Hand Washing to Slow Epidemics

A new study has estimated that improving rates of hand washing by travelers going through only ten of the world’s leading airports may greatly reduce spreading a good number of infectious diseases. Additionally, the greater the improvement in how people wash their hands in airports, the even more dramatic effect on slowing down the spread of disease.

The results deal with a variety of infectious diseases in general including influenza were published right before the current outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The authors say the results would apply to any such disease and also relevant to the current disease.

To prevent the spread of viral infections, doctors recommend practicing good hand hygiene. And the recent research indicates that hand washing is helpful in the context of an epidemic. When it comes to the prevention of viral infections and especially those that spread through droplets from sneezes and coughs, proper hand washing is always the first line of defense.

A lot of people can be very casual about washing their hands even in crowded areas such as airports where people from many different locations are touching a variety of surfaces such as check in kiosks, chair armrests, restroom doorknobs and faucets, and checkpoint trays. The team used data from previous research by groups including the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) and found that on average only about 20% of people in airports have clean hands. This means that they have been washed with both soap and water for at least 15 seconds and within the last hour or so. The other 80% of people are potentially contaminating everything they come in contact with whatever germs they may be carrying.

70% of people who use the toilet do wash their hands afterwards based on findings from a previous ASM study. The other 30% do not and of those that do only 50% actually do it correctly. Many people just rinse their hands briefly with water rather than using soap and water and do not spend the 15 to 20 seconds recommended for proper hand washing. This figure combined with estimates of exposure to many potentially contaminated surfaces that people will come in contact with in airports, leads to the research teams estimate that only about 20% of travelers in airports actually have clean hands.

By improving hand washing at all the world’s airports by triple that rate so that 60% of travelers have clean hands at any given time, would have the greatest impact which could potentially slow down the spread of global disease by almost 70%. Reaching such a high level of compliance may be impractical, however the study suggests that a significant reduction in the spread of infectious disease could still be achieved by picking just 10 of the most significant airports based on the initial location of a viral outbreak. By focusing hand washing messaging in these 10 airports could potentially slow the spread of disease by as much as 37%.

The team arrive at their estimates by using detailed epidemiological simulations which involved data on worldwide flights including distance, duration, and interconnections, estimate of wait times, and studies on typical rates of interactions between people with a variety of elements in their surroundings and with other people.

Even just small improvements in hand hygiene could make a noticeable dent. By increasing the prevalence of clean hands in all airports throughout the world by just 10%, the team believes this could slow down the global rate of the spread of disease by about 24%.

Eliciting an increase in good hand hygiene is certainly a challenge, however new approaches in awareness, education, and socially media nudges have proven to be effective in engaging better and more frequent hand washing practices.

The findings are in line with recommendations that have been made by both the World Health Organization and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control. Both organizations have indicated that proper hand hygiene is the most cost effective and most efficient way to control the spread of infectious diseases. There are other useful roles in limiting the spread of disease such as airport closures, surgical face masks and travel restrictions, hand washing is still considered the first line of defense and an easy one for people to implement.

To view the original scientific study click below

Hand-Hygiene Mitigation Strategies Against Global Disease Spreading through the Air Transportation Network.

New Technique to Boost Spinal Cord Injury Repair

An international research team which was led by physician/scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has described a new process for delivering neural precursor cells (NSCs) to rats with spinal cord injuries. The process reduced the risk of additional injury and boosted the propagation of potentially repairing cells.

NSCs are known to hold great potential for treating a variety of injuries and neurodegenerative diseases to the spinal cord. These stem cells have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of neural cell depending on their environment. This has led to intense interest and much effort to use these cells to repair injuries to the spinal cord and effectively restore related functions.

Current techniques for delivering spinal cells involve direct needle injection into the spinal parenchyma. This is the primary cord of nerve fibers that runs throughout the vertebral column. This technique creates an inherent risk of further injury to spinal tissue or intraparechymal bleeding.

The new technique created by the team is less invasive. It deposits injected cells into the spinal subpial space which is a space between the pial membrane and the superficial layers of the spinal cord.

