Burjeel Medical City launches Balance Lab to enhance ENT services
2024-12-23 - 2024-12
ABU DHABI, 23rd December, 2024 (WAM) Burjeel Medical City (BMC), the flagship facility under Burjeel Holdings, has unveiled a state-of-the-art Balance Lab within the Burjeel ENT Head & Neck Institute.
The new facility is dedicated to the comprehensive diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of balance and vertigo disorders, further strengthening BMC’s advanced offerings in otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) and head and neck surgery.
The Balance Lab was officially opened in the presence of Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings; John Sunil, Group CEO of Burjeel Holdings; alongside Dr. Mujtaba Ali Khan, CEO of BMC, and other senior officials.
Sunil commented, “The opening of our Balance Lab represents a significant step in our ongoing commitment to delivering world-class, patient-centered care. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and a multidisciplinary approach, we are enhancing the accuracy and precision of diagnoses while redefining the standard of care for individuals affected by balance and vertigo disorders.”
Designed to address a wide range of balance and vertigo conditions affecting all age groups, the Balance Lab utilizes a structured testing protocol to accurately diagnose and quantify the underlying causes of dizziness and imbalance. These conditions can result from various factors, including inner ear disorders, neurological issues, strokes, muscle weaknesses, and peripheral neuropathy.
Why Do Colds Feel Worse at Night?
2024-12-23 - 2024-12
The average adult gets two to three colds a year, and each can last about a week. Cold symptoms, like runny nose and cough, generally tend to be mild. So, why do those same cold symptoms suddenly feel miserable when you're trying to sleep?
“Most people experience worsening cold symptoms at night,” said. John W. Seibert, MD, an otolaryngologist at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences.
There are a few reasons why this happens, according to experts.
Your Circadian Rhythm May Influence Your Symptoms
Your circadian rhythm is your body’s 24-hour internal clock. It regulates many bodily functions, including your sleep-wake cycle.2
While your immune system is already hyperactive when you have an illness, including the common cold, your circadian rhythm may cause it to ramp up even more at night, Seibert said. That triggers inflammation in the body, which can make your symptoms worse.
You’re Cortisol Levels Drop
Cortisol is a hormone that the body makes in response to stress, but it also helps to regulate immune function and inflammation in the body.3
Cortisol levels tend to rise naturally in the morning, which can help to reduce inflammation and your cold symptoms along with it, Seibert explained. “But cortisol levels drop at night, which can make you start to feel worse,” he said.
“It can be very disruptive in terms of falling asleep and sleep patterns.”
Adani ENT share price Today Live Updates: Adani Enterprises Sees Positive Trading Surge Today
2025-01-02 - 2025-01
Adani ENT Share Price Today Live Updates: On the last trading day, Adani Enterprises opened at ?2529.1 and closed slightly lower at ?2529.05. The stock reached a high of ?2605 and a low of ?2518. With a market capitalization of ?294,875.9 crore, it has a 52-week high of ?3743 and a low of ?2030. The BSE volume for the day was 144,570 shares, indicating active trading in the stock.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated live blog and has not been edited by Live Mint staff.
Adani ENT Live Updates: Adani ENT Short Term and Long Term Trends
Adani ENT Live Updates: As per the Technical Analysis, short term trend of Adani Ent share is Bullish and long term trend is Bearish
Adani ENT Live Updates: Volume traded till 2 PM is -16.47% lower than yesterday
Adani Ent Live Updates: As of 2 PM, the trading volume for Adani Enterprises is down by 16.47% compared to yesterday, with the stock price at ?2586.65, reflecting a decrease of 1.2%. Analyzing volume in conjunction with price is crucial for identifying trends. An increase in price alongside higher volume typically indicates a sustainable upward trend, while a decline in price with increased volume may signal a potential further drop in prices.
Adani ENT Share Price Live Updates: Futures trading higher by 0.15%; Futures open interest increased by 0.06%
Adani ENT Share Price Live Updates: An increase in futures prices coupled with higher open interest in Adani ENT indicates the potential for upward price movement in the near term. Therefore, traders may consider maintaining their long positions.
