Medical Bulletin 1/August/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

Novel vaccine may hold key to prevent or reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease now accounts for 50% to 70% of dementia patients worldwide. The current study’s novel vaccine test in mice points to a potential way to prevent or modify the disease.

A novel vaccine that targets inflamed brain cells associated with Alzheimer’s disease may hold the key to potentially preventing or modifying the course of the disease, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting is in Boston, July 31–Aug. 3, 2023, and offers the latest research on innovations and discovery in cardiovascular science.

Reference: Novel vaccine may hold key to prevent or reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s disease; AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

Can heat wave affect glycemic control in type 1 diabetes patients?    

A recent study published in Science of The Total Environment has shed light on the effect of heat waves on glycemic control among adult patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

The researchers found that adults with type 1 diabetes had better glycemic control during the historic Spanish heatwave (July 2022) compared to the following period. They revealed a decrease in the time in range (between 70 mg/dL and 180 mg/dL of interstitial glucose) by 4%, from 60.8% during the heat wave to 54.8% after.

Reference: Moreno-Fernandez, J., Sastre, J., Herranz, S., Pinés, P., Gomez, F. J., Quiroga, I., Moya, A. J., Gonzalvo, C., Miralles, R., Calderon-Vicente, D., Palma, M., Gargallo, J., & Muñoz-Rodriguez, J. (2023). Effect of the historic Spanish heatwave over glycemic control in adult patients with type 1 diabetes. Science of The Total Environment, 889, 164045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164045

A new noninvasive test could detect malaria without blood sample

The researchers at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and CytoAstra, LLC are developing a novel platform technology known as a cytophone that detects malaria infection in blood cells using ultrasound and lasers. This provides a new noninvasive test for malaria that doesn't require a blood sample.

Researchers developing the platform believe it could provide more sensitive and reliable testing results compared to the more traditional blood tests for malaria, which require a blood sample and tend to detect malaria only at higher parasite burdens, hindering effective detection and treatment.

For malaria, the cytophone technology uses lasers at specific wavelengths focused on superficial blood vessels. When the parasites that cause malaria infection enter red blood cells, they use the hemoglobin inside those cells to liberate amino acids. A byproduct of this process is the release of hemozoin, a compound containing iron. When hit by a laser, hemozoin absorbs more of the laser’s energy than hemoglobin, meaning cells infected with malaria parasites absorb more than noninfected cells.

Reference: Jawad, H.J., Yadem, A.C., Menyaev, Y.A. et al. Towards rainbow portable Cytophone with laser diodes for global disease diagnostics. Sci Rep 12, 8671 (2022).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11452-w