Publisher Health

Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified several steps in a cellular process responsible for triggering one of the body’s important inflammatory responses. Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Immunology, open up possibilities for modulating the type of inflammation associated with several infections and inflammatory diseases.
Specifically, the investigators have improved understanding of the steps that lead to the production of IL-1 beta, a potent inflammatory protein signal released during many inflammatory responses.
“We now have a clearer understanding of the stepwise process that leads to the production of IL-1 beta,” said Andrea Wolf, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and a senior and corresponding author on the new study. “By understanding the process, we hope to one day find a treatment for diseases associated with this inflammatory response.”
When the innate immune system — the defense system we were born with — identifies a potentially harmful bacterium, virus, or other external invader, it unleashes white blood cells to surround and attack the foreign agent. This can cause swelling, redness, heat and pain in the body’s tissues that — in a healthy body — eventually go away.
Some people, however, get stuck in the inflammation phase. This causes what is known as chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation can damage healthy cells in the body and is thought to lead to serious conditions like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression.
“Inflammation, in many instances, is vital to a thriving immune system and healthy body,” said David Underhill, PhD, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Janis and William Wetsman Family Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, who is also a senior and corresponding author on the study. “However, prolonged inflammation can wreak havoc on the body. This underscores the importance of understanding the cellular process of how inflammation is activated so we can work toward finding new treatments to curb chronic inflammation.”
The study published today is a follow-up to Cedars-Sinai research published in 2016 that explains how cells act to detect an infection. In that study, investigators discovered that an enzyme called hexokinase, typically used by cells to convert glucose into energy, has a second, inflammatory function. They discovered that hexokinase binds to a sugar from the cell wall of bacteria and activates the inflammasomes, leading to the production of IL-1 beta. Inflammasomes are receptors of the innate immune system that recognize microbes and tissue damage.

The current work presents a more complete picture of this process.
The investigators discovered that hexokinase leaves the mitochondria, the part of a cell that generates energy. This jump-starts an immune response: The release of hexokinase destabilizes the mitochondria and alerts the cell that something is wrong. This leads to clustering of a channel called VDAC in the membrane of the mitochondria, which interacts with another protein called NLRP3 to initiate inflammasome assembly. The inflammasomes then produce IL-1 beta, a driver of inflammation.
Investigators studied cells that were derived from laboratory mice to understand the steps involved in the IL-1 beta pathway. The team used substances called inhibitors that block cellular functions as well as gene-editing technology to turn off certain genes and the proteins they express. This allowed them to understand which proteins are vital to triggering inflammation.
Cedars-Sinai postdoctoral scientist Sung Hoon Baik, PhD, used the super-resolution microscope that is part of the Cedars-Sinai Biobank and Research Pathology Resource to visualize and measure the steps of this inflammatory process within individual cells.
“Being able to target specific steps in this pathwayis vital, because in addition to being important for inflammation, the components of this pathway also play a vital role in maintaining energy within the cell,” Wolf said. “We want to home in on its inflammatory role, not just turn it all off, because that would be bad for the cell.”
The investigators are continuing to study the cellular steps leading up to, and resulting from, hexokinase’s role in the activation of inflammasomes. They are also using the results from this study to begin to target this inflammatory pathway in different diseases.
Other Cedars-Sinai investigators who worked on the study include Courtney Becker, manager of the Underhill Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai; Sarah Fett, research associate at Cedars-Sinai; and V. Krishnan Ramanujan, PhD, research associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai and director of the Cedars-Sinai Biobank.
Funding: The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (award numbers R01AI148465, R01GM085796, R01AI071116).

Every year, sun glare contributes to around 3,000 crashes in the United States. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers are helping to mitigate this problem by examining what drivers are likely to do when faced with sun glare. Their work was published in Transportation Research Record.
“We want drivers to be safer on the road,” said study co-author Eren Ozguven, director of the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response Center. “At certain times of day, the sun can be blinding, so as scientists and engineers, we want to find solutions.”
The first step is to understand where problems are most likely to occur. Researchers developed a multinomial logistic regression model to formulate relationships between crash-related factors and alternative actions drivers could adopt to avert a crash.
They found that drivers were most likely to run red lights or stop signs, particularly on local roadways. They also tended to follow vehicles too closely in high-traffic areas.
“There are emerging technologies that could help drivers when sun glare is impacting their driving,” said study co-author Mohammadreza Koloushani, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “For example, developing automated avoidance systems that use intelligent transportation technology may prevent crashes when drivers are following other vehicles too closely.”
In-vehicle image processing detectors may enhance eye-tracking accuracy and alert drivers to the presence of sun glare based on their facial expressions. By providing real-time information regarding glare conditions, navigation systems could recommend alternative routes to avoid areas that are prone to sun glare.
Non-automated solutions could also help. By installing anti-glare coatings on pavements, transportation planners can improve roads to enhance driver performance and reduce the hazards posed by sun glare during the daytime.
The findings could help inform the use of emerging intelligent transportation system technologies, such as automated traffic signal performance measures and cooperative intersection collision avoidance systems, to prevent accidents caused by daytime glare.
Koloushani and Ozguven worked with Mehmet Burak Kaya, a graduate research assistant, and Alican Karaer, doctoral alumnus who now works at the company Iteris. The Florida Department of Transportation Safety Office provided crash data. The authors received no financial support for the research.

