Topoisomerase inhibitors and chronic pain
Topoisomerase inhibitors emerged in the American medical landscape in 1971, thanks to the discovery by Dr. Jim Wang of the E. coli omega protein. Topoisomerase I, an enzyme identified by Dr. Wang, plays a crucial role in DNA unwrapping from supercoiling. Supercoiling involves tightly wrapping DNA for storage and protection, requiring unwrapping for reading, a Read more… Topoisomerase inhibitors and chronic pain originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 23, 2024 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Meds Medications Pain Management Source Type: blogs

What Is the Microbiome?
Have you ever noticed a skin care product advertised as “microbiome friendly” and wondered what that meant? The microbiome is the collection of all the microbes—including bacteria, viruses, and fungi—that live in a specific environment, such as on the skin or in the digestive tract. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterial species commonly found in the human intestine. While some strains of E. coli cause foodborne illness, others are helpful members of the gut microbiome.Credit: Mark Ellisman and Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California, San Diego. It’s ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 20, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Common questions Microbes Microbiome Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 18th 2023
In conclusion, given the relative safety and the favourable effects of aspirin, its use in cancer seems justified, and ethical implications of this imply that cancer patients should be informed of the present evidence and encouraged to raise the topic with their healthcare team. « Back to Top Aged Transplant Organs Cause Harm to Younger Recipients https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/12/aged-transplant-organs-cause-harm-to-younger-recipients/ Old tissues are dysfunctional in ways that young tissues are not. This has always been known in the context of organ transplants, but absent me...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 17, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Changes in the Gut Microbiome Correlate with Aging and Renal Function
The gut microbiome changes with age. Pro-inflammatory microbial populations grow in size at the expense of populations that produce beneficial metabolites. As researchers produce increasingly large databases of the composition of the gut microbiome across ages and populations, they are also mapping a growing number of specific connections between microbial species and aspects of aging. Some of this work shows causation, but most human data can only show correlations between aspects of the gut microbiome and aspects of aging. In today's open access paper, the authors focused on finding links between the gut microbiome and t...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 15, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Bacteria Tag Team Tumors with T Cells
A team at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed a technique to enhance chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in solid tumors. The technique involves engineering E. coli bacteria, that naturally tend to accumulate in the immune privileged core of solid tumors. The bacteria have been engineered to interact with tumor cells and deposit a synthetic antigen on the cells that can then be targeted by CAR T cells. The approach could enhance CAR T cell therapy in solid tumors, which hasn’t worked as well as CAR T cell therapy for blood-borne cancers to date. Creating such bacterial/T...
Source: Medgadget - October 31, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: News CAR T columbia columbiauniversity Source Type: blogs

Diversity Supplement Program Paves the Way for Talented Researchers
“I hope that one day I’m able to increase our understanding of evolution, and I also hope to increase access to research. I want others to know that this space is open to people who look like me, who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and who are underrepresented in the sciences,” says Nkrumah Grant, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate (postdoc) in microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing. Dr. Grant’s work receives support from the NIGMS Diversity Supplement Program (DSP), which is designed to improve the recruitment and training of promising researchers from ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - September 27, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Diseases Microbes Profiles Training Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 25th 2023
In conclusion, this individual patient data meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies found that antihypertensive use was associated with decreased dementia risk compared with individuals with untreated hypertension through all ages in late life. Individuals with treated hypertension had no increased risk of dementia compared with healthy controls. « Back to Top Results from Human Clinical Trials Do Not Support Metformin as a Longevity Drug https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/09/results-from-human-clinical-trials-do-not-support-metformin-as-a-longevity-drug/ The SENS Research Fou...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 24, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an insulin delivery system that relies on music as a trigger. The unusual technology is based on calcium ion channels that typically reside in the cell membrane. Such channels are sensitive to mechanical deformation and these researchers discovered that sound waves will activate the channels. When insulin-producing cells are genetically modified to express this channel, they will experience an influx in calcium ions when music is played close by, prompting them to release insulin. The concept could be useful as a treatment for diabetes, whereby such cells, housed in a specialized ca...
Source: Medgadget - September 19, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine diabetes ETH Zurich Source Type: blogs