Adani ENT Share Price Live Updates: Adani Enterprises share price live: Today's Price range
Adani ENT Share Price Live Updates: Adani Enterprises' stock today recorded a low of ?2537.05 and a high of ?2569.95. The trading range indicates a fluctuation of ?32.90, reflecting market activity and investor sentiment throughout the day.
Primal ENT invests Rs 1,000-cr in arm PCHFL for growth
2025-01-01 - 2025-01
Piramal Enterprises said that it has invested Rs 1,000 crore in Piramal Capital & Housing Finance (PCHFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company by way of subscription to rights issue.
PCHFL will utilize the investment towards business/ general corporate purposes. There is no change in the shareholding percentage of the company in PCHFL following the investment, it added.
Piramal Enterprises (PEL) is a leading diversified NBFC in India with a presence across retail lending, wholesale lending, and fund-based platforms. The company has investments and assets worth around $10 billion, with a network of branches across 26 states/UTs.
The NBFC reported a 238.2% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 162.97 crore on a 9.2% rise in total income to Rs 2,486.18 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.
The headline equity indices traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty climbed above the 23,700 level after hitting the days low of 23,562.80 in morning trade. Financial services shares advanced after declining in the past two consecutive trading sessions.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 408.49 points or 0.52% to 78,547.50. The Nifty 50 index added 100.10 points or 0.42% to 23,744.90.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 0.70%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,569 shares rose and 1,232 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.
Is Ear Pain a Symptom of COVID-19?
2025-01-08 - 2025-01
In addition to a cough and sore throat, otalgia (ear pain) may be a symptom of COVID-19. One study of 2,247 participants found that some people with COVID presented with pain around the ear or within the ear canal.
An earache can also occur with symptoms like hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in your ears), and vertigo.
Not everyone who has COVID will have problems with their ears. Ear pain is not a common COVID symptom: One study found that 14.4% of 1,262 people with COVID found reported ear pain.
How COVID-19 Affects the Ears
One small study suggested that SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID, can infect inner ear cells.
Some evidence suggests that nerve pain can also play a role. The virus can affect the trigeminal and greater auricular nerves.
Both are sensory nerves, but the trigeminal nerve is the primary head and face sensory nerve.
Another cause may be the fact that COVID is an upper respiratory infection. "Many respiratory infections, especially those that cause sore throats, can sometimes also cause earaches," Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Centre for Health Security, told Health.
The nasal passages can drain mucus into your throat if you have an upper respiratory infection. Your throat may send fluid into the eustachian tube, which connects the ears and throat.
This tube can then get clogged and interfere with your ears' ability to drain fluid, which causes an earache.
Can COVID-19 Cause an Ear Infection?
Fluid in the ear could result in an ear infection in people with COVID rather than SARS-CoV-2 itself. "Inflammation in the ear can cause secondary bacterial ear infections, just like we see commonly with influenza," said Dr. Adalja.
Stagnant fluid in the ears can become infected with bacteria already in your body.
A healthcare provider may prescribe antibiotics to fight bacteria. It's worth noting that antibiotics do not help with viral infections, including COVID.
Long COVID and Ear Pain
Ear pain can also affect people who have long COVID. Long COVID describes COVID symptoms that persist for at least three months after initial infection. It's typically most common in people who have a severe case of COVID.
Symptoms include a lingering cough, fatigue, and sleep problems.
People with long COVID may also have symptoms that affect the ear, such as:
Hearing loss
Ringing in one or both ears
Vertigo, or a sudden spinning sensation
When To Seek Care
Seek medical attention if you have severe ear pain that stops suddenly or pain, fever, or irritability that worsens or does not improve after 24-48 hours.
or may also get tested if you suspect you have COVID. Stay home and away from others until your symptoms improve and you do not have a fever for at least 24 hours if you test positive.
Get emergency care for the following COVID symptoms:
Blue-coloured, grey, or pale skin, lips, or nail beds
Chest pain or pressure
Confusion
Difficulty breathing
An ina
DART 2.0 clinical trial seeks to advance precision medicine for HPV-driven head and neck cancers1
2024-11-26 - 2025-01
Mayo Clinic researchers are collaborating on a phase 2, multisite, interventional trial to evaluate a blood-based biomarker using a testing device for HPV-driven head and neck cancers.