Concussions are an unfortunate reality of contact sports at junior and senior levels. Now, sports experts at the University of South Australia are suggesting extended recovery times may be needed for youth athletes suffering from head trauma as new research shows a concussion can increase future injury risk by 50%.
Published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport,the world-first study tracked and evaluated the long-term impact of concussion and subsequent injury risk of 1455 sub-elite junior Australian rules football players.
This builds on previous UniSA research that found an approximate 1.5-fold increased risk of injury of sub-elite Australian rules football players returning from an injury, compared to those with no injury.
Tracking injuries over a seven-season period, researchers found that football players who suffered a concussion were also about 1.5 times more likely to be reinjured in the future when compared to players who had never been injured. This increased risk was the same as players returning from upper and lower limb injuries.
The finding comes ahead of the Australian Senate’s report into concussion injuries, and follows the AFL’s announcement for a $25 million study into the long-term effects of concussions and head knocks.
In the AFL, concussions are one of the most common injuries, with an average of six concussions every 1000 hours played, which involve around 70 to 80 male players every year.

In junior elite football as well as AFL and AFLW, the guidelines for concussion say that the earliest a player can return to play post-concussion is 12 days after the injury, after following the graded progression through a return-to-play program.
Lead researcher, UniSA’s Dr Hunter Bennett, says the significant and elevated risk of injury after a concussion may suggest a longer recovery time is required for some players to better recover before returning to play.
“The current recommendation of 12 days post-concussion may not be sufficient to allow full recovery in elite under-18 footballers,” Dr Bennett says.
It may also indicate that the physical qualities impacted by concussion should be assessed more thoroughly before an athlete is cleared to return to the sport.
“Concussion is a common injury in Australian rules football that can lead to impairments in balance, coordination, reaction time, and decision making — and these impairments can increase the risk of other injuries if an athlete returns to play before being fully recovered.”
A recent consensus statement on concussion in sport also indicates that children and teenagers may take up to four-weeks to recover from a sport related concussion.

“Concussions are a unique injury that occur without muscle tissue damage, instead impacting aspects of motor control,” Dr Bennett says.
“Recurrent injuries can significantly impact team success, player health, and career longevity.
“In elite sports, there is the potential for young athletes to overplay their readiness to return to sport after an injury, as they worry that missing games can exclude them from senior drafting or competition.
“When we know that athletes have a greater risk of another injury post a concussion, it suggests we need unique and careful rehabilitation strategies to monitor when an athlete is fully recovered and ready to return to play.”
Researchers say that future research should seek to identify optimal rehabilitation and injury prevention strategies for athletes who suffer from concussions.

A joint research group led by Osaka Metropolitan University has clarified how pathogenic genes in some Providencia spp., which have gained attention as causative agents of food poisoning as well as enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. O157 and Salmonella, are transferred within bacterial cells. Their findings are expected to provide new insights into the identification of infection routes of Providencia spp. and the establishment of preventive methods for food poisoning.
Recently, Providencia spp. which have been detected in patients with gastroenteritis, and similar to enterohemorrhagicEscherichia coli. O157 and Salmonella spp., have been attracting attention as causative agents of food poisoning. For children with low immunity, food poisoning can be lethal as it causes severe symptoms such as diarrhea and dehydration, so clarifying the source of infection and pathogenic factors of Providencia spp., and establishing preventive methods are urgent issues worldwide.
A joint research group led by Professor Shinji Yamasaki, Dr. Sharda Prasad Awasthi, a Specially Appointed Lecturer, and graduate student Jayedul Hassan from the Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, determined how the pathogenic genes in some Providencia spp. such as Providencia alcalifaciens and Providencia rustigianii are transferred within bacterial cells of genus Providencia. The group has also elucidated that the pathogenic genes of Providencia rustigianii are also transferred to other bacterial cells belonging to Enterobacteriaceae.
Professor Yamasaki concluded, “This achievement is expected to provide new insights into the identification of infection routes of Providencia spp. and the establishment of preventive methods for food poisoning.”

