Energy drinks cause heart problems, study suggests

Energy drinks can cause heart problems according to research presented at ESC Congress 2014 today by Professor Milou-Daniel Drici from France.

Professor Drici said: "So-called 'energy drinks' are popular in dance clubs and during physical exercise, with people sometimes consuming a number of drinks one after the other. This situation can lead to a number of adverse conditions including angina, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and even sudden death."

He added: "Around 96% of these drinks contain caffeine, with a typical 0.25 litre can holding 2 espressos worth of caffeine. Caffeine is one of the most potent agonists of the ryanodine receptors and leads to a massive release of calcium within cardiac cells. This can cause arrhythmias, but also has effects on the heart's abilities to contract and to use oxygen. In addition, 52% of drinks contain taurine, 33% have glucuronolactone and two-thirds contain vitamins."

He added: "Patients with cardiac conditions including catecholaminergic arrhythmias, long QT syndrome and angina should be aware of the potential danger of a large intake of caffeine, which is a stimulant that can exacerbate their condition with possibly fatal consequences."

He concluded: "Patients rarely mention consumption of energy drinks to their doctors unless they are asked. Doctors should warn patients with cardiac conditions about the potential dangers of these drinks and ask young people in particular whether they consume such drinks on a regular basis or through binge drinking."

HEMOZION : New way to diagnose malaria

Red blood cells from a patient infected with Plasmodium falciparum.

Over the past several decades, malaria diagnosis has changed very little. After taking a blood sample from a patient, a technician smears the blood across a glass slide, stains it with a special dye, and looks under a microscope for the Plasmodium parasite, which causes the disease. This approach gives an accurate count of how many parasites are in the blood -- an important measure of disease severity -- but is not ideal because there is potential for human error.

A research team from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) has now come up with a possible alternative.The researchers have devised a way to use magnetic resonance relaxometry (MRR), a close cousin of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to detect a parasitic waste product in the blood of infected patients 

The new SMART system detects a parasitic waste product called hemozoin. When the parasites infect red blood cells, they feed on the nutrient-rich hemoglobin carried by the cells. As hemoglobin breaks down, it releases iron, which can be toxic, so the parasite converts the iron into hemozoin -- a weakly paramagnetic crystallite.

Those crystals interfere with the normal magnetic spins of hydrogen atoms. When exposed to a powerful magnetic field, hydrogen atoms align their spins in the same direction. When a second, smaller field perturbs the atoms, they should all change their spins in synchrony -- but if another magnetic particle, such as hemozoin, is present, this synchrony is disrupted through a process called relaxation. The more magnetic particles are present, the more quickly the synchrony is disrupted.

Hemozoin crystals are produced in all four stages of malaria infection, including the earliest stages, and are generated by all known species of the Plasmodium parasite. Also, the amount of hemozoin can reveal how severe the infection is, or whether it is responding to treatment. There are a lot of scenarios where you want to see the number, rather than a yes or no answer.

In this paper, the researchers showed that they could detect Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of the parasite, in blood cells grown in the lab. They also detected the parasite in red blood cells from mice infected with Plasmodium berghei.

The researchers are launching a company to make this technology available at an affordable price. The team is also running field tests in Southeast Asia and is exploring powering the device on solar energy, an important consideration for poor rural areas.

Journal Reference:

1. Weng Kung Peng, Tian Fook Kong, Chee Sheng Ng, Lan Chen, Yongxue Huang, Ali Asgar S Bhagat, Nam-Trung Nguyen, Peter Rainer Preiser, Jongyoon Han. Micromagnetic resonance relaxometry for rapid label-free malaria diagnosis. Nature Medicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nm.3622

Leading Ebola researcher says there's an effective treatment for Ebola

A leading U.S. Ebola researcher from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has gone on record stating that a blend of three monoclonal antibodies can completely protect monkeys against a lethal dose of Ebola virus up to 5 days after infection, at a time when the disease is severe.

Thomas Geisbert, professor of microbiology and immunology, has written an editorial for Nature discussing advances in Ebola treatment research. The filoviruses known as Ebola virus and Marburg virus are among the most deadly of pathogens, with fatality rates of up to 90 percent.

Since the discovery of Ebola in 1976, researchers have been actively working on treatments to combat infection. Studies over the past decade have uncovered three treatments that offer partial protection for monkeys against Ebola when given within an hour of virus exposure. One of these treatments, a VSV-based vaccine was used in 2009 to treat a laboratory worker in Germany shortly after she was accidentally stuck with a needle possibly contaminated by an Ebola-infected animal.

