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Health24.com | How curbing a skin oil might help curb acne
Acne is the bane of many teens, and even some adults. Now, researchers say they might have hit on a new approach to easing the condition.
The key lies in a naturally produced skin oil called sebum, explained a research team led by William Esler, a researcher with drug giant Pfizer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A bump under the skin
Sebum is important to the skin’s health because it helps regulate temperature and repel microbes, the team said. But an excess of sebum production has also long been thought to be a contributor to acne.
“Too much sebum can get trapped in glands, which cause it to swell and cause a bump under the skin,” explained Dr Raman Madan, a dermatologist with Northwell Health’s Huntington Hospital in Huntington, New York.
So, it stands to reason that identifying “a target to decrease sebum production would be a novel approach to treating acne,” said Madan, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
The research involved a microscopic examination of the skin of 22 healthy volunteers. Esler’s team discovered that skin sebum production relies on a specific molecular mechanism known as the de novo lipogenesis (DNL) pathway.
Most sebum was found to be produced by cells called sebocytes, which secreted the oil based on the ebb and flow of the DNL pathway, the researchers explained.
Sebum production cut in half
But nine people with acne showed one major difference: Compared to people with normal skin, they had a 20% higher rate of sebum production and a related rise in fluctuations of the DNL pathway, the findings showed.
Going a step further, Esler’s group designed a compound that targeted an enzyme involved in the pathway. In healthy volunteers, application of the treatment cut sebum production by nearly half, according to the report published in Science Translational Medicine.
Of course, these experiments are early and it remains to be seen if such a compound might curb sebum – and acne – in a larger, more rigorous trial.
In the meantime, Madan said that the approach “has potential”. But he cautioned that “this may be a treatment for acne, but not a cure, because the cause of acne is more than just sebum production. It has potential to be an addition to current treatments.”
Dr Michele Green is a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She agreed that the findings “may offer promise to patients suffering with acne vulgaris”.
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Health24.com | Mediterranean diet has big benefits for expectant moms
Could following a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy help head off gestational diabetes and excess weight gain?
A British study says the answer is yes.
Lower weight gain
But the researchers added that the eating regimen – which is high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and olive oil – does not reduce the overall risk of complications for mother and baby.
The new study included over 1 200 pregnant women at five maternity units in London and Birmingham, England.
Women who ate a Mediterranean-style diet – including 30g of mixed nuts per day and extra-virgin olive oil – had a 35% lower risk for developing diabetes in pregnancy (“gestational diabetes”) and gained 1.25kg less, on average, than others.
The findings suggest that a Mediterranean-style diet could benefit women who are obese, or who have high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol (lipid) levels before conceiving, according to the authors. The study was published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Less animal fat and sugar
“This is the first study to show that pregnant women at high risk of complications may benefit from a Mediterranean-style diet to reduce their weight gain and risk of gestational diabetes,” said study author Shakila Thangaratinam. She is a professor of maternal and perinatal health at Queen Mary University of London.
Thangaratinam said in a university news release that women who are at risk of gestational diabetes should be encouraged to adopt a healthier diet early in pregnancy. Specifically, they should eat more nuts, olive oil, fruit and unrefined grains, she said, while limiting animal fats and sugar.
Study co-author Dr Bassel Wattar said it had been unclear how a Mediterranean-style diet would affect high-risk pregnant women and whether it could be adapted for an ethnically diverse population. He’s a lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Queen Mary and the University of Warwick.
“Now we know that pregnant women from an inner city, high-risk, multi-ethnic population are able to adapt their diet to a Mediterranean-style, and that this can bring them important benefits including a reduction in weight gain and a lower risk of developing gestational diabetes,” Wattar said in the news release.
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Health24.com | Weather emergency warnings? Don’t forget the emergency planning for your pets too
Your beloved pets need to be part of any plan you craft for emergencies, such as hurricanes or floods.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says you should stock at least one week’s supply of food and fresh water for your pet. If your pet takes medication, stock a one-week supply of that, too.
Have photos of your pet
Have copies of your pet’s vaccination records and other medical records in your pet’s preparedness kit. If you have a pet insurance policy, be sure to include information about it.
The kit should also have photos of your pet in case you and your pet become separated, the agency noted.