Leaking Gut, Leaking Blood Vessels, Leaking Blood Brain Barrier
In today's open access paper, researchers attempt to throw a big tent over three distinct issues in the aging of the body and brain. Firstly, the intestinal barrier fails, allowing bacteria and bacterial metabolites into tissue and the circulation, where they can provoke dysfunction and inflammation. Secondly, blood vessels become leaky, harming surrounding tissues by allowing excessive fluid, inappropriate molecules and cells to escape. Lastly, the blood-brain barrier leaks; this is a more specialized barrier layer surrounding blood vessels in the brain, and when it leaks, the passage of unwanted cells and molecules into ...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 18, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

UV-Free Air Decontamination: Interview with Sorel Rothschild, VP at Quantum Innovations
LumaFlo, a medtech company based in Israel, has developed a decontamination technology that does not require UV light, something that can be dangerous for people nearby. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for safe and effective decontamination technologies for both public spaces and healthcare facilities. However, many such technologies rely on UV light to kill pathogens, but this can also have negative effects on those exposed. In an effort to create a safer and more effective alternative, LumaFlo has developed a carbon nanostructure based photocatalytic system that is activated through visible light, meaning t...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs

75 year old dialysis patient with nausea, vomiting and lightheadedness
Written by Jesse McLaren A 75 year-old patient with diabetes and end stage renal disease was sent to the ED after dialysis for three days of nausea, vomiting, loose stool, lightheadedness and fatigue. RR18 sat 99% HR 90 BP 90/60, afebrile. Below is the 15 lead ECG. What do you think? There ’s normal sinus rhythm, normal conduction, normal axis, normal R wave progression and normal voltages. There’s subtle inferior ST elevation with straightening of the ST segment, reciprocal ST depression and T wave inversion in aVL, and ST depression in V2. This is diagnostic of infero-posterior OMI, but it is falsely n...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - August 19, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Jesse McLaren Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 724
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 724:Giardia duodenalistrophozoites and cysts.Florida Fan eloquently described the characteristic motility pattern ofGiardiatrophozoites: " Beautiful autumn leaves falling in the wind in a sliding side to side motion. " He also notes that "Giardiatrophozoites and cysts can present a little challenge to parasitologists at times. Most of us are used to see the typical kite-shaped trophozoite with its nuclei, sucking disks and flowing flagella. When these trophozoites turn sideways, we may see only ạ leafy profile, and when they stand on their tails they will look like the kid nex...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - August 15, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

[Browsing] New comments
Any comments on this blog are moderated by me.  If they are a question related to the subject of the post, I will answer it (not always very quickly, I have to confess).But most are not related at all.   For example:Very complementary about my writing style, but included a link to private tutoring service.  Actually there were three at least like this;Opportunities to buy medications - separate offers of NSAIDs, pain medications, benzodiazepines, opioids, barbiturates...;Links to a homoeopathy clinic (as all these comments are, on posts not related to the subject of the comment);Recommendation...
Source: Browsing - August 13, 2023 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: blogs

Bacteriophages to Diagnose and Treat Bladder Infections
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a bacteriophage system to identify and treat bacterial bladder infections. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria, but these microorganisms have fallen out of favor as a treatment method for infection since antibiotics came along. Well, antibiotics are looking increasingly shaky as bacteria evolve to resist them, so researchers are returning to bacteriophages as a way to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. However, these Swiss-based researchers have turbo-charged bacteriophages by genetically modifying them so that they are more effective at killing bacteria, and also so...
Source: Medgadget - August 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Public Health Urology bacteriophages ETH ETH_en Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 10th 2023
In conclusion, the examination of the GBA can aid in understanding the etiology and development of NDs, which may benefit the improvement of clinical treatments for these disorders and ND interventions. This review indicates existing knowledge about the involvement of microbiota present in the gut in NDs and potential treatment options. The Aging of the Enteric Nervous System https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/07/the-aging-of-the-enteric-nervous-system/ The enteric nervous system is the nervous system of the intestines, and likely an important part of the relationship between the gut microbiome ...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 9, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs