Month: June 2021

Categories : CancerTags :

New Insights into How Kidney Cancer Cells Respond to Treatment

On By ModernMedia
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Researchers from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have uncovered clues as to why kidney cancers respond so differently to treatment, opening up new tailored treatment options.

Not all kidney cancers behave the same, and some have wildly differing responses to immunotherapy or other treatments – resulting in wildly different outcomes for patients.

By sequencing the RNA of individual cells within multiple benign and cancerous kidney tumors, the researchers have identified the cells from which different subtypes of kidney cancer originate, the pathways involved and how the tumor microenvironment impacts cancer development and response to treatment.

The findings, published in PNAS, could help researchers better understand renal cell carcinoma development and guide oncologists in optimising therapies for each patient.

“Single cell RNA sequencing was key to allowing us to monitor gene expression patterns in each individual cell, revealing the mechanisms at play within the tumour microenvironment that can predict overall survival,” says study author Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and SP Hicks Professor of Pathology at Michigan Medicine.

Researchers produced gene expression atlases for normal kidney and renal cell carcinoma samples. They predicted the putative cell of origin for more than 10 subtypes of renal cell cancer. Their analysis also uncovered pathways and interactions within the tumour microenvironment that predicted if the tumour would respond to immunotherapy. These findings could help develop biomarkers to guide kidney cancer treatment.

“By understanding the cell type where a cancer originates, it may allow us to target more precise treatments for that cancer type as well as better understand response to therapy,” Dr Chinnaiyan said.

Source: University of Michigan

Journal information: “Single-cell analyses of renal cell cancers reveal insights into tumor microenvironment, cell of origin, and therapy response,” PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2103240118

Categories : Cardiovascular DiseaseTags :

New Measurement of Heart Function Could Benefit High-risk Heart Patients

On By ModernMedia

A new measurement of heart function developed at UVA Health could improve survival for people with heart failure by identifying high-risk patients who require tailored treatments, according to a new study.

The study is the first to show a survival benefit from wireless pressure monitoring sensors implanted in the pulmonary arteries. Pulmonary artery proportional pulse pressure, or PAPP, is a new measure of heart function that can identify patients at very high risk of hospitalisation or death from systolic heart failure or pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the heart and lungs).

Previous work showed that patients with low PAPPs were at much higher risk than those with higher PAPPs, so the researchers tested whether these benefits were maintained in patients undergoing implantation of pressure sensors that continuously monitor pressure in the pulmonary artery.

“We found that PAPP is a very good measure of how stiff or compliant the pulmonary arteries are. The stiffness of the pulmonary arteries determines how much resistance the right side of the heart has overcome to pump blood effectively to the lungs,” said Sula Mazimba, MD, MPH, a heart failure expert at UVA Health and the School of Medicine. “The importance of this simple measure is that it can identify patients that are at greatest risk of dying or being hospitalised. This allows us to tailor more aggressive treatments.”

Heart failure causes more than 1 million hospital admissions each year, and approximately half of patients die within five years of diagnosis.

The new study evaluated the benefits of PAPP monitoring in patients with systolic heart failure, where the left ventricle is weak, as well as those with pulmonary hypertension.

To find out if PAPP monitoring could predict outcomes in these patients, Dr Mazimba and colleagues analysed data from 550 participants in the CHAMPION clinical trial, whose participants were randomised to receive an implantable, wireless heart monitor called the CardioMEMS HF System.

They found that participants with a below-average PAPP had a significantly higher risk of hospitalisation or death compared with those with higher PAPPs. Furthermore, the monitoring  reduced the risk of death for those with low PAPPs by 46% annually during two to three years of follow-up.

“The implications of this study are highly significant,” said co-investigator Kenneth Bilchick, MD, MS, a cardiologist at UVA Health. “We now have identified a specific group of patients who appear to have a marked improvement in survival with implantation of these pulmonary artery wireless monitors. As a result, the findings of the study could maximise the impact of this technology for a large number of potential candidate patients. This is an excellent example of how secondary analyses of clinical databases maintained by the National Institutes of Health can result in novel and personalised approaches to patient care.”

The researchers say further study is necessary to gauge the full potential of PAPP monitoring to improve care for patients with heart failure, but early results were encouraging.

“In the past, the function of the right chamber of the heart was often ignored and considered to be inconsequential to the overall performance of the heart, but we are now learning that this is not the case,” Dr Mazimba said. “Having tools that signal when the right side of the heart is under strain may aid clinicians to adopt timely tailored treatments for heart-failure patients.”

