Medical Bulletin 12/January/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Algae product may enhance skin regeneration and wound healing: Study

A product of a freshwater single-celled green algae called Euglena gracilis may enhance skin regeneration to speed up wound healing, according to new research published in Advanced Materials Interfaces.

Euglena gracilis, an adaptable phototrophic protist, has recently become a fascinating prospect for research that is driven by applications and for commercialization. Protein, unsaturated fatty acids, wax esters, a special -1,3-glucan termed paramylon, and other important substances are produced by this photosynthetic protist.

Reference:

Nonanimal Euglena gracilis-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Enhance Skin-Regenerative Wound Healing,Advanced Materials Interfaces,doi 10.1002/admi.202202255

Experimental T-cell therapy shows promise against six viral infections common after stem cell transplants

Posoleucel, an investigational allogeneic off-the-shelf T-cell therapy that simultaneously targets six different viruses, demonstrated promising antiviral efficacy and safety in a phase II study of patients who had undergone stem cell transplantation to treat their cancer or other blood diseases.

In this trial the researchers evaluated the safety and efficacy of posoleucel. The trial enrolled 58 adult and pediatric patients who had undergone allo-SCT to treat cancers or other diseases of the blood and had infections of at least one of the six viruses that posoleucel is designed to target. Eligible patients were either unresponsive to or unable to tolerate standard therapies for these viruses. In total, there were 70 viral infections in the trial population, the majority of which were CMV and BK virus infections.

Reference:

Bilal Omer et al,Posoleucel, an Allogeneic, Off-the-Shelf Multivirus-Specific T-Cell Therapy, for the Treatment of Refractory Viral Infections in the Post-HCT Setting,Clinical Cancer Research,doi 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-2415

Combination drug therapy apparently safe for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a serious illness that is characterised by a person's compulsive use of opioid medicines despite wanting to stop or when doing so has a detrimental impact on their physical or mental health.

Current guidelines recommend that pregnant women with opioid use disorder be prescribed either methadone or buprenorphine, but these drugs too have significant potential for abuse. A recent study published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica indicates that combination therapy of buprenorphine and naloxone-which is known help to prevent such abuse-is as safe as buprenorphine alone during pregnancy for both mother and newborn.

Reference:

Minna M. Kanervo et al,Buprenorphine-naloxone, buprenorphine, and methadone throughout pregnancy in maternal opioid use disorder,Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica,doi10.1111/aogs.14497

Successfully trial of artificial pancreas for use by type 2 diabetes patients

Cambridge scientists have successfully trialled an artificial pancreas for use by patients living with type 2 diabetes. The device - powered by an algorithm developed at the University of Cambridge - doubled the amount of time patients were in the target range for glucose compared to standard treatment and halved the time spent experiencing high glucose levels.

Around 415 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with type 2 diabetes, which costs around $760 billion in annual global health expenditure. According to Diabetes UK, in the UK alone, more than 4.9million people have diabetes, of whom 90% have type 2 diabetes, and this is estimated to cost the NHS £10bn per year.

Reference:

Daly, AB, Boughton, CK, et al. Fully automated closed-loop insulin delivery in adults with type 2 diabetes: an open-label, single-centre randomised crossover trial. Nat Med; 11 Jan 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-02144-z