This injection technique allows for the delivery of a high number of cells from a single injection. Cells that possess proliferative properties such as glial progenitors, can then migrate into the spinal parenchyma and populate over time in multiple spinal segments as well as the brain stem. These injected cells acquire functional properties consistent with their surrounding host cells.

The team suggests that subpially injected cells will likely accelerate and improve treatment potency in therapies involving cell replacement for a variety of spinal neurodegenerative disorders in which a broad repopulation of glial cells is desired. This could include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal traumatic injury, and multiple sclerosis.

The team plans to test their cell delivery system in larger preclinical animal models with spinal traumatic injury and which closely mimic human size and anatomy. Their goal is to define the optimal dosing of cells and the optimal timing of cell delivery which is associated with the best treatment effect following a spinal injury.

To view the original scientific study click below

Spinal parenchymal occupation by neural stem cells after subpial delivery in adult immunodeficient rats.

Transforming Stem Cells into Bone, Cartilage or Muscle

Researchers have now found that specifically programmed materials under very specific conditions can encourage stem cells to transform into bone cells. To achieve this, scientists implemented a so called shape memory polymer in stem cell research.

Stem cells have the ability to turn into a variety of stem cell types whether cartilage, muscle or bone cells. Like the body they are part of, these cells can sense what happens around them and then react accordingly. For years, researchers have been learning much about how to steer this differentiation process by changing the cells environment.

The knowledge that has been acquired so far is already being used in tissue engineering. This means generating substitute materials that can restore or maintain damaged biological tissues. However, most of the research has been conducted on static scaffolds.

The new research has used a dynamic scaffold. The team took a polymer sheet which acts like an artificial muscle. This sheet has the unusual property that is trained to reversibly morph when it is exposed to repeated changes in temperature.

The team simply molded a grid onto the underside of this sheet and programmed it to stretch as its temperature went from body temperature of 37 degrees C to 10 degrees C and to contract when reheated. The sheet was then seeded with stem cells and carefully observed for the changing shape of the gridded sheet and cells.

With the help of the artificial muscle, the team could use one physical signal which is the temperature change to simultaneously send a second mechanical signal to the stem cells. These synchronized stimuli have the possibility of encourgaing the stem cells to turn themselves into bone cells.

The polymer actuator sheet has a shape memory function. This allows it to act like a transducer which the team can effectively instruct the cells to do what they want them to do. They found that the temperature changes combined with the repeated stretching motion of the film was enough to encourage the stem cells to differentiate themselves into bone cells.

These programmed polymer sheets could be used to treat bones so severely broken that the body can’t repair them by itself. Stem cells harvested from a person’s own bone marrow could be cultured on the polymer sheets and adaptively wrapped around the bone during an operation. The previously trained cells could then directly strengthen the broken bone.

To view the original scientific study click below

Polymeric sheet actuators with programmable bioinstructivity.

Keto Diet Works Best in Small Doses

Yale researchers studying mice have found that a ketogenic diet can produce health benefits in the short term, however produce negative effects after approximately a week. Their results do offer early indications that this diet could over limited time periods improve human health by lowering inflammation and the risk of diabetes.

A ketogenic diet consists of 70% – 80% of calories from fat, 10% – 20% from protein and 5% – 10% from carbohydrates. This diet has become increasingly popular and has been touted as a weight loss regimen. The research currently conducted on mice may be an important first step toward the possibility of clinical trials in humans.

The study has shown that the positive and negative effects of the keto diet both relate to immune cells known as gamma delta T-cells which are tissue protective cells that help lower inflammation and diabetes risk.

The keto diet makes the body burn fat. As the body’s glucose level becomes reduced because of the diet’s very lower carbohydrate content, the body will act as if it is in a state of starvation, although it isn’t. The body then begins to burn fat instead of carbohydrates. This process produces chemicals called ketone bodies as another source of fuel. As ketone bodies are burned, the tissue protective gamma delta T-cells will increase throughout the body.

