Every week there are numerous scientific studies published. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting ones.
Every week there are numerous scientific studies published. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting ones.
COVID-19 Vaccines and the Various Emerging Variants
In recent weeks, several new SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged that appear to be more infectious than the earlier version that came out of China. It is also possible that one or more of these strains may be more lethal than earlier strains. The growing concern is that the variants’ mutations are in areas of the spike protein where existing vaccines are targeted. The three primary variants are the U.K. variant, B.1.1.7, the South African variant, 501.V2, and most recently, a Brazilian variant, P.1.There is some evidence that the U.K. variant is 30% more lethal than the most common strain out of China, although it hasn’t been completely proven yet.
Moderna reported that its COVID-19 vaccine offers protection against variants of the virus that are being reported. Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine was probably just as effective against the variant strain of the virus, B.1.1.7, found in the U.K. The Moderna vaccine appears to be effective against the South African variant as well as the U.K. variant, but not as well—they stated that that the virus-fighting antibody titers were sixfold less for the South African variant. As a result, Moderna is working to design a booster vaccine that could be added to its two-dose regimen that would work against the South African variant. It’s not clear yet what regulatory approval for such a scheme would be. Meanwhile, Pfizer-BioNTech are evaluating their vaccine against the South African variant.
Moderna stated that it found “no significant impact on neutralizing titers against the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant relative to prior variants.”
Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against an engineered virus developed with three key mutations found in the South African variant. This was conducted in a laboratory test by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).
Although the data has not yet been peer-reviewed, it demonstrated a less than two-fold decrease in antibody titer levels. The bottom line is that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is likely effective in neutralizing the E484K and N501Y mutations found in the South African variant.
A study in the journal Science estimated that 76% of the population of Manaus, Brazil had already been infected, which should bring it close to herd immunity. But there are concerns that the P.1 variant is able to dodge the human immune system, although there isn’t much evidence to support that yet.
The Brazil variant “is probably the one causing the most concern among people watching this,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. “It is fair to say that P.1 is the object of very, very serious attention and concern among epidemiologists. We don’t know why it has been so successful in Man.”
Exercise Fights Chronic Inflammation
Inflammation is associated with a broad range of illnesses ranging from infections to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. It has long been known the benefits of exercise for health, and particularly in inflammatory disorders—which seems slightly contradictory to anyone who’s woken up stiff and sore after a hard workout. Researchers at Duke University demonstrated that human muscle has an innate ability to fight the damaging effects of chronic inflammation when exercised. They utilized lab-grown, engineered human muscle. They note that inflammation is not necessarily good or bad. When the body is injured, early, low levels of inflammation clear debris and assist in tissue rebuilding. But sometimes the immune system overreacts and creates an inflammatory response that causes its own damage.
One example is the cytokine storms associated with the most lethal cases of COVID-19. Others, such as rheumatoid arthritis and sarcopenia result in muscle’s inability to contract. They found that interferon gamma, in particular, was associated with muscle wasting and dysfunction. They discovered in their engineered muscle in a Petri dish that muscle alone can block interferon gamma’s damaging mechanisms. And they also confirmed that interferon gamma primarily worked through a specific signaling pathway.
DNA Repair Mechanism Fully Sequenced
Break-induced replication (BIR) is a method that living organisms ranging from viruses to humans use to repair DNA breaks. Mostly it is used for DNA breaks that can’t otherwise be repaired. But BIR itself can create other DNA damage that can lead to cancer. Researchers at the University of Iowa described the complete sequence for the first time. Previous methods were only able to describe the beginning and ending of the sequence.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” said Anna Malkova, professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Iowa, who led the study. “The basic ability to repair is a good thing, and some DNA breaks can’t be repaired by other methods. So, the idea is very good. But the outcomes can be bad.”
Malkova and her team described BIR’s sequence from beginning to end for the first time. They used a new technique in a yeast model to show the entire BIR repair cycle. What they found was that when BIR comes to the rescue, the cells can pay a very high price by introducing even more instability, which can lead to even higher mutations. They found several different mechanisms for this, including that when transcription is introduced at the beginning of the BIR process, the repairs don’t start right away, as if they are being suppressed. They also found that the orientation of the transcription with respect to BIR can affect the repair cycle, which might affect the stability of the repair process.
How Nanomedicines Interact with Biomolecules
Scientists led by Michigan State University researcher Morteza Mahmoudi developed a method to understand how nanomedicines interact with patients’ biomolecules. Nanomedicines are increasingly being used in diagnostics and therapies. The techniques allowed them to visualize importance differences between particles exposed to human plasma and the various biomolecules in it. The biomolecules attach to a nanoparticle, creating a coating called a corona (the Latin word for crown). The corona provides information about how the nanoparticles interact with the patient’s biology.
“For the first time, we can image the 3D structure of the particles coated with biomolecules at the nano level,” said Mahmoudi, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Radiology and the Precision Health Program. “This is a useful approach to get helpful and robust data for nanomedicines, to get the kind of data that can affect scientists’ decisions about the safety and efficacy of nanoparticles.”
Gut Microbiota Can Show Likelihood of Drug Therapies Working in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Investigators at the University of Helsinki found that the gut microbiota—the billions of microorganisms that live in the body—of patients with inflammatory gastrointestinal (GI) disorders can predict whether the patient will benefit from specific therapies. The study also confirmed the key role that therapies have a beneficial effect on the gut microbiota in these diseases. They evaluated a specific treatment, infliximab, a biological TNF-alpha blocker administered intravenously. The drug is an antibody that prevents TNF-alpha from binding with inflammatory cells in the intestine. But about 30 to 40% of patients either don’t respond to infliximab or lose their response over time. They evaluated whether gut microbiota could be used to identify whether infliximab therapy would work. They found that before treatment the gut microbiota of these patients was different than their control groups in terms of several bacterial and fungal genera, and those differences were linked to the therapy response. They found that the gut of non-responsive patients had fewer Clostridia anti-inflammatory bacteria and a higher number of pro-inflammatory bacteria and fungi such as Candida. The research was published in the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis.
“A test for predicting responses would help to choose drug therapies and avoid unnecessary drug use, which would reduce potential adverse effects and save on drug expenses in the healthcare system,” said postdoctoral researcher Eija Nissila.
