Posted on Autism

A new project aims to improve urban spaces to help children with autism

Autism Friendly City
Autism Friendly City


A project led by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and involving Barcelona City Council, the Global Institute of Neurodevelopment Integrated Care (IGAIN) and LEMUR urban emergency laboratory aims to improve public spaces in cities to benefit neurodivergent children – minority groups of children with neurological differences, and children with autism ) in particular. The initiative, called ASD-BCNeuroinclusiva: activating spaces with neurodivergent group and funded by the European Union’s New European Bauhaus programme, aims to provide solutions to create more inclusive spaces for this group.

“Despite the progress that has been made in this area in recent years, children with autism still face difficulties in using and enjoying urban public spaces. The lack of more inclusive spaces means that their risk of social exclusion is more acute, and that these children may miss out on the opportunity to play outside. Various studies have shown the multiple sensory motor, emotional and social benefits of contact with nature among children with autism, as it reduces their anxiety levels and enhances their sensory skills,” explained the principal researcher of the project, Blanca Calvo, a member of the Urban Transformation and Global Change Laboratory (TURBA) at the UOC’s Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3).

The project explores innovative design strategies that link inclusive play with nature and aesthetics, and it will provide urban planning professionals with methods and tools for designing sustainable play areas for and with the community of people with autistic spectrum disorder. “At the Gran Clariana park in Barcelona’s Plaça Glòries, BCNeuroinclusive will be developing a performative co-creation methodology that provides an experience of space involving experiments with the body, play and other creative ways of exploring multi-sensoriality and connectivity with space through aesthetic appreciation,” said the researcher.

The project uses an interdisciplinary approach in order to achieve its goals, which includes urban planning and design, social sciences, education, health and the arts. The aim is to reimagine and transform play areas in cities in order to provide design guidelines that can be implemented in any other city or country in Europe based on the experience in Barcelona.

This new UOC project, which began in July, will come to an end in December 2022, and the results will be announced at two presentations in January 2023. The initiative was presented as part of the European Commission’s call entitled Co-creation of public space through citizen engagement of the EIT New European Bauhaus Community – a campaign that falls within the objectives of the European Green Deal approved in 2020.

Posted on Diabetes

Dairy products in moderate amounts may protect against type 2 diabetes – but red and processed meat raise risk, Italian research suggests

New research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden (19-23 Sept) shows that dairy products, especially low-fat ones and yogurt, are associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). 

Red and processed meat were linked to a higher risk of T2D but moderate amounts of fish and eggs could be eaten in their place, say the Italian researchers.

T2D is the most common form of diabetes and it occurs when the pancreas can’t make enough insulin (the hormone which promotes the absorption of glucose from blood into the body’s cells, maintaining normal blood sugar levels) and/or the insulin it makes doesn’t work properly (low insulin sensitivity).

Overweight and obesity are the main risk factors and incidence of T2D is projected to increase.  Common complications include heart disease, kidney disease, vision loss and circulatory problems which can lead to foot amputation. 

Existing dietary guidelines1 for the prevention of T2D recommend eating specific plant-based foods such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, olive oiland typically advise limiting consumption of most animal products.

However, not all sources of animal protein are nutritionally equal. Knowing how different animal products are associated with T2D would allow the guidelines to be updated, making it easier for people to choose the best foods to cut their risk of diabetes.

To do this, Dr Annalisa Giosuè, of the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy, and colleagues carried out a review of existing meta-analyses into links between different animal-based foods and diabetes.  This type of “review of reviews” provides one of the highest levels of evidence available in medicine.

The PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Embase databases were searched for dose-response meta-analyses of studies into the relationship between different foods and T2D.

The 13 meta-analyses that were suitable contained 175 estimates of how much 12 different animal products (total meat, red meat, white meat, processed meat, fish, total dairy, full-fat dairy, low-fat dairy, milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs) may increase or reduce the risk of developing T2D.  (Red meat includes beef, lamb and pork, while white meat includes chicken and turkey.  Processed meat includes bacon, sausages, and deli meat.)