This process reduces inflammation and diabetes risk and improves the body’s metabolism. After a week on this diet, mice show a reduction in inflammation and blood sugar levels.

However, when the body thinks it is starving but not really in starving mode, storage of fat is also happening currently with the breakdown of fat. As the mice continued to eat this high fat/low carb diet beyond one week, they consume more fat than their body can burn and therefore develop diabetes and obesity. The protective gamma delta T-cells are lost in their fat.

Long term clinical studies are still necessary in humans to validate the anecdotal claims of the health benefits of a keto diet. Before this type of diet can be prescribed, large clinical trials in controlled conditions is necessary to fully understand the mechanism behind any metabolic and immunological benefits or any potential harm to people who are pre-diabetic and overweight.

Both Type 2 Diabetes and obesity are lifestyle diseases. Diet allows people in one way to be in control.

The findings highlight the interplay between the immune system and metabolism and how it coordinates the maintenance of healthy tissue function.

To view the original scientific study click below

Ketogenesis activates metabolically protective T cells in visceral adipose tissue.

The Nut That is Good for your Gut Health and Heart

Researchers at Penn State have found that consuming walnuts on a daily basis as part of a healthy diet was linked to increases in certain bacteria that can help promote health. Those changes in the gut bacteria were also linked with improvements in some risk factors for diseases of the heart.

Walnuts are not only a tasty snack, but with the new research it appears walnuts contribute “good” bacteria and this may be what provides their heart health benefits. Prior research has found that changes in the gut microbiome may help explain the cardiovascular benefits. And when combined with a diet low in saturated fats, walnuts can also help lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

For the study, 42 participants were recruited who had obesity or overweight issues and were between the ages of 30 and 65. Prior to the start of the study, the participants were placed on an average American diet for two weeks.

Following the initial 2 week diet, participants were randomly assigned to one of three study diets. All the diets included less saturated fat than was in the 2 week diet. The diets included one that included whole walnuts, one that included the same amount of ALA (alpha linolenic acid) and polyunsaturated fatty acids without walnuts, and one that partially substituted oleic acid or another fatty acid for the same amount of ALA found in walnuts but without any walnuts.

In all of the three diets, walnuts or vegetable oils replaced saturated fats and all the participants followed each diet for a six week period with a break between diet periods.

In order to analyze the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, the team collected fecal samples 72 hours prior to the initial 2 week diet and prior to each of the three study diet periods.

The walnut diet was shown to enrich a number of gut bacteria that have been linked to health benefits in the past. One of the gut bacteria known as Roseburia has been associated with protection for the lining of the gut. The team also saw enrichment in Butyricicoccus and Eubacteria eligens.

The team also discovered that following the walnut diet there were significant links between changes in the gut bacteria and risk factors for heart disease. Eubacterium elegens was inversely linked with changes in several different measures of blood pressure. This suggests that larger numbers of this bacteria was linked with greater reductions in those risk factors.

Greater numbers of Lachnospiraceae were also associated with greater reductions in total cholesterol, blood pressure and non HDL cholesterol. There were no significant associations between enriched bacteria and risk factors for heart disease following the other two diets.

Foods like whole walnuts provide a diverse variety of substrates like fiber, bioactive compounds and fatty acids for our gut microbiomes to feed on. This in turn can help generate beneficial metabolites and a variety of other products for the human body.

The recent findings add to what is already known about the health benefits of walnuts with this new evidence showing their positive affect on gut health. Future research will continue to investigate how walnuts affect the microbiome and other health benefits such as how they might affect blood sugar levels.

To view the original scientific study click below

Walnuts and Vegetable Oils Containing Oleic Acid Differentially Affect the Gut Microbiota and Associations with Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Follow-up of a Randomized, Controlled, Feeding Trial in Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Stress and Gray Hair

Recent research has discovered evidence that supports previous anecdotes that stress can cause hair to go gray. The findings advance the knowledge that stress impacts the human body.

For the first time researchers at Harvard University have found exactly how the process occurs. In mice, the type of nerve that is involved in the fight or flight response causes permanent damage to the pigment regenerating stem cells found in the hair follicles.

