Archive for category: News

USA: In a significant advancement for the treatment of severe alopecia areata (AA), long-term data from two phase III clinical trials—BRAVE-AA1 and BRAVE-AA2—have confirmed that baricitinib maintains a consistent and favorable safety profile even after up to four years of use.

 A new study by Brown University researchers suggests that gold nanoparticles-microscopic bits of gold thousands of times thinner than a human hair-might one day be used to help restore vision in people with macular degeneration and other retinal disorders.

In a study published in the journal ACS Nano and supported by the National Institutes of Health, the research team showed that nanoparticles injected into the retina can successfully stimulate the visual system and restore vision in mice with retinal disorders. The findings suggest that a new type of visual prosthesis system in which nanoparticles, used in combination with a small laser device worn in a pair of glasses or goggles, might one day help people with retinal disorders to see again.

“This is a new type of retinal prosthesis that has the potential to restore vision lost to retinal degeneration without requiring any kind of complicated surgery or genetic modification,” said Jiarui Nie, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institutes of Health who led the research while completing her Ph.D. at Brown. “We believe this technique could potentially transform treatment paradigms for retinal degenerative conditions.”

Nie performed the work while working in the lab of Jonghwan Lee, an associate professor in Brown’s School of Engineering and a faculty affiliate at Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science, who oversaw the work and served as the study’s senior author.

Retinal disorders like macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa affect millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. These conditions damage light-sensitive cells in the retina called photoreceptors-the “rods” and “cones” that convert light into tiny electric pulses. Those pulses stimulate other types of cells further up the visual chain called bipolar and ganglion cells, which process the photoreceptor signals and send them along to the brain.

This new approach uses nanoparticles injected directly into the retina to bypass damaged photoreceptors. When infrared light is focused on the nanoparticles, they generate a tiny amount of heat that activates bipolar and ganglion cells in much the same way that photoreceptor pulses do. Because disorders like macular degeneration affect mostly photoreceptors while leaving bipolar and ganglion cells intact, the strategy has the potential to restore lost vision.

In this new study, the research team tested the nanoparticle approach in mouse retinas and in living mice with retinal disorders. After injecting a liquid nanoparticle solution, the researchers used patterned near-infrared laser light to project shapes onto the retinas. Using a calcium signal to detect cellular activity, the team confirmed that the nanoparticles were exciting bipolar and ganglion cells in patterns matched the shapes projected by the laser.

The experiments showed that neither the nanoparticle solution nor the laser stimulation caused detectable adverse side effects, as indicated by metabolic markers for inflammation and toxicity. Using probes, the researchers confirmed that laser stimulation of the nanoparticles caused increased activity in the visual cortices of the mice-an indication that previously absent visual signals were being transmitted and processed by the brain. That, the researchers say, is a sign that vision had been at least partially restored, a good sign for potentially translating a similar technology to humans.

For human use, the researchers envision a system that combines the nanoparticles with a laser system mounted in a pair of glasses or goggles. Cameras in the goggles would gather image data from the outside world and use it to drive the patterning of an infrared laser. The laser pulses would then stimulate the nanoparticles in people’s retinas, enabling them to see.

The approach is similar to one that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human use a few years ago. The older approach combined a camera system with a small electrode array that was surgically implanted in the eye. The nanoparticle approach has several key advantages, according to Nie.

For starters, it’s far less invasive. As opposed to surgery, “an intravitreal injection is one of the simplest procedures in ophthalmology,” Nie said.

There are functional advantages as well. The resolution of the previous approach was limited by the size of the electrode array — about 60 square pixels. Because the nanoparticle solution covers the whole retina, the new approach could potentially cover someone’s full field of vision. And because the nanoparticles respond to near-infrared light as opposed to visual light, the system doesn’t necessarily interfere with any residual vision a person may retain.

More work needs to be done before the approach can be tried in a clinical setting, Nie said, but this early research suggests that it’s possible.

“We showed that the nanoparticles can stay in the retina for months with no major toxicity,” Nie said of the research. “And we showed that they can successfully stimulate the visual system. That’s very encouraging for future applications.”

Reference:

Jiarui Nie, Kyungsik Eom, Hafithe M. AlGhosain, Intravitreally Injected Plasmonic Nanorods Activate Bipolar Cells with Patterned Near-Infrared Laser Projection, ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c14061.