There was a substantial increase in T2D risk with the consumption of 100 g/day of total meat (20% increase in risk) and 100g/day of red meat (22% increase) and with 50g/day of processed meats (30% increase). The quality of evidence was moderate.

50g/day of white meat was associated with a smaller increase in T2D risk (4%).

Dr Giosuè says: “There are several potential reasons for this.  For example, red and processed meat are important sources of components like saturated fatty acids, cholesterol and haem iron, all known to promote chronic low-level inflammation and oxidative stress, which, in turn, can reduce the sensitivity of the cells to insulin.

“Processed meats also contain nitrates, nitrites and sodium which, among other adverse effects, can damage the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

“White meat, in comparison, has a lower fat content, a more favourable fatty acid profile and a lower amount of haem iron.”

Dairy foods, in contrast, appeared to protect against T2D or had a neutral relationship with the development of the condition.

Milk (200g/day) was associated with a 10% reduction in risk, total dairy (200g/day) with a 5% reduction in risk and low-fat dairy (200g/day) with a 3% reduction. Yogurt (100g/day) was associated with a 6% reduction in risk.

Cheese (30g/day) and full-fat dairy (200g/day) were found to have no effect on the risk of T2D. The quality of evidence was moderate to low.

Dr Giosuè says: “Dairy products are rich in nutrients, vitamins and other bioactive compounds which may favourably influence glucose metabolism – the processing of sugar by the body.

“For example, whey proteins in milk are known to modulate the rise of blood sugar levels after eating.

“Probiotics are also known to exert beneficial effects on glucose metabolism, which may explain why we found that a regular consumption of yogurt is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.”

She adds that although the results suggest that low-fat dairy products are more beneficial than full-fat dairy products, the finding should be treated cautiously, due to the small size of the reduction in risk and the low quality of the evidence.

100 g/day of fish and one egg/day also had neutral association with T2D risk, with low quality of evidence.

Dr Giosuè says: “Type 2 diabetes is one of the major causes of diet-related death worldwide.  Learning more about how different dietary components increase or decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes is key to its prevention.

“Although more well-conducted research is needed to achieve high quality of evidence required to give solid recommendations, our extensive review of the scientific evidence shows that regular consumption of dairy foods in moderate amounts, especially low-fat products, milk and yoghurt, may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

“It is also clear that while red and processed meat should be eaten sparingly, moderate amounts of fish and eggs could be good substitutes.”

Posted on Multiple Sclerosis

Dozens of gut bacteria associated with multiple sclerosis


An international research consortium led by UC San Francisco scientists has shown significant differences between the gut bacteria profiles of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy individuals, as well as between MS patients receiving different drug treatments. While some of these changes had been reported before, most are reported for the first time. The group also uncovered novel mechanisms by which these bacteria may potentially influence disease development and treatment response. 

In recent years, scientists have increasingly made connections between intestinal bacteria and a number of diseases—not just diseases of the gut—including diabetes and arthritis. The field of microbiome studies really opened up with advances in DNA sequencing in the early 2010s that allowed scientists to get a detailed picture of what bacteria are present in samples of stool, blood, mucosal tissue, and skin.

Until recently, most of the experimental evidence suggesting a link between gut bacteria and MS had come from research in mice. Studies in humans had offered inconsistent results—in part because of smaller numbers of participants, and a failure to screen out the effects of the environment on an individual’s microbiome. Where one lives—rural or urban, on a mountain top or next to an oil refinery—plays a big role in the bacteria our bodies harbor. 

To get around these limitations, the consortium of scientists participating in the International Multiple Sclerosis Microbiome Study (IMSMS) recruited a large number of MS patients from three continents and selected genetically unrelated controls from the same households as the patients. It was the first time this methodology had been used in such a large study. The study, which was published in Cell on September 15, 2022, describes differences between the gut microbiome profiles of 576 patients and an equal number of household controls in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Argentina. The findings could lead to new therapeutics that involve either manipulating the microbiome or dietary interventions.

“This is the reference study that will be used by the field for years to come,” said Sergio Baranzini, PhD, the Heidrich Family and Friends Endowed Chair in Neurology and member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, who is the lead author on the new study. 

