Weight loss medication has taken the world by storm and helped many overweight people. But for some, significant weight loss also comes with a loss of muscle mass and can lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis.
New research now suggests that the monoclonal antibody drug bimagrumab may be able to alleviate some of this risk, says PhD student Frederik Duch Bromer and postdoc Andreas Lodberg from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University, who are behind the study published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.
“We are the first to study how certain drugs affect bones, and the results show that bimagrumab can increase the amount of bone tissue while building muscle mass, and this could be very important for the many people currently taking weight loss medication.”
Bimagrumab was originally developed to treat muscle loss and dysfunction, but since then, it has beome apparent that it also has a fat “burning” component to it. So, if approved, it could be part of a second-generation weight loss drug on the market.
Therefore, it’s relevant to research how this particular patient group reacts to the drug,” says Andreas Lodberg.
“An estimated two billion people will be categorised as overweight by 2035, so it’s also important that we research the drugs that come on the market for this particular patient group in order to better understand their long-term impact on the body.”
Osteoporosis can prove costly for patients and society
Patients on weight loss medication often have a history of weight fluctuation, which can contribute to the development of osteoporosis. Brittle bones increase the risk of serious fractures, and this is costly for both patients and society.
Therefore, the research results could be good news for patients on weight loss medication. And according to Frederik Duch Bromer, the study shows that bimagrumab not only counteracts the breakdown of bone and muscle tissue, it actually promotes the build-up of both.
“Bimagrumab slightly increases the calcium content in bones and promotes the formation of new bone in what we call the shell (cortex) of the long bones. We also saw a significant build-up of bone tissue in the area around the femoral head, which is typically where many older people incur fractures.”
According to Frederik Duch Bromer, the results also showed that bimagrumab has no effect on the blood. Similar drugs have previously been shown to increase red blood cell production, increasing the risk of blood clots.
The study is based on mice with both osteoporosis and reduced muscle mass, and the drug is now being tested in several phase 2 clinical trials. Andreas Lodberg emphasises that more research is needed.
“Our study shows that bimagrumab has a positive effect in many areas, but we also have indications that the drug may have other side effects, and we’ll now investigate this further to get a clearer picture of the implications of using the drug for patients.”
Andreas Lodberg and Frederik Duch Bromer hope to be able to continue with further research to investigate both the positive results and possible side effects.
Doctors at Queen Mary University of London, Barts Health NHS Trust and University College London have developed a groundbreaking, minimally invasive treatment, Triple T, offering hope for millions of people with high blood pressure caused by a commonly overlooked condition.
The treatment, which could transform blood pressure management, has been published in The Lancet.
Triple T, also known as endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation, is poised to change the way we address primary aldosteronism (PA) – a hormonal disorder that causes high blood pressure in one in 20 patients with blood pressure yet is often undiagnosed and untreated. This treatment has shown promising results in clinical trials and could become an accessible alternative to surgery, offering relief to those who suffer from this condition.
The hidden cause of high blood pressure
High blood pressure, affecting one in three adults, has several underlying causes, with PA being one of the most common yet underdiagnosed. In this condition, benign nodules in the adrenal glands produce excess aldosterone, a hormone that raises blood pressure by increasing salt levels in the body. Patients with PA often do not respond to standard medications and face increased risks of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.
Until now, the only effective treatment for PA has been the surgical removal of the affected adrenal gland. However, this procedure requires general anaesthesia, a hospital stay, and weeks of recovery, causing many patients to go untreated. Triple T provides a faster, safer, and less invasive alternative by targeting and destroying the malfunctioning adrenal nodule without removing the gland.
How Triple T works
The procedure uses a combination of radiofrequency or microwaves and ultrasound to deliver targeted heat to the adrenal nodule. A fine needle is inserted through the stomach to the adrenal gland, guided by real-time ultrasound imaging, where short bursts of heat are used to destroy the problematic tissue. This targeted approach ensures minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissues. The entire procedure lasts only 20 minutes and requires no incision.
Triple T’s success stems from recent advances in diagnostic scans, which use molecular dyes to accurately locate even the smallest adrenal nodules. These breakthroughs, combines with the ability to directly target nodules adjacent to the stomach, have enabled this minimally invasive approach.
Successful trial and promising results
The Feasibility study of radiofrequency endoscopic ABlation, with ULtrasound guidance (FABULAS) trial which tested Triple T on 28 patients with PA, showed excellent results. The procedure was found to be safe and effective, with most patients experiencing normalised hormones levels within six months. Many participants were able to stop all blood pressure medications, and the condition did not recur.
