Author Interviews, Science, Sleep Disorders / 18.08.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Azahara Oliva PhD Assistant Professor Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Cornell University   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background is that we knew for a while now that neurons work hard to consolidate into memories each experience that we have during the day. But at the same time, it is known that sleep restore activity of our body and physiology. How was that possible? How can the neurons in our brain "work hard" during the time that we are supposed to be restoring our vitals? We found that in between their hard work, during sleep, our neurons take "breaks of activity" so our brain can build memories with precision. (more…)
Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Genetic Research, Science, University of Michigan / 05.01.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jianzhi "George" ZhangMarshall W. Nirenberg Collegiate ProfessorDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1085 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: A few percent of humans perform same-sex sexual behavior (SSB), a trait that is partially heritable. Because SSB leads to fewer children, the stable maintenance of SSB-associated alleles in populations has been a long-standing Darwinian paradox. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to resolve this paradox, but most of them lack clear empirical evidence. One version of the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis posits that SSB-associated alleles are subject to heterosexual advantage. Specifically, it was found that SSB-associated alleles are associated with more sexual partners when in heterosexuals (individuals of exclusive opposite-sex sexual behavior), which could lead to more offspring, potentially compensating the reduced reproduction of SSB individuals. While the above mechanism has likely worked in premodern societies, our recent study (PNAS 2023) found that it is no longer working in the modern United Kingdom, because the widespread use of contraception has decoupled the number of offspring from the number of sexual partners in heterosexuals. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, Science, UCLA / 29.09.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Sofroniew, MD, PhD Professor UCLA School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How did this study differ from your previous work on this topic? Response: After spinal cord injuries, nerve fibers that are damaged do not spontaneously regrow across injury sites. In previous studies, our group of collaborators identified a combination of interventions that could stimulate damaged nerve fibers to regrow for short distances across injuries, but we found that in spite of this short distance regrowth there was no recovery of functions. The present study examined what type of regrowth might be necessary to re-establish functions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy, Melanoma, Science, UT Southwestern / 22.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew Y. Koh, M.D. Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Director of Pediatric Cellular and ImmunoTherapeutics Program University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We asked the basic question how does a bacteria in your gut help your immune system fight a cancer outside the gut (extraintestinal tumor).  Based on work that our group and others have published in the infectious diseases, microbiology, and inflammation fields, we knew that certain conditions (e.g. inflammation, infection) promote gut microbiota to move from the gut to the mesenteric lymph nodes.  So we hypothesized that immune checkpoint therapy (which essentially induces inflammation to promote tumor killing) might induce gut microbiota translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes and that this might be the first step by which gut bacteria can engage with host immune cells.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Infections, Multiple Sclerosis, Science / 15.01.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kassandra L. Munger Sc.D. Senior Research Scientist Alberto Ascherio MD Dr.P.H. Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: An infectious cause of MS has been hypothesized for decades. Research over the past 20 years conducted by our group and others has strongly suggested a role for EBV infection including that EBV-negative individuals have a near zero risk of developing MS, having a history of infectious mononucleosis (caused by EBV infection) increases the risk of MS 2-fold, and healthy individuals have higher risks of MS with higher antibody levels against EBV antigens.  Ideally, to prove causality a randomized clinical controlled trial would be conducted; however, this not a feasible approach in this case. Given that nearly 95% of the adult population is infected with EBV and MS is a rare disease, we utilized the Department of Defense Serum Repository which stores over 60 million serum samples from over 10 million US Military active duty personnel. From this large resource, we were able to identify a cohort who were EBV negative when they joined the military and we followed them for whether they had a primary infection with EBV and then for who developed MS. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Circadian Rhythm, Diabetes, Occupational Health, Science, Weight Research / 06.12.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah L. Chellappa, MD PhD Medical Chronobiology Program Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Departments of Medicine and Neurology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA Department of Nuclear Medicine Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Frank A.J.L. Scheer, M.Sc., Ph.D. Professor of Medicine. Medical Chronobiology Program Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders Departments of Medicine and Neurology Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you explain the difference between the central circadian ‘clock’ and endogenous circadian glucose rhythms?  