Researchers find Cordyceps used in traditional medicine can fight cancerShanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, October 23, 2022
Chinese scientists have found evidence that a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine widely sought by the public for its healing powers, also carries anti-cancer benefits.
The scientists found there was an interaction between two anti-cancer compounds in the fungus Cordyceps militaris.
The first, cordycepin, was noted in Cordyceps militaris in...
Researchers find Cordyceps used in traditional medicine can fight cancer
Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, October 23, 2022
Chinese scientists have found evidence that a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine widely sought by the public for its healing powers, also carries anti-cancer benefits.
The scientists found there was an interaction between two anti-cancer compounds in the fungus Cordyceps militaris.
The first, cordycepin, was noted in Cordyceps militaris in 1950, but how it interacted remained unknown. The second, pentostatin, was first identified from a bacterium and was developed as a commercial drug to treat leukemia and other cancers in the 1990s.
“For the first time, we decoded the biosynthesis mechanism of cordycepin in the fungus, and during the research we unexpectedly discovered pentostatin,” said Wang Chengshu, head of the research team at the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, a branch of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“These two compounds coexist in fungal cells in the form of a protector and protege – that is to say, cordycepin is synthesized with the coupled production of pentostatin to protect the stability of the former,” he said.
Their research also showed that the fungus initiates a detoxification process when the cordycepin in the body reaches an excessively high level, which can be toxic.
Cordyceps fungi are popular in China for their widely believed immunity-enhancing and energy-strengthening properties. Their uses in medical treatment date to the Compendium of Materia Medica, a book widely deemed the encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Omega-3 fatty acid could boost IQ for preterm babies
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, October 27, 2022
New research from SAHMRI has found a link between the omega-3 fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and increased IQ among children born prematurely.
Preterm children are more likely to have lower IQ scores and cognitive impairments compared with term-born children.
Dr. Jacqueline Gould, who led the study now published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says infants born at the earliest gestations are deprived of the natural supply of DHA that normally builds up in the brain during the last trimester of pregnancy. “These babies have low concentrations of DHA in their brain tissue, which may contribute to poorer cognitive outcomes,” Dr. Gould said.
The study followed 323 infants born before 29 weeks’ gestation, who were given 60mg of DHA/kg per day via enteral or control tube feeding.
They were compared with 333 children in the control group, who received an emulsion with no DHA. At five years old, children in both groups underwent the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) IQ test.
“On average, those in the DHA group scored 3.5 points higher on the IQ scale than those in the control group,” Dr. Gould said.
“These very promising results suggest DHA has the potential to improve cognitive performance when administered via emulsion for infants born before 29 weeks’ gestation.”
Crossword puzzles beat computer video games in slowing memory loss
Columbia University Irving Medical Center & Duke University, October 27, 2022
A new study by researchers from Columbia University and Duke University published in the journal NEJM Evidence shows that doing crossword puzzles has an advantage over computer video games for memory functioning in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
In a randomized, controlled trial, led by D.P. Devanand, MD, professor of psychiatry and neurology at Columbia, with Murali Doraiswamy, MD, professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke, researchers determined that participants (average age 71) trained in doing web-based crossword puzzles demonstrated greater cognitive improvement than those who were trained on cognitive video games.
“This is the first study to document both short-term and longer-term benefits for home-based crossword puzzles training compared to another intervention,” said Dr. Devanand, who oversees brain aging and mental health research at Columbia. “The results are important in light of difficulty in showing improvement with interventions in mild cognitive impairment.”
To conduct their study, researchers at Columbia and Duke randomly assigned 107 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at the two different sites to either crossword puzzles training or cognitive games training with intensive training for 12 weeks followed by booster sessions up to 78 weeks. Both interventions were delivered via a computerized platform with weekly compliance monitoring.
The most striking findings of the trial were:
Crossword puzzles were superior to cognitive games on the primary cognitive outcome measure, ADAS-Cog, at both 12 weeks and 78 weeks. Crossword puzzles were superior on FAQ, a measure of daily functioning, at 78 weeks.
Crossword puzzles were superior for participants at a later disease stage but both forms of training were equally effective in an earlier stage.
Brain shrinkage (measured with MRI) was less for crossword puzzles at 78 weeks.
“The benefits were seen not only in cognition but also in daily activities with indications of brain shrinkage on MRI that suggests that the effects are clinically meaningful,” Dr. Devanand said.