HPV-related head and neck cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the U.S. This research has the potential to improve clinical outcomes by enabling physicians to select individualized treatment options that aim to decrease cancer recurrence and minimize the side effects and morbidity of treatment.
Collaborators from each of the three participating sites - Mayo Clinic campuses in Florida, Arizona, and Minnesota - launched the trial in February 2023 and plan to continue active enrollment through August 2028. Radiation oncologist Adam L. Holtzman, M.D., the Florida-site principal investigator, and otolaryngologists Jeffrey R. Janus, M.D., Phillip Pirgousis, M.D., and Samip Patel, M.D., also from the Florida site, are collaborating on research efforts.
DART 2.0 builds on the results of a previously reported de-escalated adjuvant radiation therapy clinical trial, also known as DART, for patients with HPV oropharynx cancer. In the previous trial, DART was associated with a 33% reduction in cost for radiation therapy as well as a 21% reduction in overall treatment cost for patients with oropharynx cancer. The benefit to patients of a two-week course of treatment instead of a six-week course of treatment is tremendous, especially for patients with limited social and financial resources. Importantly, this study also allows for de-escalation of patients who primarily receive radiotherapy without surgery based on biomarker response during chemoradiotherapy.
The primary goal of the DART 2.0 study is to prospectively incorporate ctHPVDNA in combination with clinical and pathological factors to appropriately select treatment intensity for patients who have surgery and those who don't.
Cochlear Implants most Effective Intervention for Speech Perception in Noise in Single-Sided Deafness: JAMA
2025-01-21 - 2025-01
Netherlands: A recent randomized clinical trial has demonstrated that cochlear implantation (CI) significantly improves speech perception in noise for patients with single-sided deafness (SSD), offering them a partial restoration of binaural hearing. The findings were published online in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery on January 16, 2025.
The study, which followed patients for 24 months, found that the CI group outperformed other treatment options, including bone-conduction devices (BCD), contralateral routing of signals hearing aids (CROS) systems, and no treatment in terms of speech recognition in challenging listening environments.
"After 24 months, patients with cochlear implants demonstrated significantly improved speech perception in noise and enhanced disease-specific quality of life, compared to those using bone conduction devices, contralateral routing of signals hearing aids, or receiving no treatment," the researchers reported.
Jan A. A. van Heteren, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted the study to assess the impact of cochlear implants (CI), bone conduction devices, contralateral routing of signals hearing aids (CROS), and no treatment on speech perception in noise in patients with single-sided deafness.
For this purpose, the researchers conducted a single-center randomized clinical trial involving adult patients with single-sided deafness. Participants were divided into three groups: one receiving a cochlear implant, another undergoing a trial with a bone conduction device followed by CROS, and the third with CROS followed by BCD. After trial periods, patients chose between BCD, CROS, or no treatment. The study measured speech reception thresholds in noise and disease-specific quality of life (QOL) at baseline and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months.
Key Findings:
One hundred and twenty patients participated, with 50.0% females and a mean age of 53.0 years. At the start of follow-up, 28 patients received a cochlear implant (CI), 25 a bone conduction device (BCD), 34 a contralateral routing of signals (CROS) system, and 26 chose no treatment.
At 24 months, the CI group demonstrated significantly better speech perception in noise compared to the BCD group, with differences in speech reception threshold in noise (SRTn) of -4.7 dB (SbeNpe) and -2.2 dB (SpeNbe).
The CI group also outperformed the CROS group with differences in SRTn of -1.3 dB (S0N0) and -5.3 dB (SbeNpe), as well as the no treatment group with a difference of -6.3 dB (SpeNbe).
Compared to the no-treatment group, the BCD and CROS groups showed significantly better speech perception in noise (BCD: -4.1 dB for SpeNbe, CROS: -4.1 dB for SpeNbe) but worse performance for SbeNpe (BCD: +4.0 dB, CROS: +4.6 dB).
