TITANIUM PROFESSIONALS

Researchers from IRTA and IrsiCaixa, partners in the EPIVINF project, have identified the golden Syrian hamster as a potential relevant model for studying the biology of long COVID, also known as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC).

Long COVID is not a single disease but a complex syndrome involving a range of persistent symptoms. People suffering from it report overwhelming fatigue, memory lapses, "brain fog," difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, and neurological symptoms that can last for months or even years after the initial infection.

Plants make substances called alkaloids to protect themselves, and humans have long taken advantage of these chemicals, using them in painkillers, treatments for disease and household products such as caffeine and nicotine.

By understanding how plants make these substances, researchers aim to produce new and improved chemicals for medicines more quickly, cheaply and with less environmental impact.

The mucosal surfaces that line the body are embedded with defensive molecules that help keep microbes from causing inflammation and infections. Among these molecules are lectins - proteins that recognize microbes and other cells by binding to sugars found on cell surfaces.

One of these lectins, MIT researchers have found, has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria found in the GI tract.

Researchers at McMaster University are leading preclinical studies into a novel drug candidate developed by Espervita Therapeutics that has the potential to prevent and reverse liver fibrosis - a dangerous, disease-induced build-up of scar tissue in the liver that often leads to cancer.

The findings point to a potential new treatment for the millions of people living with liver disease, addressing a critical gap where no approved drugs currently exist in Canada.

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced the successful completion of the cash tender offer, through a subsidiary, for all the outstanding shares of common stock of Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTX) (“Cidara”).

Despite years of clinical guidelines warning against the practice, one in four Medicare beneficiaries with dementia is prescribed brain-altering medications linked to falls, confusion, and hospitalization, according to new research to be published January 12 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA.

While prescriptions for these medications fell from 20% to 16% over the nine-year study period among all Medicare beneficiaries,

Higher consumption of food preservatives, widely used in industrially processed foods and beverages to extend their shelf life, has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. These findings are the result of work carried out by researchers from Inserm, INRAE, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Paris Cité University and Cnam, within the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (CRESS-EREN). They are based on health and dietary data from more than 100,000 adults participating in the NutriNet-Santé cohort study, and published in the journal Nature Communications.

Living with several chronic diseases at once, what is known as multimorbidity, is common among older people and puts a considerable strain on both the individual and the healthcare services. A collaborative study led by researchers at the Aging Research Center of Karolinska Institutet has now identified a small number of blood biomarkers that can predict the risk of multimorbidity. The study included over 2,200 individuals from the general Stockholm population, Sweden, above the age of 60.

Bayer and Cradle have entered a three-year strategic collaboration to deploy Cradle’s scientific AI software platform for protein engineering. As part of the collaboration, Bayer will integrate the generative AI platform into existing R&D workflows to enhance lead generation and optimization across its therapeutic antibody pipeline.

Immune checkpoint molecules play a crucial role in keeping the immune system in balance and preventing an attack on the body's own cells. Cancer cells can use these checkpoints to hide from the immune system, making them a key focus for treatments that boost the immune response against cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are proteins that release this brake on the immune system and unleash our immune cells to attack tumors.

Using machine learning and a large volume of data on genes and existing drugs, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a combination of statins and phenothiazines that is particularly promising in the treatment of the aggressive form of neuroblastoma. The results from experimental trials showed slowing of tumour growth and higher survival rates.

When you take a drug, where in your body does it actually go? For most medications, scientists can make only educated guesses about the answer to this question. Traditional methods can measure the concentration of a drug in an organ like the liver, but they can’t pinpoint exactly which cells the drug binds to - or reveal unexpected places where the drug takes action.

Patients who start their blood pressure treatment with ARB drugs continue with the same medicine to a greater extent than patients who start out with other drugs. Choosing the right drug from the outset can therefore improve both health and quality of life - as well as bringing down healthcare costs. This is shown in a new study based on data from 340,000 patients.

Scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz have discovered that while brain neuron changes, including cell loss, may begin in early life, a drug long-approved for other conditions might be repurposed to slow this damage, offering new hope for those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other cognition issues.

The study was published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

A groundbreaking discovery led by the University of St Andrews has found a way to turn ordinary household plastic waste into the building block for anti-cancer drugs.

Household PET (polyethylene terephthalate) waste, such as plastic bottles and textiles, can be recycled in two main ways: mechanically or chemically.

Early access to new cancer drugs, granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has provided mixed benefits for patients while costing Medicare billions of dollars, reveals new research published in the journal BMJ Medicine.

Researchers found that between 2012 and 2020, 178,000 Medicare beneficiaries received early access to cancer drugs through the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway.

A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals how viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages or “phages,” use a tiny piece of genetic material to hijack bacterial cells and make more copies of themselves.

The research shows that a very small RNA molecule, called PreS, acts like a hidden “switch” inside the bacterial cell. By flipping this switch, the virus can change how the bacterial cell works and push the infection forward.

An experimental drug developed at Northwestern University has demonstrated further promise as an early intervention for Alzheimer’s disease.

In a new study, Northwestern scientists identified a previously unknown highly toxic sub-species of amyloid beta oligomers - toxic clusters of peptides - that appear to drive several of the brain’s earliest changes, including neuronal dysfunction, inflammation and activation of immune cells.

A study led by researchers at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) shows, in an experimental laboratory model, that delafloxacin inhibits the intracellular replication of Legionella more effectively than one of the current standard treatments. The findings provide new evidence of its potential therapeutic value and support the need for future clinical studies in patients with Legionnaires' disease.

Discovering effective drug combinations may now be easier thanks to a screening platform made public today by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists. Many diseases, including cancers, require combinations of drugs whose effects are more than the sum of their parts to create effective treatment regimens. However, the number of new drugs and potential combinations has exploded, making classical screening methods impractical.