Using Finnish register data from over 1,2 million participants, the study found that both young men and women diagnosed with mental disorders are less likely to become parents compared to those without such diagnoses. The strongest associations were found for schizophrenia: persons diagnosed with this disorder were highly unlikely to have their first child by age 39 years.

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, also reduced the likelihood of parenthood. For example, men diagnosed with depression were 38% less likely to become fathers compared to those without depression diagnosis. Among women, depression was associated with 19% lower likelihood of becoming a mother when compared to persons without depression disorder diagnosis. The similar difference between men and women were also observed for anxiety disorder.

“The differences between men and women were clear for many disorders, with men having a lower likelihood of having a first child compared to women with the same disorder”, says Dr. Kateryna Golovina, university researcher and first author of the study.

The role of partnership status

The study also explored the role of partnership status in the link between mental disorders and parenthood. Since stable relationships are often a key factor in having children, difficulties in forming or maintaining partnerships may partially explain lower parenthood rates among people with mental disorders.

“We found a clear pattern: men with mental disorders were significantly less likely to cohabit than women with similar diagnoses”, says Associate Professor Christian Hakulinen, PI of the project.

The importance of accessible mental health services

The findings highlight the need for accessible, high-quality mental health services for young people. Providing long-term support may be particularly crucial in helping people with mental disorders navigate life decisions, including family formation.

“Our research underscores the importance of well-functioning mental health services with low-threshold access, ensuring young people receive the support they need for both their well-being and life aspirations,” says Kateryna Golovina.

Reference:

Kateryna Golovina, Ripsa Niemi, Mai Gutvilig, Markus Jokela, Marko Elovainio, Christian Hakulinen, Mental Disorders and Having a First Child Among Young Adults: A Nationwide Register-Based Cohort Study, BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.18151.

There may be a link between hearing impairment and an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s according to research led by Lancaster University.

This is one of the first studies to examine whether sensory impairments, such as hearing loss, might increase the risk for Parkinson’s or serve as an early warning sign.

Parkinson’s UK reports that an estimated 153,000 people in the UK currently live with Parkinson’s, which is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. It is estimated that 1 in 37 people in the UK will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s in their lifetime.

The study entitled “Speech-in-noise hearing impairment is associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s: A UK Biobank Analysis” is published in Parkinsonism and Related Disorders 

Researchers analysed data from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database containing data from half a million participants across the UK. They looked at data from 159,395 individuals who had previously undergone a hearing test measuring their ability to detect speech in noisy environments and had no history of Parkinson’s at the time of the assessment.

Over an average follow-up period of 14.24 years, 810 participants were subsequently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The analysis revealed a 57% increased risk of Parkinson’s for every 10-decibel increase in baseline hearing impairment.

Dr Megan Readman, ESRC Post Doctoral Research Fellow from Lancaster University’s Department of Psychology, led the study.

She said: “These findings are incredibly important; first, this is one of the first studies to look at how hearing impairments may increase risk for Parkinson’s or be an early warning sign of Parkinson’s.

“Secondly, as our findings suggest, hearing loss is intricately related to Parkinson’s so it may be beneficial for auditory functioning and the management of auditory impairment to be considered at the time of diagnosis and follow-up care.”

However, Dr Readman stressed that it is not clear if the link between Parkinson’s and hearing loss is causal or if there is simply a correlation.

“We do not know whether hearing loss can cause Parkinson’s, or if there is a common underlying cause for both conditions.”

The other authors included Yang Wang and Fang Wan, Sally Linkenauger, Trevor Crawford and Christopher Plack plus Ian Fairman who has Parkinson’s and hearing impairment.

Professor Plack said: “It is increasingly clear that hearing loss is not an isolated condition but is associated with several other disorders. Understanding these links is vital if we are to provide effective patient care, improving independence and quality of life for the individuals concerned.”

By identifying factors that might contribute to its onset, such as hearing impairment, researchers hope to pave the way for new strategies in prevention and care.

Dr Readman said: “Our findings suggest hearing impairment is intricately related to Parkinson’s and underscore the potential benefits of addressing auditory function in Parkinson’s diagnosis and follow-up care.”

Reference:

Readman, Megan Rose et al., Speech-in-noise hearing impairment is associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s: A UK biobank analysis, Parkinsonism & Related Disorder, DOI:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2024.107219 

Researchers have found in a new study that Bariatric surgery in patients with obesity and compensated cirrhosis is linked to improved overall survival while maintaining a highly acceptable health care cost, making it a viable treatment option.