Professor Morris Brown, co-senior author of the study and Professor of Endocrine Hypertension at Queen Mary University of London, reflected on the significance of this milestone: “It is 70 years since the discovery in London of the hormone aldosterone, and, a year later, of the first patient in USA with severe hypertension due to an aldosterone-producing tumour. This patient’s doctor, Jerome Conn, predicted, with perhaps only minor exaggeration, that 10-20% of all hypertensions might one day be traced to curable nodules in one or both glands. We are now able to realise this prospect, offering 21st-century breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment.”
One trial participant, Michelina Alfieri, shared her experience: “Before the study, I suffered from debilitating headaches for years despite multiple GP visits. As a full-time worker and single parent, my daily life was severely affected. This non-invasive treatment provided an immediate recovery—I was back to my normal routine straight away. I’m incredibly grateful to the team for giving me this choice.”
What’s next?
The success of the FABULAs trial has led to a larger study, WAVE, which will compare Triple T with traditional surgery in 120 patients. Results are expected in 2027.
Professor Stephen Pereira, Chief Investigator of FABULAS, emphasised the potential global impact of Triple T. he said: “This less invasive technique could be widely offered in endoscopy units across the UK and internationally.”
Clinical Endocrinology Lead at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Professor of Clinical Endocrinology at the University of Cambridge, Professor Mark Gurnell, said: “Thanks to this work, we may finally be able to diagnose and treat more people with primary aldosteronism, lowering their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and other complications, and reducing the number of people dependent on long-term blood pressure medication.”
The research was primarily supported by Barts Charity, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through the Barts and Cambridge Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs), and the British Heart Foundation.
It is being followed by a larger randomised trial, called ‘WAVE’, which will compare TTT to traditional surgery in 120 patients. The results are expected in 2027.
If the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is halted, the South African public health system “will face a severe crisis” that could endanger millions of lives. This is according to a coalition of 17 health service organisations in South Africa, including large ones such as Anova Health, Health Systems Trust, TB HIV Care, The Aurum Institute and Wits RHI.
In a statement, they appealed to private sector donors and “high net-worth individuals” to help fund the shortfall caused by US aid cuts.
PEPFAR is a multi-billion dollar US initiative that supports HIV and TB-related health services around the world. In South Africa alone, over 15 000 staff (mostly health workers) are funded by PEPFAR, according to the national health department.
But a series of executive orders issued by US President Donald Trump has suspended some of this funding and the rest remains precarious. The orders include a 90-day pause on all US foreign development assistance and another that explicitly bars South Africa from aid (with some leeway allowed).
Some health service providers in South Africa continue to receive money from PEPFAR under a limited waiver that allows for the continuation of certain “life-saving HIV services”. But the waiver hasn’t protected all PEPFAR beneficiaries. As a result, some organisations have had to close their doors, while many others have had to curtail what they can provide.
The waiver doesn’t cover all health services, and many health programs that target high-risk groups (such as people who use drugs) have not been protected. This is even if they provide life-saving HIV services.
Services suspended for the most vulnerable
Under the waiver, PEPFAR can continue to fund programs that offer treatment and testing for HIV, including antiretroviral (ARV) services. Projects can also continue to provide condoms and HIV prevention medication, known as PrEP, but only to pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The waiver does not allow for continued funding of PrEP medication or condoms to anyone else. It also doesn’t cover crucial research, like population surveys which tell us how many people have HIV and where they’re located. Additionally, it doesn’t allow for continued funding of methadone maintenance programs for people who use heroin. This is despite the fact that this is the most effective way to help people to stop using heroin and to curb the sharing of drug needles (something which contributes to the spread of HIV).
Dr Gloria Maimela, who represents the coalition of organisations behind the statement, told GroundUp and Spotlight: “The staff who are providing [HIV] testing and treatment [are] back at facilities to provide those services, but staff that are providing other services not included in the waiver have been stopped, and are waiting for further guidance.”
In addition, organisations that help key populations have not been protected by the waiver, according to Maimela. Key populations are groups that are more at risk of becoming infected with HIV, such as people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender people, and men who have sex with men. South African policy documents and the World Health Organisation recommend that health programs focus on these groups since they’re more likely to acquire and transmit HIV.
Despite this, US-funded organisations that target key populations have been forced to shut their doors in South Africa. Maimela says that this is even in cases where they were offering the kind of life-saving ARV treatment covered in the waiver.
“For us, this is of grave concern,” Maimela says, “because we know that right now that is where most of the [HIV] infections lie”.