The team wanted to understand if the anecdote that stressful experiences can lead to the phenomenon of hair graying is true. And if this is particularly true in skin and hair which are the only tissues that can be seen from the outside. If the connection is true, then learning how stress leads to changes in diverse tissues may be better understood. Hair pigmentation is a tractable and accessible system to begin with.

Because stress can affect the whole body, the team first had to narrow down which body system is responsible for connecting stress to hair color. They first hypothesized that stress will cause an immune attack on cells that are pigment producing. However, when mice that lacked immune cells still showed hair graying, they then turned to the hormone cortisol. However this also was a dead end.

Stress will elevate cortisol levels in the body so they thought this occurrence might play a role. However, when the team removed the adrenal gland from the mice so they were not able to produce cortisol, their hair still turned gray when under stress.

After eliminating a variety of possibilities, the team honed in on the sympathetic nerve system. This system is responsible for the fight or flight response. These nerves branch out into every hair follicle on the skin. The team discovered that stress caused these nerves to release norepinephrine, a chemical which gets taken up by nearby pigment regenerating stem cells.

Within hair follicles certain stem cells will act as a reservoir of pigment producing cells. As hair regenerates, some of these stem cells convert into pigment producing cells which color the hair.

The team found that the norepinephrine from sympathetic nerves caused the stem cells to activate excessively. These stem cells convert into the pigment producing cells which prematurely deplete the reservoir. After a few days, all of the pigment regenerating stem cells were lost. And once they are gone, they can’t regenerate pigment any longer. The damage is permanent.

These findings underscore the negative side effects of an otherwise protective evolutionary response. Acute stress and particularly fight or flight has been viewed as beneficial to an animal’s survival. However in this case, acute stress causes the permanent depletion of stem cells.

To make the connection of stress and hair graying, the team began with a whole body response and then progressively zeroed into individual organ systems, cell to cell interaction and then all the way down to molecular dynamics. This process required several research tools including methods to manipulate nerves, cell receptors, and organs.

The team also collaborated with many scientists across a wide range of disciplines to go from the highest level to the smallest detail in an effort to solve a very fundamental biological question.

It is known that peripheral neurons powerfully regular blood vessels, organ function and immunity. However, less is known about how they regulate stem cells. With the current study, it is known that neurons can control stem cells and their functions. The team can also explain how they interact at the molecular and cellular level and then link stress to hair graying.

The team’s findings can help illuminate effects stress can have on various tissues and organs. The understanding will help pave the way to new studies that will seek to block or modify the damaging effects stress causes on the human body.

Through understanding exactly how stress affects stem cells which regenerate pigment, the groundwork for understanding exactly how stress affects other organs and tissues in the body can be laid. Understanding how tissues change under stress is the first critical step towards eventual treatments that can revert or halt the damaging impact that stress causes.

To view the original scientific study click below

Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells.

Human Stem Cells Used For Pain Are A Success

With opioid addiction in crises resulting in destroying peoples lives and also resulting in countless deaths, finding non-addictive treatments for pain is the goal of scientists around the world. Pain is real and in Australia alone where the new research has been conducted, it was estimated that the total cost of chronic pain was over $139 billion.

Nerve injury can develop into devastating neuropathic pain. For the vast majority of people, there are no effective therapies. The new breakthrough can mean for some patients, pain killing transplants from their own cells could be made. These cells can then reverse the underlying causes of pain.

A group of researchers from the University of Sydney have discovered what could become a non opioid management system for pain using human stem cells. The team used human stem cells to create pain killing neurons that provided lasting pain relief in mice and all without a single side effect and with just one treatment.

The team in Sydney used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which were harvested from bone marrow to make pain killing cells in the lab. They then put these cells into the spinal cord of mice who suffered from serious neuropathic pain.

Remarkably these stem cell neurons in the mice promoted lasting pain relief without any side effects. This means that transplant therapy could be a long lasting and effective treatment for people suffering from neuropathic pain. Because the location of where pain killing neurons can be placed, only parts of the body that are in pain can be targeted. This means the approach can have fewer side effects.

