Medical Bulletin 2/December/2022

Alzheimer's disease can remain undetected until it is too late to treat. Large-scale screening programs could help to detect early-stage disease, but current diagnostic methods are too cumbersome and expensive. Could a simple urine test reveal if someone has early-stage Alzheimer's disease and could this pave the way for large-scale screening programs?

A new study published to Frontiers is the first to identify formic acid as a sensitive urinary biomarker that can reveal early-stage Alzheimer's disease, potentially paving the way for inexpensive and convenient disease screening.

Reference:

Biomarker in urine could be the first to reveal early-stage Alzheimer's disease; Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2022.1046066.

Zika-exposed children may display neurodevelopmental differences

Children who are exposed to the Zika virus while in the womb, but who are not subsequently diagnosed with Zika-related birth defects and congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), may still display differences in some aspects of cognitive development, mood and mobility compared to unexposed children, reports a study published in Pediatric Research. These findings suggest that Zika-exposed children may need some additional support and monitoring as they get older.

There are still many unanswered questions about the long-term impacts of Zika on children exposed in utero. These findings are another piece of the puzzle that provides insight into the long-term neurodevelopment of children with prenatal Zika virus exposure.

Reference:

Zika-exposed children may display neurodevelopmental differences; JOURNAL- Pediatric Research.

New single-dose treatment for sleeping sickness could help eliminate transmission of the disease by 2030

Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), is a neglected tropical disease, which can be fatal if left untreated.

A new, single-dose, oral treatment for sleeping sickness is as effective as current treatments and could be a key factor in eliminating disease transmission by 2030, suggests a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study finds that a single oral dose of the drug acoziborole is 95% effective 18 months after treatment in treating sleeping sickness in adults and adolescents, regardless of disease stage.

During the study, they recruited patients from 10 hospitals. A single 960 mg oral dose of acoziborole was administered to 208 patients; 167 diagnosed with late-stage human African trypanosomiasis. The patients were followed up for 18 months to see if treatment was successful.

Reference:

THE LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES: New single-dose treatment for sleeping sickness could hel eliminate transmission of the disease by 2030