within two days they switched almost exclusively to the water that contained sugar. The team reasoned that this unquenchable motivation the mice have for eating sugar instead of sweetness, might have a neural basis.

Through brain activity visualization when the mice consumed sugar vs. artificial sweetener or water, the team identified for the first time the region of the brain that responds only to sugar – the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (cNST). The cNST which is found in the brain stem separate from where mice process taste, is a hub for information about the state of the body.

The team determined that the path to the cNST begins in the lining of the intestine. Here, sensor molecules initiates a signal that travels by the vagus nerve providing a direct relay of information from the intestines and on to the brain.

This gut to brain circuit has a preference for one form of sugar – glucose and similar molecules. It ignores artificial sweeteners which might explain why these additives can’t seem to fully replicate the appeal of sugar. It also overlooks other types of sugar, mostly fructose which is found in fruit. Glucose is an energy source for all living things. This could explain why the system’s specificity for the molecule has evolved.

Earlier scientists speculated that sugar’s amount of energy or calories might explain its appeal since many artificial sweeteners are lacking in calories. However, the recent study has shown this is not the case since calorie free, glucose like molecules can also activate the gut to brain sugar sensing pathway.

The group is now studying the links between this gut brain circuit and other systems of the brain such as feeding, reward, and emotions to better understand how the brain’s strong preference for sugar develops. And although the study has been on mice, the team believes that essentially the same glucose sensing pathway exists in people.

Through discovering this circuit that explains how sugar directly impacts our brain to drive consumption, it also exposes new potential opportunities and targets for strategies to help curtail the insatiable appetite for sugar many of us have.

To view the original scientific study click below

The gut–brain axis mediates sugar preference.

A New Biomarker May Help Stem Cells Heal Brain Injuries

Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Loma Linda University Health have shown the possibility of applying MRI to predict the efficacy of employing human neural stem cells to treat brain injuries. This is the first ever biomarker for regenerative medicine that may help personalize treatments with stem cells for neurological disorders and also improve efficacy.

The team hope to test their findings in a clinical trial evaluating stem cell therapy in newborns who are experiencing brain injury during birth which is known as perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HII).

The team is hopeful that MRI which is currently being used during the course of and care for newborns with perinatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury, will help ensure that those infants with the injury get the best and most appropriate treatment possible.

Sometime in the future, MRI could possibly help guide the use of stem cells to treat additional brain disorders such as spinal cord injury and stroke.

Scientists now understand that in many cases, human neural stem cells are therapeutic because they are able to protect living cells. This is in contrast to replacing or re-animating nerve cells that are already dead. Thus, understanding the health of brain tissue before a stem cell implant is crucial to the treatment’s possible success.

Tools that can help predict the efficacy of neural stem therapy might increase the success of clinical trials such as those ongoing in people with Parkinson’s Disease, injury to the spinal cord, and other neurological conditions. This could also spare people who do not respond to treatment from an invasive procedure that offers false hope.

Stem cell therapies offer extraordinary promise. The current study suggests that a readily available technique, MRI which is already being used in many injuries of the brain to determine the extent of neurological damage, could be a useful tool in determining who will and will not benefit from the stem cell treatment.

Evan Snyder, M.D., Ph.D., has envisioned using human neural stem cells in an effort to protect newborns with acute perinatal HII from damage to the brain. He and his team made the discovery that MRI can be used as a quantifiable, objective and easily available basis for exclusion and inclusion criteria for the stem cell treatments while engaged in preclinical trials required prior to beginning human clinical trials for newborns with HII.

This particular brain injury affects two to four newborns out of every 1,000 babies that are born in the U.S. and is attributable to a variety of complications including disrupted maternal blood pressure, maternal infection, and umbilical cord compression.

The hope is that human neural stem calls could help rescue enough vulnerable and injured, though not dead, neural cells. This could potentially help prevent the most severely affected infants from developing epilepsy, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and other neurological disorders that will often appear after HII if left untreated.

In the current study, the team used MRI to measure two different areas surrounding the regions of HII brain injury in rats – the penumbra which is a region which consists of mildly injured and stunned neurons, and the core which is an area which consists of neurons that are dead. They discovered that rats with a larger penumbra and smaller core which had received human neural stem cells, had better neurological outcomes which included improved memory which was demonstrated by their ability to swim to a hidden platform and a greater willingness to venture to a brightly lit area.

In the rats, the penumbra to which the neural stem cells honed avidly, became normal tissue while the core did not improve and attracted fewer cells (based on MRI and histological standards). Penumbra which did not receive cells become part of the core which was populated by dead neurons, indicating the benefit of the treatment with the stem cells.