Source: UVA Health

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

Zinc’s Surprising Role in Blood Pressure

On By ModernMedia
Source: Wikimedia CC0

Researchers have discovered that a trace element, zinc, plays a previously unknown role in the regulation of blood pressure.

While the role of metals like potassium and calcium have been long known in this process, a new discovery about zinc’s critical and underappreciated role offers a potential new pathway for therapies to treat hypertension. While hypertension had been known to be associated with low zinc levels, it was not clear as to why.

The findings were published recently in Nature Communications.

The smooth muscle cells lining blood vessels regulate the speed at which the blood travels around the body. As smooth muscles contract, they narrow the artery, increasing blood pressure, and as the muscle relaxes, the artery expands and blood pressure falls. Too low a blood pressure, and the blood flow will be insufficient to sustain body tissues. If blood pressure is too high, the blood vessels risk being damaged or even ruptured.

“Fundamental discoveries going back more than 60 years have established that the levels of the calcium and potassium in the muscle surrounding blood vessels control how they expand and contract,” said lead author Ashenafi Betrie, PhD, and senior authors Scott Ayton, PhD, and Christine Wright, PhD, of the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and The University of Melbourne in Australia.

Specifically, the researchers explained, potassium regulates calcium in the muscle, and calcium is known to induce the narrowing of the arteries and veins that elevate blood pressure and restrict blood flow. Other cells surrounding the blood vessel, including endothelial cells and sensory nerves, also regulate the calcium and potassium within the muscle of the artery, and are themselves regulated by the levels of these metals contained within them.

“Our discovery that zinc is also important was serendipitous because we’d been researching the brain, not blood pressure,” said Dr Betrie. “We were investigating the impact of zinc-based drugs on brain function in Alzheimer’s disease when we noticed a pronounced and unexpected decrease in blood pressure in mouse models treated with the drugs.”

The investigators discovered that coordinated action by zinc within sensory nerves, endothelial cells and the muscle of arteries triggers lower calcium levels in the muscle of the blood vessel. This causes the vessel to relax, decreasing blood pressure and increasing blood flow. The scientists found that the brain and heart’s blood vessels were more sensitive to zinc than blood vessels in other areas of the body, warranting further research.

“Essentially, zinc has the opposite effect to calcium on blood flow and pressure,” said Dr Ayton. “Zinc is an important metal ion in biology and, given that calcium and potassium are famous for controlling blood flow and pressure, it’s surprising that the role of zinc hasn’t previously been appreciated.”

This research also explains the fact that the genes that control intracellular zinc levels are known to be associated with cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, and hypertension is also a known side effect of zinc deficiency.

“While there are a range of existing drugs that are available to lower blood pressure, many people develop resistance to them,” said Dr Wright, who added that a number of cardiovascular diseases, including pulmonary hypertension, are poorly treated by currently available therapies. “New zinc-based blood pressure drugs would be a huge outcome for an accidental discovery, reminding us that in research, it isn’t just about looking for something specific, but also about just looking.”

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : General Interest Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags :

South African Woman Gives Birth to 10 Babies in World First

On By ModernMedia
Photo by William Fortunato from Pexels

In a world first, a Gauteng woman has given birth to 10 babies. It was only last month when Malian woman Halima Cissé had set the record when she gave birth to nine children in Morocco.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, delivered her seven boys and three girls by Caesarean section at 29 weeks along last night at a Pretoria hospital, according to her husband Teboho Tsotetsi. 

While such large numbers are usually a result of fertility treatment, Sithole had told the Pretoria News that her pregnancy was natural. She already has a pair of six-year-old twins.

Sithole said in an interview that she was shocked and fascinated by the pregnancy.

The retail store manager was told she had sextuplets, before that was revised to octuplets and finally decuplets because two foetuses were hidden in the fallopian tubes.

“I am shocked by my pregnancy. It was tough at the beginning. I was sick. It was hard for me. It’s still tough but I am used to it now. I don’t feel the pain anymore, but it’s still a bit tough. I just pray for God to help me deliver all my children in a healthy condition, and for me and my children to come out alive. I would be pleased about it,” Sithole said.

At first, she was dubious when the doctors informed her she was pregnant with octuplets.