Response: Night work increases diabetes risk. This increased risk is not fully explained by differences in lifestyle, family history, and/or socioeconomic status, thus other mechanisms are likely involved. Laboratory studies in humans have shown glucose intolerance in both non-shift workers and shift workers exposed to simulated night work. Animal experimental data suggests that this may be in part due to a misalignment between central and peripheral rhythms. Central circadian rhythms (e.g., body temperature) are primarily modulated by the central circadian “clock”, which is located in the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus and is responsible for synchronizing our physiology and behavior with the 24-hour cycle. Peripheral rhythms, including endogenous circadian glucose rhythms, are likely modulated by peripheral “clocks” across the body that play an integral role in modulating the circadian expression of physiology, including metabolic functions. These central and peripheral clocks share a common molecular mechanism underlying their circadian rhythm generating capacity, including transcription-translation feedback loops of circadian “clock” genes.  (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Science, UCSF / 10.11.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Art Wallace, M.D., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Anesthesia School of Medicine, UCSF Chief of the Anesthesia Service Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I have spent the last 30 years working on perioperative risk reduction, developing medications and approaches to risk reduction. Part of this work utilized epidemiologic analysis of medication patterns of use to test if they are associated with reductions in morbidity and mortality. This work analyzed data in the VA Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) which provides access to the VA, best in the world electronic health care record system, VISTA.  With the COVID-19 pandemic I realized that the analytic techniques we had utilized for perioperative cardiac risk reduction could be used to search for medications to reduce the risks for acute COVID-19 infection. We identified four classes of medications that reduced the risk of death in acute COVID-19 infection. We then turned our attention to medications to reduce the incidence, severity, and duration of long-term sequelae of COVID-19 infection also known as Long COVID or COVID Long Hauler Syndrome. One of the questions that people were asking was what was the effect of vaccination on Long COVID? We began that work by looking at the effect of vaccination on COVID infections and found the dramatic decrease in efficacy of vaccines with the spread of the Delta Variant. We published this work to notify the public and public health community of the decreased efficacy of the vaccines in the face of the Delta variant and reiterate the need for secondary public health prevention measures such as masks, social distancing, vaccination, and boosters. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Gastrointestinal Disease, Science / 13.08.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Lizhe Zhuang PhD Dr Karol Nowicki-Osuch PhD Dr. Rebecca C. Fitzgerald MD Medical Research Council Cancer Unit, Hutchison/Medical Research Council Research Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Barrett’s oesophagus affects about one out of 100 people in the UK and is thought to be a precancerous lesion of a more deadline cancer, oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Barrett’s is a condition where the squamous cells in the lower part of oesophagus are replaced by a special type of columnar cells, which look like intestine, a far distant organ, raising a question where are these columnar cells come from. Many theories have been proposed in the past decades and no agreement was reached, and many conclusions were based on mouse models which do not recap the human condition. We therefore collected fresh samples of human tissues that correspond to all the possible theories and assessed them all together using state of the art technologies.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Ophthalmology, Science / 12.03.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: eye-eyecolor-geneticsDr Pirro Hysi Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology Kings College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: - Iris (eye) color is an important human trait. It is one of the main features that makes our faces unique and recognizable. Iris color is similar to other pigmentatio traits, like hair and skin color, in that it is determined by the concentration and relative ratios of the melanin pigment. Pigmentation traits are roughly determined by several of the same genes regulating pigmentation, but many other genes seem to selectively determine pigmentation in any of these tissues. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Cancer Research, Science / 18.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Muhammed Murtaza M.B.B.S. (M.D.), Ph.D. Translational Genomics Research Institute Phoenix, AZ MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Liquid biopsies and cell-free DNA analysis using blood samples have transformed cancer diagnostics in recent years. We started this project wondering whether cell-free DNA in urine is a viable alternative to blood, since urine could be collected completed non-invasively. Our very first experiment showed the lengths of DNA fragments in urine very similar across healthy individuals, leading us to wonder whether urine was actually as randomly degraded as we had previously thought. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Environmental Risks, Science / 11.12.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Asimanshu Das, Ph.D. student Brown University School of Engineering MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Driving in a car with  ride-share or car-pool is a widely prevalent social interaction. The study aimed to address the airflows inside cars in various window open/closed configurations using computer simulations, and also looking into the possibility of movement of aerosol-type of particles from one occupant to other. The main findings are that opening windows provides a likely benefit to reduce the potentially pathogenic aerosols inside the cabin. Generally, more windows the better, but at the least it would be advisable to have one rear side window and one frontside window open. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Immunotherapy, Science / 27.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian S. Kim, MD, MTR, FAAD Associate Professor of Medicine (Dermatology) Co-Director, Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO 63110 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It has been known well for decades that a specific part of your immune system called the “type 2 immune response” is overactive in atopic disease. Indeed, that is what new drugs like dupilumab block so effectively and thus revolutionized the treatment of atopic disorders just in the last few years. In fact, our lab focuses predominantly on this part of the immune system. However, increasingly it is becoming recognized that the immune system is not just about whether it is “on or off” but rather a balance like yin and yang. Along these lines, we noticed that a cell that could theoretically counterbalance atopic inflammation was significantly deficient in many patients with eczema. This cell is the natural killer (NK) cell. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Gender Differences, Genetic Research, Science / 22.02.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lawrence C. Layman, M.D. Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology Professor & Chief Section of Reproductive Endocrinology, Infertility, & Genetics Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Director, REI Fellowship Program Co-Director, MD/PhD Program Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine Department of Physiology Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I have taken care of many transgender patients over the past 20 years. We think there is a biological basis for transgender identity rather than choice. Animal models suggest that exposure to estrogen or testosterone at a critical time during development will render an animal of either sex to behave as male with aggressive behavior and they will mount females. If this pathway is blocked, then the end result is more receptive, female sexual behavior. We thought that variants in genes involved in metabolizing these hormones in the brain could play some role in transgender identity. Because the cost of sequencing all genes was similar to the cost of looking for changes in just these genes, we performed whole exome sequencing (sequencing the protein coding regions of genes) on about 30 transgender patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Science / 31.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven R. Houser, PhD, FAHA Senior Associate Dean, Research Vera J. Goodfriend Endowed Chair, Cardiovascular Research Chair and Professor, Physiology Director, Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) Professor, Medicine Deborah M EatonDeborah M Eaton  Doctorate Student / Research Assistant Temple University   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for approximately 50% of cases of HF and to date clinical trials with HFpEF patients have failed to produce positive outcomes. Part of this is likely due to the lack of HFpEF animal models for preclinical testing. Our lab addressed this gap in knowledge by developing an animal model that mimics critical features of the human HFpEF phenotype. We performed an in-depth cardiopulmonary characterization highlighting that the model has characteristics of human disease. We then tested the effects of a pan-HDAC inhibitor, vorinostat/SAHA, in collaboration with Dr. Timothy McKinsey, who is an expert in HDAC inhibitors and recently published work1 that laid the foundation for this study.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Dermatology, Science / 05.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. D. Branch Moody, MD Principal Investigator Associate Physician, Brigham and Women's Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Is the CD1a molecule found on the skin's Langerhans cells? Response: With increasing industrialization worldwide, people apply cosmetics and other consumer products to the skin, leading to contact dermatitis, which is becoming increasingly common. Immunologists know that T cells participate in dermatitis reactions. However, T cells usually recognize and respond to antigens that are peptides rather than the non-peptide antigens that cause contact dermatitis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Herpes Viruses, Science, University of Pennsylvania, Vaccine Studies / 23.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Harvey M. Friedman, MD Professor of Medicine/Infectious Diseases University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6073  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:  Mice and guinea pigs are the animal models used to evaluate candidate vaccines for preventing genital herpes. My lab has been working on such a vaccine. Our candidate vaccine contains 3 immunogens. One immunogen is a protein on the virus that is required for the virus to enter cells (viruses need to enter cells to replicate). The other two immunogens are proteins on the virus that help the virus escape immune attack. Our intent is to produce antibodies to these 3 proteins by immunization and that the antibodies will bind to the proteins on the virus and block the protein functions. The virus then will not be able to enter cells and will not be able to use its evasion strategies to avoid the immune responses generated by the vaccine. Our vaccine aimed at preventing immune evasion is novel as a component of a genital herpes vaccine.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Exercise - Fitness, Nature, Science / 11.08.