In our morning rounds, a new approach to fight multiple sclerosis — a disease where the body attacks its central nervous system. MS affects about 400,000 people in the United States. It is two to three times more common among women. Current treatments may have severe side effects, and there is no cure. Dr. Tara Narula joins “CBS This Morning” to discuss a cutting edge but low-tech attempt to slow the symptoms.
New research suggests coaching overweight or obese pregnant women to improve their ability to plan and progress toward goals may be key to helping them lower the amount of fat in their diet.
Maternal diet quality affects prenatal development and long-term child health outcomes. Still, the stress that typically increases during pregnancy – often heightened by concern for fetal health and anxiety over impending parenthood – may derail efforts to focus on healthful eating, previous research has shown.
In this new study, researchers at The Ohio State University set out to identify the pathway between stress and total fat consumption, with a broader goal to evaluate an intervention designed to improve the diets of pregnant women who are overweight or obese.
Through a series of questionnaires and statistical analysis, the team found that two thinking-related skills – planning, and execution of those plans – were weakened in women whose stress was high, and those skill gaps were associated with higher total fat intake.
These two skills are known as executive functions, a set of multiple thinking processes that enable people to plan, monitor behavior and execute their goals.
“People with a higher level of stress tend to have a higher intake of fat, too. If stress is high, we’re so stressed out that we’re not thinking about anything – and we don’t care what we eat,” said lead author Mei-Wei Chang, associate professor of nursing at Ohio State.
“That’s why we focused on executive functions as a mediator between stress and diet. And with this baseline data, we have reasons to believe that designing an intervention around executive functions could improve dietary outcomes,” she said. “I would anticipate the results could be similar for nonpregnant women, because it’s all about how people behave.”
The study was published recently in the Journal of Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health.
The 70 women enrolled in the study had a pre-pregnancy body mass index of between 25 (scores between 25 and 29.9 are categorized as overweight) and 45 (scores of 30 and higher are categorized as obese).
The participants completed questionnaires assessing both overall perceived stress and pregnancy-related stress, as well as executive functions – specifically focusing on metacognition, or the ability to plan, and behavior regulation, the ability to execute those plans. They also completed two 24-hour dietary recalls of their calorie intake and consumption of total fat, added sugar, and fruits and vegetables.
“We were really interested in the mediation role of executive functions. The mediator is what makes everything happen,” Chang said. “We wanted to know: If we focus an intervention on executive functions, would that carry through to behavior change in dietary intake?
“Weight loss interventions often involve a prescribed diet or meal plan, and you are told to follow it. But that doesn’t lead to behavior change in the long term.”
Statistical modeling showed that higher perceived stress was associated with a worsened ability to plan and monitor behavior, and that pathway was linked to higher total fat intake. Similarly, higher levels of pregnancy-related stress were associated with a lower ability to plan, which in turn was associated with worsened ability to monitor behaviors related to carrying out the plan – and these factors were linked to higher fat consumption.
These pathways suggested that an intervention designed to lower stress would function as a starting point to improve the diet, and enhancing skills through coaching – emphasizing the ability to plan, including being flexible with planning, and behavior monitoring, particularly when making food choices – would be key to changing eating patterns.
“You need to improve executive functions, and you also need to lower stress,” Chang said. She and colleagues are now analyzing data on the effectiveness of an intervention for the study participants that emphasized stress management and boosting executive function to promote healthy eating.
Executive functions are regulated by a specific region of the brain, and strengths or weaknesses in these skill areas are thought to be affected by a variety of physiological factors. Previous research has found that executive function deficits are more likely to occur in women who are overweight or obese than in women whose weight is categorized as normal.
“Executive function is not well-studied, and it is not related to intelligence. But people with low executive function are unable to make detailed plans and stick to them, and that’s how they get into trouble,” Chang said. “Metacognition and behavior regulation must go hand in hand – that way you have a much better chance to control your behaviors, and then you will eat better.”
Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have processed the scientific findings on COVID-19 disease severity, which reveal the risk factors and possible causes of the differential course of the disease.
Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have processed the scientific findings on COVID-19 disease severity, which reveal the risk factors and possible causes of the differential course of the disease. Their study was published in Viruses. CREDIT Photo: Müller Viktor, Zsichla Levente / Eötvös Loránd University
Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have processed the scientific findings on COVID-19 disease severity, which reveal the risk factors and possible causes of the differential course of the disease. Their study was published in Viruses.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, but the number of cases and deaths is very unevenly distributed between geographical regions and individual risk has been significantly influenced by the infected individual, the infectious virus strain and some characteristics of the environment.