Further advances have been made that can completely protect monkeys against Ebola using small 'interfering' RNAs and various combinations of antibodies. But these treatments need to be given within two days of Ebola exposure.

"So although these approaches are highly important and can be used to treat known exposures, the need for treatments that can protect at later times after infection was paramount," said Geisbert.
Further research led to a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies that protected 43% of monkeys when given as late as five days after Ebola exposure, at a time when the clinical signs of the disease are showing.

The new study from Qui and colleagues at MAPP Biopharmaceutical Inc. used ZMAPP to treat monkeys given a lethal dose of Ebola. All of the animals survived and did not show any evidence of the virus in their systems 21 days after infection, even after receiving the treatment 5 days after infection. They also showed that ZMAPP inhibits replication of the Ebola virus in cell culture.

ZMAPP has been used to treat several patients on compassionate grounds. Of these, two US healthcare workers have recovered, although but whether ZMAPP had any effect is unknown, as 45% of patients in this outbreak survive without treatment. There were also two patients treated with ZMAPP who did not survive, but this may be because the treatment was started too late in the disease course.

"The diversity of strains and species of the Ebola and Marburg filoviruses is an obstacle for all candidate treatments," said Geisbert. "Treatments that may protect against one species of Ebola will probably not protect against a different species of the virus, and may not protect against a different strain within the species."

Although we certainly need treatments for filovirus infections, the most effective way to manage and control future outbreaks might be through vaccines, some of which have been designed to protect against multiple species and strains. During outbreaks, single-injection vaccines are needed to ensure rapid use and protection. At least five preventative vaccines have been reported to completely protect monkeys against Ebola and Marburg infection. But only the VSV-based vaccines have been shown to complete protect monkeys against Ebola after a single injection.

"Antibody therapies and several other strategies should be included in the arsenal of interventions for controlling future Ebola outbreaks," said Geisbert. "Although ZMAPP in particular has been administered for compassionate use, the next crucial step will be to formally assess its safety and effectiveness."

Journal Reference:

1. Thomas W. Geisbert. Medical research: Ebola therapy protects severely ill monkeys. Nature, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nature13746

Surprising discovery: HIV hides in gut, evading eradication

Researchers at UC Davis have made some surprising discoveries about the body's initial responses to HIV infection. Studying simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the team found that specialized cells in the intestine called Paneth cells are early responders to viral invasion and are the source of gut inflammation by producing a cytokine called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β).

Though aimed at the presence of virus, IL-1β causes breakdown of the gut epithelium that provides a barrier to protect the body against pathogens. Importantly, this occurs prior to the wide spread viral infection and immune cell killing. But in an interesting twist, a beneficial bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum, helps mitigate the virus-induced inflammatory response and protects gut epithelial barrier. The study was published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

One of the biggest obstacles to complete viral eradication and immune recovery is the stable HIV reservoir in the gut. There is very little information about the early viral invasion and the establishment of the gut reservoir.

"We want to understand what enables the virus to invade the gut, cause inflammation and kill the immune cells," said Satya Dandekar, lead author of the study and chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at UC Davis.

"Our study has identified Paneth cells as initial virus sensors in the gut that may induce early gut inflammation, cause tissue damage and help spread the viral infection. Our findings provide potential targets and new biomarkers for intervening or blocking early spread of viral infection," she said.

In the study, the researchers detected a very small number of SIV infected cells in the gut within initial 2.5 days of viral infection; however, the inflammatory response to the virus was playing havoc with the gut lining. IL-1β was reducing the production of tight-junction proteins, which are crucial to making the intestinal barrier impermeable to pathogens. As a result, the normally cohesive barrier was breaking down.

Digging deeper, the researchers found the inflammatory response through IL-1β production was initiated in Paneth cells, which are known to protect the intestinal stem cells to replenish the epithelial lining. This is the first report of Paneth cell sensing of SIV infection and IL-1β production that links to gut epithelial damage during early viral invasion. In turn, the epithelial breakdown underscores that there's more to the immune response than immune cells.

"The epithelium is more than a physical barrier," said first author Lauren Hirao. "It's providing support to immune cells in their defense against viruses and bacteria."

The researchers found that addition of a specific probiotic strain, Lactobacillus plantarum, to the gut reversed the damage by rapidly reducing IL-1β, resolving inflammation, and accelerating repair within hours. The study points to interesting possibilities of harnessing synergistic host-microbe interactions to intervene early viral spread and gut inflammation and to mitigate intestinal complications associated with HIV infection.