“I didn’t believe it. I doubted it. I was convinced that if it was more, it would be twins or triplets, not more than that. When the doctor told me, I took time to believe it. Even when I saw the scans I didn’t believe it. But, as time went by, I realised it was indeed true. I battled to sleep at night though.”

Sithole had worried a great deal about her unborn children.

“How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive? What if they came out conjoined at the head, in the stomachs or hands? Like, what would happen? I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside. God made a miracle and my children stayed in the womb without any complications.”

Tsotetsi, who is unemployed, also said he was shocked when he heard the news.

“I could not believe it. I felt like one of God’s chosen children. I felt blessed to be given these kinds of blessings when many people out there need children. It’s a miracle which I appreciate. I had to go do my own research on whether a person could really conceive eight children. It was a new thing. I knew about twins, triplets and even quadruplets,” Tsotetsi said.

“But after I found out that these things do happen, and saw my wife’s medical records, I got even more excited. I can’t wait to have them in my arms.”

Professor Dini Mawela, deputy head of the school of medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, said Sithole’s case was rare and usually the result of fertility treatments. Because it was a “high risk” situation, the children will spend the next few months in an incubator, she said. Termed ‘grand multiparity‘, such pregnancies can be risky, and a pregnancy with 10 babies is of course unprecedented.  

“It’s quite a unique situation. I don’t know how often it happens. It’s extremely high risk (pregnancy). It’s a highly complex and high-risk situation. The danger is that, because there is not enough space in the womb for the children, the tendency is that they will be small. What would happen is that they would take them out pre-term because there is a risk if they keep them longer in there. The babies will come out small, chances of survival compromised. But all this depends on how long she carried them for.”

Source: IOL

Categories : COVIDTags :

WHO Warns of African Third Wave

On By ModernMedia
COVID cases map. Photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash

A surge in COVID cases in many parts of Africa could mean a continental third wave, the World Health Organization warned, posing a great threat for a continent where immunisation drives have been hamstrung by funding shortfalls and production delays for vaccine doses.

The WHO said that over the last week, test positivity had risen in 14 African countries, with eight reporting a surge of over 30% in new cases. Infections are steadily climbing in South Africa, where four of nine provinces are battling a third wave and the positivity rate was 14.2% as of Sunday. Uganda has also seen sharp increases, with hospitals overwhelmed with COVID patients and a lockdown being considered.

Weak compliance with social restrictions, increasing travel and the arrival of winter is behind the rise in cases, the WHO said. Experts also believe that new variants are also driving the numbers up.

Although Africa has reported less than 3 per cent of global coronavirus cases, the WHO said that the continent accounted for 3.7 percent of total deaths. This is likely an underestimate, given the lack of formal reporting for deaths.

“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, in a statement. “It’s crucial that we swiftly get vaccines into the arms of Africans at high risk of falling seriously ill and dying of Covid-19.”

While many wealthier countries have vigorous vaccination campaigns and some are on track to fully reopen, many of Africa’s poorer countries face a huge challenge in accessing vaccines.

Out of 1.3 billion people on the continent, only 31 million have received at least one dose, Dr Moeti said, and only seven million are fully vaccinated. Just 1386 people in Kenya have received two doses of a vaccine, out of a population of 50 million.

Countries like Ghana and Rwanda have run through their first deliveries of vaccines through Covax, the global facility working to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines.

In some countries, vaccine hesitancy has been so high that it even caused stocks of vaccines to expire. Possible contamination in Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses detected at a US manufacturing plant has resulted in yet another delay to South Africa’s immunisation programme.

Meanwhile, fake vaccines and PPE pose another problem; last November a police raid in South Africa found almost 2400 doses of fake vaccine.

The WHO warned that the surge of causes could swamp the limited capacities of healthcare systems. To stave off a full-blown crisis, Dr Moeti urged “countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”

Only about two per cent of the population has received at least one vaccine dose, compared with the 24 per cent global figure.

“While many countries outside Africa have now vaccinated their high-priority groups and are able to even consider vaccinating their children, African countries are unable to even follow up with second doses for high-risk groups,” said Dr. Moeti. “I’m urging countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”

Source: UN News

Categories : Cancer COVIDTags :

Cancer Patients Have a Higher Mortality Risk from COVID

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Patients hospitalised with active cancer are more likely to die from COVID than those with a cancer history or diagnosis, according to a new study.

The findings published by Wiley early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, also indicate that the greatest risk of death due to COVID was in those with active blood cancers. No mortality risk increase was found in patients who received cancer treatments in the three months (or longer) prior to hospitalisation.