The research team is conducting extensive safety tests in pigs and rodents and will then move to testing in humans who suffer from chronic pain. Human trials could begin in the next few years.

To view the original scientific study click below

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived GABAergic interneuron transplants attenuate neuropathic pain.

New Gene Therapy

Researchers have developed a new technique for gene therapy by transforming human cells into mass producers of nano sized particles which are full of genetic material. This genetic material has the potential to reverse a variety of disease processes.

Although the recent research was initially intended as proof of concept, the experimental therapy slowed down tumor growth and prolonged survival in mice who had gliomas. Gliomas’ constitute close to 80% of malignant brain tumors in humans.

The technique developed takes advantage of exosomes which are fluid filled sacs that cells release as a method to communicate with other cells. While they are gaining ground as biologically friendly carriers of therapeutic materials due to the fact that there is a lot of them and they do not prompt an immune response, the trick with gene therapy is finding a method to fit those comparatively large genetic instructions inside their very tiny bodies on a scale that would have a therapeutic effect.

The newly developed method relies on patented technology that will prompt donated human cells such as adult stem cells to spit out millions of exosomes. After these exosomes are collected and purified, they function as nanocarriers containing a drug. When they are then injected into the bloodstream, they know exactly where to find their target in the body even in the brain.

The team refers to these “gifts” that keep on giving as Mother Nature induced therapeutic nanoparticles.

Previously the team made waves when they released news of a regenerative medicine discovery called tissue nanotransfection or TNT. This technique uses a nanotechnology based chip to deliver biological cargo directly into skin. This is an action that will convert adult cells into any type of cell interest for treatment within a patient’s own body.

Through looking further into the mechanism behind the success of TNT’s, the team discovered that exosomes were the secret to delivering regenerative goods to tissue far below the surface of the skin.
This technology was adapted in the current study into a technique termed cellular nanoporation.

The team placed approximately 1 million donated cells (such as mesenchymal cells which were collected from human fat) on a nano engineered silicon wafer and then used an electrical stimulus to inject synthetic DNA into the donor cells. As a result of the DNA force feeding, the cells need to eject unwanted material as part of DNA transcribed messenger RNA and also repair holes that have been poked in the membranes.

Essentially they fix the leak to the cell membrane and dump garbage out. The garbage they throw out is the exosome. What is expelled from the cell is the drug.

The electrical stimulation had a bonus effect of a thousand fold increase of therapeutic genes in a large number of exosomes released by the cells. This is a sign that the technology is scalable to be able to produce enough nanoparticles for use in humans.

Essential to any gene therapy is knowing which genes need to be delivered to fix a medical problem. The researchers chose to test the results on glioma brain tumors. They delivered a gene known as PTEN which is a cancer suppressor gene. Mutations of PTEN that turn off the suppression role can allow cancer cells to grow unchecked.

Producing the gene is the easy part. The synthetic DNA which is force fed to donor cells is copied into a new molecule which consists of messenger RNA which contains instructions required to produce a specific protein. Every exosome bubble containing messenger RNA is transformed into a nanoparticle which is ready for transport with no blood brain barrier to be concerned about.

The advantage to this is there is no toxicity or nothing to provoke an immune response. Exosomes will go almost everywhere in the body including passing the blood brain barrier. Most drugs cannot go to the brain. They don’t want the exosomes to go the wrong place. They are programmed to not only kill cancer cells, but to know where to go to find cancer cells.

Testing in mice models showed the labeled exosomes were much more likely to travel to the brain tumors and slow their growth compared to substances used as controls. Due to the exosomes safe access to the brain, the drug delivery system has promise for applications in the future for neurological diseases.

It is the hope that one day this can be used for medical needs. The team has provided the method and if somebody knows which kind of gene combination can cure a particular disease but they need a therapy, they have it.

To view the original scientific study click here: Large-scale generation of functional mRNA-encapsulating exosomes via cellular nanoporation

How Many Steps Per Day For a Longer Life?