Fathers can make a huge difference in whether an infant is breastfed and placed to sleep safely, according to a recent survey of new fathers led by scientists at Northwestern University and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
The study included 250 fathers who were surveyed two to six months after the birth of their infant. The survey findings are among the first to describe father-reported attitudes toward and experiences with breastfeeding and infant sleep practices in a state-representative sample. They will be published June 16 in the journal Pediatrics.
Among fathers who wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed, 95% reported breastfeeding initiation and 78% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks. This is significantly higher than the rates reported by fathers who had no opinion or did not want their infant’s mother to breastfeed — 69% of these fathers reported breastfeeding initiation and 33% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks.
The scientists also found that 99% of fathers reported placing their infant to sleep, but only 16% implemented all three American Academy of Pediatrics-recommended infant sleep practices (using the back sleep position, an approved sleep surface, and avoiding soft bedding). Almost a third of fathers surveyed were missing at least one key component of safe sleep education.
“Our findings underscore that new fathers are a critical audience to promote breastfeeding and safe infant sleep,” said lead study author Dr. John James Parker, an instructor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, pediatrician at Lurie Children’s and an internist at Northwestern Medicine. “Many families do not gain the health benefits from breastfeeding because they are not provided the support to breastfeed successfully. Fathers need to be directly engaged in breastfeeding discussions, and providers need to describe the important role fathers play in breastfeeding success.”
Racial disparities in rates of SIDS in the U.S.
Black fathers were less likely to use the back sleep position and more likely to use soft bedding than white fathers. More than 3,000 infants die of sleep-related deaths per year in the U.S. Nationally, the rate of sudden unexpected infant death (SIDS) of Black infants is more than twice that of white infants, and unsafe sleep practices may contribute to this disparity, the study authors said.

“Fathers need to receive counseling on all the safe sleep practices for their infants,” Parker said. “To reduce racial disparities in sudden unexpected infant death, we need tailored strategies to increase safe infant sleep practices in the Black community, including public campaigns to increase awareness and home visiting programs. These interventions must involve both parents to be most effective.”
New survey highlights unique needs of new fathers
Recognizing that new dads play an important role in the health and wellbeing of children and families, senior author Dr. Craig Garfield, professor of pediatrics and medical social sciences at Feinberg and a Lurie Children’s pediatrician, partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Georgia Department of Public Health to develop and pilot the new survey tool used in this study called Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) for Dads.
The tool was modeled after PRAMS, an annual surveillance tool the CDC and public health departments have used for more than 35 years to survey new mothers. PRAMS for Dads is, for the first time, providing data on the unique needs of new fathers. The survey gathers data on the health behaviors and experiences of men as they enter fatherhood.
“As pediatricians, we focus on how to ensure the best health outcomes for children, with successful breastfeeding and safe sleep practices being two key behaviors that impact children’s health,” said Garfield, who also is the founder of the Family & Child Health Innovations Program (FCHIP) at Lurie Children’s. “Our study highlights the fact that fathers play a big role in both these behaviors, but there is more to be done to support fathers.”
For example, Garfield said they found that fathers with college degrees were more likely to report that their baby breastfed, and they were more likely to receive guidance on infant sleep safety.
“To improve child health outcomes, we need to make sure breastfeeding and safe sleep guidance reach all new parents equitably,” Garfield said.

