A new international cooperation study suggests that pancreatic cancer could be detected early in the future through gut microbes. Gut microbes could also offer solutions for therapy development. Researchers from HUS, the University of Helsinki, the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), and Iran have jointly gained new insights into gut microbes in connection with pancreatic cancer. The researchers analyzed gut microbes from Finnish and Iranian pancreatic cancer patients and their healthy peers. A total of over 180 people participated in the study. The study is part of the doctoral dissertation of doctoral student Heidelinde Sammallahti at the University of Helsinki. The same gut microbes associated with pancreatic cancer were found in patients regardless of their geographical location and ethnic origin. The gut flora of patients with pancreatic cancer contained significantly more facultative pathogens and significantly fewer beneficial bacteria than in the healthy comparison group. In particular, beneficial bacteria from the class of Clostridia, such as the butyric acid-producing Lachnospiraceae, Butyricicoccaceae... 

Researchers have developed an innovative new nanopore sequencing test to identify carriers of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common cause of monogenic autism spectrum disorders and inherited intellectual disabilities. The study, published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, addresses the urgent need for a screening tool to identify carriers of FXS more comprehensively, faster, more efficiently, and more cost-effectively compared to current methods, thereby enabling better-informed genetic counseling. FXS affects approximately 1 in 7,000 women and 1 in 4,000 men worldwide. Common features include mild to severe intellectual disability, developmental delays in speech and motor skills, behavioral and social problems such as ADHD-like symptoms and autism spectrum disorder symptoms, sensory sensitivities, and sometimes characteristic physical features. Lead researcher Qiwei Guo, PhD, Department of Central Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fujian Key Clinical Specialty of Laboratory Medicine, Women and Children's Hospital, Medical College, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, says: "Also... 

Zachary Sexton and colleagues have developed a design platform that can quickly generate vascular trees, which can then be bioprinted and used for successful perfusion of living tissue constructs. The platform improves the design and production of complex vascular networks needed in the future for the creation of human tissues and organs. As the researchers note, the production of tissues with multiple cell types has recently improved. But just as a city needs a complete network of main roads, side streets, and alleys to direct traffic to the most remote corners, complex geometric tissues and organs also need a vascular network that reaches the tissue and ensures adequate perfusion – a design challenge that remains difficult for researchers. Sexton  et al.  used algorithmic advances to develop a synthetic toolkit that can generate organ-spanning tree networks within minutes (a 230-fold acceleration compared to current...

This new study combines high-quality data from previous studies on neurostimulation therapies for people with depression who do not respond to conventional treatments – such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). About one in three patients with severe depression falls into this category of treatment-resistant patients. The research team investigated how three neurostimulation techniques – electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) – affect suicidal behavior in people with depression. From 1,352 scientific studies, the team selected 26 studies that met strict quality and inclusion criteria. These studies all reported on treatment methods, suicide rates, suicidal ideation, and overall mortality. Results Eleven of the studies focused specifically on ECT. In total, 17,890 individuals treated with ECT were compared with 25,367 individuals receiving standard treatment. In the ECT group, there were 208 deaths by suicide and 988 in the control group. Additionally, there were 511 deaths from all causes in the ECT group,...