Medical Bulletin 27/May/2023

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Eating natto might help to distress

Health is wealth as the saying goes and new research now shows that it is possible to have a healthy, less stressed society through familiar and inexpensive foods. One such food might be the Japanese natto which is made from softened soybeans that have been boiled or steamed and fermented with a bacteria called Bacillus subtilis var. natto. Bacillus subtilis var. natto is found in soil, plants, animals, and the human stomach and intestines. Most of the natto consumed in Japan is made from the Miyagino strain.

A research group led by Professor Eriko Kage-Nakadai at the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, examined the effects of Bacillus subtilis var. natto consumption on the lifespan of the host using Caenorhabditis elegans worms.

Reference:

Impacts of Bacillus subtilis var. natto on the lifespan and stress resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans,Journal of Applied Microbiology,DOI 10.1093/jambio/lxad082

Plants eliminate cancer causing toxins from air

A ground-breaking study has revealed that plants can efficiently remove toxic gasoline fumes, including cancer causing compounds such as benzene, from indoor air. The researchers found that the Ambius small green wall, containing a mix of indoor plants, was highly effective at removing harmful, cancer-causing pollutants, with 97 per cent of the most toxic compounds removed from the surrounding air in just eight hours.

Ambius General Manager Johan Hodgson said the research presented new evidence into the critical role played by indoor plants and green walls in cleaning the air we breathe quickly and sustainably. This is the first study into the ability of plants to clean up gasoline vapors, which are one of the largest sources of toxic compounds in buildings worldwide.

Reference:

Johan Hodgson et al,UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY

Bacteria types vary widely in tumors of people with early vs. late-onset colorectal cancer

Researchers at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center studied the microbiome of people with colorectal cancer and found the make-up of the bacteria, fungi and viruses in a person’s tumor varied significantly depending on whether they were diagnosed with early-onset disease (age 45 or younger) or late-onset disease (age 65 or older).

To better understand the role of the microbiome and how its influence varies depending on a person’s age of onset of colorectal cancer, Weinberg and colleagues looked at the DNA and the microbiome of tumors from 36 patients with colorectal cancer who were diagnosed before age 45 as well as specimens from 27 people who were diagnosed after age 65.

Reference:

Comprehensive study of the intratumoral microbiome in early- vs. late-onset colorectal cancer: Final analysis of COSMO CRC.

Novel method tracking changes in blood vessels could advance brain disease detection

Teams of biomedical researchers led by Brown University scientists have been exploring for years whether devastating neurodegenerative diseases could be caught decades earlier - perhaps through something as simple as a routine eye exam instead of a battery of diagnostic tests.

The results begin to give biomedical researchers a tool to identify and study biomarkers in these blood vessels that may hold pivotal clues to early detection of progressive neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Reference:

Near-lifespan longitudinal tracking of brain microvascular morphology, topology, and flow in male mice,Nature Communications,DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-38609-z