To find out how cancer, or the various therapies used to treat it, could affect the health of patients with COVID infections, a team analysed the NYU Langone Medical Center’s records of 4184 hospitalised patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.

This group included 233 patients who had a current, or ‘active’, cancer diagnosis. They found that more patients with an active cancer diagnosis (34.3 percent) were likely to die from COVID than those with a history of cancer (27.6 percent) and those without any cancer history (20.0 percent).

Among patients with active cancer, those with blood-related cancers had the greatest risk of death. However, undergoing systemic anticancer therapy, including chemotherapy, molecularly targeted therapies, and immunotherapy, within three months prior to hospitalisation was not linked to a higher risk of death, and the investigators found there were no differences according to the type of cancer therapy being received.

Senior author Daniel Becker, said, “We completed a large chart review-based study of patients hospitalised with COVID and found that patients with active cancer, but not a history of cancer, were more likely to die. Notably, however, among those hospitalised with active cancer and COVID, recent cancer therapy was not associated with worse outcomes.”

“People with active cancer should take precautions against getting COVID, including vaccination, but need not avoid therapy for cancer.”

Source: Wiley

Categories : Ageing Neurodegenerative DiseasesTags :

Molecule Found to Play a Key Role in Brain Rejuvenation

On By ModernMedia
Image source: Pixabay

A new study shows that a molecule could play a key role in support cells in the brain, allowing them to repair and properly communicate.

Studies have shown that new brain cells continually formed in response to injury, physical exercise, and mental stimulation. Glial cells, and in particular oligodendrocyte progenitors, are highly responsive to external signals and injuries. They can detect changes in the nervous system and form new myelin, which forms a sheath around nerves, providing metabolic support and accurate transmission of electrical signals. However, less myelin is formed with age, and this progressive decline has been linked to the age-related cognitive and motor deficits observed in older people. Impaired myelin formation also has been reported in older individuals with neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Alzheimer’s and identified as one of the causes of their progressive clinical deterioration.

A new study from the Neuroscience Initiative team at the Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY (CUNY ASRC) has identified a molecule called ten-eleven-translocation 1 (TET1) as a necessary component of myelin repair. shows that TET1 modifies the DNA in specific glial cells in adult brains so they can form new myelin in response to injury. The study was published in Nature Communications.

“We designed experiments to identify molecules that could affect brain rejuvenation,” said lead author Sarah Moyon, PhD, a research assistant professor with the CUNY ASRC Neuroscience Initiative. “We found that TET1 levels progressively decline in older mice, and with that, DNA can no longer be properly modified to guarantee the formation of functional myelin.”

The authors are currently exploring whether raising levels of TET1 in older mice could rejuvenate the oligodendroglial cells, restoring their regenerative functions.

Combining whole-genome sequencing bioinformatics, the authors showed that the DNA modifications induced by TET1 in young adult mice were essential to promote healthy communication among central nervous system cells and for ensuring proper function. The authors also showed that young adult mice with a genetic modification of TET1 in the myelin-forming glial cells could not produce functional myelin, and so behaved like older mice.

“This newly identified age-related decline in TET1 may account for the inability of older individuals to form new myelin,” said Patrizia Casaccia, founding director of the CUNY ASRC Neuroscience Initiative, a professor of Biology and Biochemistry at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and the study’s primary investigator. “I believe that studying the effect of aging in glial cells in normal conditions and in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases will ultimately help us design better therapeutic strategies to slow the progression of devastating diseases like multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.”

The findings could also hold important implications for molecular rejuvenation of ageing brains in healthy individuals, the researchers noted. Future studies aimed at increasing TET1 levels in older mice are underway to define whether the molecule could restore new myelin formation and favour proper neuro-glial communication. The long-term goal of the team is to promote recovery of cognitive and motor functions in older people and in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

Source: Advanced Science Research Center

Categories : General Interest Neurodegenerative DiseasesTags :

A Neurologist Confronts His Alzheimer’s Disease

On By ModernMedia
Image by valelopardo from Pixabay

Neurologist Daniel Gibbs, MD, PhD, related his experiences of having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and taking part in clinical trials of possible treatments for it.

“I’m fascinated by this disease that, for my entire career as a scientist and a neurologist, I could only observe from the outside,” Dr Gibbs wrote in his new book, A Tattoo on my Brain: A Neurologist’s Personal Battle against Alzheimer’s Disease. “Now I’ve got a front-row seat — or rather, I’m in the ring with the tiger.”