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Adnan Hirad, PhD MD Candidate, Medical Scientist Training Program University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Concussion is defined based on the manifestation of observable signs and symptoms (e.g., dizziness, difficulty with concentration, loss of consciousness, inter alia). A non-concussive head injury is when someone hits their head but does not exhibit the signs and symptoms of concussion -- IE concussion is defined by observable signs, and sub-concussive is defined as sustaining  head impacts similar (in magnitude and mechanism) to those sustained with concussion without observable signs and/or symptoms. These hits are a problem not only in football, but also with IED/bomb blasts experienced during war and potentially rugby.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Science, Surgical Research, Technology / 19.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Haishan Zeng, PhDDistinguished ScientistImaging Unit - Integrative Oncology DepartmentBC Cancer Research CentreProfessor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Physics, University of British ColumbiaVancouver, BC, Canada Haishan Zeng, PhD Distinguished Scientist Imaging Unit - Integrative Oncology Department BC Cancer Research Centre Professor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Physics, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We developed a fast multiphoton microscope system that enables clinical imaging of the skin at the level of cellular resolution. With this system, we can see microstructures inside of the skin without cutting into it. We subsequently conceived the idea of directly treating the microstructures that are responsible for disease. We increased the laser power to generate intense localized heat to destroy the targeted structure. In this study, we demonstrated the feasibility of this new treatment by targeting and closing single blood vessels using our new microscope.  (more…)
Author Interviews, General Medicine, Heart Disease, Science, Weight Research / 04.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Vitor Engrácia Valenti, PhD Professor São Paulo State University Marília MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Autonomic modulation and cardiorespiratory variables are influenced by numerous factors. Abdominal fat tissue is a relevant variables related to metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, including diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and hypertension, which are associated to increased risk of morbidity and mortality. We evaluated cardiorespiratory variables and autonomic nervous system before and during recovery from exercise in healthy physically active men divided according to with waist-stature ratio (WSR): G1 – between 0.40 and 0.449 (N = 19), and G2 – between 0.45 and 0.49. This metholodigcal procedure is able to provide important information regarding the risk for developing cardiovascular disease in the future. Our main findings indicated that healthy physically active men with waist-stature ratio values close to the risk limit (between 0.449 and 0.5) presented slower return of autonomic and cardiorespiratory variables to baseline values after moderate exercise. It suggests that this group present an elevated probability of developing cardiovascular disease in the future compared to the groups with lower values of waist-stature ratio. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Science, Sleep Disorders / 13.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brendan P. Lucey, MD, MSCI Assistant Professor of Neurology Director, Sleep Medicine Section Washington University School of Medicine Saint Louis, Missouri 63110 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Alzheimer’s disease and sleep are currently thought to have a two-way or bidirectional relationship. First, sleep disturbances may increase the risk of developing AD. Second, changes in sleep-wake activity may be due to Alzheimer’s disease pathology and our paper was primarily focused on this aspect of the relationship.    If sleep changes were a marker for AD changes in the brain, then this would be very helpful in future clinical trials and possibly screening in the clinic. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Science / 05.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "38 week fetus" by Zappys Technology Solutions is licensed under CC BY 2.0Kimberley Whitehead Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology University College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Fetuses move a lot! Very similar movement patterns are seen in both pre-term and full-term newborn infants, but their function is unclear. In animals such as rats, spontaneous movement and consequent feedback from the environment during the early developmental period trigger specific patterns of electrical activity in the brain that are necessary for proper brain mapping. (more…)
Allergies, Asthma, Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Science / 16.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Dogs and Kids Mix Well" by Tony Alter is licensed under CC BY 2.0Catarina Almqvist Malmros MD, PhD Professor | Consultant Pediatrician Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Karolinska Institutet Lung and Allergy Unit | Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital Stockholm, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We have previously shown an association between growing up with dogs and a lower risk of childhood asthma (doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.3219) but it has been unknown whether this link is modified by characteristics of the dog. Sex of the dog may have an effect on expressed allergens, and uncastrated male dogs release more of a certain allergen than castrated male dogs and female dogs. Some breeds are also described as ‘hypoallergenic’, but there is no scientific evidence whether they are more suitable for people with allergies. We examined how variables such as sex, breed, number of dogs or size of dog are associated with the risk of asthma and allergy among children with a dog in their home during the first year of life. We included all Swedish children born between January 2001 and December 2004 whose parents had a registered dog in a dog-owner register and linked the data to the Swedish population- and health data registers. Main findings are that children raised with only female dogs at home had a 16 per cent lower risk of asthma than those with male dogs, and that children living with two or more dogs had a 21 per cent lower risk of asthma than those with only one dog. Importantly, families with parental asthma or allergies had ‘hypoallergenic’ breeds more often than children whose parents did not have asthma or allergies; 11.7% compared to 7.6 . Exposure to these breeds was associated with a 27 per cent higher risk of allergy and no decreased risk of asthma.