How Alcohol and Stress Were Studied Before Birth

In the study, pregnant rhesus monkeys were placed into different conditions. Some consumed moderate amounts of alcohol, some were exposed to mild stress, and others experienced both. When the offspring became adults, researchers examined changes in the brain’s dopamine system and measured how the animals consumed alcohol.

Both prenatal alcohol exposure and prenatal stress altered the dopamine system in the adult offspring. Monkeys exposed to alcohol before birth also drank alcohol more quickly as adults. Notably, measurements of the dopamine system taken before the animals had any alcohol were able to predict their later drinking behavior. These findings align with evidence from human studies of alcohol use disorder and suggest that certain brain differences may be present even before problematic drinking begins.

Brain Changes That Continue With Drinking

As the adult offspring consumed alcohol, researchers observed additional changes in the dopamine system. These changes influenced how much alcohol each individual drank and differed from one animal to another. The research team suggests that these individualized brain responses to alcohol may help drive the shift from typical drinking patterns to alcohol use disorder in some individuals.

Implications for Pregnancy and Human Health

According to the researchers, the findings reinforce the message that drinking during pregnancy is not advisable, linking prenatal alcohol exposure to unhealthy drinking patterns later in life. While the study did not find a direct association between prenatal stress and adult drinking behavior, the authors note that prenatal stress may still affect other behaviors not examined in this work.

The researchers also emphasize that their experimental design closely reflects how prenatal alcohol exposure and stress occur in humans. This strengthens the clinical relevance of the findings and helps bridge the gap between animal research and human health outcomes

The study, published in Nature Chemical Biology, shows that an antibody created in the laboratory was able to eliminate a normally fatal bacterial infection in mice. It works by binding to a distinctive bacterial sugar and alerting the immune system to destroy the invading pathogen.

The project was co led by Professor Richard Payne of the University of Sydney, working with Professor Ethan Goddard Borger at WEHI and Associate Professor Nichollas Scott from the University of Melbourne and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

Professor Payne is also set to lead the newly announced Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Advanced Peptide and Protein Engineering. This center will build on discoveries like this one to speed the transition from basic research to applications in biotechnology, agriculture, and conservation.

“This study shows what’s possible when we combine chemical synthesis with biochemistry, immunology, microbiology and infection biology,” Professor Payne said. “By precisely building these bacterial sugars in the lab with synthetic chemistry, we were able to understand their shape at the molecular level and develop antibodies that bind them with high specificity. That opens the door to new ways of treating some devastating drug-resistant bacterial infections.”

Why a Bacterial Sugar Is a Unique Target

The antibody developed by the team targets a sugar molecule called pseudaminic acid. Although it resembles sugars found on human cells, this molecule is made only by bacteria. Many dangerous pathogens use it as a key part of their outer surface, helping them survive and evade immune defenses.

Because the human body does not produce this sugar, it offers a highly specific target for developing immunotherapies that avoid harming healthy cells.

Designing a Broad Acting Antibody

To take advantage of this weakness, the researchers first synthesized the bacterial sugar and sugar decorated peptides entirely from scratch. This work allowed them to determine the molecule’s exact three dimensional structure and how it appears on bacterial surfaces.

Using this detailed information, the team created what they describe as a “pan-specific” antibody. It can recognize the same sugar across many different bacterial species and strains.

In mouse infection studies, the antibody successfully cleared multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. This bacterium is a well known cause of hospital acquired pneumonia and bloodstream infections and is especially difficult to treat.

“Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is a critical threat faced in modern healthcare facilities across the globe,” Professor Goddard-Borger said. “It is not uncommon for infections to resist even last-line antibiotics. Our work serves as a powerful proof-of-concept experiment that opens the door to the development of new life-saving passive immunotherapies.”

How Passive Immunotherapy Could Protect Patients

Passive immunotherapy involves giving patients ready made antibodies to quickly control an infection, rather than waiting for the body’s adaptive immune system to respond. This approach can be used both to treat active infections and to prevent them.

In hospital settings, it could be used to protect vulnerable patients in intensive care units who are at high risk from drug resistant bacteria.

Associate Professor Scott noted that the antibodies also offer an important new way to study how bacteria cause disease.

“These sugars are central to bacterial virulence, but they’ve been very hard to study,” he said. “Having antibodies that can selectively recognise them lets us map where they appear and how they change across different pathogens. That knowledge feeds directly into better diagnostics and therapies.”

Moving Toward Clinical Use

Over the next five years, the team plans to turn these findings into antibody treatments ready for use in the clinic, with a focus on multidrug resistant A. baumannii. Achieving this goal would remove one of the most dangerous members of the ESKAPE pathogens and mark a significant step forward in the global effort to fight antimicrobial resistance.

