Tag: 25/10/21

Categories : Diet and Nutrition Respiratory DiseasesTags :

Fermented Soy Products Found to Reduce Asthma Inflammation

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A bowl of tofu, a fermented soy food. Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

Fermented soy products are common in the Japanese diet, and one brand known as ImmuBalance has been found to suppress airway inflammation in animal models of asthma.

Bronchial asthma causes symptoms such as wheezing and cough due to chronic airway inflammation, but there is no fundamental treatment for it, leaving a desire for new prevention and treatment methods. Osaka University researchers found that in a ImmuBalance-treated group of asthma model mice, eosinophils associated with asthma were significantly reduced in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). As well as a decrease in inflammation and mucus around the bronchi, the team observed a suppression of proteins that induce eosinophilic inflammation.

“The relationship between soy intake and allergic diseases has been epidemiologically reported in the past,” explained first author Hideaki Kadotani, “suggesting that the components of soy may have some anti-allergic effects”

“It was reported that imbalances in the gut microbiota may be involved in immune system and allergic diseases, and fermented dietary fiber, like that found in soy, might have beneficial effects in allergic asthma models.” continues Associate Professor Kazuhisa Asai, supporting author of the study.

In the study, which appears in the journal Nutrients, such a gut imbalance’s effect on asthma were examined by giving ImmuBalance-enriched feed to asthma model mice. In the ImmuBalance-treated group, there was a significant drop in the number of eosinophils in BALF, and inflammation around the bronchi and mucus production in the bronchial epithelium was suppressed. Additionally, the expression of Th2 cytokines and the immunoglobulin serum IgE that induce eosinophilic inflammation in BALF were found to be significantly suppressed.

“In clinical practice, steroid inhalants are the basis of asthma treatments, yet they are known to have adverse side effects“, stated lead advisor to the study, Professor Tomoya Kawaguchi. “Our results suggest that the intake of fermented soybean products should be recommended as a complementary coping strategy to asthma with fewer side effects”

Source: Osaka University

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and ConditionsTags :

Interleukin-12 no Longer the Villain in Psoriasis

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Psoriatic plaque, showing a silvery center surrounded by a reddened border. Source: Wikimedia. By James Heilman, MD – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Considered to be the trigger for psoriais, the immune messenger molecule Interleukin-12 (IL-12) has now been shown to actually cause the skin disease but in fact protects against it. This finding also explains why common psoriasis drugs that block the messenger show insufficient treatment efficacy.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that manifests as red, scaly skin patches. No causal treatment for the disease exists, but the symptoms can be significantly alleviated with modern therapies. The development of the skin disease arises from complex changes immune cell networks and the messengers they use for communication. Clinical trials showed that newly developed drugs that blocked only IL-23 are more effective than previous treatments targeting both IL-23 and IL-12 in psoriasis patients, but why this was so was not known. Now, researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have uncovered the underlying molecular mechanisms.

From human and mouse studies, they found that various cell types in the skin are also equipped with receptors for IL-12. Not only the T cells of the immune system, but also keratinocytes, horn-forming skin cells that build up the epidermis, can thus recognise the messenger. In fact, the recognition of interleukin-12 by these skin cells was responsible for the protective effect of the messenger, as the researchers found out. “Interleukin-12 is essential for the normal, physiological function of keratinocytes. For example, it prevents the increased cell division observed in psoriasis,” explained group leader Sarah Mundt from the Institute of Experimental Immunology at UZH.

“These results surprised us, because so far drugs for the treatment of psoriasis also aim at blocking interleukin-12,” said immunology professor Burkhard Becher.

“Our findings indicate that blocking IL-12 is not advisable, and such drugs should therefore no longer be used to treat psoriasis patients,” advised first author  Pascale Zwicky, PhD student. Accordingly, psoriasis drugs should only block the messenger substance IL-23, but no longer IL-23 and -12 together.

The UZH researchers’ findings could be important for the treatment of other diseases. “The combined blocking of IL-23 and -12 is also used in the treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases and psoriatic arthritis,” said Prof Becher. “In these diseases, the role of IL-12 has not yet been sufficiently studied. But here, too, a protective role of the messenger substance is possible.”

Source: University of Zurich

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

A New, Lasting Diabetes Treatment

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Source: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Israeli researchers have come up with a novel approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes, using an autograft of muscle cells engineered to take in sugar at increased rates.

The disease’s long-term complications include heart disease, strokes, retinal damage leading to blindness, kidney failure, and poor blood flow in the limbs that may result in amputations. Currently a combination of lifestyle changes, medication, and insulin injections are used to treat it, however it is still associated with a 10-year reduction in life expectancy.

Professor Shulamit Levenberg led the study alomg with PhD student Rita Beckerman from the Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory in the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. An autograft of muscle cells engineered to take in sugar at increased rates were tested in mice, which displayed normal blood sugar levels for months after a single procedure. The study findings were published in Science Advances.

Muscle cells are among the main targets of insulin, and they are supposed to absorb sugar from the blood. In their study, Prof. Levenberg’s group isolated muscle cells from mice and engineered these cells to present more insulin-activated sugar transporters (GLUT4). These cells were then grown to form an engineered muscle tissue, and finally put back into diabetic mice. The engineered cells not only proceeded to absorb sugar correctly, improving blood sugar levels, but also induced improved absorption in the mice’s other muscle cells through intercellular signalling. After this one treatment, the mice remained cured of diabetes for four months – the entire observation period. Their blood sugar levels remained lower, and they had reduced levels of fatty liver normally seen in type 2 diabetes.

Prof. Levenberg explained how the process worked. “By taking cells from the patient and treating them, we eliminate the risk of rejection.” These cells can easily integrate back into being part of the body and respond to the body’s signaling activity.

An effective treatment, especially as a once-off, could significantly improve both quality of life and life expectancy of those who have diabetes. The same method could also be used to treat various enzyme deficiency disorders.

Source: Technion Israeli Institute of Technology