For years 10,000 steps per day has been the target for many people! But there is actually nothing magical about it! The original basis for establishing that number was never based on scientific basis. In fact it was part of a marketing campaign launched in Japan in1965 to help promote a pedometer. And it is a big number that many people find hard to reach!

Dr. I-Min Lee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital along with a professor at Harvard Medical School and a researcher on physical activity, set out to discover the basis for 10,000 steps and also study its validity. Their study published in JAMA Internal Medicine set out to answer 2 questions about mortality…how many steps per day are associated with lowering the mortality rate and does stepping up the intensity level make a difference with the same number of steps?

A study was designed that included about 17,000 older women with the average age of 72. This group tends to be less active and health issues occur and become more important as people age. Between 2011 and 2015, the participants wore tracking devices during waking hours to track their steps as they went about their daily activities.

Key findings showed that sedentary women averaged 2,700 step per day. The women who averaged 4,400 steps per day had a 41% reduction in mortality. Mortality rates continued to improve progressively before leveling off at bout 7,500 steps per day. About nine fewer deaths occurred per 1,000 person years among the most active group compared to the least active group.

The research shows that if mortality is a person’s major concern, then the study suggests that you can reap benefits from 7,500 steps per day. That is 25% fewer steps than the common goal of 10,000 steps. The study indicates that even light walking can result in benefits for older women.

The study was designed to look at just two factors. Since it was about mortality, it did not relate steps per day to anything related to cognitive functions, quality of life, or physical conditions. It does not tell us how many steps are needed in order to maximize those things. And in answer to the researchers second question, they did not find that the intensity of the steps mattered.

To view the original scientific study click below:

Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women

New Bone Healing Mechanism

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have revealed a new mechanism that will contribute to adult bone maintenance and repair. This new development opens up the possibility for developing new therapeutic strategies for the improvement of bone healing.

Bone repair in adults relies on the activation of bone stem cells. These cells remain poorly characterized. Periosteal stem cells have been the least understood. They comprise heterogeneous population of cells which can contribute to bone shaping, thickness and fracture repair. However, scientists have not been able to distinguish between the different subtypes of bone stem cells so they can study how the different functions are regulated.

In the new study, the researchers have developed a method which identifies different sub populations of periosteal stem cells, defines their particular function to repair fractures in bones in live mouse models, and also identifies specific factors that regular their migration and proliferation under physiological situations.

The team discovered specific markers in mouse models for periosteal stem cells. These markers identified a distinct subset of stem cells which contribute to life long bone regeneration in adults. They also discovered periosteal stem cells will respond to mechanical injury through engaging in healing of the bone. They are vital to bone fracture healing in adult mice and their contribution to regeneration of the bone is higher than the stem cells in the bone marrow.

They also discovered periosteal stem cells respond to inflammatory molecules known as chemokines. These molecules are typically produced during injury of bone. They respond to chemokine CCL5.

Periosteal stem cells contain receptors, molecules on their cell surface, that will bind to CCL5. This sends a signal to the cells telling them to migrate toward the injured bone and begin repairing it. By deleting the CCL5 gene in mice, marked defects in bone repair occurred and delayed the healing process. When CCL5 was supplied t the CCL5 deficient mice, bone healing accelerated.

The team’s findings suggest possible therapeutic applications. For example, in people who suffer from osteoporosis or diabetes in which bone healing can be slow and can lead to a variety of complications which can result in limited mobility, accelerated bone healing could reduce hospital stays and improve their prognosis.

The findings contribute to a much better understanding of the mechanisms behind bone healing. This is one of the first studies to indicate that bone stem cells are heterogeneous and that a variety of subtypes have unique properties which are regulated by specific mechanisms. The team has identified markers which enabled them to identify the bone stem cell subtypes and have identified what each subtype contributes to the health of bone.

To view the original scientific study click below

Identification of Functionally Distinct Mx1 SMA Periosteal Skeletal Stem Cells

1...495051...86Page 50 of 86