The CI group reported significantly better self-perceived speech perception abilities than those in the BCD, CROS, and no-treatment groups.
Based on the findings, the researchers
Throat problems could impair autonomic nervous system's ability to regulate blood pressure
2024-09-11 - 2025-01
The baroreflex is a crucial part of the autonomic nervous system which detects changes in blood pressure and adjusts our heart rate and blood vessel tone accordingly to maintain stable blood pressure. It is what stops us from fainting when we stand up
Researchers from the University of Southampton and University Hospitals of Dorset Foundation Trust believe the findings could be explained by the Vagas nerve (which controls the autonomic nervous system) prioritising protection of the airways over less urgent functions, such as blood pressure regulation.
"Our immediate survival depends on the throat being able to separate air and food passages each time we swallow," says the lead author of the study Reza Nouraei, Professor of Laryngology and Clinical Informatics at the University of Southampton.
"The throat does this using delicate reflexes, but when these reflexes are disturbed, for example, due to a viral infection like Covid or exposure to reflux affecting nerves in this region, the control of this critical junction becomes compromised, giving rise to symptoms like the feeling of a lump in the throat, throat clearing and coughing.
"To compensate for a faulty throat, the autonomic control system must expend significant amounts of energy to maintain a safe airway. We found that in patients with a faulty throat, the heart, specifically a function called baroreflex, is less well controlled. This is one of the Peters that has been robbed to pay Paul. "The problem with robbing this Peter is that it likely impacts long-term survival, as patients with reduced baroreflex function are more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke in years to come."
The researchers compared the heart rates, blood pressure and baroreflex sensitivity of 23 patients admitted to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgery with aerodigestive (laryngopharyngeal) symptoms and 30 patients admitted to Gastroenterology with digestive (esophagogastric) symptoms at University Hospitals of Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
Reflux was a common cause of symptoms in both groups -- making up the majority of digestive group cases. Other causes like thinning of the vocal cord were present in the aerodigestive group.
The team found patients in the aerodigestive group had a higher resting heart rate, lower resting blood pressure, and lower baroreflex sensitivity, than those in the digestive group.
"Now, and especially since Covid which damages nerves, we are seeing more patients with throat symptoms," says Professor Nouraei.
"Reduced baroreflex sensitivity impacts survival independent of other cardiovascular risks, so if the association we've discovered is confirmed by future studies, the need to make timely and accurate diagnoses and provide early and definitive treatments will become more pressing."
The study adds to the increasing interest in the Vaus nerve and holistic health. As well as regulating blood pressure through the baroreflex, the Vagus nerve controls our heart rate, digestion, respi
Hear ye! Hear ye! Researchers uncover new complexities in human hearing
2025-01-27 - 2025-01
Yale physicists have discovered a sophisticated, previously unknown set of "modes" within the human ear that put important constraints on how the ear amplifies faint sounds, tolerates noisy blasts, and discerns a stunning range of sound frequencies in between.
By applying existing mathematical models to a generic mock-up of a cochlea -- a spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear -- the researchers revealed a new layer of cochlear complexity. The findings offer fresh insight into the remarkable capacity and accuracy of human hearing.
"We set out to understand how the ear can tune itself to detect faint sounds without becoming unstable and responding even in the absence of external sounds," said Benjamin Machta, an assistant professor of physics in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Science and co-senior author of a new study in the journal PRX Life. "But in getting to the bottom of this we stumbled onto a new set of low frequency mechanical modes that the cochlea likely supports."
In humans, sound is converted into electrical signals in the cochlea. People are able to detect sounds with frequencies across three orders of magnitude and more than a trillion-fold range in power, down to tiny vibrations of air.
Once sound waves enter the cochlea, they become surface waves that travel along the cochlea's hair-lined basilar membrane.
"Each pure tone rings at one point along this spiral organ," said Asheesh Momi, a graduate student in physics in Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the study's first author. "The hair cells at that location then tell your brain what tone you are hearing."
