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Category: biotech/medical – Page 5

Validation of a Risk Score for Cancer-Associated Thrombosis Using Nationwide EHR Data

This study externally validated the EHR-CAT risk score for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) using the Epic Cosmos database, with similar performance as the original derivation, showing promise EHR integration across diverse health systems.

Question Can routinely collected electronic health record (EHR) data from diverse health systems be used to model cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) risk?

Findings In this prognostic study using a retrospective cohort of 732 594 patients with cancer receiving systemic therapy between 2018 and 2023 from 184 health systems, the EHR-CAT score significantly outperformed the benchmark Khorana score and had 20% improved accuracy. The model had consistent calibration by demographic subgroups, health system sites, and cohorts stratified by bleeding risk.

Meaning These results suggest that standardized structured EHR data from different health systems can support scalable validation and implementation of CAT risk assessment.

An AI-Based System Has Found a Potential Longevity Drug

In a preprint published in bioRxiv, Prof. Vadim Gladyshev and a team of researchers have used an artificial intelligence-based system to discover a wide variety of potential interventions, including a drug that significantly improves biomarkers of frailty in mice.

Repurposing previous data

Previous research efforts have created a massive dataset in the form of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), which contains the results of a great many experiments related to potentially disease-modifying drugs, many of which are tissue-specific [1]. These researchers refer to this dataset as a “massive missed opportunity” in aging research, because the vast majority of the experiments in the GEO were unrelated to aging and their data was never investigated in that context.

Super-Rare ‘Hybrid’ Blood Type Discovered in Just 3 People

An investigation into why blood doesn’t always behave as doctors expect has revealed a super-rare mutation in an extremely uncommon variation of blood.

Testing more than 544,000 blood samples in a hospital in Thailand revealed three people carrying a never-before-seen version of the B(A) phenotype – a genetic quirk estimated to occur in about 0.00055 percent of people, or roughly one in 180,000.

This discovery, says a team led by hematologist Janejira Kittivorapart of Mahidol University in Thailand, suggests that there may be more rare blood variants out there, too subtle for standard testing to detect.

Scientists discover compounds that help cells fight a wide range of viruses

Researchers at MIT and other institutions have identified compounds that can fight off viral infection by activating a defense pathway inside host cells. These compounds, they believe, could be used as antiviral drugs that work against not just one but any kind of virus.

The researchers identified these compounds, which activate a host cell defense system known as the integrated stress response pathway, in a screen of nearly 400,000 molecules. In tests in human cells, the researchers showed that the compounds help cells fend off infection from RSV, herpes virus, and Zika virus. They also proved effective in combating herpes infection in a mouse model.

The research team now plans to test the compounds against additional viruses, in hopes of developing them for eventual clinical trials.

Scientists Discover Speech Trait That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline

Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease may be hidden in the way a person speaks, but it’s not yet clear which details of our diction are most critical for diagnosis.

A study from 2023 suggests that as we age, how we say something may matter more than what we say. Researchers at the University of Toronto think the pace of everyday speech may be a better indicator of cognitive decline than difficulty finding a word.

“Our results indicate that changes in general talking speed may reflect changes in the brain,” said cognitive neuroscientist Jed Meltzer when the research was published.

Metabolites produced in intestine play central role in controlling obesity and diabetes, study shows

A study conducted at Harvard University identified a group of metabolites that travel from the intestine to the liver and then to the heart, where they are pumped throughout the body. These metabolites play an important role in controlling metabolic pathways in the liver and insulin sensitivity. This discovery may contribute to future treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

“The hepatic portal vein drains much of the blood from the intestine to the liver. Therefore, it’s the first place to receive products from the gut microbiome. In the liver, they can be conjugated, transformed, or eliminated, and then enter the systemic circulation,” explains Vitor Rosetto Muñoz, first author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the Ribeirão Preto School of Physical Education and Sports at the University of São Paulo (EEFERP-USP) in Brazil.

“By analyzing the blood leaving the intestine and the peripheral blood circulating throughout the body, we were able to more accurately observe the enrichment of these metabolites derived from the gut microbiome in each location and, consequently, how they can modify hepatic metabolism and metabolic health,” adds Muñoz. He conducted this research during an internship at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School under the supervision of researcher Carl Ronald Kahn.

New mutation hotspot discovered in human genome

Researchers have discovered new regions of the human genome particularly vulnerable to mutations. These altered stretches of DNA can be passed down to future generations and are important for how we study genetics and disease.

The regions are located at the starting point of genes, also known as transcription start sites. These are sequences where cellular machinery starts to copy DNA into RNA. The first 100 base pairs after a gene’s starting point are 35% more prone to mutations compared with what you’d expect by chance, according to the study published in Nature Communications.

“These sequences are extremely prone to mutations and rank among the most functionally important regions in the entire human genome, together with protein-coding sequences,” explains Dr. Donate Weghorn, corresponding author of the study and researcher at the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona.

Abstract: Enhancing tumor cell susceptibility to macrophage-mediated phagocytosis in PancreaticCancer…

Deng Pan & team discover tumor pyrimidine synthesis shapes macrophage anti-tumor responses in mice, establishing a paradigm for tumor–macrophage metabolic crosstalk and revealing new therapeutic opportunities:

The figure shows inactivation of de novo pyrimidine synthesis promotes macrophage-mediated tumor control and phagocytosis.

1Department of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

2Tsinghua-Peking Joint Centre for Life Sciences and.

3Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Organ-specific proteomic aging clocks predict disease and longevity across diverse populations

Wang, Xiao and colleagues develop and validate organ-specific proteomic aging clocks across large population cohorts in the UK, the USA and China, which show strong performance in tracking organ aging and predicting the risk of morbidity and mortality.

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