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Category: health – Page 9

Biodegradable microplastics in mice gut trigger metabolic reprogramming, shedding light on safety concerns

Microplastic pollution is a severe ecological and environmental issue and is also one of the important risk factors affecting human health. Polylactic acid (PLA), a medical biodegradable material approved by the FDA, is an important material to replace petroleum-based plastics.

Although PLA has achieved large-scale application in , its brittle characteristics make it more likely to generate microplastic particles. These particles can efficiently invade the gut through the food chain and trigger unknown biotransformation processes at the microbiota–host interface. Therefore, elucidating precisely the transformation map of PLA microplastics within the living body is crucial for assessing their safety.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team led by Prof. Chen Chunying from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed the complete biological fate of PLA microplastics (PLA-MPs) in the gut of mice, particularly focusing on their microbial fermentation into endogenous metabolites and their involvement in the .

Overexpressing miRNA-27a in human dental pulp stem cells yields anti-inflammatory effect, may regenerate tissue

Dental caries (tooth decay) is a common oral health condition that often causes significant pain and discomfort and may even lead to tooth loss. In severe and untreated cases, bacterial infection combined with the host’s immune response can cause bone resorption, or the breakdown of bone tissue in the tooth root. Moreover, traditional treatments for advanced dental caries, such as surgery, can result in bone defects that require complex bone grafting procedures.

Building on this knowledge, bone tissue engineering and dental tissue regeneration have gained the attention of researchers worldwide. Recent reports suggest that microRNAs (miRNAs)—small, non-coding ribonucleic acid sequences—play a key role in bone tissue regeneration. However, the underlying mechanisms and pathways regulated by miRNAs remain unclear.

To investigate the intrinsic processes involved in dental bone repair, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Nobuyuki Kawashima, graduate student Ziniu Yu, and Professor Takashi Okiji from the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan, has conducted a series of innovative experiments using human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and mice.

Bird flu in cats points to risk of another pandemic

It’s spring, the birds are migrating and bird flu (H5N1) is rapidly evolving into the possibility of a human pandemic. Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Public Health have published a comprehensive review documenting research on bird flu in cats and calling for urgent surveillance of cats to help avoid human-to-human transmission.

The work is published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

“The virus has evolved, and the way that it jumps between species—from birds to , and now between cows and cats, cats and humans—is very concerning. As summer approaches, we are anticipating cases on farms and in the wild to rise again,” says lead and senior author Dr. Kristen Coleman, assistant professor in UMD School of Public Health’s Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health and affiliate professor in UMD’s Department of Veterinary Medicine.

Multiple studies show that children face elevated health risks after COVID infection

Long COVID can result in increased risk for a variety of serious health problems for young people, including those affecting the kidney, gut, and cardiovascular system, according to a group of new studies led by investigators at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

“While most public attention has focused on the acute phase of COVID-19, our findings reveal children face significant long-term health risks that clinicians need to monitor,” said senior author Yong Chen, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. The studies were conducted under the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, a special project including more than two dozen health care institutions.

These medical centers pooled de-identified data from electronic health records dating back to the start of the COVID pandemic.

QALSODY™ (tofersen injection) Receives Conditional Marketing Authorization from Health Canada as the First ALS Treatment Targeting a Genetic Cause

/CNW/ — Biogen Canada Inc. announced today that Health Canada has issued marketing authorization with conditions (Notice of Compliance with Conditions (NOC/c))…

Soundwave recycling technology turns ‘forever chemicals’ into renewable resources

A new technique that uses soundwaves to separate materials for recycling could help prevent potentially harmful chemicals leaching into the environment.

Researchers at the University of Leicester have achieved a major milestone in recycling, advancing techniques to efficiently separate valuable catalyst materials and fluorinated (PFAS) from catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs). The articles are published in RSC Sustainability and Ultrasonic Sonochemistry.

This development addresses critical environmental challenges posed by PFAS—often referred to as “forever chemicals”—which are known to contaminate drinking water and have serious health implications. The Royal Society of Chemistry has urged government intervention to reduce PFAS levels in UK water supplies.

NHS rolls out 5-minute ‘super-jab’ for 15 cancers

Thousands of patients will benefit from a new cancer jab for more than a dozen types of the disease, with the NHS the first in Europe to offer the new injection. The health service is rolling out an injectable form of immunotherapy, nivolumab, which means patients can receive their fortnightly or monthly treatment in 5 […]

Urban rats spread deadly bacteria as they migrate, study finds

Urban rats spread a deadly bacteria as they migrate within cities that can be the source of a potentially life-threatening disease in humans, according to a six-year study by Tufts University researchers and their collaborators that also discovered a novel technique for testing rat kidneys.

Leptospirosis is a disease caused by a type of bacteria often found in rats. It’s spread through their urine into soil, water, or elsewhere in the environment, where it becomes a source of infection and contamination for humans, dogs, and other species. While it’s prevalent worldwide, it’s more common in tropical regions, though a changing climate means it could become more common in colder regions as they warm.

In Boston, leptospirosis persists in local rat populations, and different strains of the bacteria move around the city as groups of rats migrate, according to a new study by Marieke Rosenbaum, M.P.H., D.V.M., assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, along with co-authors at Northern Arizona University (NAU), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, their of a 2018 human leptospirosis case in Boston strongly suggests a link to rats as the source.