Dr Gibbs stumbled upon his diagnosis accidentally, when he and his wife tested their DNA to learn about their ancestry that he discovered he had two copies of the APOE4 allele, the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

Because he had an early diagnosis, Dr Gibbs has volunteered to participate in several Alzheimer’s clinical trials in recent years, including one for aducanumab, the controversial Alzheimer’s treatment the FDA is expected to decide upon in June.

During a trial of aducanumab, he developed a serious amyloid-related imaging abnormality (ARIA) involving both brain oedema and intracerebral haemorrhage, which he recovered from. Dr Gibbs went on to co-author a case report about the clinical course and treatment of his complication. In the wake of much controversy, aducanumab has today received FDA approval.

MedPage Today interviewed Dr Gibbs on his experiences and perspectives since his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Dr Gibbs said that “as a patient and as a neurologist” it is a coping mechanism which gives hime “a huge advantage” to be able to look at the disease through his two “masks”. “Looking at it from the neurologist scientist’s point of view is a lot less threatening and is intellectually very satisfying. I enjoy reading and writing about it,” he said.

Regarding his future, he said: “One of the messages I try to get across in the book is that you need to plan for the future while you are still cognitively intact, and make very clearly known what you want done when you’re unable to give instructions about your care. I’ve done that. My family knows, my doctor knows: I don’t want anything done if I can’t participate in making decisions.” 

Dr Gibbs said he was excited to volunteer for the aducanumab study partly because of the way aducanumab was discovered; a reverse-engineered antibody found in cognitively normal aged people. Another reason was the more aggressive nature of the trial. He explained the meaning of “tattoo on my brain” alluded to in the title of his book, an adverse effect of the experimental drug.

“For me, a ‘tattoo on my brain’ has two forms. In the ARIA — the amyloid-related imaging abnormality complication I had from aducanumab — there was both leakage of fluid causing swelling in my brain and leakage of blood, microhaemorrhages. Those went away, as did the swelling in my brain, but they left behind this haemosiderin, this iron-containing pigment which is not dissimilar to tattoo ink, if you will.

“I haven’t had a recent MRI scan, but at least the last one I looked at a year or two ago still showed those little dots of hemosiderin. In a literal sense, that is the tattoo on my brain. In the figurative sense, the tattoo is a symbol of a kind of coming out of the closet and showing something that you’re not ashamed of.” 

The book, he said, is about people with early disease and the children of people with Alzheimer’s disease because they’re at risk. The aim is to “loosen up the conversation” so that interventions such as lifestyle changes can take place.

He suspects that the first disease-modifying drugs will be effective in early stages, which are going to be really hard studies to do. Recruiting participants without cognitive impairment but the pathology of  of Alzheimer’s disease is extremely difficult.
Finally, he offered some advice on dealing with Alzheimer’s.

“What I would recommend is for everybody to start doing things that are good for them. A heart-healthy diet is good for you in so many ways. It’s hard to say that’s not a good idea, although we’re a country of hamburger-loving people. And exercise — I don’t know how you overcome that bar of convincing people if you want to be a healthy 70- or 80-year-old, you have to exercise and get a good diet. And good sleep.”

Source:MedPage Today

Categories : Metabolic Disorders New Compounds and TreatmentsTags :

‘Game-changing’ Weight Loss Drug Semaglutide Approved by FDA

On By ModernMedia
Image source: Neonbrand on Unsplash

The US Food and Drug Administration approved a ‘game changing’ weight loss drug called Wegovy (semaglutide) for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight.

This injection is the first drug for chronic weight management in adults with general obesity or overweight to be approved since 2014. The drug is indicated for chronic weight management in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m2 or greater who have at least one weight-related ailment or in patients with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater, and is to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise.

“Today’s approval offers adults with obesity or overweight a beneficial new treatment option to incorporate into a weight management program,” said John Sharretts, MD, deputy director of the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “FDA remains committed to facilitating the development and approval of additional safe and effective therapies for adults with obesity or overweight.”

Approximately 70% of American adults have obesity or overweight, and >67% of sub-Saharan Africans. This is a serious health issue linked to leading causes of death such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and also to increased risk of certain types of cancer. Losing 5% to 10% of body weight through diet and exercise has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in adult patients with obesity or overweight.