“This is exactly the kind of breakthrough the new ARC Centre of Excellence is designed to enable,” Professor Payne said. “Our goal is to turn fundamental molecular insight into real-world solutions that protect the most vulnerable people in our healthcare system.”

The authors declare no competing interests. Funding was received from the National Health and Medical Research Council; Australian Research Council; National Institutes of Health; the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research; Victorian State Government. Researchers acknowledge support of the Melbourne Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute.

All animal handling and procedures were conducted in compliance with the University of Melbourne guidelines and approved by the University of Melbourne Animal Ethics Committee (application ID 29017).

A study led by researchers at the University of Bristol, with contributions from leading US nutrition experts, found that participants who ate only unprocessed foods consumed more than 50 percent more food by weight than those eating only UPFs (ultra-processed food). Even so, their daily calorie intake was about 330 calories lower on average.

A Built-In Ability to Balance Nutrition and Energy

Published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the findings offer new insight into how people make food decisions. The results support the idea that humans may possess a built-in “nutritional intelligence” that helps guide balanced eating. This instinct appears to function best when foods are eaten in their natural form and may be disrupted by modern fast food environments.

Lead author Jeff Brunstrom, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, said: “It’s exciting to see when people are offered unprocessed options they intuitively select foods that balance enjoyment, nutrition, and a sense of fullness, while still reducing overall energy intake. Our dietary choices aren’t random — in fact we seem to make much smarter decisions than previously assumed, when foods are presented in their natural state.”

Reexamining a Landmark Processed Food Trial

The research involved a fresh analysis of data from a landmark clinical trial led by Dr. Kevin Hall, a longtime researcher at the US National Institutes of Health. That original study showed that diets made up entirely of ultra-processed foods lead to overeating and weight gain. The new analysis took a closer look at why people eating only whole foods consumed much larger portions of certain foods while still taking in fewer total calories.

Participants on the unprocessed diet consistently filled their meals with fruits and vegetables, sometimes eating several hundred grams at a time. They tended to avoid more calorie-dense choices such as steak, pasta, and cream. As a result, people eating whole foods consumed 57 percent more food by weight overall.

Fruits and Vegetables Fill Nutrient Gaps

Researchers also evaluated how nutritious the diets were. They found that the variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables provided essential vitamins and minerals that would have been missing if participants had relied only on higher calorie whole foods.

Study co-author Mark Schatzker, author of The Dorrito Effect and The End of Craving, explained: “Had participants eaten only the calorie-rich foods, our findings showed they would have fallen short on several essential vitamins and minerals and eventually developed micronutrient insufficiencies. Those micronutrient gaps were filled by lower calorie fruits and vegetables.”

The researchers believe this behavior reflects a process they call “micronutrient deleveraging.” In simple terms, people appear to prioritize foods rich in vitamins and minerals, such as fruits and vegetables, even if that means eating fewer energy-dense options.

Why Ultra-Processed Foods Change the Equation

Ultra-processed foods produced a very different outcome. While they are often described as providing “empty calories,” the study found they can meet micronutrient needs, largely because of vitamin fortification. For example, calorie-rich foods like French toast sticks and pancakes turned out to be among the top sources of vitamin A. On the unprocessed diet, vitamin A mostly came from carrots and spinach, which provide far fewer calories.

Study co-author Dr. Annika Flynn, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, said: “This raises the alarming possibility that UPFs deliver both high energy and micronutrients in one hit, which could result in calorie overload, because they effectively kill the beneficial trade-off between calories and micronutrients.”

She added that whole foods restore that balance by encouraging competition between nutrient-rich, lower calorie foods and higher energy options. This helps steer people toward fruits and vegetables rather than foods like pasta and meat.

Processed Foods and Modern Eating Behavior

The findings offer further insight into how widespread consumption of highly processed foods may influence behavior and decision making. According to the researchers, overeating itself may not be the main problem.

Prof Brunstrom said: “Overeating is not necessarily the core problem. Indeed, our research clearly demonstrated consumers on a wholefood diet actually ate far more than those on a processed food one. But the nutritional make-up of food is influencing choices and it seems that UPFs are nudging people towards higher calorie options, which even in much lower quantities are likely to result in excess energy intake and in turn fuel obesity.”

Small Changes Can Shape Healthier Choices

Related research from the University of Bristol has shown that even small adjustments can influence decisions. In a separate study, simply changing the order of healthier, more environmentally friendly meals on a weekly menu led more diners to choose them.

The research was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (Bristol BRC).