The study also highlights the importance of engagement. Based on remote electronic monitoring of computer use, participants at a later stage of impairment may have better engaged with the more familiar crossword puzzles than with computerized cognitive games.
Atherosclerosis, ED, low vitamin D levels linked
Guizhou Medical University (China), October 24 2022.
A study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology evaluated the associations between lower serum levels of vitamin D, erectile dysfunction (ED) and an increased risk of atherosclerosis.
The investigation included 163 men aged 30 to 60 years who received physical examinations at the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and other factors. Carotid intima-media thickness, an indicator of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries, was measured using ultrasound. International index of erectile function-5 (IIEF-5) scores were graded as mild, moderate or severe according to ED severity. Thirty-nine participants whose IIEF-5 scores indicated no ED served as control subjects.
Serum vitamin D levels were lower and carotid intima-media thickness values were higher among men with moderate and severe ED compared to the control group. Carotid intima-media thickness was significantly higher among men with severe ED compared with those who had mild ED. After adjustment, significant correlations were found between IIEF-5 scores, carotid intima-media thickness and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
In their discussion, authors Jun-hao Zhang of Soochow University and colleagues remarked that vitamin D may affect erectile function via its interaction with the endothelial cells of the corpora cavernosa, which is the spongy tissue within the penis that fills with blood during an erection. Vitamin D may affect the production and release by endothelial cells of nitric oxide, a compound that helps relax the blood vessels, thereby improving erectile function. The vitamin may also help decrease damage to endothelial cell function caused by oxidative stress.
“Serum vitamin D level should be analyzed in men with ED, especially in patients with vasculogenic ED, and supplementation is recommended for those who were with vitamin D deficiency,” the authors wrote.
Carnitine supplementation could improve cold tolerance and more
University of Utah, October 23 2022
Cell Metabolism reported research findings from the University of Utah School of Medicine that reveal a role for carnitine in the body’s response to cold temperatures.
“Cold-induced thermogenesis is an energy-demanding process that protects endotherms against a reduction in ambient temperature,” Judith Simcox, PhD, and colleagues write. “We found that the liver undergoes a metabolic switch to provide fuel for brown fat thermogenesis by producing acylcarnitines.”
“Cold stimulates white adipocytes to release free fatty acids that activate the nuclear receptor HNF4α, which is required for acylcarnitine production in the liver and adaptive thermogenesis,” they continue. “Once in circulation, acylcarnitines are transported to brown adipose tissue, while uptake into white adipose tissue and liver is blocked.”
Acylcarnitines are fatty acyl esters of L-carnitine that were found to increase in young mice during cold adaptation. “It was surprising to see acylcarnitines in the bloodstream,” Dr Simcox remarked.
With aging comes a decline in the ability to adapt to cold exposure. In the current study, researchers found that a single dose of L-carnitine or palmitoylcarnitine improved aging-related cold sensitivity in mice. Because activating cold adaptation burns calories, improving the process be useful for more than the ability to tolerate cold environments.
Feeling chirpy: Being around birds is linked to lasting mental health benefits
King’s College London, October 27, 2022
New research from King’s College London has found that seeing or hearing birds is associated with an improvement in mental well-being that can last up to eight hours.
This improvement was also evident in people with a diagnosis of depression—the most common mental illness worldwide—indicating the potential role of birdlife in helping those with mental health conditions.
Lead author Ryan Hammoud, Research Assistant at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, said: “There is growing evidence on the mental health benefits of being around nature and we intuitively think that the presence of birdsong and birds would help lift our mood. However, there is little research that has actually investigated the impact of birds on mental health in real-time and in a real environment.
The study took place with 1,292 participants completing 26,856 assessments. Participants were recruited worldwide.
The app asked participants three times a day whether they could see or hear birds, followed by questions on mental well-being to enable researchers to establish an association between the two and to estimate how long this association lasted.
Researchers showed that the links between birds and mental well-being were not explained by co-occurring environmental factors such the presence of trees, plants, or waterways.
Our study provides an evidence base for creating and supporting biodiverse spaces that harbor birdlife, since this is strongly linked with our mental health. In addition, the findings support the implementation of measures to increase opportunities for people to come across birdlife, particularly for those living with mental health conditions such as depression.”