Those hairs do something else as well: They act as mechanical amplifiers, pumping energy into sound waves to counteract friction and help them reach their intended destinations. Pumping in just the right amount of energy -- and making constant adjustments -- is crucial for precise hearing, the researchers said.
But that is simply one set of hearing modes within the cochlea, and it is well-documented. The Yale team discovered a second, extended set of modes within the organ.
In these extended modes, a large portion of the basilar membrane reacts and moves together, even for a single tone. This collective response places constraints on how hair cells respond to incoming sound and how the hair cells pump energy into the basilar membrane.
"Since these newly discovered modes exhibit low frequencies, we believe our findings might also contribute to a better understanding of low-frequency hearing, which is still an active area of research," said Isabella Graf, a former Yale postdoctoral researcher who is now at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.
Graf and Machta have collaborated on a series of studies in recent years that used mathematical models and statistical physics concepts to better understand biological systems, such as a pit viper's sensitivity to temperature change and the interplay between phases of matter that come into contact
Voice and Airway group gets robotic assistance for laryngeal surgery
2025-01-21 - 2025-01
WashU Medicine laryngologist Bharat Panuganti, MD, is expanding the surgical options available to his specialty. The adaption - transoral robotic surgery or TORS - is not new but is rarely used for laryngeal procedures due to the lack of instruments suitable for the size of the larynx.
Panuganti recently used the technique on a patient with posterior glottic stenosis, a narrowing of the airway due to scar tissue caused by prolonged intubation following a motor vehicle accident. The procedure involved a number of steps, including: scar removal; laser-assisted partial arytenoidectomy, a cartilage reduction to widen the airway; balloon dilation; and steroid injection.
The procedure lasted a total of only 40 minutes, and the patient was awakened with no post-operative complications.
Panuganti explained the value of the robot to help treat benign conditions of the larynx.
"Current TORS is not specifically designed for the type of precise tissue handling required in microsurgical procedures on the glottis," he said. "However, the advantages of stability offered by the robotic platform and visualization offered by flexible endoscopy make this a very welcome addition to our surgical arsenal for a number of benign and malignant laryngeal and pharyngeal conditions."
Panuganti admits further development of the technology are necessary to advance benign robotic laryngeal surgery, but initial successes certainly suggest laryngeal surgery is yet another avenue for growth of robotic surgery.
For Division Chief of Laryngology Molly Huston, MD, the robotic approach offers a new and important surgical option.
"Dr. Panuganti has brought new technology to our surgical service," she said. "It is creative uses of existing technology that help advance both our surgical abilities and the technology itself."
Nerve stimulation: The brain is not always listening
2025-01-27 - 2025-02
Various diseases can be treated by stimulating the vagus nerve in the ear with electrical signals. However, this technique does not always work. A study has now shown: The electrical signals must be synchronised with the body's natural rhythms -- heartbeat and breathing.
It doesn't always have to be medication. Some health problems, from chronic pain and inflammation to neurological diseases, can also be treated by nerve stimulation, for example with the help of electrodes that are attached to the ear and activate the vagus nerve. This method is sometimes referred to as an 'electric pill'.
However, vagus nerve stimulation does not always work the way it is supposed to. A study conducted by TU Wien (Vienna) in cooperation with the Vienna Private Clinic now shows how this can be improved: Experiments demonstrate that the effect is very good when the electrical stimulation is synchronised with the body's natural rhythms -- the actual heartbeat and breathing.
The 'electric pill' for the parasympathetic nervous system
The vagus nerve plays an important role in our body: it is the longest nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that is significantly involved in the precise control of the internal organs and blood circulation, and is responsible for recovery and building up the body's own reserves. A branch of the vagus nerve also leads from the brain directly into the ear, which is why small electrodes in the ear can be used to activate the vagus nerve, stimulate the brain and thus influence various functions of the body.
"However, it turns out that this stimulation does not always produce the expected results," says Prof Eugenijus Kaniusas from the Institute of Biomedical Electronics at TU Wien. "The electrical stimulation does not have an effect on the nervous system at all times. You could say that the brain is just not always listening. It's as if there is a gate to the control centre of the nervous system that is sometimes open and then closed again, and this can change in less than a second."
