Investigators have identified five cases of so-called iatrogenic Alzheimer’s disease (AD), that is, AD that was acquired as a result of undergoing medical procedures. A team led by University College London scientists reported their findings online in Nature Medicine on Jan. 29, 2024.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have identified a proteomic signature that could recognize long COVID six months after acute infection. Biologically, the signature indicated that the complement system remained active in patients with long COVID six months after infection. Translationally, it could lead to a diagnostic test for long COVID, and suggests that targeting the complement system could be a therapeutic approach to prevent or treat the disorder.

Using interactions between viral peptides and human proteins as a starting point, researchers from Enyo Pharma Inc., the University of Lyon and other institutions were able to bootstrap themselves to a mitochondria-targeting small molecule that showed activity in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with chronic kidney disease.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have identified a proteomic signature that could recognize long COVID six months after acute infection. Biologically, the signature indicated that the complement system remained active in patients with long COVID six months after infection. Translationally, it could lead to a diagnostic test for long COVID, and suggests that targeting the complement system could be a therapeutic approach to prevent or treat the disorder.

Researchers have reported that the predictive abilities of a machine learning algorithm trained using best practices on a large clinical dataset did not generalize beyond the data that was used to train it. The algorithm was able to predict, to a degree, which individual patients would benefit from the medication when the patients were from the dataset the algorithm was trained on. But when it was supposed to predict who would benefit in clinical cohorts that were not part of the training, it performed no better than chance.

Researchers have reported that the predictive abilities of a machine learning algorithm trained using best practices on a large clinical dataset did not generalize beyond the data that was used to train it.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can be divided into five distinct subtypes based on protein expression levels measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The subtypes were associated with different genetic risk factors and are likely to benefit from different treatment approaches. Many clinicians, drug developers and the general public still “think of Alzheimer’s as a single disease entity, and that suggests that every patient needs to have the same medication,” Betty Tijms told BioWorld.

Kynexis BV recently launched with a series A of €57 million (US$62 million) and a lead asset, Kyn-5356, that targets the kynurenine pathway. The company is preparing for clinical trials that will test the compound for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia.

Modifying a patient’s DNA is no longer just for science fiction novels. The CRISPR gene editing technique developed by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier only took 10 years to reach the market as Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel/exa-cel, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.), treating congenital pathologies such as β-thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease. But science does not stop.

Researchers have identified a new class of antibiotics that works by blocking the transportation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii. The most advanced member of the class, zosurabalpin (RG-6006, Roche AG), was effective against multiple A. baumannii strains, including carbapenem-resistant and multidrug-resistant strains.