"Understanding the players in the immune response will be important to develop new therapies," said Hirao. "Seeing how these events play out can help us find the most opportune moments to intervene."

Journal Reference:

1. Lauren A. Hirao, Irina Grishina, Olivier Bourry, William K. Hu, Monsicha Somrit, Sumathi Sankaran-Walters, Chris A. Gaulke, Anne N. Fenton, Jay A. Li, Robert W. Crawford, Frank Chuang, Ross Tarara, Maria L. Marco, Andreas J. Bäumler, Holland Cheng, Satya Dandekar. Early Mucosal Sensing of SIV Infection by Paneth Cells Induces IL-1β Production and Initiates Gut Epithelial Disruption. PLoS Pathogens, 2014; 10 (8): e1004311 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004311

New smartphone app can detect newborn jaundice in minutes

Newborn jaundice: It's one of the last things a parent wants to deal with, but it's unfortunately a common condition in babies less than a week old.

Skin that turns yellow can be a sure sign that a newborn is jaundiced and isn't adequately eliminating the chemical bilirubin. But that discoloration is sometimes hard to see, and severe jaundice left untreated can harm a baby.

University of Washington engineers and physicians have developed a smartphone application that checks for jaundice in newborns and can deliver results to parents and pediatricians within minutes. It could serve as a screening tool to determine whether a baby needs a blood test -- the gold standard for detecting high levels of bilirubin. 

"Virtually every baby gets jaundiced, and we're sending them home from the hospital even before bilirubin levels reach their peak," said James Taylor, a UW professor of pediatrics and medical director of the newborn nursery at UW Medical Center. "This smartphone test is really for babies in the first few days after they go home. A parent or health care provider can get an accurate picture of bilirubin to bridge the gap after leaving the hospital."

The research team will present its results at the Association for Computing Machinery's International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing in September in Seattle.

The app, called BiliCam, uses a smartphone's camera and flash and a color calibration card the size of a business card. A parent or health care professional would download the app, place the card on her baby's belly, then take a picture with the card in view. The card calibrates and accounts for different lighting conditions and skin tones. Data from the photo are sent to the cloud and are analyzed by machine-learning algorithms, and a report on the newborn's bilirubin levels is sent almost instantly to the parent's phone.

"This is a way to provide peace of mind for the parents of newborns," said Shwetak Patel, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering and of electrical engineering. "The advantage of doing the analysis in the cloud is that our algorithms can be improved over time."

A noninvasive jaundice screening tool is available in some hospitals and clinics, but the instrument costs several thousand dollars and isn't feasible for home use. Currently, both doctors and parents assess jaundice by looking for the yellow color in a newborn's skin, but this visual assessment is only moderately accurate. The UW team developed BiliCam to be easy to use and affordable for both clinicians and parents, especially during the first several days after birth when it's crucial to check for jaundice.

Jaundice, or the yellowing of the skin, can happen when an excess amount of bilirubin collects in the blood. Bilirubin is a natural byproduct of the breakdown of red blood cells, which the liver usually metabolizes. But newborns often metabolize bilirubin slower because their livers aren't yet fully functioning. If left untreated, severe jaundice can cause brain damage and a potentially fatal condition called kernicterus.

The UW team ran a clinical study with 100 newborns and their families at UW Medical Center. They used a blood test, the current screening tool used in hospitals, and BiliCam to test the babies when they were between two and five days old. They found that BiliCam performed as well as or better than the current screening tool. Though it wouldn't replace a blood test, BiliCam could let parents know if they should take that next step.

"BiliCam would be a significantly cheaper and more accessible option than the existing reliable screening methods," said Lilian de Greef, lead author and a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. "Lowering the access barrier to medical applications can have profound effects on patients, their caregivers and their doctors, especially for something as prevalent as newborn jaundice."

The researchers plan to test BiliCam on up to 1,000 additional newborns, especially those with darker skin pigments. The algorithms will then be robust enough to account for all ethnicities and skin colors. This could make BiliCam a useful tool for parents and health care workers in developing countries where jaundice accounts for many newborn deaths.

"We're really excited about the potential of this in resource-poor areas, something that can make a difference in places where there aren't tools to measure bilirubin but there's good infrastructure for mobile phones," Taylor said.

Within a year, the researchers say BiliCam could be used by doctors as an alternative to the current screening procedures for bilirubin. They have filed patents on the technology, and within a couple of years hope to have Federal Drug Administration approval for the BiliCam app that parents can use at home on their smartphones.