The approach to brain lesion classification is a very strong patient stratification tool that allowed the team to identify newborns who might benefit from the stem cell therapy and can also protect others from having unnecessary treatments done. Based on their findings, only those newborns with a large penumbra volume in relation to core volume, should consider having a transplant of human neural stem cells. And just as important, newborns so severely injured that only the core is present, or babies with a mild case of HII that not even a penumbra is present, should not receive the stem cells as the treatment would unlikely be impactful.

To view the original scientific study click below

A Biomarker for Predicting Responsiveness to Stem Cell Therapy Based on Mechanism-of-Action: Evidence from Cerebral Injury.

Covid-19 and Sleep Changes

During the last 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in sleep are just one of the many daily activities that have been impacted by this virus. A report from late March 2020 by Fitbit has shown that their sleep tracker app was showing major changes in sleep patterns for millions of Americans.

Getting a good might’s sleep is a highly important daily routine that many people don’t do. And whether it is due to child care, work, a noisy environment or other reasons, few Americans actually make sleep a priority. About 68% or 164 million Americans struggle with sleep at least once during a week. Millions of people suffered from insomnia before the pandemic, and unfortunately the pandemic has created a host of new challenges even for those people who previously had no sleep problems.

With social distancing in place along with quarantines, school closures, and working from home, profound changes to normal daily routines for people of all ages and walks of life have occurred.

Fitbit report shows that people are going to bed later but are getting more sleep in addition to a better quality of sleep. For those people whose quality of sleep has shown improvement, they have been spending more time in REM or deep sleep. Our bodies recharge while we sleep both repairing and building muscle and tissue. Levels of cortisol, our stress hormone, fall during the evening. Getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night will help boost the immunity – something that is especially important now.

Sleep is critical to both physical health and effective functioning of the immune system. It is also a key promoter of mental health and emotional wellness. It helps to beat back depressions, stress and anxiety.

From a report by the Smithsonian in late April 2020, researchers started to study other more ominous changes in sleep patterns. Sleep study centers from around the world reported increasingly vivid and strange dreams from those who had entered their second month of stay at home orders.

It was reported that a growing group are experiencing insomnia which is an inability to fall asleep which seems to be symptoms of stress due in part to the shared anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 virus. In the same report, researchers in France at The Lyon Neuroscience Research Center discovered a 35% increase in dream recall and a 15% increase in negative dreams.

For people who are not on the front lines of emergency and healthcare response, fears of the virus are projected onto threats such as bug, zombies, and shadowy figures which represent the pandemic metaphorically.

Dreams typically occur during the REM phase of sleep. Low activity and anxiety during the day can make it more difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Additionally, waking up frequently throughout the night can increase the likelihood that dreams will be remembered the next day.

REM sleep which is associated with dreaming, is believed to help us handle intense emotions and particularly negative emotions. And obviously the COVID-19 pandemic is producing a lot of anxiety and stress.

It is imperative that we let our bodies and brains rest and relax. This not only allows us to enter REM sleep and cope with stress, but a good night’s sleep also increases the production of vital neurotransmitters and hormones that our brain needs replenished every day.

The Sleep Foundation has ways we can cope with the profound changes of activity and stress that may be affecting sleep during the pandemic. Set a schedule and routine and avoid variations in daily sleep time. This includes waking up the same time every day, winding down time to relax to get ready for sleep, showering and dressing even when not leaving the house, eating meals at the same time each day, blocking of specific times for exercise and work, and avoiding naps.

We should also avoid bringing a computer to bed to do work or watch a movie in bed. It is also beneficial to frequently change bed sheets, fluff pillows and making the bed each day so it feels fresh when going to bed.

Exposure to light also plays a critical role in helping our bodies regulate sleep. Light based cues have a positive effect on circadian rhythm. If possible, spend some time outside in natural light during the day. As much as possible, open blinds and windows to let light in during the day.

And very importantly, avoid too much blue light which is produced by electronic devices. Blue light interferes with the body’s natural sleep promoting process. Excess screen time especially later in the day can have detrimental impact on sleep. It not only stimulates the brain in ways that make it difficult to wind down, but blue light from screens can suppress the natural production of melatonin which is a hormone they body makes to help us sleep.

And lastly, stay active. Continuing or starting regular daily activities has a variety of important benefits including for sleep.

To view the original scientific study click below

Covid-19 and Changing Sleep Patterns.

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