Wegovy works by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that targets areas of the brain regulating appetite and food intake. The medication dose must be increased gradually over 16 to 20 weeks to 2.4 mg once per week to reduce gastrointestinal side effects.

The drug’s safety and efficacy were studied in four 68-week trials. Over 2600 patients received Wegovy for up to 68 weeks in these four studies and more than 1500 patients received placebo.

The largest placebo-controlled trial enrolled diabetes free adults with an average age of 46 years, and 74% of whom were female. The average body weight was 105 kg and average BMI was 38 kg/m2. Individuals receiving Wegovy lost an average of 12.4% of their initial body weight compared to individuals who received placebo. Another trial enrolled adults with type 2 diabetes. The average age was 55 years and 51% were female, with an average body weight of 100 kg and average BMI of 36 kg/m2. In this trial, individuals receiving Wegovy lost 6.2% of their initial body weight compared to the placebo group.

“The approval of Wegovy in the US brings great promise to people with obesity. Despite the best efforts to lose weight, many people with obesity struggle to achieve and maintain weight loss due to physiological responses that favour weight regain,” said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president, Development at Novo Nordisk. “The unprecedented weight loss for an anti-obesity medication marks a new era in the treatment of obesity, and we now look forward to making Wegovy available to people living with obesity in the US”.

Unfortunately, the drug may be out of the reach of many people in need of it, with indications being that the medication may be charged at around US$1,300 a month.

Source: Food and Drug Administration

Categories : Diet and NutritionTags :

Scientists Search for Ways to Make Plant-based Protein Tastier and Healthier

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As the demand for meat continues to increase around the world, a paper in the new Nature journal, Science of Food, that explores the topic of ways to create healthier, better-tasting and more sustainable plant-based protein products that mimic animal-based foods. 

It’s no simple task, said lead author of the article, renowned food scientist David Julian McClements, University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Professor.

“With Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods and other products coming on the market, there’s a huge interest in plant-based foods for improved sustainability, health and ethical reasons,” said  McClements, a leading expert in food design and nanotechnology, and author of Future Foods: How Modern Science Is Transforming the Way We Eat.

It’s a growing industry: in 2019, the US plant-based food market was valued at nearly $5 billion, with 40.5% of sales in the milk category and 18.9% in plant-based meat products. That reflects a growth in market value of 29% from 2017.

“A lot of academics are starting to work in this area and are not familiar with the complexity of animal products and the physicochemical principles you need in order to assemble plant-based ingredients into these products, each with their own physical, functional, nutritional and sensory attributes,” McClements said.

With funding from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Good Food Institute, McClements is leading a multidisciplinary team at UMass Amherst that is discovering how to design better plant-based protein. Co-author Lutz Grossmann, who recently joined the UMass Amherst food science team as an assistant professor, has expertise in alternative protein sources, McClements noted.

“Our research has pivoted toward this topic,” McClements said. “There’s a huge amount of innovation and investment in this area, and I get contacted frequently by different startup companies who are trying to make plant-based fish or eggs or cheese, but who often don’t have a background in the science of foods.”

While the plant-based food sector is growing to meet consumer demand, Prof McClements noted in the paper that “a plant-based diet is not necessarily better than an omnivore diet from a nutritional perspective.”

In order to provide the micronutrients that are naturally present in animal meat, milk and eggs, plant-based products have to be fortified with vitamin D, calcium, zinc and others. Adequate amounts of micronutrients are needed for, among other things, the proper functioning of the immune system. Meat-free diets presently increase risks for fractures and other conditions, although they have other considerable health benefits.

Plant-based foods also need to be digestible and provide the full complement of essential amino acids.

McClements said that many of the current generation of highly processed, plant-based meat products are unhealthy because they contain large amounts of of saturated fat, salt and sugar. But, he added, ultra-processed foods do not necessarily have to be unhealthy.

“We’re trying to make processed food healthier,” McClements explained. “We aim to design them to have all the vitamins and minerals you need and have health-promoting components like dietary fiber and phytochemicals so that they taste good and they’re convenient and they’re cheap and you can easily incorporate them into your life. That’s the goal in the future, but we’re not there yet for most products.”

To tackle these challenges, McClements said, the UMass Amherst team of scientists is taking a holistic, multidisciplinary approach.

Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Journal information: McClements, D. J & Grossmann, L., (2021) A brief review of the science behind the design of healthy and sustainable plant-based foods. npj Science of Food. doi.org/10.1038/s41538-021-00099-y