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome, Science / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joao Xavier PhD Associate Faculty Member | Computational & Systems Biology Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY 10065  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our team at Memorial Sloan Kettering has been investigating the intestinal microbiota of patients receiving bone marrow transplantations for more than eight years now. We have found through several studies that these patients lose important healthy bacteria from their microbiota, and that these losses are mostly caused by the antibiotics given as prophylaxis or to treat infections. We also found that the drastic changes in the microbiota composition, especially the intestinal dominations by bacteria such as Enterococcus, increase the risk of transplant-related complications and lowered patient survival. We aimed to determine the feasibility of autologous microbiota transplant (auto-FMT) as a way to reconstitute lost bacteria. This randomized study found that indeed auto-FMT could reconstitute important microbial groups to patients.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Science / 01.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Andrew South, PhD, Associate Professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by Butterfly Syndrome or recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa? Response: Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, is a group of genetic diseases caused by mutations in genes which play a role in maintaining skin integrity. An EB patients’ skin can be very fragile which has been likened to butterfly wings, which are also very fragile. Skin blisters are common in EB patients and in some cases large wounds can result from the slightest mechanical trauma, hence the term Butterfly Syndrome. Skin cancer is a major complication of patients with the recessive dystrophic subtype of EB, known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa or RDEB, and these cancers, called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), are very aggressive. SCC is the leading cause of death in patients with RDEB. SCC also arise very early, affecting RDEB patients in their 20’s and 30’s. Our study used genetic analysis of cancers collected from patients to try and determine what causes the cancer at such an early age and what causes these cancers to be so fatal. Skin SCC arising in the general population as a result of sun exposure are generally benign and occur much later in life, regular skin SCC patients are predominantly over the age of 60, therefore something must be different about RDEB SCC.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, End of Life Care, Medicare, Science / 06.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amy Finkelstein PhD John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics MIT Department of Economics National Bureau of Economic Research Cambridge MA 02139  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although only 5% of Medicare beneficiaries die in a given year, they account for almost 25% of Medciare spending. This fact about high end of life spending has been constantly used to refer to inefficiency of the US healthcare system. A natural observation is that the fact is retrospective, and it motivated us to explore a prospective analog, which would take as an input the probability of someone dying in a given year rather than her realized outcome. We therefore used machine learning techniques to predict death, and somewhat to our surprise we found that at least using standardized and detailed claims-level data, predicting death is difficult, and there are only a tiny fraction of Medicare beneficiaries for whom we can predict death (within a year) with near certainty. Those who end up dying are obviously sicker, and our study finds that up to half of the higher spending on those who die could be attributed to the fact that those who die are sicker and sick individuals are associated with higher spending.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Inflammation, Science / 14.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Basophil” by GreenFlames09 is licensed under CC BY 2.0Jagadeesh BAYRY, DVM, PhD, HDR Scientist CRCN/Associate Professor-INSERM Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) Unité 1138 Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers PARIS , FRANCE   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Basophils are rare granulocytes that are important for the protection against helminth parasites. In addition, basophils mediate T helper 2 responses, support B cell differentiation, and thus establish a vital link between innate and adaptive immunity. Although rare in number, basophils are implicated in various pathological conditions due to the fact that they undergo rapid activation in response to a wide range of stimuli they receive. These stimuli induce the release of diverse immune mediators including cytokines and mediators of hypersensitivity reactions histamine and leukotriene. Basophils are well known for their pathogenic role in allergic diseases. Recent data also advocate basophils in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases. Therefore, considering the impact of dysregulated functions of basophils on the immune response in various diseases, we deliberated that it is essential to understand the regulatory mechanisms by which basophils are kept in check. Among immunoregulatory cells, CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been widely studied for their role in immune tolerance and in the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Tregs modulate autoimmune and inflammatory responses by exerting direct suppressive effects on