Lifeboat Foundation

After statins, the next leading class of medications for managing cholesterol are PCSK9 inhibitors. These highly effective agents help the body pull excess cholesterol from the blood, but unlike statins, which are available as oral agents, PCSK9 inhibitors can only be administered as injections, creating barriers to their use.

Longevity. Technology: Having high cholesterol can increase the risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia, but a new study from investigators at University Hospitals (UH) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine details an orally administered small-molecule drug that reduces PCSK9 levels and lowers cholesterol in animal models by 70%. Published in Cell Reports, the findings represent a previously unrecognised strategy for managing cholesterol and may also impact cancer treatments.

Cardiovascular disease ranking as the world’s number one killer, so it’s no surprise that a significant amount of research into potential therapeutic options is ongoing; just last week we looked at Cyclarity’s rationally-designed cyclodextrin molecules that remove arterial plaque by clearing the non-degradable oxidised cholesterol and which can be used in conjunction with statins for a broad-spectrum approach. Our report into Cyclarity’s new platform comes out next week, so stay tuned!

Year 2020 Stroke victims could eventually get dmt infusions where they can recover quickly after a stroke.

N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous ligand of the Sigma 1 receptor (Sig-1R) with documented in vitro cytoprotective properties against hypoxia. Our aim was to demonstrate the in vivo neuroprotective effect of DMT following ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat brain.

Transient middle cerebral occlusion (MCAO) was induced for 60 min in male Wistar rats using the filament occlusion model under general anaesthesia. Before the removal of the filament the treatment group (n = 10) received an intra-peritoneal (IP) bolus of 1 mg/kg-body weight (bw) DMT dissolved in 1 ml 7% ethanol/saline vehicle, followed by a maintenance dose of 2 mg/Kg-bw/h delivered over 24 h via osmotic minipumps. Controls (n = 10) received a vehicle bolus only. A third group (n = 10) received a Sig-1R antagonist (BD1063, 1 mg/kg-bw bolus +2 mg/kg-bw/h maintenance) in parallel with the DMT. Lesion volume was measured by MRI 24 h following the MCAO. Shortly after imaging the animals were terminated, and the native brains and sera were removed. Four rats were perfusion fixed. Functional recovery was studied in two separate group of pre-trained animals (n = 8–8) using the staircase method for 30 days.

Research from the Babraham Institute has developed a method to “time jump” human skin cells by 30 years, turning back the aging clock for cells without losing their specialized function. Work by researchers in the Institute’s Epigenetics research program has been able to partly restore the function of older cells, as well as rejuvenating the molecular measures of biological age. The research is published today in the journal eLife, and while this topic is still at an early stage of exploration, it could revolutionize regenerative medicine.

What is regenerative medicine?

As we age, our cells’ ability to function declines and the genome accumulates marks of aging. Regenerative biology aims to repair or replace cells including old ones. One of the most important tools in regenerative biology is our ability to create “induced” stem cells. The process is a result of several steps, each erasing some of the marks that make cells specialized. In theory, these stem cells have the potential to become any cell type, but scientists aren’t yet able to reliably recreate the conditions to re-differentiate stem cells into all cell types.

Scientists have found a new drug treatment that can slow the progression of neurodegenerative disease in mice. The breakthrough research may offer fresh hope in tackling currently untreatable conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The study—led by researchers at the University of Glasgow’s new Advanced Research Center (ARC) and published today in Science Signaling —found that by using a novel drug, which selectively activates a brain protein called the M1-receptor, the lifespan of mice suffering from neurodegeneration could be extended. The M1-receptor is a key brain protein, involved in memory and learning in people, and is an important potential target for neurodegenerative disease treatment.

Continue reading “Drug treatment slows neurodegenerative disease in mice” »

Basically this is one of the cure all options for thousands of brain disorders.

Researchers in Portugal have discovered a new collaborative mechanism that unveils how neural stem cells sense injury and communicate for tissue repair, moving science closer to boosting neuron regeneration after brain damage.

Stroke and traumatic brain injury can permanently damage neurons and, depending on injury site, patients may experience long-term impairments of critical motor or cognitive functions. For this reason, the brain has a reserve of special cells—known as neural stem cells—that can partially activate after tissue damage.

Continue reading “Mind over matter: Scientists unlock regeneration mechanism for brain injury” »

Individuals suffering from severe depression may find relief from just a single dose of a synthetic version of psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms,” according to a new study published this week.

The findings, which were published Wednesday by The New England Journal of Medicine, come from a double-blind trial involving 233 “randomly assigned adults with treatment-resistant depression [who received] a single dose of a proprietary, synthetic formulation of psilocybin at a dose of 25 mg, 10 mg, or 1 mg (control), along with psychological support.”

“In this phase 2 trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, psilocybin at a single dose of 25 mg, but not 10 mg, reduced depression scores significantly more than a 1-mg dose over a period of 3 weeks but was associated with adverse effects,” the authors wrote in their conclusions, adding that “larger and longer trials, including comparison with existing treatments, are required to determine the efficacy and safety of psilocybin for this disorder.”

CHICAGO, Nov 29 (Reuters) — The first big breakthrough in 30 years of Alzheimer’s research is providing momentum for clinical trials of “cocktail” treatments targeting the two hallmark proteins associated with the mind-robbing disease, according to interviews with researchers and pharmaceutical executives.

Drugmakers Eisai Co Ltd (4523.T) and Biogen (BIIB.O)

Reported in September that their therapy lecanemab could slow progress of the disease by 27% over 18 months compared with a placebo [ read more.

‘This is the first drug that provides a real treatment option,’ says leading researcher Scientists are hailing a historic step in the fight against Alzheimer’s, after a drug was proven to slow the disease in long-awaited clinical trials. The breakthrough comes after decades of failed attempts to find a way to do so, and has prompted hope among experts that it could eventually pave the way for treatments which could ultimately lead to a cure.

Until recently, physicists widely believed that it was impossible to compress light below the so-called diffraction limit, except when utilizing metal nanoparticles, which also absorb light. As a result, it seemed to be impossible to compress light strongly in dielectric materials like silicon, which are essential for information technologies and had the significant advantage of not absorbing light. Interestingly, it was theoretically shown that the diffraction limit does not apply to dielectrics back in 2006. However, no one has been able to demonstrate this in the actual world due to the fact that it requires such complex nanotechnology that no one has yet been able to create the required dielectric nanostructures.

A research team from the Technical University of Denmark has created a device known as a “dielectric nanocavity” that successfully concentrates light in a volume 12 times smaller than the diffraction limit. The finding is groundbreaking in optical research and was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Nature Communications is a peer-reviewed, open access, multidisciplinary, scientific journal published by Nature Research. It covers the natural sciences, including physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, and earth sciences. It began publishing in 2010 and has editorial offices in London, Berlin, New York City, and Shanghai.