If there is a warning about a weather emergency, bring your pet indoors as soon as possible. Remain indoors, preferably in a location with few or no windows, until you can confirm it’s safe. Take your emergency kit and disaster supplies with you if you switch locations.
If you have to evacuate, bring your pet with you. Ask your local emergency management agency which emergency shelters allow pets.
If you’re unable to take your pet with you when you evacuate, put a Rescue Alert Sticker on your home’s door to alert emergency crews that your pet is inside.
A major disruption
If you have large animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, goats or pigs, make sure they all have some form of identification, according to the FDA. Map out primary and secondary evacuation routes beforehand and identify the vehicles or trailers required to transport and support each type of animal.
Make sure that your emergency destination has food and water, and access to veterinary care and handling equipment.
If you need to evacuate and cannot take your large animals, you’ll have to determine how and where to move them to shelter or if it’s better to turn them outside, the FDA said in a news release.
Previously well-behaved pets may become aggressive or defensive after a major disruption in their lives and may not return to normal for several weeks. Monitor your pet and give them plenty of time to rest.
If your pet remains extremely anxious or has other behavioural or health problems, contact your veterinarian, the FDA advised.
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Dame Barbara Windsor urges Johnson to ‘sort out’ dementia care
The ex-EastEnders star has Alzheimer’s and says her “heart goes out” to those struggling to get care.
Prenatal parental stress linked to behaviour problems in toddlers
Expectant parents’ emotional struggles predict emotional and behavioural problems in 2-year-olds, new research shows. The same study reveals, for the first time, that couple conflict helps explain emotional problems in very young children.
The team of researchers — from the Universities of Cambridge, Birmingham, New York and Leiden — say their findings highlight a pressing need for greater support for couples before, during and after pregnancy to improve outcomes for children. The study is the first to examine the influence of both mothers’ and fathers’ wellbeing before and after birth on children’s adjustment at 14 and 24 months of age.
Lead author, Professor Claire Hughes from Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research, said: “For too long, the experiences of first-time dads has either been side-lined or treated in isolation from that of mums. This needs to change because difficulties in children’s early relationships with both mothers and fathers can have long-term effects.
“We have already shared our findings with the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) and we encourage the NHS and other organisations to reconsider the support they offer.”
The study, published today in Development & Psychopathology, drew on the experiences of 438 first-time expectant mothers and fathers who were followed up at 4, 14 and 24 months after birth. These parents were recruited in the East of England, New York State and the Netherlands.
The researchers found that the prenatal wellbeing of first-time mothers had a direct impact on the behaviour of their children by the time they were two years old. Mothers who suffered from stress and anxiety in the prenatal period were more likely to see their child display behavioural problems such as temper tantrums, restlessness and spitefulness.
The researchers also found that two-year-olds were more likely to exhibit emotional problems — including being worried, unhappy and tearful; scaring easily; or being clingy in new situations — if their parents had been having early postnatal relationship problems. These ranged from a general lack of happiness in the relationship to rows and other kinds of conflict.
Hughes says: “Our findings highlight the need for earlier and more effective support for couples to prepare them better for the transition to parenthood.”
Links between child outcomes and parental wellbeing have been shown in other studies, but this is the first to involve couples, track parental wellbeing in both parents over an extended period of time, and focus on child behaviour in the first two years of life. While there is growing evidence for the importance of mental health support for expectant and new mothers, this study highlights the need to extend this support to expectant fathers and to go beyond individual well-being to consider the quality of new mothers’ and fathers’ couple relationships.
The researchers acknowledge that genetic factors are likely to play a role but they accounted for parents’ mental health difficulties prior to their first pregnancy and after their child’s birth. Co-author Dr Rory Devine, a developmental psychologist at the University of Birmingham, says “Our data demonstrate that mental health problems during pregnancy have a unique impact on children’s behaviour problems.”
Using standardized questionnaires and in-person interviews, participating mothers and fathers reported on their symptoms of anxiety and depression in the third trimester of pregnancy and when their child was 4, 14 and 24 months old. At each of these visits, parents also completed standardized questionnaire measures of couple relationship quality and children’s emotions and behaviour.