Five people have now been examined in a pilot study. Their vagus nerve was electrically activated to lower their heart rate. It is already known from previous studies that heart rate is a potential indicator of whether stimulation therapy is beneficial or not.
It was shown that the temporal connection between the stimulation and the heartbeat plays a decisive role. If the vagus nerve is stimulated at a rhythm that is not synchronised with the heartbeat, hardly any effect can be observed. However, if the stimulation signals are always applied when the heart is contracting (during systole), a strong effect can be observed -- much stronger than if stimulation is applied during the relaxation phase of the heart, diastole.
Breathing is also important in this context: the stimulation was significantly more effective during the inhalation phase than during the exhalation phase.
"Our results show that synchronising vagus
This dental hygiene habit may lower stroke risk, scientists say
2025-02-02 - 2025-02
Flossing teeth at least once a week is linked to a lower risk of stroke caused by blood clots and irregular heartbeats, a new study says. The research, to be presented next week at the International Stroke Conference 2025, looks at how frequently people follow oral hygiene habits like brushing and dental flossing. "A recent global health report revealed that oral diseases - such as untreated tooth decay and gum disease - affected 3.5 billion people in 2022, making them the most widespread health conditions," study lead author Souvik Sen from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine said. "We aimed to determine which oral hygiene behaviour dental flossing, brushing or regular dentist visits has the greatest impact on stroke prevention." Researchers determined the extent of the home use of dental floss through a structured questionnaire for over 6,000 people. They found that among those who reported flossing, 4,092 had not experienced a stroke and 4,050 had not been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. Irregular heartbeat has been shown in previous studies to potentially lead to stroke, heart failure or other heart-related complications. The participants also shared data about health parameters such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, body mass index, education, regular brushing and dentist visits. Over 25 years of follow-up, 434 participants were identified as having strokes, 147 from larger artery brain clots, 97 from heart-driven clots and 95 were hardening of the smaller arteries. About 1,291 of the participants were noted to have experienced an irregular heartbeat. An analysis of the data revealed that flossing was linked to a 22 per cent lower risk of ischemic stroke, a condition in which blood flow to the brain is blocked. Researchers also found that the dental hygiene habit is associated with a 44 per cent lower risk of blood clots travelling from the heart and about 12 per cent lower risk of irregular heartbeats. This link is independent of regular brushing, routine dental visits or other oral hygiene behaviours, scientists said. More frequent flossing seems to have a greater chance of stroke risk reduction, they say. "Oral health behaviours are linked to inflammation and artery hardening. Flossing may reduce stroke risk by lowering oral infections and inflammation and encouraging other healthy habits," Dr Sen said. "Many people have expressed that dental care is costly. Flossing is a healthy habit that is easy to adopt, affordable and accessible everywhere."
Gum disease treatment
Gum disease may be treated with teeth cleanings, medications and surgery, depending on the condition's severity. Usually, treatment begins with professional scaling and root planning, also known as deep cleaning. During a deep cleaning, your dentist or periodontist removes plaque and tartar from beneath the gum line and roots of the teeth. "Root planning [also] allows your periodontist to smooth the tooth root to prevent fu
A light-activated drug to fight psoriasis
2025-02-03 - 2025-02
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that manifests itself mainly with skin symptoms (dryness, itching, scaly skin, abnormal patches and plaques). It affects about 2% of the population and is mediated by an altered immune system response that triggers the proliferation of skin cells. Depending on the severity, there are different therapeutic options (topical medications, phototherapy, systemic drugs, etc.), but some conventional treatments can have harmful effects on patients.
Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona confirms the therapeutic efficiency of a new compound against psoriasis, which could avoid the risks associated with previously known therapies. The study reveals how a molecule activated by blue light -- the compound MRS7787 -- can modulate the activity of the immune system and treat psoriasis in an animal model. This is a major advance in photopharmacology research, a high-precision discipline focused on the action of compounds (photopharmaceuticals) that can be precisely activated or deactivated pharmacologically by light irradiation. The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, is led by Francisco Ciruela, professor at the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and member of the Institute of Neurosciences (UBNeuro) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), and has as first author the expert Marc Lopez-Cano. The paper also highlights the participation of experts Concepcio Soler (UB, UBneuro and IDIBELL) and Jordi Hernando (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona), as well as the teams of Kenneth Jacobson, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, and Dirk Trauner, from the University of Pennsylvania (United States).