Related research paper can be found at: http://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mayank/BiliCam.pdf

source: www.sciencedaily.com 

Rapid Serological Assay Developed for Strongyloidiasis

Image: The adult free-living female Strongyloides stercoralis with a row of eggs within the body of the nematode (Photo courtesy of the CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Several imperfect methods exist for diagnosing strongyloidiasis and stool examination with microscopic identification of larvae considered the gold standard diagnostic procedure, showing good specificity with experienced staff.

Individuals with strongyloidiasis are typically asymptomatic, and the infection can persist for decades without detection. Problems arise when individuals with unrecognized Strongyloides stercoralis infection are immunosuppressed, which can lead to hyper-infection syndrome and disseminated disease with an associated high mortality if untreated.

An international team of scientists led by those at McGill University (Montreal, QC, Canada) obtained 54 positive serum samples that were confirmed by positive stool samples for S. stercoralis from multiple reference laboratories. There were 47 negative control samples consisted of sera obtained from healthy individuals residing in Canada with no prior history of travel outside of Canada and individuals with confirmed diagnosis of other parasitic infections, including trichinosis, and were negative for Strongyloides by an “in-house” enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) (NRCP).

The team developed a rapid and sensitive serodiagnostic assay for strongyloidiasis based on a 31-kDa recombinant antigen from S. stercoralis (NIE) using a novel diffraction-based optical biosensor technology. The panelPlus oligonucleotide-based addressing system was used for NIE immobilization onto dotLab Sensors and All assays were performed on the dotLab mX System using panelPlus D Sensors (Axela, Inc.; Toronto, ON, Canada). All serum samples were also tested by an NIE ELISA that was developed and validated.

The assay readily differentiated S. stercoralis-infected patients from controls detecting 96.3% of the positive cases, and with no cross reactivity observed in the control group. These results were in excellent agreement with results obtained by an NIE-based ELISA. A further 44 sera from patients with suspected S. stercoralis infection were analyzed and showed 91% agreement with the NIE ELISA. The novel, high-sensitivity diffractive optics technology (dot) platform generated results in less than 30 minutes and is fully automated requiring minimal user intervention. This makes it potentially attractive for near-patient testing and for use in regions where technical expertise or adequate laboratory facilities may not be available.

The authors concluded that with the ability to create custom multiplex assays using the panelPlus oligonucleotide-based addressing system, the dotLab mX System could also be used further to improve Strongyloides serodiagnostics by incorporating multiple recombinant antigens in a multiplex format or by simultaneously screening for clinically relevant co-infections such as Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1).

The study was published on August 7, 2014, in the journal Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases.

source : www.labmedica.com

Amount, types of fat we eat affect health, risk of disease

Healthy adults should consume between 20 percent and 35 percent of their calories from dietary fat, increase their consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, and limit their intake of saturated and trans fats, according to an updated position paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The position paper "Dietary Fatty Acids for Healthy Adults" has been published in the January issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The position paper provides guidance for registered dietitian nutritionists and dietetic technicians, registered to translate research on fat and fatty acids into practical dietary recommendations for consumers.

The Academy's updated position is: It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that dietary fat for the healthy adult population should provide 20 percent to 35 percent of energy, with an increased consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and limited intake of saturated and trans fats. The Academy recommends a food-based approach through a diet that includes regular consumption of fatty fish, nuts and seeds, lean meats and poultry, low-fat dairy products, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.

Registered dietitian nutritionists can help consumers understand that a total diet approach is more beneficial than simply reducing dietary fat and replacing it with carbohydrates, as a high intake of refined carbohydrate can also negatively affect health.

The Academy's position paper can be translated into healthful eating messages for the public:

• A simple and effective way to improve health is to eat more fish, nuts and seeds and to consume fewer desserts and convenience foods.

• Fat is a critical nutrient, and certain types of fat, such as omega-3s and omega-6s, are needed for good health. For this and other health reasons, a fat-free diet is not recommended.

• Fish is an excellent source of the omega-3s EPA and DHA; flax, walnuts and canola oil are good sources of ALA omega-3.

• Both the amount of fat (how much) and the type of fat (what foods) in the diet can affect health and risk of disease.

• Different foods provide different types of fat. Some fats improve your health (omega-3s help your heart and brain) while some are detrimental to your health (trans fat increases heart disease risk factors).

Journal Reference:

1. Gretchen Vannice, Heather Rasmussen. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Dietary Fatty Acids for Healthy Adults. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2014; 114 (1): 136 DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2013.11.001