Scientists Develop ‘Sensor’ For Early Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), also known as chronic kidney failure, describes the gradual loss of kidney function due to various reasons. In its early stages, CKD displays symptoms like loss of appetite, itching and high blood pressure. It may not become evident until kidney function become significantly impaired, proving fatal.

A few diagnostic tests from blood samples and urine samples and further tests from screening to imaging can nail down CKD. But with blood tests and urine tests, doctors cannot be specific, as the tests only prove effective when the kidney function comes down by 50%. By this time, patients would have lost crucial time.

Researchers have now devised a special “sensor” that can detect CKD in a matter of minutes.

The technique uses a highly sensitive electrochemical technique, which can be used to detect different stages of the disease. The researchers modified a multi-walled carbon nanotube electrode that will catch the biomarker of CKD–Cystatin C.

It has made the detection of the protein Cystatin C easier, enabling doctors to detect kidney troubles in patients much more easily.

(Note: Cystatin C is a protein produced by the cells of the human body. When its production increases normal levels, it indicates problems in the kidney.)

A Researcher told, “This technique could detect Cystatin C concentrations corresponding to baseline as well as different stages of CKD. Specificity of the sensor was tested against creatinine, albumin, and gliadin and was found to be highly specific for Cystatin C.”

Previously, in urine tests, the number of creatinine compounds and albumin were combinedly used to detect CKD. But these compounds depended on various factors like age, sex, previous ailments, muscle mass, etc. But cystatin C is less dependent on these factors.

With patients suffering from diabetes and cardiovascular disease being prone to CKD, the new method could potentially be a boon to millions.

“If CKD is detected at an early stage (Stage 1 or 2), mere modifications in diet and intake of ACE inhibitors may prevent the progression to end-stage renal disease,” said the Dr.

It’s also interesting to note that Cystatin C also is being studied for its role in predicting onset or deterioration of cardiovascular disease and brain disorders.

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Cinnamon helps to burn fat !

The aromatic spice that is used to bake apple pies, apple cakes, pumpkin recipes- cinnamon- helps to shed weight according to a research.
 
Experiments have shown the main ingredient in the super-food — called cinnamaldehyde — burns fat in humans, adding to evidence surrounding the spice’s remarkable powers.

Once more valuable than gold, cinnamon — a popular ingredient in pumpkin spice lattes, mulled wine and egg-nog over the festive season — has been linked to reducing the risk of diabetes, lowering cholesterol, relieving symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and staving off heart disease and cancer.

Now scientists have demonstrated the mechanism behind its health benefits for the first time – opening the door to a “cinnamon pill” to treat a range of conditions.

A Prof. said: “Cinnamon has been part of our diets for thousands of years – and people generally enjoy it.”

“So if it can help protect against obesity, too, it may offer an approach to metabolic health that is easier for patients to adhere to.”

Prof. said cinnamon is already used widely in food so it might be easier to convince patients to stick to a cinnamon-based treatment than to a traditional medicine.

Cinnamaldehyde is the active compound in cinnamon and is also responsible for the flavor that lifts dishes.

Prof. says it could now be enlisted in the fight against obesity after she shed better light on understanding its action and discovering it might indeed protect human well-being.

Previous studies have observed the essential oil appeared to stop mice becoming obese and developing high blood sugar which can trigger diabetes.

The Prof. said: “Scientists were finding this compound affected metabolism.” 

“So we wanted to figure out how – what pathway might be involved, what it looked like in mice and what it looked like in human cells.”

Their findings, indicated cinnamaldehyde improves metabolic health by acting directly on fat cells called adipocytes.

This is by causing them to start burning fat through a process called thermogenesis which uses up energy to destroy calories.

Her team tested the adipocytes of volunteers with a range of ages, ethnicities and BMIs (body mass indices).

When the cells were treated with cinnamaldehyde they noticed increased expression of several genes and enzymes that boost metabolism of blood fats, or lipids.

They also observed an increase in proteins known as Ucp1 and Fgf21 – which help regulate thermogenesis.

Adipocytes normally store energy in the form of lipids. This benefitted our distant ancestors who had a much greater need for long-term storage as they had much less access to high-fat foods.

That could then be used by the body in times of scarcity or in cold temperatures which induce adipocytes to convert stored energy into heat.

The Prof. said: “It’s only been relatively recently energy surplus has become a problem. Throughout evolution the opposite – energy deficiency – has been the problem.”

“So any energy-consuming process usually turns off the moment the body doesn’t need it.”

With the rising obesity epidemic researchers  have been looking for ways to prompt fat cells to activate thermogenesis — turning those fat-burning processes back on.

She believes cinnamaldehyde may offer one such activation method.

But she warned against winter revellers loading their egg-nog or mulled wine with extra cinnamon to keep the Christmas pounds at bay.

She said further studies are needed to determine how best to harness cinnamaldehyde’s metabolic benefits without causing adverse side effects.