Hughes says: “There has been an assumption that it’s really difficult to get dads involved in research like this. But our study draws on a relatively large sample and is unique because both parents answered the same questions at every stage, which enabled us to make direct comparisons.”
The research is part of an ongoing project examining the wellbeing and influence of new mothers and fathers. In a closely linked study, published in Archives of Women’s Mental Health in July 2019, the team found that fathers share in traumatic memories of birth with their partners far more than has previously been recognised. This study compared the wellbeing of parents in the third trimester of pregnancy with that when their child was four months old.
Co-author, Dr Sarah Foley, also from Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research said: “If mum has a difficult birth, that can be a potentially traumatic experience for dads.”
“What both studies show is that we need to make antenatal support much more inclusive and give first-time mums and dads the tools they need to communicate with each other and better prepare them for this major transition. With resources stretched, parents are missing out on the support they need.”
Urban sprawl creates food deserts
Urban sprawl has led to the creation of food deserts in metropolitan areas across the United States, according to a published study by a researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington.
Shima Hamidi, director of UTA’s Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars, published “Urban sprawl and the emergence of food deserts in the USA” in Urban Studies Journal.
“We believe the analysis is one of the first national attempts to account for urban sprawl and other built-environment and socioeconomic characteristics of a neighborhood,” Hamidi said. “This study found that, in addition to socioeconomic characteristics, urban sprawl at both neighborhood and regional levels increases the likelihood of a neighborhood becoming or having a food desert.
“More compact neighborhoods are likely to support a greater number of grocery stores and have healthy food stores in close proximity.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as a low-income area where a significant number of residents live more than one mile in urban areas or more than 10 miles in rural areas from a supermarket, big-box supercenter or other healthy grocery store. About 20% of residents in Dallas and Tarrant counties live in food deserts with no access to healthy food options.
Hamidi said the study reveals that increasing the housing density increases the chances of a neighborhood landing stores that provide good, healthy food. More compact regions reduce racial and income segregation, thus allowing for a greater opportunity of stores offering healthy food to enter the community.
Her research shows that while financial incentives might prove effective in the short term, more systematic, longer-range solutions — such as increasing housing density, making communities more walkable and allowing a diversity of land uses — are far more beneficial to a neighborhood in luring a supermarket.
Duane Dimos, UTA vice president for research, said Hamidi’s study reflects UTA’s focus on Sustainable Urban Communities, one of the themes of the University’s Strategic Plan 2020.
“Urban sprawl is not unique to Dallas — it exists throughout the nation,” Dimos said. “Many U.S. metropolitan areas suffer from the maladies associated with it. We have an opportunity through Dr. Hamidi’s research to combat urban sprawl with techniques that translate to many, many metropolitan areas. Being smarter and thinking outside the box will serve us well in building and rebuilding America’s urban areas.”
In another published study, Hamidi linked urban sprawl to decreased life expectancy. And in The Costs of Sprawl, a book she wrote in 2017, Hamidi shows how sprawl affects health and other quality-of-life outcomes.
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Materials provided by University of Texas at Arlington. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Targeting DNA sequencing for plant biodiversity research
Third-generation sequencing (TGS) technologies like the portable MinION sequencer promise to revolutionize biology, but getting there will require tweaking techniques. Particularly, the low output delivered by TGS sequencers means that targeted sequencing approaches will have to be developed to assure proper sequencing coverage of regions of interest. In research presented in a recent issue of Applications in Plant Sciences, Dr. Thomas Couvreur and colleagues developed a new protocol to capture and sequence longer segments of plastome DNA in plants.
“New sequencing technologies like the MinION can play a pivotal role in accelerating biodiversity discovery and understanding its functioning and evolution, especially in the tropics. This is because sequencing is becoming more portable and easy to do,” said Dr. Couvreur, corresponding author on the article and Director of Research at the French National Institute for Research for Sustainable Development (IRD) in Montpellier, France. “We were thus interested in improving our lab protocols to better integrate these technologies for biodiversity research.”
In particular, Dr. Couvreur and colleagues were interested in capturing and sequencing long fragments of chloroplast DNA using a technique called targeted sequencing, which had never been used for long DNA fragments in plants. They designed probes to capture these long sequences and tested the protocol in six monocots — three grasses and three palms. Dr. Couvreur describes the targeted capture as “a bit like fishing. We basically hook the DNA we are interested in and then sequence it.”