So far, organisations which provide HIV treatment and prevention services to LGBTI people have been forced to shut down, including the Ivan Toms Centre and Engage Men’s Health.
Additionally, GroundUp and Spotlight have identified two PEPFAR-supported harm reduction centres that have had to close. These centres provided methadone and clean needles to people who inject drugs (when drug users have access to clean needles, they’re less likely to resort to sharing them, which brings down HIV transmission).
Ricardo Walters, who provides consulting services to health service organisations across Africa, told Spotlight and GroundUp that a similar trend could be seen across the continent.
“Many organisations that were specifically offering services to key populations were not suspended; their project funding was terminated,” he said. “They will not be coming back.”
These organisations were assisting patients “who often could not access services in a general [health] setting”.
Walters says the reasons given for the termination of these programs vary across organisations and countries.
“Where there are reasons, it’s often [stated] that it’s because the program contains components of DEIA [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility] and gender ideology, which is directly from a previous executive order [in which the Trump administration terminated all federal funding for DEIA]. The terms are never defined … no one says don’t treat gay men.”
Appeal to private sector
Beyond the shuttering of existing organisations, providers that are covered under the waiver remain unsure about whether funding will restart after the 90-day period. Also large sections of the US aid establishment have been gutted.
The recent statement by health organisations argues that if this aid is terminated “patients, including children, will lose access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment, while thousands of healthcare workers will be unable to provide essential HIV care. The consequences will be immediate. Fewer people will receive timely testing and treatment, leading to more undiagnosed cases, rising infections, and the spread of drug resistance. Mortality will increase, opportunistic infections will surge, and TB rates will escalate – putting the entire population at risk.”
As such, the statement calls on private corporations, donors and philanthropists to assist in supporting these health services.
“We encourage people to get in touch with us,” says Maimela, “so that even as we hold dialogues with the government, [those people] could be part of [the conversation] and step in and say how they want to help.”
To find out how to support organisations that provide HIV and TB related health services in South Africa contact Gloria Maimela at gloriam@foundation.co.za.
New research shows that how a network of subcellular structures is responsible for transmitting signals in neurons. This movie shows 3D renderings of these structures in high-resolution 3D electron microscopy images of fruit fly neurons. The endoplasmic reticulum (green), plasma membrane (blue), mitochondria (pink), microtubules (tan), and ER-plasma membrane contacts (magenta) are segmented from FIB-SEM datasets of a Drosophila melanogaster MBON1 neuron. Credit: Benedetti et al.
New research led by the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab shows that a network of subcellular structures similar to those responsible for propagating molecular signals that make muscles contract are also responsible for transmitting signals in the brain that may facilitate learning and memory.
“Einstein said that when he uses his brain, it is like he is using a muscle, and in that respect, there is some parallel here,” says Janelia Senior Group Leader Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz. “The same machinery is operating in both cases but with different readouts.” The research appears in the journal Cell.
The first clue about the possible connection between brain and muscle cells came when Janelia scientists noticed something strange about the endoplasmic reticulum, or ER – the membranous sheets and folds inside cells that are crucial for many cellular functions.
Research scientist Lorena Benedetti was tracking molecules at high resolution along the surface of the ER in mammalian neurons when she saw that the molecules were tracing a repeating, ladder-like pattern along the entire length of the dendrites.
Around the same time, Senior Group Leader Stephan Saalfeld alerted Lippincott-Schwartz to high-resolution 3D electron microscopy images of neurons in the fly brain where the ER was also forming regularly spaced, transversal structures.
This movie shows time-lapse high-resolution imaging in neurons, revealing the dynamic behavior of ER tubules contrasted with the persistence of ER-PM junctional sites over time. Time-lapse acquired using 2D lattice-SIM in burst mode of HaloTag-Sec61β (labeled with JF585 HaloTag-ligand) expressing neurons. Scale bars: 0.5 μm. Credit: Benedetti et al.
The ER normally appears like a huge, dynamic net, so as soon as Lippincott-Schwartz saw the structures, she knew her lab needed to figure out what they were for.
“In science, structure is function,” says Lippincott-Schwartz, who also heads Janelia’s 4D Cellular Physiology research area. “This is an unusual, beautiful structure that we are seeing throughout the whole dendrite, so we just had this feeling that it must have some important function.”
The researchers, led by Benedetti, started by looking at the only other area of the body known to have similar, ladder-like ER structures: muscle tissue. In muscle cells, the ER and the plasma membrane – the outer membrane of the cell – meet at periodic contact sites, an arrangement controlled by a molecule called junctophilin.
