… and reduces medications in insulinoma patients. Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is effective for clinical control of symptomatic metastatic insulinomas, according to new research published in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In the largest study to date of metastatic insulinoma patients treated with PRRT, more than 80 percent of patients had long-lasting symptom control, and nearly 60 percent were able to reduce the use of other drugs to treat the disease. Metastatic insulinoma is a rare…
Working with an international consortium, scientists at Leipzig University have identified new genes that may play a role in chronic kidney disease. They analysed data from more than 900,000 people and found effects that in some cases differed between men and women. These new findings may help scientists better understand sex-specific differences in the risk and progression of chronic kidney disease, and provide a starting point for appropriate treatments. The findings have recently been published in the prestigious journal “Nature…
Bonn researchers test a new imaging method. An estimated five to ten percent of blindness worldwide is due to the rare inflammatory eye disease uveitis. Intermediate uveitis is often associated with a chronic course of the disease and the need for immunosuppressive therapy. Intermediate uveitis primarily causes inflammation of the vitreous body, but blood flow to the retina can also be restricted. Researchers at the Eye Clinic of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have tested…
Bacterial composition of the skin plays a role in determining how well cancer patients tolerate radiotherapy. Many cancer patients develop severe dermatitis during radiotherapy. Which factors increase the risk of such radiodermatitis has only been partially understood up until now. A pilot study at the University of Augsburg, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and Helmholtz Munich now points to the important role played by skin bacteria. Breast cancer patients whose skin microbiome was severely disturbed all developed severe dermatitis…
Researchers identify novel risk locus in the genome for ACE inhibitor-induced. Angioedema is a rare but potentially life-threatening adverse reaction to ACE inhibitors. In a joint analysis of eight European study collectives, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for the first time conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with more than 1,000 affected individuals. They identified a total of three risk loci in the genome….
UTA study could impact treatments for blood, colorectal and non-small cell lung cancers. A multi-institutional study co-authored by University of Texas at Arlington scientists uncovered a mechanism by which cancer cells prevent the immune system from activating and attacking the cancerous invaders. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Reports, sheds light on why immunotherapy treatments don’t work for all people or all diseases. For example, certain types of cancers—including colon, pancreatic, prostate and brain cancers—have stubbornly resisted immunotherapy. And…
MHH researcher is involved in two EU gene therapy projects and is developing new viral vectors for the safe and efficient transfer of curative genes. Gene therapies are aimed at curing severe, barely treatable monogenetic diseases, i.e. those caused by a defect in a single gene. Hopes are correspondingly high. Some gene therapies have already been approved in Europe – for example for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a congenital disease of the motor neurones that leads to severe muscle weakness…
When people develop myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS), the healthy maturation of blood cells is impaired. Severe forms, known as higher-risk MDS, are characterised by rapid progression, severe symptoms and often a transition to acute leukaemia. Patients for whom potentially curative or intensive treatments, such as stem cell transplantation or high-dose chemotherapy, are not suitable, have very few alternative treatment options. An international clinical trial led by Professor Uwe Platzbecker from the University of Leipzig Medical Center, in collaboration with a large…
A research group led by Prof. WANG Hui from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has introduced a metal-free nanozyme based on graphene quantum dots (GQDs) for highly efficient tumor chemodynamic therapy (CDT). The study was published in Matter. GQDs represent a promising and cost-effective means of addressing the toxicity concerns associated with metal-based nanozymes in tumor CDT. However, the limited catalytic activity of GQDs has posed significant challenges for their clinical application, particularly under…
A simple blood test could perform better than a complex test thanks to mathematical modeling. Diabetes often remains undetected until it has already damaged organs or nerves. This is partly due to the fact that diagnosis at an early stage is time-consuming and difficult. An international team of researchers headed by Associate Professor Dr. Johannes Dietrich from the Department of Medicine I of Ruhr University Bochum at St. Josef Hospital in Bochum, Germany, has shown that a mathematical calculation based…
A team led by Saranya Balachandran, Prof. Dr. Malte Spielmann and Dr. Varuun Sreenivasan, Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University and the University of Lübeck, has developed the AI-based algorithm STIGMA, which enables better diagnoses of congenital diseases. Several new disease genes have already been identified. A team from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), the Faculty of Medicine at Kiel University and the University of Lübeck has developed an…
…enhances effectiveness of experimental cancer therapy. Did smokers do better than non-smokers in a clinical trial for an experimental cancer treatment? That was the intriguing question that led University of Iowa researchers and their colleagues to develop a drinkable, carbon monoxide-infused foam that boosted the effectiveness of the therapy, known as autophagy inhibition, in mice and human cells. The findings were recently published in the journal Advanced Science. Looking for ways to exploit biological differences between cancer cells and healthy…
Protein identified that increases the formation of good brown fat. Brown fat cells convert energy into heat – a key to eliminating unwanted fat deposits. In addition, they also protect against cardiovascular diseases. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life & Health” at the University of Bonn have now identified the protein EPAC1 as a new pharmacological target to increase brown fat mass and activity. The long-term aim is to find medicines that support…
A combination of only 11 proteins can predict long-term disability outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS) for different individuals. The identified proteins could be used to tailor treatments to the individual based on the expected severity of the disease. The study, led by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden, has been published in the journal Nature Communications. “A combination of 11 proteins predicted both short and long-term disease activity and disability outcomes. We also concluded that it’s important to measure these…
A new microscopic technique zeroes in on the poorly explored world of nanoplastics, which can pass into blood, cells and your brain. In recent years, there has been rising concern that tiny particles known as microplastics are showing up basically everywhere on Earth, from polar ice to soil, drinking water and food. Formed when plastics break down into progressively smaller bits, these particles are being consumed by humans and other creatures, with unknown potential health and ecosystem effects. One big…
… renders men infertile and frustrates medically assisted reproduction. In half of the couples that are unable to conceive a child, the infertility is due to the man. A new study identifies the defective function of ‘CatSper’, an ion channel controlling calcium levels in sperm, as a common cause of seemingly unexplained male infertility. CatSper-deficient human sperm fail to fertilize the egg, because they cannot penetrate its protective vestments. Thus far, this sperm channelopathy has remained undetectable. Scientists from Münster,…
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