Targeted sequencing combined with TGS technology could improve genome assembly, or the computational stitching together of many sequenced DNA fragments into larger continuous blocks. The short reads produced by older sequencing technologies, typically 100-400 base pairs long, make bioinformatic assembly of certain genomic regions like repetitive sequences very difficult. Third-generation sequencing technologies such as the portable MinION produce longer reads that could help produce these assemblies. However, these sequencers generally have lower data output than older sequencing technologies. Therefore, to efficiently sequence regions of interest, these regions must be enriched through methods like targeted capture and sequencing.
“Longer fragments makes assembling genomes easier. One can compare this to a puzzle with 1000 small pieces (short reads) versus 10 large pieces,” explained Dr. Couvreur. “Our research question was simple: can we capture long DNA fragments for targeted sequencing?” The team did succeed in capturing long fragments of plastome DNA. The median fragment length was 3151 base pairs long on average across trials, much longer than the ~400 base pair fragments delivered by older sequencing technologies.
“This method can be used to assemble plastomes, or at least significantly improve assembly,” said Dr. Couvreur. “Our protocol will be particularly useful for non-model plant species, for which we have little or no prior data on the plastome.” This can help in phylogenetic and other analyses of non-model plants, which represent the vast majority of plant biodiversity.
“The field of targeted sequencing is changing quickly, and improved protocols will no doubt enhance plastome assembly,” concluded Dr. Couvreur. “For now, we show that capturing and subsequently sequencing long DNA fragments is possible, which is a first step.”
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Materials provided by Botanical Society of America. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Health24.com | Researchers reveal more clues to the genetics behind an inherited cholesterol disorder
High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, but not all forms of it are the same. An underdiagnosed genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia can cause dangerously high levels of cholesterol at an early age.
While scientists have determined FH is caused by genetic mutations that affect the body’s ability to remove LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, they haven’t pinned down all the genes involved for nearly one in three people who have FH.
But that may be beginning to change.
Cholesterol is vital
Scientists presented preliminary research at the American Heart Association’s Vascular Discovery conference in Boston showing more clues to the genetic roots of FH. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute researchers screened 19 114 genes and identified transgelin (TAGLN) as one of the genes of interest. Previous studies have found this gene could be associated in LDL metabolism.
When researchers disabled the TAGLN gene in cells, some cells tried to compensate.
“The cell tries to make more cholesterol because cholesterol is vital for the cell to survive,” said Diego Lucero, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the NHLBI. “Understanding this is important because it might have impacts on the magnitude of the clinical presentation of the disease.”
People with FH are exposed to chronically high levels of LDL from an early age, and their risk for premature heart disease is 20 times greater than the general population, according to the FH Foundation. Over time, the condition can lead to atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque and narrowing of artery walls. As a result, signs of heart disease can show up decades earlier in people with FH compared to the general population.
The condition affects approximately one in 250 US adults. Yet, it remains largely underdiagnosed and undertreated.
Diagnosed with a blood test
“Less than 10% of those who have (FH) have actually been diagnosed, which leads to a lot of premature morbidity and mortality,” said Dr Samuel Gidding, chief medical officer for the FH Foundation. Someone who carries the altered gene has a 50% chance of passing it on to their children.
Yet, the challenge is diagnosing FH. Health care providers may not understand the difference between general high cholesterol and FH and may not screen high-risk people, said Gidding, who was not involved in the new study.
FH can be diagnosed with a simple blood test and a reported family history of cardiovascular disease. Doctors look for LDL levels over 190 in adults and over 160 in children, and onset of heart disease before age 60 in men and before 50 in women. Genetic testing can confirm the diagnosis.
Once identified, there are effective ways to treat the condition, Gidding said. Early treatment with medications, as well as maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle, can lower the risk of premature heart attacks and strokes.
The new research and further work identifying new genes involved in the development of FH could lead to better diagnosis and treatment, Gidding said. “Anytime an individual gene like this could help explain variations in lipid level, it could be a drug target.”
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Hospitals in England set to receive £850m revealed
Twenty hospitals will receive funds, but a charity says the money risks being a “drop in the ocean”.