A photopharmaceutical drug to treat psoriasis and avoid adverse effects
The UB team has characterized the new compound MRS7787, a light-activatable molecule that binds to the A3 adenosine receptor -- involved in several intracellular signalling pathways -- and generates an anti-inflammatory effect. The compound MRS7787 has two configurations or two isomers -- molecules with the same chemical formula but different structure and function -- that are rapidly and reversibly switched by light. Ciruela notes that "MRS7787 is a photo-switchable molecule. One of the isomers, Z-MRS7787, is inactive, while the E-MRS7787 isomer activates the adenosine receptor." "When irradiated with blue light -- continues the expert -- , the molecule changes from the Z to the E configuration, i.e. the active form. However, green light transforms E into Z and inactivates the compound." "This switching effect is achieved by the covalent binding of a photochrome called diazocine to the A3 adenosine receptor," says the researcher from the UB's Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics. "What's special about the diazocine photochrome is that it allows the photopharmaceutical MRS7787 to be in its inactive Z-configuration in the dark so that it can be injected without gener
Researchers find improved method for treating rare, aggressive, pregnancy-related cancer
2025-02-05 - 2025-02
A new drug delivery system shows promise for treating a rare, aggressive form of cancer affecting pregnant women and new mothers, and it has potential with other cancers as well. Scientists led by Olena Tarantula, a nanomedicine researcher at Oregon State University, have found a way to better ensure the drug used to combat the disease reaches tumor cells without damaging healthy tissue.
Findings of the study into choriocarcinoma, which occurs in the United States at a rate of about four
cases per 100,000 pregnancies, were published in Small Science.
Typically starting in the uterus, choriocarcinoma develops from cells that were part of the placenta. It can occur after a miscarriage, abortion or ectopic pregnancy, one in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the lining of the uterus.
It can also happen following a molar pregnancy (no embryo forms, and the placental tissue grows abnormally) and even after a full-term pregnancy.
Tarantula and collaborators including OSU postdoctoral researcher Babak Mamnoon and Maureen Baldwin, a physician at Oregon Health & Science University, designed a type of drug nanocarrier known as a polymer some to specifically target a protein in choriocarcinoma cells.
Polymerases are hollow spheres that are synthetic versions of liposomes, lipid-based sacs found in all living cells. The protein the researchers aimed for is equilibrate nucleoside transporter 1, usually abbreviated as ENT-1, which is important for a range of cellular processes, among them DNA and RNA synthesis.
In addition to being abundant in choriocarcinoma cells, ENT-1 is found in the brain, heart, liver and other tissues in the body.
Mamnoon led the research team in mouse model testing that confirmed attaching guanosine, a building block of RNA, to the polymer some allowed it to deliver more of the chemotherapy drug methotrexate directly to tumor cells.
"Given MTX's role as the mainstay treatment for choriocarcinoma, the critical goal now is to enhance its effectiveness, including faster response times, while simultaneously minimizing side effects," said Tarantula, an associate professor in the OSU College of Pharmacy.
Methotrexate or MTX, a common cancer drug, works by interfering with cells' ability to use folic acid, essential for making DNA and RNA. By blocking a certain enzyme, MTX thwarts replication of the otherwise rapidly dividing cancer cells.
Common symptoms of choriocarcinoma are pelvic pain and irregular vaginal bleeding. The cancer can quickly spread via the bloodstream to other parts of the body including bones, gastrointestinal tract, breasts, kidneys, liver, lungs, lymph nodes and brain.
"Because choriocarcinoma occurs in people who were recently pregnant, they often have young families, so we need to make getting diagnosis and treatment easier and faster for them," said Baldwin, an obstetrician/gynaecologist at OHSU.
Most cases, especially if caught early, are curable, with a five-year survival rate of abou
