Advances in Medicine - Almost Magical

Medical science has been advancing by leaps and bounds, and here I describe some of the almost magical breakthroughs that will soon (hopefully) become available:

NanoParticle Vaccines

The recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika virus has reminded us how difficult it is to treat and prevent viral illnesses. The most effective way we have is a vaccine, but these can take 6 months or more to develop.

A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard created nanoparticles that contained a “payload” of RNA that coded for particular non-toxic viral proteins. Once inside the body, this RNA replicon can keep churning out that protein and lead to an anti-body response. Injecting mice with single doses of vaccines for influenza, and Ebolavirus provided long term protection to mice against lethal doses of each of those microbes, without adverse effects.

This would truly be an amazing advance!

Chahal JS et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016 Jul 19; 113:E4133

A Cure For Diabetes in a Single Treatment

The brain controls our appetites, and may have a weight thermostat setting that makes it difficult for us to keep the pounds off. A team of researchers injected a growth factor molecule into the brain of mice who had been bred to have obesity and type 2 diabetes. They expected a transient drop in sugar, but within one week, and before any significant weight loss, the mice were cured of their diabetes. They also continued to lose weight to a normal level and maintain a normal sugar level for 5 months!- this after one treatment!

The treatment also worked in 2 other animal models, and is effective if the molecule is inhaled rather than injected into the brain! Is this result too good to be true? Stay tuned.

Scarlett JM et al., Nat Med 2016 Jul 22:800

NanoParticles to Prevent Obesity

In humans, the much more prevalent white fat cells store fat, but brown fat cells burn fat. There are several molecules that can convert white fat into brown fat, but the restricting factor is how to get these molecules to their target.

Now, a team created nanoparticles with two properties: (1) they contained these molecules; (2) they adhered selectively to blood vessels of white fat. In obese mice, these nanoparticles homed to white fat, transformed white fat into brown fat, inhibited weight gain, and improved blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin.

Xue Y et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016 May 17; 113:5552