With their innovative protocol, Baranzini and his colleagues were able to identify dozens of new bacteria species associated with MS and confirm other species that had previously only been associated with the disease. “We were surprised by the number of species that were differentially present in MS when compared to controls,” said Baranzini. They also found that the largest source of variation in bacteria species was linked to the geographical location of the participants, which confirmed the importance of location and local variations in diet to the gut microbiome. The second largest source of variation was a participant’s disease status, which is what the researchers had expected. 

The study was the second in a series being conducted by iMSMS, an international consortium established in 2015 for the purpose of determining the role of gut bacteria in MS disease susceptibility, progression, and response to therapy. The first study validated the household control protocol, showing that it increases statistical power in population-based microbiome studies. 

The findings of the study are primarily descriptive, acknowledges Baranzini. “When looking at the microbiome, there are two questions that usually are asked,” he said. “The first one is ‘Who’s there?’ This is what we’re trying to answer in this paper. The second is, ‘What are they doing?’” 

Answering the second question requires mechanistic studies with individual bacteria to understand their metabolic profiles. Still, the researchers got some hints at what the bacteria they found are doing by studying the potential pathways that these bacteria encode. 

“Knowing which genes from which species we are able to identify in cases and controls, we can now start to reconstruct which potential pathways are active in patients and controls,” said Baranzini. 

For example, some of the bacteria the team found to be associated with MS seem to play a role in helping humans process fiber from plants, the byproducts of which tend to be found in increased concentrations in MS patients. Other species seem to have an influence on inflammation and the energy production machinery of the cell.  

The researchers also found that patients treated with an immunomodulator known as interferon beta-1a, the oldest therapy for MS, have lower concentrations of short-chain fatty acids in their feces and higher concentrations in their blood. Short-chain fatty acids are known for their anti-inflammatory properties, so this suggests that interferon works by increasing the transportation of these molecules from the gut to the blood stream, which Baranzini said could be one of the mechanisms of action of interferon. 

The iMSMS group will continue to recruit patients, expanding to Germany and Canada, until the total number of participants in the cohort reaches 2000. Starting this fall, they will also follow a subset of patients over two years to see how their gut microbiota change in response to treatment, lifestyle changes and disease progression. All of the data from these studies will be publicly available. 

“This is an example of how big science can only be achieved collaboratively,” he added. “In the iMSMS, we really brought together the best and the brightest researchers in the microbiome research field and in multiple sclerosis, and they’re all pulling towards the same objective.” 

Posted on Autism

Anti-diarrhoea medication could be used as a therapy for autism! Does this article not sound weird to you?

Can you teach an old drug new tricks? Although drug treatments for the core egs of autism are not currently available, could an existing drug provide a new treatment, even if it previously had no association with autism ? This was the question asked by a new study in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology. The researchers used a computer model that encompasses proteins involved in autism and the way they interact.

By looking at how different drugs affected proteins in the system, they identified potential candidates to treat it. A commonly used antidiarrheal drug called loperamide was the most promising candidate, and the researchers have an interesting hypothesis about how it may work to treat autism symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms in autism involve difficulties with social interaction and communication.

“There are no medications currently approved for the treatment of social communication deficits, the main symptom in A*D,” said Dr Elise Koch of the University of Oslo, lead author on the study. “However, most adults and about half of children and adolescents with Aautism are treated with antipsychotic drugs, which have serious side effects or lack efficacy in autism .”

Repurposing drugs as new treatments

In an effort to find a new way to treat , the researchers turned to drug repurposing, which involves exploring existing drugs as potential treatments for a different condition. The approach has plenty of benefits, as there is often extensive knowledge about existing drugs in terms of their safety, side-effects and the biological molecules that they interact with in the body.

To identify new treatments for , the researchers used a computer-based protein interaction network. Such networks encompass proteins and the complex interactions between them. It is important to account for this complexity when studying biological systems, as affecting one protein can often have knock-on effects elsewhere.