Using high-resolution imaging, the researchers discovered that dendrites also contain a form of junctophilin that controls contact sites between their ER and plasma membrane. Further, the team found that the same molecular machinery controlling calcium release at muscle cells’ contact sites – where calcium drives muscle contraction – was also present at dendrite contact sites – where calcium regulates neuronal signalling.
Because of these clues, the researchers had a hunch that the molecular machinery at the dendritic contact sites must also be important for transmitting calcium signals, which cells use to communicate. They suspected that the contact sites along the dendrites might act like a repeater on a telegraph machine: receiving, amplifying, and propagating signals over long distances. In neurons, this could explain how signals received at specific sites on dendrites are relayed to the cell body hundreds of micrometres away.
“How that information travels over long distances and how the calcium signal gets specifically amplified was not known,” says Benedetti. “We thought that ER could play that role, and that these regularly distributed contact sites are spatially and temporally localised amplifiers: they can receive this calcium signal, locally amplify this calcium signal, and relay this calcium signal over a distance.”
The researchers found that this process is triggered when a neuronal signal causes calcium to enter the dendrite through voltage-gated ion channel proteins, which are positioned at the contact sites. Although this initial calcium signal dissipates quickly, it triggers the release of additional calcium from the ER at the contact site.
Blood cancer, a term covering several malignant diseases of the bone marrow or blood-forming system, accounts for 33% of all childhood cancers in South Africa. Currently, nearly 5000 children are living with the condition. For parents and caregivers, the emotional and financial strain can be overwhelming, often leaving them struggling to cope.
Ahead of International Childhood Cancer Day, on the 15th of February, Palesa Mokomele, Head of Community Engagement and Communications at DKMS Africa, explains that with the childhood cancer survival rate as low as 20%, a diagnosis is often a devastating blow for families.
“One thousand four hundred South African children are diagnosed with blood cancer annually,” she continues. “While the diagnosis is traumatic for the child, caregivers experience immense psychological distress which can severely impact their quality of life.”
A Mother’s Story
Elizabeth, whose son Ntsako was diagnosed with blood cancer in August 2024, describes the experience as “a bolt of lightning” that turned her world upside down. “I try not to cry in front of my son, even when I feel like I am falling apart. The treatment phase has been brutal. I want to stay strong for him but knowing there’s only so much I can do is heartbreaking.”
Mokomele notes that Elizabeth’s experience is shared by many. “Prolonged treatment, high stress, sleep deprivation, and financial strain take a heavy toll. Many caregivers struggle with anxiety, depression, and burnout, affecting their well-being, family dynamics, and social lives.”
Coping With the Emotional Impact
While every parent handles these challenges differently, there are ways to manage the emotional burden:
· Fear and anxiety: The unknown can be debilitating. Engaging with doctors and learning about the treatment and outcomes, which, while still stressful, can remove much of the uncertainty. Your child’s care team is not only there for your child but also to help you; enlist their support and lean on them.
· Denial and anger: In the short term, denial may help you adjust to the reality of your child’s diagnosis, but staying in denial for too long can cause isolation and delay treatment. Once this wears off, it can give way to anger, and without a proper outlet, it may build up inside. This can lead to you misdirecting it toward other loved ones, co-workers, and even doctors. Look for support from other parents who are going through the same process. Communicate your feelings with those close to you and explore ways to help you cope, like exercise, journaling, mindful meditation, or even just giving yourself private time to vent your feelings.
· Guilt and blame: It is natural to look for someone or something to blame. You may look inward to find something you think you did wrong; maybe you feel you didn’t act soon enough, or you’re angry that you didn’t get to the doctor earlier. Acknowledging these feelings and allowing yourself to process them is important. If these feelings become too overwhelming, seek support from a professional or even from your child’s care team.
· Sadness and loss: Give yourself the space to acknowledge grief and adapt to your new reality. If these feelings start to impact your ability to function, get support to work through them because they will affect your ability to help your child and other family members cope.
A Life-Saving Solution
More than 500 South African children die from blood cancer annually – a number that can be reduced with early detection and timely intervention.
“Blood cancer patients can often overcome the disease with the help of a stem cell transplant from a suitable donor,” highlights Mokomele. “DKMS provides a second chance at life for more than 22 patients every day, but doctors still struggle to find matches. Registering as a donor takes just five minutes but could save a child’s life and offer some much-needed relief for those caregivers who are doing their best to hold their families together.”
