Medical Bulletin 24/Jun/2025

Here are the top medical news for the day:

New HIV Vaccine May Trigger Strong Immune Response in One Shot

New Delhi: A new study published in Science Translational Medicine reveals that researchers from MIT and the Scripps Research Institute have developed a potent single-dose HIV vaccine that triggers a strong and diverse immune response. The key lies in combining two powerful adjuvants- alum and a saponin-based nanoparticle- leading to long-lasting antigen exposure and significantly increased antibody production in mice.

Vaccines often include adjuvants, compounds that boost the immune system’s response to an antigen. Aluminum hydroxide, or alum, is commonly used in approved vaccines for hepatitis, while saponin-based adjuvants, like the SMNP nanoparticle developed by co-author Darrell Irvine, have shown enhanced efficacy in HIV vaccine trials. This study combined both alum and SMNP in a novel approach to understand how they jointly amplify the immune system’s response.

In their experiments, the researchers anchored dozens of HIV antigens (specifically MD39 proteins) onto alum particles, which were then paired with SMNP and injected into mice. They discovered that the dual-adjuvant formulation allowed the antigen to accumulate in the lymph nodes—where B cells mature and adapt—for up to 28 days, significantly longer than with single-adjuvant formulations. “As a result, the B cells that are cycling in the lymph nodes are constantly being exposed to the antigen over that time period, and they get the chance to refine their solution to the antigen,” said MIT’s J. Christopher Love.

Analysis of the B cells revealed a two- to threefold increase in antibody diversity in mice receiving the dual-adjuvant vaccine. This diversity is crucial in the fight against HIV, as broadly neutralizing antibodies are needed to protect against its many strains.

According to Love, "What's potentially powerful about this approach is that you can achieve long-term exposures based on a combination of adjuvants that are already reasonably well-understood, so it doesn't require a different technology. It's just combining features of these adjuvants to enable low-dose or potentially even single-dose treatments," The findings open the door to potent, single-dose vaccines not just for HIV but also for other infectious diseases like influenza and SARS-CoV-2.

Reference: Kristen A. Rodrigues, Yiming J. Zhang, Jonathan Lam, Aereas Aung, Duncan M. Morgan, Anna Romanov, Laura Maiorino, Parisa Yousefpour, Grace Gibson, Gabriel Ozorowski, Justin R. Gregory, Parastoo Amlashi, Richard Van, Maureen Buckley, Andrew B. Ward, William R. Schief, J. Christopher Love, Darrell J. Irvine. Vaccines combining slow release and follicle targeting of antigens increase germinal center B cell diversity and clonal expansion. Science Translational Medicine, 2025; 17 (803) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adw7499

Diabetes Drug Cuts Migraine Days by Over Half: Study Finds

GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide, typically prescribed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, significantly reduced monthly migraine days and improved quality of life in patients according to a study presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2025 and soon to be published in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

Migraines affect roughly one in seven people worldwide, often with debilitating impact. In this small pilot study, researchers from the Headache Center at the University of Naples "Federico II" administered liraglutide to 26 adults living with both obesity and chronic migraine (defined as 15 or more headache days per month). Over a 12-week period, participants experienced an average reduction of 11 headache days per month. The Migraine Disability Assessment Test scores also dropped by 35 points, reflecting a meaningful improvement in daily functioning.

Patients were carefully screened to exclude conditions like idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), ensuring the results were specific to migraine mechanisms. “Most patients felt better within the first two weeks and reported quality of life improved significantly,” said lead researcher Dr. Simone Braca. “The benefit lasted for the full three-month observation period, even though weight loss was modest and statistically non-significant.”

Although liraglutide is known to reduce body weight, researchers confirmed that its effect on migraines was independent of weight loss. Instead, the team hypothesized that the medication’s ability to modulate cerebrospinal fluid pressure could be key. “We think that, by modulating cerebrospinal fluid pressure and reducing intracranial venous sinuses compression, these drugs produce a decrease in the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a key migraine-promoting peptide,” Dr. Braca explained.

Mild side effects such as nausea and constipation were reported in 38% of participants but did not lead to discontinuation.

Reference: https://www.ean.org/congress2025

Self-Esteem May Double Within a Year After Bariatric Surgery

Self-esteem scores more than doubled within one year of weight-loss surgery, according to a new study presented at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting and set to be published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. The findings highlight a significant psychological benefit of bariatric surgery beyond physical health improvements.

Researchers from Geisinger Medical Center analyzed the experiences of 5,749 adults who underwent metabolic and bariatric surgery between 2006 and 2019. All patients were 18 or older with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher. To assess changes in psychological well-being, patients completed the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL) survey both before and one year after surgery. The results revealed that self-esteem scores surged from an average of 33.6 to 77.5 on a 100-point scale—a more than 40-point gain.

The increase in self-esteem was strongly linked to the amount of weight lost, and held true across all demographics, including gender, age, race, and the specific type of bariatric procedure. The data suggest that greater weight loss contributes directly to greater improvements in self-worth and perceived quality of life.

"Understanding weight stigma and psychosocial factors associated with obesity is essential to offering holistic care. While these factors should not dictate the decision to have bariatric surgery, they should be an important part of the conversation," said study co-author Justin Dhyani, MD, from Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania.

Weight stigma remains a persistent issue, affecting between 19% and 42% of adults with obesity. It is linked to a range of negative mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and low self-esteem.

These findings support the growing recognition of the mental health benefits of bariatric surgery and underscore the importance of addressing stigma in obesity care.

Reference: https://asmbs.org/news_releases/new-study-finds-self-esteem-surges-within-one-year-of-weight-loss-surgery/