The NewsPresident Biden on Friday said that he planned to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen, the former North Carolina health secretary, as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a widely expected move that marks a major transition at the federal agency tasked with overseeing the nation’s public health infrastructure.Dr. Cohen will take over for Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, an infectious disease expert who led the C.D.C. from the beginning of Mr. Biden’s term and announced last month that she would step down from her position on June 30.Mr. Biden said in a statement Friday that Dr. Cohen was recognized for being able to “find common ground and put complex policy into action.”“I look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nation’s finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency,” he said.Dr. Mandy Cohen was formerly a top health official in North Carolina.Travis Long/The News & Observer, via Associated PressWhy It Matters: Dr. Cohen will oversee the C.D.C.’s response to public health crises.The appointment does not require Senate confirmation, meaning Dr. Cohen can assume leadership of the C.D.C. as soon as Dr. Walensky steps down. Congress recently passed legislation requiring the agency’s director be confirmed, but the provision does not take effect until 2025.In her own statement Friday, Dr. Walensky called Dr. Cohen “perfectly suited to lead C.D.C. as it moves forward by building on the lessons learned from Covid-19.”The Biden administration allowed the federal Covid public health emergency declaration to lapse in May. Dr. Cohen will oversee the C.D.C.’s recently revised efforts to track the coronavirus, including in wastewater. She will also be responsible for a vast set of public health crises handled across the agency’s centers, including other infectious disease outbreaks and opioid use.The C.D.C. has faced dwindling public trust as the nation recovers from a pandemic in which the agency bungled early efforts to test Americans, allowed political interference in its scientific literature and delivered what health experts say was muddled guidance on testing, masking and understanding the spread of the virus.Dr. Cohen was said to be the top candidate on a sizable list of names that administration officials whittled down in recent weeks. She was the top choice of Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff and the Biden administration’s former Covid response coordinator, according to one person familiar with the search process.Background: Dr. Cohen brings experience in the public and private sectors.Dr. Cohen, an internist and executive at Aledade, a company that supports community health clinics and physicians, served in the Obama administration, including as chief operating officer and chief of staff for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Dr. Ashish K. Jha, who left the White House this week after leading the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response, said that Dr. Cohen has unusually strong public- and private-sector credentials for a C.D.C. chief.“One of the things we’ve learned in this pandemic and other public health crises is that effective response requires bridging both public health and the health care delivery system,” he said. “There are just very few people who have deep expertise in both.”Dr. Cohen also oversaw North Carolina’s Covid-19 response as a political appointee at a time of divided state government, experience that some public health experts said could translate to the complexities of running an Atlanta-based agency within the Washington-based Department of Health and Human Services.“What’s important now with an incoming C.D.C. director is the ability to work with officials in Washington and around the country,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.Before Mr. Biden announced his intention to appoint Dr. Cohen, a group of Republican lawmakers wrote to him objecting to her likely selection, citing her support for mask requirements and saying she had “politicized science.”What’s Next: Dr. Cohen will be busy overseeing an agency overhaul.Dr. Walensky last year began a broad effort to reorganize what public health experts say is a chronically underfunded agency, a process that Dr. Cohen will take over. That includes work to modernize its data systems and improve its communications with the public.

Published16 JuneShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Smitha MundasadHealth reporter The UK entered the coronavirus pandemic with public services “depleted” and health inequalities on the rise, the Covid inquiry has heard.A decade of austerity leading up to 2020 meant the health of the nation was already in decline, two experts said. A report from Prof Sir Michael Marmot and Prof Clare Bambra was filed as part of the public hearings exploring the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic.Poor regions and ethnic minority groups were disproportionately affected.More attention should have been paid to reduce the added risks Covid brought to such vulnerable groups, their report said. Covid inquiry: Race should be at its corePoorest women’s life expectancy declines, report findsChildren put at risk by health inequalitiesNHS crisis – decades in the makingThe inquiry also heard about increasing pressures in the NHS, with the number of people waiting for treatment twice as high before the pandemic as it was in 2009. The number of vacancies for doctors and nurses were already climbing, with “great pressure” on existing staff.And life expectancy around the UK was already on the decline. Up to 2010, it had been steadily increasing but, from that point on, the improvements stalled – with the largest declines generally seen among the most deprived socioeconomic groups.What is the UK Covid-19 inquiry?It is about going through what happened and learning lessonsNo-one will be found guilty or innocentAny recommendations made do not have to be adopted by governmentsThe inquiry has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings until 2026Scotland is holding a separate inquiry in addition to the wider UK oneSir Michael told the inquiry funding for social care and public health had gone down before the pandemic, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country. And the impact was felt most by people living in poorer areas, people from ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups, who experienced the most ill-health. “In short, the UK entered the pandemic with its public services depleted, health improvements stalled, health inequalities increased and health among the poorest people in a state of decline,” said Sir Michael.Experts said there had been a forewarning from the swine flu outbreak, indicating which groups might suffer the most in a pandemic.But Prof Bambra said there was “little reflection” in previous government pandemic planning reports on which groups were most likely to be at risk. Katharine Hammond, former director of the civil contingencies secretariat in the Cabinet Office, was also asked about the level of consideration given to vulnerable groups during pandemic planning.She told the inquiry: “I don’t think we did a piece of work to look at the totality of socio-economic disadvantage”.Official figures have shown that people from ethnic minority groups were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19.Sir Michael said that planning for better health and narrowing health inequalities was key. He added it was his general view “that if you look at the evidence from previous pandemics, including the current one that we’re considering, that the impact of the pandemic is very much influenced by pre-existing inequalities in society, including inequalities in health.”It was not just about “whether there was a report somewhere in Government about planning for a pandemic,” he said, adding: “You’ve got to plan for better health and narrow health inequalities, and that will protect you in the pandemic.”More on this storyPut race at centre of Covid inquiry – campaignersPublished28 FebruaryPoorest women’s life expectancy declinesPublished25 February 2020Children ‘put at risk by Covid health inequalities’Published15 December 2020Related Internet LinksUK Covid-19 InquiryThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersPeru’s health minister, Rosa Gutiérrez, has resigned as the country struggles to control a dengue fever outbreak.Dengue fever is an infection spread by mosquitoes, most common in tropical and subtropical climates. The outbreak has caused record-breaking deaths and infections, with at least 248 dead and reported cases surpassing 146,000. Under pressure over her handling of the crisis, Ms Gutiérrez announced her decision to stand down on Thursday.Lawmakers had summoned Ms Gutiérrez to face a motion to remove her from her post, but she resigned beforehand.She had previously claimed that the virus would be contained within 15 days, Peruvian media reported. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on TwitterThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.Skip twitter post by Presidencia del Perú 🇵🇪Allow Twitter content?This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy,

