Oct 18 (Reuters) – (This is an excerpt from the Health Rounds newsletter, which brings you the latest medical research on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To receive it in your inbox, sign up for free here Opens in a new tab Masu.)
Hello, Health Round readers! Today, we report on promising animal research on an mRNA vaccine that may one day prevent or treat infections caused by the dangerous Clostridium difficile bacterium, which is often acquired in hospitals. We’ll also feature research that suggests the gender of a couple’s children may not be completely random after all, and research that has important messages for older adults who prefer electric fans to air conditioners.
mRNA vaccine expected to be effective against C. difficile
Researchers have harnessed the technology behind an innovative mRNA vaccine that tackles the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to treat Clostridioides, a highly contagious and difficult-to-treat coronavirus. It is being developed in hopes of becoming the first successful vaccine against the bacteria Difficile.
It protected against primary and recurrent C. difficile infections in mice and non-human primates, researchers reported in the journal Science (opens in a new tab). Previous attempts to produce vaccines against C. difficile have not been successful, but several are currently in development. The Clostridium difficile vaccine developed by Pfizer (PFE.N) opens in a new tab failed in late-stage trials in 2022.
C. difficile can cause severe diarrhea and fatal colon damage. Infections spread quickly and most often affect people taking antibiotics and patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Approximately one-third of infected people will become infected again.
Treatment includes long-term courses of powerful antibiotics that also kill beneficial bacteria in the intestines, and fecal transplants to deliver healthy bacteria.
Similar to the coronavirus vaccine, the Clostridium difficile mRNA vaccine uses genetic material from the bacterium to train the immune system to recognize and respond to future infections.
The researchers said the immune cell response “increased with vaccine dose and was significantly higher than with conventional vaccines.”
All mice vaccinated with the conventional vaccine died within a day after being infected with the bacteria. Adding a booster to the older vaccine improved survival by 20%, but giving the mRNA vaccine increased survival to 100%.
“Antibiotics are not always an effective tool in successfully treating very tough pathogens like C. diff, and the full potential of mRNA vaccines for many infectious diseases is still being surfaced. We’re just beginning to trace this,” said study co-author Mohammad Gabriel. Arame, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a statement.
The research team said the results pave the way for human clinical trials.
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and BioNTech (22UAy.DE). A new tab will open. Sponsored Research Agreement.
Genes can influence the sex of offspring
Researchers have detected a human genetic mutation that may play a role in determining the sex of a couple’s child.
“Scientists have been pondering and studying the genetic basis of sex ratio for decades,” said Jiangji Zhang of the University of Michigan, who led the study. “No clear evidence of genetic variation has been found.” In a statement.
To detect genetic influences on sex ratio, the researchers used the UK Biobank database. The database contains genetic and phenotypic information for approximately 500,000 British participants.
After analyzing this data, researchers identified a single gene variant named rs144724107 that was associated with a 10% increased chance of having a girl compared to a boy. This variant is located near a gene that belongs to a family known to be involved in sperm production and fertilization.
According to a report published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, researchers also identified two genes called RLF and KIF20B that may influence sex ratio. A new tab will open.
They noted that the variant they discovered is present in less than 1% of the population, and the finding has not yet been confirmed in other samples.
The researchers said their discovery could have practical applications in the livestock industry.
In agriculture, one sex (usually women) often has significantly greater economic value than the other, such as chickens producing eggs and cows producing milk.
“If we can discover genetic variations in livestock that have as large an impact as those calculated for humans, it is likely to bring huge benefits and contribute to animal welfare,” Zhang said.
During heatwaves, seniors need more than a fan
A small study found that electric fans do little to cool older people in hot indoor environments.
Based on data from young people and data from computer simulations, the results suggest an effective cooling intervention for older adults in temperatures as high as 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), researchers wrote in JAMA. Reported. A new tab will open.
However, a study of 18 volunteers between the ages of 65 and 85, who underwent several eight-hour sessions in a room heated to 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) and 45% relative humidity, found that They found that the decrease in body temperature, measured by rectal temperature, was “small” and of questionable clinical significance.”
Although the study was small, the researchers concluded that the data “does not support that electric fans alone are an effective cooling intervention for older adults in hot indoor environments.”
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Report by Nancy Lapid. Editing: Bill Berkrot
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