Research advances from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program (IRP) often make headlines. Read the news releases that describe our most recent findings:
The act of cooking offers the chance to unwind and create something special, whether you’re planning to feed a crowd or just yourself. And while you may have noticed feeling good after whipping up that perfect pie or braise, there’s actually a lot of scientific data to suggest that cooking can have a positive impact on mental health.
One meta-analysis (a report of pre-existing research) from the National Institutes of Health looked at 11 studies and found that “cooking interventions” — encouraging people to follow certain recipes or giving people cooking classes — can improve a person’s mental well-being. It specifically found that people who participated in cooking interventions reported having better self-esteem and quality of life, as well as a more positive emotional state after the fact. Another study even discovered that baking can help raise a person’s confidence level.
Study with diabetes drug measures how extra calories caused weight loss plateau.
Analysis of a trial that used the drug canagliflozin found that as people lost weight, their appetite increased proportionately, leading to consumption of more calories and weight loss plateau (leveling off). The findings provide the first measurement in people of how strongly appetite counters weight loss as part of the body’s feedback control system regulating weight. Results are currently available on BioRxiv and will publish in Obesity during Obesity Week 2016.
NIH clinical trial of treatment regimen in HIV-infected people is underway.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Emory University have experimentally induced sustained remission of SIV, the simian form of HIV, in infected monkeys. The animals’ immune systems have been suppressing the virus to undetectable levels for as long as 23 months since the monkeys completed an investigational treatment regimen. In addition, the regimen has led to the near-complete replenishment of key immune cells that SIV had destroyed, something unachievable with antiretroviral therapy (ART) alone. The findings will be published in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Science.
Trial shows rigorous clinical research feasible during a public health emergency.
A clinical trial to evaluate the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp found it to be safe and well-tolerated; however, because of the waning Ebola epidemic, the study enrolled too few people to determine definitively whether it is a better treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD) than the best available standard of care alone. The findings from the randomized, controlled trial known as PREVAIL II appear in the Oct. 13, 2016 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Initial trial findings were reported in February 2016, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.
A new analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health has provided the strongest evidence to date that nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of miscarriage in pregnant women. The study, appearing in JAMA Internal Medicine, was conducted by researchers at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and other institutions.
NIH study of rare genetic disorder reveals importance of touch and body awareness.
With the help of two young patients with a unique neurological disorder, an initial study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health suggests that a gene called PIEZO2 controls specific aspects of human touch and proprioception, a “sixth sense” describing awareness of one’s body in space. Mutations in the gene caused the two to have movement and balance problems and the loss of some forms of touch. Despite their difficulties, they both appeared to cope with these challenges by relying heavily on vision and other senses.
Women with gestational diabetes at risk for postpartum depression.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a two-way link between depression and gestational diabetes. Women who reported feeling depressed during the first two trimesters of pregnancy were nearly twice as likely to develop gestational diabetes, according to an analysis of pregnancy records. Conversely, a separate analysis found that women who developed gestational diabetes were more likely to report postpartum depression six weeks after giving birth, compared to a similar group of women who did not develop gestational diabetes.
NIH researchers find more preterm births among women exposed to extremes of hot and cold.
Extreme hot or cold temperatures during pregnancy may increase the risk of preterm birth, according to study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The study authors found that extremes of hot and cold during the first seven weeks of pregnancy were associated with early delivery. Women exposed to extreme heat for the majority of their pregnancies also were more likely to deliver early.
Researchers at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) recently identified compounds that potentially can be used to inhibit Zika virus replication and reduce its ability to kill brain cells. These compounds now can be studied by the broader research community to help combat the Zika public health crisis. NCATS is part of the National Institutes of Health.
NCATS researcher dispenses Zika virus into trays for compound screening.
Researchers have identified a mechanism in mice by which anticancer immune responses are inhibited within the lungs, a common site of metastasis for many cancers. This mechanism involves oxygen inhibition of the anticancer activity of T cells. Inhibiting the oxygen-sensing capability of immune cells, either genetically or pharmacologically, prevented lung metastasis. This research was conducted by Nicholas Restifo, M.D., Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI) and others at NCI as well as colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both parts of the National Institutes of Health. The findings appeared Aug. 25, 2016, in the journal Cell.
Rare and sometimes lethal disease affects young children
National Institutes of Health researchers have discovered a rare and sometimes lethal inflammatory disease — otulipenia — that primarily affects young children. They have also identified anti-inflammatory treatments that ease some of the patients’ symptoms: fever, skin rashes, diarrhea, joint pain and overall failure to grow or thrive.
Otulipenia is caused by the malfunction of OTULIN, a single gene on chromosome 5. When functioning properly, OTULIN regulates the development of new blood vessels and mobilization of cells and proteins to fight infection. NIH researchers published their findings Aug. 22, 2016, in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