various immune cells including dendritic cells, T cells, macrophages, monocytes, B cells, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and mast cells. In view of emerging reports on the role of basophils in various pathological conditions, we investigated if Tregs are able to control the activation and functions of basophils. In contrast to the central dogma on Tregs as immunosuppressors, we discovered that human basophils are refractory to Treg-mediated suppression. On the contrary, we found that Tregs stimulate resting basophils to induce the expression of activation markers CD69, CD203c, and CD13, and release cytokines IL-4, IL-8, and IL-13. Treg-induced activation of basophils involves IL-3 and STAT5 but was not contact-dependent. These results provide evidence of direct positive effects that human Tregs have on basophil activation and reveal a previously unrecognized feature of this cell subset well known for immunosuppressive functions.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Environmental Risks, Science, UCSF / 22.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Space Shuttle Model” by terren in Virginia is licensed under CC BY 2.0Susanna Rosi, PhD Director of Neurocognitive Research Brain and Spinal Injury Center Professor in the departments of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science and of Neurological Surgery UCSF MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: NASA and private space companies like SpaceX plan to send humans to the red planet within the next 15 years — but among the major challenges facing future crewed space missions is how to protect astronauts from the dangerous cosmic radiation of deep space. In this study we identified the first potential treatment for the brain damage caused by exposure to cosmic rays — a treatment can be given after exposure and that prevents memory impairment in mice exposed to simulated space radiation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, Science, Vaccine Studies / 05.04.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthieu Domenech de Cellès PhD Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Biostatistics, Biomathematics, Pharmacoepidemiology, and Infectious Diseases Unit Institut Pasteur, Inserm, University of Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Versailles, France. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?   Response: Our main motivation was to elucidate an apparent paradox: Why has the US experienced a resurgence of pertussis (whooping cough) since the mid-1970s, despite persistently high vaccine coverage? A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this resurgence, but most attention has focused on the potential shortcomings of the new generation of pertussis vaccines (called acellular pertussis vaccines). However, there remains considerable uncertainty about the degree and the mechanisms of protection conferred by pertussis vaccines. Via a collaboration with the local department of public health, we used detailed surveillance data in the state of Massachusetts to test a number of hypotheses about pertussis vaccines. We found that, although pertussis vaccines are imperfect (in the sense that they do not provide lifelong, 100% protection to 100% of children vaccinated), they are still highly efficacious. Specifically, we estimated that vaccine protection wanes over time, but slowly, with about 85% of children still protected 10 years after vaccination. Despite this high vaccine efficacy, we showed that the resurgence of pertussis was, in fact, to be expected. What happens is that the introduction of routine vaccination leads to an overall reduction in transmission, not only in vaccinated children but also in the population at large. Accordingly, those who escaped vaccination as children (as a consequence of incomplete vaccine coverage or imperfect vaccine protection) increasingly age having also avoided natural infection. As a result, the number of individuals susceptible to contract pertussis gradually increases. Because such people are the “fuel” of epidemics, this sets the stage for pertussis’ resurgence, with increasing incidence among older individuals. This overall effect is called the “end-of-honeymoon” and means that resurgence is therefore a predictable consequence of incomplete vaccination with efficacious, but imperfect, vaccines. Importantly, these results show that recent trends do not necessarily reflect recent changes in the epidemiology of pertussis. Rather, they may be interpreted as a legacy of past immunization practices, with long-to-manifest effects. This is a significant shift of perspective about pertussis epidemiology.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Science, Weight Research / 22.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dai Fukumura, M.D., Ph.D Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology Harvard Medical School Deputy Director, Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA      Dr. Joao Incio PhD Post-Doc, Edwin L. Steele Laboratory           Dr. Rakesh K. Jain PhD Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Tumor Biology and director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology Rradiation oncology department Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: Based on promising data from preclinical studies and subsequent increase in progression-free survival in patients, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy received accelerated approval for metastatic breast cancer. However, this approval was withdrawn in the United States based on the lack of overall survival benefit in several subsequent phase III studies in metastatic and adjuvant settings. Potential mechanisms of resistance to anti-VEGF therapy include the upregulation of alternative angiogenic and pro-inflammatory factors. Production of some of these factors has been shown to increase in obesity specifically in hypoxic adipose tissues including the breast. Given that up to 70% of breast cancer (BC) patients in the United States are overweight or obese, we addressed one simple but important question in this study: Is obesity contributing to anti-VEGF treatment resistance in breast cancer? (more…)