One earlier study found cinnamaldehyde stimulated the metabolism of the fatty visceral tissue in mice suggesting the spice could combat a pot belly.

Cinnamon is made from the inner bark of the Cinnamomum tree and from this cinnamon sticks and cinnamon powder are made.

Cinnamon is also loaded with antioxidants and the spice can help stop inflammation. Some researchers found cinnamon will help lower the stomach temperature – which aids digestion – up to two degrees.

This property may also explain why the rust-colored spice from a tree bark is so popular in hot countries.

In 2010, a study found a cinnamon-water solution contains antioxidants that can cut the chances of getting obesity or diabetes by up to 23 percent.

The household ingredient could also aid those with Parkinson’s disease. Scientists said in 2014 that the spice is the source of a chemical that can protect the brain.

Livers convert cinnamon into sodium benzonate – an approved drug used in the treatment for brain disorders.

In a study of mice the found it enters the brain, stops the loss of proteins, protects neurons and improves motor functions.

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Being overweight during pregnancy makes the baby more susceptible to epilepsy

Being overweight or obese in the first trimester of pregnancy has been linked to a higher risk of bearing a child with epilepsy, researchers said on Monday.

The study was based on data from 1.4 million children in Sweden, and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology.

Just how much a child’s risk of epilepsy rose was linked to how obese the mother was early in her pregnancy, said the findings led by Neda Razaz of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

“Risk of epilepsy increased by 11% in children of overweight mothers,” whose body-mass index was between 25 and 30, said the study, which found that, of the 1.4 million children born between 1997 and 2011 in Sweden, 0.5% (7,592 children) were diagnosed with epilepsy through 2012. 

BMI is calculated based on a ratio of height and weight. The average range is generally 18.5-24.9.

Women who were obese, having a BMI of 30 to less than 35, saw a 20% increased risk of bearing a child with epilepsy compared to normal weight mothers.

For women with a BMI of 35 to less than 40, the risk rose 30%. And for those with extreme obesity, the risk was 82% higher than normal weight mothers.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder whose causes remain poorly understood.

The survey-based study did not delve into the causes of the apparently higher risk of epilepsy, which may include genetic and environmental factors.

Researchers speculated that being over weight or obese during pregnancy could lead to a higher risk of brain injury in infants, or that obesity-induced inflammation could affect neurodevelopment.

“Given that overweight and obesity are potentially modifiable risk factors, prevention of obesity in women of reproductive age may be an important public health strategy to reduce the incidence of epilepsy,” said the report.

A separate study in Denmark published last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that when women had a higher BMI before getting pregnant, their offspring faced a higher risk of cerebral palsy.
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Motherhood alters the brain permanently

The changes in a woman's psychology and physiology before and after child-bearing must be factored in for treatment for brain disorders.

Pregnancy and motherhood can permanently alter a woman’s brain and affect how it responds to treatments later in life, scientists say.

The latest findings on hormone therapy and brain function could have implications for the treatment of age-related neurodegenerative disorders in women, researchers said. 

“Our most recent research shows that previous motherhood alters cognition and neuroplasticity in response to hormone therapy, demonstrating that motherhood permanently alters the brain,” said Dr. Liisa Galea from the University of British Columbia. 

A systematic review of the published scientific literature indicates that estradiol-based Hormone therapy (HT) may have more beneficial effects, while estrone-based HTs may have more detrimental effect on cognition and dementia risk in women.

Galea studied how two forms of estrogens, estradiol and estrone, affect neuroplasticity, which is how neural pathways in the brain change in response to various factors. 

Her studies focussed on a specific brain region, called the hippocampus, which has important roles in memory and spatial ability, such as navigational skills. 

Both forms of estrogens increased the production of new cells in a part of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus in young females.

However, only chronic estradiol, but not chronic estrone, significantly increased the survival of these new neurons, and increased the expression of zif268, a protein involved in neuroplasticity. 

Chronic estradiol, but not chronic estrone, also improved performance of young female rats in a behavioural test called the water maze. 

The water maze is a test of memory and orientation in which rats must find a submerged platform in water that they cannot see; they must instead rely on cues located around them to orient themselves and swim to the platform. 

Rats receiving estradiol-based HT found the platform significantly better that rats receiving estrone-based HT. 

Galea’s previous research had shown that motherhood causes changes in the architecture of connections in the hippocampus, so her team investigated whether the different forms of estrogens could have different effects on rats that had experienced motherhood once (primiparous rats) and on those who had not (nulliparous rats). 

They found that estrone-based HT improved learning in middle—aged nulliparous rats, but impaired learning in primiparous rats of the same age. 

These primiparous rats also showed a reduction in neurogenesis and zif268, a protein involved in neuroplasticity in the hippocampus. 

“Hormones have a profound impact on our mind. Pregnancy and motherhood are life-changing events resulting in marked alterations in the psychology and physiology of a woman. Our results argue that these factors should be taken into account when treating brain disorders in women,” Galea added. 

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