For individuals who develop an unexpected psychosis, there is something to be said for testing them for autoimmune antibodies. And something against. At the 36th Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) this week, the topic was worth a controversy session, where speakers presented the pros and cons of the approach. Currently used tests have a specificity of 99%. But as Ester Coutinho, consultant neurologist at the University of Coimbra, pointed out, the validity of diagnostic tests depends on the prevalence of the disorder one is looking for as well. Coutinho estimated that autoimmune psychoses account for 1% of psychoses overall.
Researchers from the Universities of Malaga and Cordoba (Spain) presented data from a study that aimed to identify matrisome regulator miRNAs in obesity and prediabetes that could represent novel noninvasive circulating biomarkers of adipose tissue (AT) fibrosis.
While glucocorticoids are used as first-line therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), these agents are associated with several adverse events, including accelerated bone loss and muscle atrophy. As a result, prolonged glucocorticoid treatment is one of the primary contributors to the high fracture rate in patients with DMD.
For most psychiatric illnesses, the precipitating event is mysterious. Many conditions are thought to result from a mix of genetic risk and environmental factors, but the specific trigger remains unknown. In post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the environmental trigger is usually clear. In many cases, it is all the affected individuals can think about. “Intrusive reliving” of the triggering situation is one of the core features of PTSD.
Epigenetic editing approach used the endogenous cellular mechanisms for regulating gene expression, leading to durable modulation of transcription without affecting the DNA sequence. Chroma Medicine Inc. scientists recently presented a novel epigenetic editing strategy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
A presentation given recently by Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. highlighted preclinical data for the company’s new anti-PD1-IL-2 BiSKIT (Bifunctional SuperKine for ImmunoTherapy) candidate, MDNA-223, being developed as a anticancer therapeutic candidate.
Researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center recently presented the discovery and preclinical evaluation of LLO-CD47, a novel protein-antibody conjugate linking anti-CD47 to Listeriolysin O (LLO), a pore-forming protein secreted by Listeria monocytogenes to escape lysosomes.
Researchers from Assembly Biosciences Inc. recently presented details on the discovery and preclinical evaluation of a novel small-molecule hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) entry inhibitor, AB-1659.
Researchers from Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC recently presented preclinical data for the novel unconjugated peptide vaccine LHNVD-201, which is being developed as a universal vaccine candidate for protection against different strains of influenza and COVID-19.
Previous research has shown high expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 1 (ACE1) in the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell line MDA-MB-231, suggesting the potential of ACE1 as a novel target for this disease. In the current study, researchers from Peking University Cancer Hospital presented the discovery of [68Ga]DOTA-BPP, a novel peptide nuclide molecular imaging probe targeting ACE1 for the imaging of TNBC.