Exposure to dioxins can negatively impact thyroid function, according to a study presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.
Dioxins are highly toxic compounds that are primarily produced by industrial processes, and their persistence in the environment makes them a significant public health concern. They are produced through a variety of incineration processes, including improper municipal waste incineration and burning of trash. They can be released into the air during natural processes, such as forest fires and volcanoes. Strict regulatory controls on major industrial sources of dioxin have greatly reduced emissions into the air.
Today people are exposed to dioxins primarily by eating food, in particular animal products, contaminated by these chemicals. Dioxins are absorbed and stored in fat tissue and, therefore, accumulate in the food chain. More than 90 percent of human exposure is through food, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Recently, scientists have begun to study the potential impact of exposure to environmental chemicals, such as dioxins, on thyroid function. Thyroid dysfunction affects a significant portion of the population and can have a range of adverse health effects.
Previous studies of the relationship between dioxin exposure and thyroid function have produced inconsistent results, according to researcher Cheng Han, M.D., of the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in Boston, Mass.
In the new study, the researchers used three different statistical methods to investigate the combined effects of 20 environmental dioxins on thyroid function. They used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2010.
A total of 20 dioxins and levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured in the blood of 2,818 adults. The researchers found that dioxins were significantly associated with high TSH. A high TSH level indicates that the thyroid gland is not making enough thyroid hormone.
“Although more research on how dioxins affect thyroid function is needed, efforts to reduce exposure to dioxins and other toxic chemicals could help to reduce the risk of thyroid dysfunction and improve public health outcomes,” Han said.

Adverse cognitive effects linked to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) exposure, a type of endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), have the potential to be passed down through generations, according to an animal study being presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.
PCBs can mimic the effect of the hormone estrogen on the body, contributing to a variety of neuroendocrine, metabolic and reproductive problems.
“Endocrine-disrupting chemicals present in our food, air, water and personal products may cause cognitive-behavioral disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or overeating in future generations,” said Emily N. Hilz, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
To explore this further, Hilz and colleagues administered a common PCB mixture called Aroclor 1221 to pregnant female rats. The adults (n=40), their offspring (n=80), and their future grandchildren (n=80) were all tested on behavioral tasks to assess pleasure-seeking, ability to pay attention, and cognitive flexibility.
“The grandchildren of rats exposed to EDCs while pregnant performed significantly worse on these tasks, showing impaired cognitive function and increased pleasure-seeking,” Hilz said. “This suggests EDCs program potential cognitive disorders or behavioral problems that only emerge in later generations.”
Grandchildren of rats that were exposed to the PCB mixture were more interested in eating for pleasure, according to the results of the sucrose preference test. While all of the tested animals preferred the sucrose solution to water, the grandchildren of mothers exposed to the PCB mixture consumed more of the sucrose solution.
The same rats had an impaired ability to switch between tasks or learn new rules. However, only the male grandchildren were more likely to become fixated with a visual cue, which is common in disorders such as ADHD.
The PCB mixture impaired different aspects of cognitive behavior between male and female rats, depending on the life stage when they were exposed. It’s not yet clear which biological systems might be driving this.
“Our findings suggest regulating EDCs in industrial and consumer products could reduce the prevalence of certain cognitive or behavioral disorders in the future,” Hilz said.
Hilz is scheduled to present at the Society’s ENDO 2023 endocrine-disrupting chemicals news conference on Saturday, June 17.