Medical Bulletin 14/February/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

MIT and Caltech engineers demonstrate Ingestible sensor that could help doctors pinpoint GI difficulties

GI motility disorders, which affect about 35 million Americans, can occur in any part of the digestive tract, resulting in failure of food to move through the tract. They are usually diagnosed using nuclear imaging studies or X-rays, or by inserting catheters containing pressure transducers that sense contractions of the GI tract.

Engineers at MIT and Caltech have demonstrated an ingestible sensor whose location can be monitored as it moves through the digestive tract, an advance that could help doctors more easily diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders such as constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and gastroparesis.

The tiny sensor works by detecting a magnetic field produced by an electromagnetic coil located outside the body. The strength of the field varies with distance from the coil, so the sensor’s position can be calculated based on its measurement of the magnetic field.

Reference:

Giovanni Traverso et al,Location-aware ingestible microdevices for wireless monitoring of gastrointestinal dynamics,Nature Electronics,doi 10.1038/s41928-023-00916-0

New target for treatment resistance after EGFR inhibitors found in lung cancer study

Approximately 10-15% of patients with NSCLC have EGFR mutations. While treatment with EGFR TKIs is effective at killing most cancer cells, a small number of drug-tolerant cells persist. These cells can remain dormant, even invisible, for long periods of time, but they eventually grow and metastasize.

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified CD70 as being highly expressed on drug-resistant cancer cells in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), highlighting a novel therapeutic target that could be used to eliminate resistant cells remaining after treatment with commonly used EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The study published today in Cancer Cell.

Reference:

Monique Nilsson et al,UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER,Cancer Cell

Mechanism behind CBD countering epileptic seizures revealed in new study

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study found that CBD blocked signals carried by a molecule called lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI). Found in brain cells called neurons, LPI is thought to amplify nerve signals as part of normal function, but can be hijacked by disease to promote seizures.

The study reveals a previously unknown way in which cannabidiol (CBD), a substance found in cannabis, reduces seizures in many treatment-resistant forms of pediatric epilepsy.

Published online February 13 in Neuron, the work confirmed a previous finding that CBD blocks the ability of LPI to amplify nerve signals in a brain region called the hippocampus. The current findings argue for the first time that LPI also weakens signals that counter seizures, further explaining the value of CBD treatment.

Reference:

Richard W. Tsien et al,Cannabidiol modulates excitatory-inhibitory ratio to counter hippocampal hyperactivity,Neuron,doi 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.01.018

Being exposed to wildfire smoke increases risk of going into labor prematurely: Study

Wildfire smoke is especially harmful to people’s health because it contains extremely fine particles that can enter deep into the lungs and may worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. These tiny particles can also travel hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles from the wildfire’s point of origin.

The detrimental effects of poor air quality on a person’s health are well documented. In pregnant people, research has shown that poor air quality, such as smog, can lead to a number of adverse outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB), one of the leading causes of infant mortality in the United States as well as globally. PTB is defined as delivery before the 37th week of pregnancy.

Reference:

Anne Waldrop et al,MEETING SMFM 43rd Annual Pregnancy Meeting