Vaccinated versus unvaxxed, Aluminum autism, Obesity paradox, Supplement study “Improving” drug treatments, Anti-cancer microbiome

Improving drug treatments with natural products Turmeric, shrimp shells, beeswax and cocoa butter are being used to improve the effectiveness of drugs and reduce side effects when treating a range of diseases including cancer and diabetes. Research is being carried out at the University of Nottingham Malaysia to discover how these ‘natural products’ can improve the ways drugs are delivered and their efficiency, whilst also minimising any side effects. The team led by Professor Nashiru Billa in the School of Pharmacy has been studying curcumin from turmeric and are looking into developing ways to deliver this effectively in dosage forms to treat colon cancer, specifically targeting tumour cells with minimal side effects unlike with conventional chemotherapy. Professor Billa explains: “We are mainly using natural molecules such as turmeric, chitosan from crab or shrimp shell, and pectin from the rind of orange in the construction of the delivery system. This ‘natural product’ is ideal as it is biocompatible, biodegradable and muco-adhesive, which means it sticks to the surfaces of the colon intestine. We then package these components in nanoparticles and deliver it to the colon where it will act locally.

The obesity paradox: People hospitalized for infections are twice as likely to survive if they are overweight or obese A study of more than 18,000 patients in Denmark, presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Vienna, Austria (23-26), shows that patients admitted to hospital for treatment for any infectious disease are around twice as likely to survive if they are overweight or obese. This research on the so called ‘obesity paradox’ is by Sigrid Gribsholt, Aarhus University Hospital Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Denmark, and colleagues. The association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality remains controversial. From an evolutionary perspective, obesity and associated proinflammatory defences may protect against death from infections. In this new study, the authors examined the impact of body-mass index on outcome after any acute incident hospital admission for infection in a population based study. The study team identified 35,406 persons with an incident acute medical or surgical inpatient admission for an infectious disease during 2011?2015 in the Central Denmark Region. They examined risk of death within 90 days after discharge date in association with underweight, overweight and obesity, versus normal weight as reference.

Study finds gut microbiome can control antitumor immune function in liver Scientists have found a connection between bacteria in the gut and antitumor immune responses in the liver. Their study, published May 25 in Science, was led by researchers in the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It showed that bacteria found in the gut of mice affect the liver’s antitumor immune function. The findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms that lead to liver cancer and for therapeutic approaches to treat them. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health. “What we found using different tumor models is that if you treat micewith antibiotics and thereby deplete certain bacteria, you can change the composition of immune cells of the liver, affecting tumor growth in the liver,” said Tim Greten, M.D., of NCI’s CCR, who led the study. “This is a great example of how what we learn from basic research can give us insight into cancer and possible treatments.” The microbiome is the collection of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in or on the body. In humans, the greatest proportion of the body’s total microbiome is in the gut. Despite extensive research into the relationship between the gut microbiome and cancer, the role of gut bacteria in the formation of liver cancer has remained poorly understood.