The clinical course and outcome of COVID-19 is highly variable.
Understanding why some people become asymptomatic while others lose their lives is essential both to cure the disease and to control the epidemic.
Levente Zsichla, a student of the Institute of Biology at ELTE and his supervisor, Dr. Viktor Müller, Associate Professor at the Institute of Biology at ELTE, analysed more than a thousand studies to provide a comprehensive picture of how processes influence the severity of COVID-19 at the individual level.
In their study, they examined in detail the role of demographic factors (age and biological sex, and related pregnancy), the interactions of the disease with other infectious and non-communicable comorbidities, and the influence of genetic polymorphisms, lifestyle, microbiota and established immune memory. In addition, the impact of genetic variation in the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and environmental factors such as air pollution and socioeconomic status were reviewed.
For each factor, the evidence, sometimes conflicting, for the association with COVID-19 outcomes was examined and possible mechanisms of action were outlined. They also reviewed the complex interactions between different risk factors and the feedback effects of epidemic closures on these factors. We review some examples from their study.
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN – AGE AND UNDERLYING DISEASES
Advanced age is among the strongest risk factors for COVID-19 mortality. This effect was first reported in early 2020 and has since been confirmed by numerous studies. These findings show that
the risk of death in adults doubles approximately every 6-7 years of life,
and (in the case of the first major wave of the pandemic) has already exceeded 1% in the 65-75 age group. Ageing of lung tissue and the immune system, and the age-related increase in sterile systemic inflammation levels may also be responsible for this phenomenon.
Some chronic diseases also increase the risk of severe COVID-19, but there are exceptions and controversial cases. While obesity, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease are certainly risk factors, the results for several immunological, neurological and mental diseases are still inconclusive. There is also such controversy within lung diseases. While chronic obstructive pulmonary disease seems to have a clear aggravating effect, in the majority of studies allergic asthma has been found to be a neutral or even risk-reducing underlying condition. This may be because, although both conditions are associated with shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing and coughing, the causes and mechanisms of the two conditions are largely different.
MEN ARE MORE VULNERABLE, WOMEN HAVE MORE COMPLICATIONS
Data show that men are at about twice the risk of serious COVID-19 infection, not only among older people but also regardless of age. Similar associations have also been shown for other viral respiratory diseases (e.g. influenza) and infectious pneumonia, so the mechanism is probably not unique to COVID-19. The role of several X-linked genes and the differential expression of other genes that play a key role in the immune system may underlie this phenomenon. In addition, men with severe COVID-19 often have immunological problems involving a family of immune molecules produced against viruses, interferons. In a significant proportion of patients, the production of these interferons is disturbed or the body starts to produce antibodies against them, inactivating the otherwise protective proteins.
Women have a lower risk of severe COVID-19 disease, but a higher rate of post-COVID-19 syndrome. Pregnancy is a particular risk factor for the course of the infection, with pregnant infected women more likely to develop gestational hypertension, more often being admitted to intensive care and the consequences for the foetus/infant.
INDIRECT EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Poor socioeconomic status, including poverty, poor housing conditions or belonging to an ethnic minority, has been shown to be a risk factor in many countries. It also affects people’s lifestyle, nutrition, exposure to air pollution and infectious respiratory diseases, and the availability and quality of health care. Unsurprisingly, and supported by research evidence, regular physical activity and a healthy diet are beneficial for overall health and COVID-19 outcomes, while excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of serious disease. Even more surprisingly, the impact of smoking, which significantly impairs respiratory function, on the clinical outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection remains undetermined. In contrast, a growing body of research links long-term exposure to high concentrations of particulate matter with severe coronavirus disease.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REVIEW
There have been several summaries of factors influencing the outcome of COVID-19, but these have either covered a small area or provided only a sketchy summary of a wider range of risk factors. The new study provides the most comprehensive overview of risk factors,
highlighting the dominant role of age, biological sex, certain chronic underlying diseases, previously acquired specific immunity, and the infectious virus strain in the course of the disease.
If you take the time to read it – and we recommend it to our brave and persistent readers – you will see how complex the science is and how often it is difficult to draw clear conclusions. It also reveals the amazing scientific collaboration that has taken place over the past few years as the international scientific community has joined forces to find answers and solutions to the pandemic threatening the world. Fortunately, with the development of effective vaccines and the immunity of those who have been affected, the pandemic has gradually been pushed into the background. Nevertheless, as the virus is expected to be with us for a long time to come, the conclusions of this study will be needed well into the future.
