Weltnierentag 14. März: „Nierengesundheit für alle“ – und was es dazu braucht

Die Nieren sind für unsere Gesundheit wichtig: Sie filtern das Blut und entfernen giftige Substanzen aus dem Körper. Zudem steuern sie den Salz- und Wasserhaushalt des Körpers sowie den Blutdruck und bilden Hormone. Zum Weltnierentag am 14. März 2024 machen die Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA), die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nephrologie (DGfN) und der Verband Deutsche Nierenzentren (DN) e. V. auf die besondere Rolle der Nieren für die Gesundheit aufmerksam. Das diesjährige Motto „Nierengesundheit für alle“ spannt einen weiten Bogen von der Prävention von Nierenerkrankungen bis hin zur Notwendigkeit einer Nierentransplantation.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Understanding the Role of GIP in Managing Diabetes and Obesity

The increasing amount of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes benefit greatly from the recently developed GIPR:GLP-1R co-agonists. These novel compounds lead to substantial weight loss, offering a revolutionary approach to patients worldwide. Although the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) was already shown by Helmholtz Munich scientists to decrease body weight via the brain GIP receptor, the underlying neurons through which GIP acts in the brain remained unknown.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

How tasty is the food? Ask your brain!

To know when it’s time for a meal – and when to stop eating again – is important to survive and to stay healthy, for humans and animals alike. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence investigated how the brain regulates feeding behavior in mice. The team found that the hormone ghrelin activates specialized nerve cells in a brain region known as the amygdala. Here, the interaction between ghrelin and the specialized neurons promotes food consumption and conveys hunger and the pleasant and rewarding feelings associated with eating.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Hungry? Brain tells liver to start recycling

Brain releases hormone after short fasting that boosts autophagy

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Brain circuit responsible for locomotor activation and avoidance behavior

In a largely neglected brain region, scientists identified neurons that produce the stress hormone CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone). They showed that the CRH produced in this region plays a role in behavioral arousal, locomotor activation, and avoidance behavior. The findings could be important for the understanding of psychiatric diseases.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

New Drug Candidate Developed to Treat Type 2 Diabetes

A team of researchers from Helmholtz Munich, the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and Novo Nordisk have developed a new hormone combination for the future treatment of type 2 diabetes. The scientists have combined the blood sugar-reducing effects of the drugs tesaglitazar and GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) in a new and highly effective drug. The advantage is that, by combining Tesaglitazar with GLP-1, the Tesaglitazar only enters tissue that contains GLP-1 receptors. This reduces the adverse effects of tesaglitazar while increasing the effects on sugar metabolism. The new drug has already been successfully tested in animal studies. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

How calcium ions get into the cellular power stations of plants

Led by Prof. Dr. Markus Schwarzländer oft he University Münster, an inter-university team recently discovered how calcium ions find their way into the mitochondria of plant cells. The vital signalling substance is apparently involved in the regulation of the hormone jasmonic acid, which, for example, controls the sensation of touch in plants. The study has now been published in the journal „The Plant Cell“.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Widely-used hormone drug associated with increased risk of benign brain tumor at high doses

High doses of a widely-used drug used in the hormonal treatment of conditions such as excessive hair growth, early puberty, prostate cancer, are linked to an increased risk of meningioma — the most common type of benign brain tumor, finds a new study of over 8-million patients.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

‘Gut bugs’ can drive prostate cancer growth and treatment resistance

Common gut bacteria can become ‚hormone factories‘ – fuelling prostate cancer and making it resistant to treatment, a new study shows. Scientists revealed how gut bacteria contribute to the progression of advanced prostate cancers and their resistance to hormone therapy — by providing an alternative source of growth-promoting androgens, or male hormones. The findings, once further validated in the clinic, could provide new opportunities for the treatment of prostate cancer through manipulation of the microbiome.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

New mouse model unlocks drug testing of hormone-sensitive human breast cancer

Scientists have created mice with a hormone profile that causes growth and metastatic spread of implanted human breast tumors. Results show that the team created a new mouse breed, called NSG-Pro, that produces levels of human prolactin similar to those in patients with metastatic estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Real-time insights into the inner life of plants: New biosensor makes control hormone auxin visible in cells

The hormone auxin is of central importance for the development of plants. Scientists at the University of Bayreuth and the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen have now developed a novel sensor that makes the spatial distribution of auxin in the cells of living plants visible in real time. The sensor opens up completely new insights into the inner workings of plants for researchers. Moreover, the influences of changing environmental conditions on growth can now also be quickly detected. The team presents its research results in the journal Nature.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Genomic test helps estimate risk of prostate cancer metastasis, death

A commercially available genomic test may help oncologists better determine which patients with recurrent prostate cancer may benefit from hormone therapy, according to new research.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Imaging identifies breast cancer patients unlikely to benefit from hormone therapy

Hormone therapy can be very effective for so-called estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. But it only works for a little more than half of women who receive the treatment. In a small study, researchers found that women whose tumors did not respond to a one-day estrogen challenge did not benefit from hormone therapy. The findings could help doctors choose treatments most likely to help their patients.

Quelle: Sciencedaily