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IMAGE: A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that, among men, low testosterone levels in the blood are linked to more severe COVID-19. The study. view more
Credit: SARA MOSER
Throughout the pandemic, doctors have seen evidence that men with COVID-19 fare worse, on average, than women with the infection. One theory is that hormonal differences between men and women may make men more susceptible to severe disease. And since men have much more testosterone than women, some scientists have speculated that high levels of testosterone may be to blame.
But a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that, among men, the opposite may be true: that low testosterone levels in the blood are linked to more severe disease. The study could not prove that low testosterone is a cause of severe COVID-19; low levels could simply serve as a marker of some other causal factors. Still, the researchers ur
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Multiple studies have shown that African American women with breast cancer have lower survival rates than white women with the disease. But the association between race or ethnicity and treatment outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer an aggressive type of tumor that does not respond to hormonal or other targeted therapies has not been well defined.
Now, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that non-Hispanic African American women with triple-negative breast cancer also do not fare as well as non-Hispanic white women with this type of breast cancer. The study demonstrates the need for additional research to address disparities in cancer care and understand whether tumor biology or nonbiological reasons such as systemic racism or a combination of such factors may prevent African American women from receiving the same quality of care as white women.
The researchers conducted the study in mice with breast cancer and one patient with late-stage pancreatic cancer.
The COVID-19 vaccines designed using bits of genetic information that prime our immune systems to recognize and fight off viral infections have become lifesavers in the global fight to end the pandemic.
Now, the new research has shown that a similar vaccine approach can be used to create personalized vaccines that program the immune system to attack malignant tumors, including breast and pancreatic cancers.
The tailor-made vaccines are designed to target mutated proteins called neoantigens that are unique to a patient’s tumors. Unlike the COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech that rely on genetic material called mRNA, the personalized cancer vaccines are made using DNA.
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IMAGE: Senior investigator Samuel Klein, MD, (left), in the laboratory with Adewole Okunade, PhD. Klein s team found that NMN improved the ability of insulin to increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle.. view more
Credit: Matt Miller
A natural compound previously demonstrated to counteract aspects of aging and improve metabolic health in mice has clinically relevant effects in people, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
A small clinical trial of postmenopausal women with prediabetes shows that the compound NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) improved the ability of insulin to increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, which often is abnormal in people with obesity, prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes. NMN also improved expression of genes that are involved in muscle structure and remodeling. However, the treatment did not lower blood glucose or blood pressure, improve blood lipid profile, increase insulin sensitivity
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