Osaka Metropolitan University researchers developed a new protocol for selective and highly sensitive detection, discovering five types of 2-oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides(2-oxo-IDPs) using mass spectrometry. The 2-oxo-IDPs, present in living organisms, exhibit very high antioxidant activity, and were found to be abundant in meat including, beef, pork, and chicken. CREDIT Hideshi Ihara, Osaka Metropolitan University
Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are abundant in meat and fish, are substances produced in the bodies of various animals, including humans, and have been reported to be effective in relieving fatigue and preventing dementia. However, the physiological mechanism by which IDPs exhibit these activities had not been determined previously.
A research team, led by Professor Hideshi Ihara from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science, was the first to discover 2-oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides (2-oxo-IDPs)—which have one more oxygen atom than normal IDPs—and found that they are the most common variety of IDPs derivatives in the body. The researchers also found that they have remarkably high antioxidant activity.
In their study, the researchers established a method for selective and highly sensitive detection of five types of 2-oxo-IDPs using mass spectrometry, which enables quantitative detection of trace 2-oxo-IDPs in living organisms. Using this method, they revealed for the first time that beef, pork, chicken, and other meats contain antioxidants, not only IDPs but a variety of 2-oxo-IDPs. Their findings were published in Antioxidants.
“We hope that this research method, which enables advanced analysis of 2-oxo-IDPs, will be applied to basic biology and medicine, agriculture, and pharmacy, where it will help improve peoples’ health and prevent diseases,” concluded Professor Ihara.
The image of the tree is used to illustrate the morphology and function of pyramidal neurons in autism spectrum disorders. These neurons are one of the main integrators of information in the cerebral cortex, with long “branches” and “roots” representing dendrites. The small “leaf-like” projections are the dendritic spines, where the excitatory synapses connect one neuron to another. The blurred sections of the image represent the altered integration and perception of sensory information from the outside world, discovered by Diana E. Mitchell, Soledad Miranda-Rottmann and colleagues. CREDIT © Photo and drawing by Roberto Araya and Soledad Miranda-Rottmann. Photo was taken at Westmount Park, Montreal, Canada.
Results of a new study led by Roberto Araya, a Canadian neuroscientist, biophysicist and researcher at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, in Montreal, show that in Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common cause of autism, sensory signals from the outside world are integrated differently, causing them to be underrepresented by cortical pyramidal neurons in the brain.
This phenomenon could provide important clues to the underlying cause of the symptoms of this syndrome. The research team’s work not only provides insight into the mechanism at the cellular level, but also opens the door to new targets for therapeutic strategies.
The study was published on January 3 in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Autism is characterized by a wide range of symptoms that may stem from differences in brain development. With advanced imaging tools and the genetic manipulation of neurons, the team of researchers at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center was able to observe the functioning of individual neurons – specifically pyramidal neurons of cortical layer 5 – one of the main information output neurons of the cortex (the thin layer of tissue found on the surface of the brain).
The researchers found a difference in how sensory signals are processed in these neurons.
“Previous work has suggested that FXS and autism spectrum disorders are characterized by a hyperexcitable cortex, which is considered to be the main contributor to the hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli observed in autistic individuals,” said Araya, also a professor in the Department of Neurosciences at Université de Montréal.
“To our surprise, our experimental results challenge this generalized view that there is a global hypersensitivity in the neocortex associated with FXS. They show that the integration of sensory signals in cortical neurons is underrepresented in a murine model of FXS,” added Diana E. Michell, first co-author of the study.
A protein, FMRP, that is absent in the brains of people with FXS modulates the activity of a type of potassium channel in the brain. According to the research group’s work, it is the absence of this protein that alters the way sensory inputs are combined, causing them to be underrepresented by the signals coming out of the cortical pyramidal neurons in the brain.
Soledad Miranda-Rottmann, also first co-author of the study, attempted to rectify the situation with genetic and molecular biology techniques. “Even in the absence of the FMRP protein, which has several functions in the brain, we were able to demonstrate how the representation of sensory signals can be restored in cortical neurons by reducing the expression of a single molecule,” she said.
“This finding opens the door to new strategies to offer support to those with FXS and possibly other autism spectrum disorders to correctly perceive sensory signals from the outside world at the level of pyramidal neurons in the cortex,” concluded Araya.
“Even if the over-representation of internal brain signals causing hyperactivity is not addressed, the correct representation of sensory signals may be sufficient to allow better processing of signals from the outside world and of learning that is better suited to decision making and engagement in action.”