The researchers constructed a protein interaction network that included proteins associated with . By investigating existing drugs and their interaction with proteins in the network, the team identified several candidates that counteract biological process underlying .

The most promising drug is called loperamide, which is commonly used for diarrhea. While it might seem strange that an anti-diarrheal drug could treat core symptoms, the researchers have developed a hypothesis about how it may work.

From an upset gastrointestinal system to

Loperamide binds to and activates a protein called the μ-opioid receptor, which is normally affected by opioid drugs, such as morphine. Along with the effects that you would normally expect from an opioid drug, such as pain relief, the μ-opioid receptor also affects social behavior.

In previous studies, genetically engineered mice that lack the μ-opioid receptor demonstrated social deficits similar to those seen in . Interestingly, drugs that activate the μ-opioid receptor helped to restore social behaviors.

These results in mice highlight the tantalizing possibility that loperamide, or other drugs that target the μ-opioid receptor, may represent a new way to treat the social symptoms present in , but further work is required to test this hypothesis. In any case, the current study demonstrates the power of assuming that old drugs may indeed learn new tricks.       

Posted on Diabetes

Seven healthy lifestyle habits may reduce dementia risk for people with diabetes

A combination of seven healthy lifestyle habits including sleeping seven to nine hours daily, exercising regularly and having frequent social contact was associated with a lower risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the September 14, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Type 2 diabetes is a worldwide epidemic that affects one in 10 adults, and having diabetes is known to increase a person’s risk of developing dementia,” said study author Yingli Lu, MD, PhD, of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China. “We investigated whether a broad combination of healthy lifestyle habits could offset that dementia risk and found that people with diabetes who incorporated seven healthy lifestyle habits into their lives had a lower risk of dementia than people with diabetes who did not lead healthy lives.”

For the study, researchers looked at a health care database in the United Kingdom and identified 167,946 people 60 or older with and without diabetes who did not have dementia at the start of the study. Participants completed health questionnaires, provided physical measurements and gave blood samples.

For each participant, researchers calculated a healthy lifestyle score of zero to seven, with one point for each of seven healthy habits. Habits included no current smoking, moderate alcohol consumption of up to one drink a day for women and up to two a day for men, regular weekly physical activity of at least 2.5 hours of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, and seven to nine hours of sleep daily. Another factor was a healthy diet including more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish and fewer refined grains, processed and unprocessed meats. The final habits were being less sedentary, which was defined as watching television less than four hours a day, and frequent social contact, which was defined as living with others, gathering with friends or family at least once a month and participating in social activities at least once a week or more often.

Researchers followed participants for an average of 12 years. During that time, 4,351 people developed dementia. A total of 4% of the people followed only zero to two of the healthy habits, 11% followed three, 22% followed four, 30% followed five, 24% followed six and 9% followed all seven.

People with diabetes who followed two or fewer of the seven healthy habits were four times more likely to develop dementia than people without diabetes who followed all seven healthy habits. People with diabetes who followed all of the habits were 74% more likely to develop dementia than those without diabetes who followed all the habits.

For people with diabetes who followed all the habits, there were 21 cases of dementia for 7,474 person years or 0.28%. Person-years represent both the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person spends in the study. For people with diabetes who followed only two or fewer habits, there were 72 cases of dementia for 10,380 person years or 0.69%. After adjusting for factors like age, education and ethnicity, people who followed all the habits had a 54% lower risk of dementia than those who followed two or fewer. Each additional healthy habit people followed was associated with an 11% decreased risk of dementia. The association between healthy lifestyle score and dementia risk was not affected by medications people took or how well they controlled their blood sugar.

“Our research shows that for people with type 2 diabetes, the risk of dementia may be greatly reduced by living a healthier lifestyle,” Lu said. “Doctors and other medical professionals who treat people with diabetes should consider recommending lifestyle changes to their patients. Such changes may not only improve overall health, but also contribute to prevention or delayed onset of dementia in people with diabetes.”

A limitation of the study was that people reported on their lifestyle habits and may not have remembered all details accurately. Lifestyle changes over time were also not captured.