Universitätsklinikum Bonn

MONDAY, June 17, 2024 -- Patients with neuroglial tumors are ideal epilepsy surgical candidates, with good long-term outcomes observed, according to a study published online May 22 in Frontiers in Neurology . Attila Rácz, M.D., Ph.D., from the University Hospital Bonn in Germany, and colleagues evaluated long-term outcomes and potential influencing factors among 107 patients who underwent surgery for neuroglial tumors (2001 to 2020) at a single institution. The researchers found that 75 percent of the patients who underwent surgery achieved complete freedom from seizures at 12 months and 56 percent achieved complete freedom from seizures at the last follow-up visit (70.4 months; median: 40 months). For both 12-month follow-up outcomes and the longest available outcomes, completeness of resection was a crucial factor, while there was no consistent impact on postsurgical outcomes for lobar tumor localization, histology (ganglioglioma versus dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor), history of bilateral tonic-clonic seizures prior to surgery, invasive diagnostics, side of surgery (dominant versus nondominant hemisphere), age at epilepsy onset, age at surgery, or epilepsy duration. Patients who underwent lesionectomy and lesionectomy with hippocampal resection showed similar outcomes. "Neuroglial tumors present as excellent surgical substrates in treating structural epilepsy," the authors write. "To achieve an optimal postsurgical outcome, a complete lesion resection should be pursued whenever possible." Abstract/Full Text Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

TOKYO, May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund announced today a total investment of approximately JPY 1.64 billion (USD 10.8 million1) in four projects for the development of new drugs for malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).2 The GHIT Fund invests in the development of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for neglected infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and NTDs, which predominantly affect the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. These R&D projects must involve partnerships between Japanese and non-Japanese organizations, and the four new projects consist of diverse partnerships including Japanese pharmaceutical companies and universities, as well as non-Japanese research institutions and universities. The GHIT Fund will invest approximately JPY 444 million (USD 2.9 million1) in two malaria projects: the development of malaria chemoprevention drug through a partnership among Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Nagasaki University, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), and therapeutic drug development led by Eisai Co., Ltd., the Scripps Research Institute, and International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). For NTDs, the GHIT Fund will also invest approximately JPY 1.2 billion (USD 7.9 million1) in two projects: drug development for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis led by Eisai Co., Ltd., University Hospital Bonn, and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, and the development of a treatment for Chagas disease led by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi). The GHIT Fund plays a catalytic role in matching Japanese and global partners to accelerate R&D resulting in the support of over 180 development partners since 2013. Through global partnerships, the GHIT Fund aims to promote open innovation in R&D and create an environment that enables the rapid delivery of products to patients in need. Please refer to Appendix 1 for a detailed description of each project and its development stage. As of March 31, 2024, the GHIT Fund invested in 36 projects, including 12 discovery projects, 16 preclinical projects, and 8 clinical trials3 in the portfolio. The total amount of investments since 2013 is JPY 33.2 billion (USD 219 million) (Appendix 2). 1 USD1 = JPY151.33, the approximate exchange rate on March 31, 2024. 2 These awarded projects were selected and approved as new investments from among proposals to RFP2023-001 for the Product Development Platform, which was open for applications from November 2022 to July 2023. 3 This number includes projects in the registration phase. The GHIT Fund is a Japan-based international public-private partnership (PPP) fund that was formed between the Government of Japan, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The GHIT Fund invests in and manages an R&D portfolio of development partnerships aimed at addressing neglected diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases, which afflict the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. In collaboration with global partners, the GHIT Fund mobilizes Japanese industry, academia, and research institutes to create new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical disease s. Appendix 1. Project Details G2023-218 G2023-108 G2023-211 G2023-209 *All amounts are listed at an exchange rate of USD1 = JPY151.33, the approximate exchange rate on March 31, 2024. Appendix 2. Investment Overview (as of March 31, 2024) Investments to date Total investments: 33.2 billion yen (USD 219 million1) Total invested projects: 125 (36 active projects and 89 completed projects) To learn more about GHIT Fund's investments, please visit Investment Overview: Portfolio: Advancing Portfolio: Clinical Candidates: For more information, contact: Nancy Moss, 254-729-991-028, [email protected] Mina Ohata at +81-36441-2032 or [email protected] SOURCE Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund)

Researchers have found a protein that is responsible for turning off brown fat activity. This new discovery could lead to a promising strategy for safely activating brown fat and tackling obesity and related health problems. Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a type of fat in our bodies that's different from the white fat around our belly and thighs that we are more familiar with. Brown fat has a special job -- it helps to burn calories from the foods that we eat into heat, which can be helpful, especially when we're exposed to cold temperatures like during winter swimming or cryotherapy. For a long time, scientists thought that only small animals like mice and newborns had brown fat. But new research shows that a certain number of adults maintain their brown fat throughout life. Because brown fat is so good at burning calories, scientists are trying to find ways to activate it safely using drugs that boost its heat-producing abilities. A new study from the research groups of Prof. Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld from the University of Southern Denmark/the Novo Nordisk Center for Adipocyte Signaling (Adiposign) and Dagmar Wachten from the University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn (Germany) has found that brown fat has a previously unknown built-in mechanism that switches it off shortly after being activated. This limits its effectiveness as treatment against obesity. According to first author of the study, Hande Topel, who is a Senior Postdoc at the University of Southern Denmark and the Novo Nordisk Center for Adipocyte Signaling (Adiposign), the team has now discovered a protein responsible for this switching-off process. It is called 'AC3-AT'. Blocking the "off switch" opens up a new strategy "Looking ahead, we think that finding ways to block AC3-AT could be a promising strategy for safely activating brown fat and tackling obesity and related health problems," Hande Topel says. The research team found the switch-off protein using advanced technology predicting unknown proteins. Hande Topel explains: "When we investigated mice that genetically didn't have AC3-AT, we found that they were protected from becoming obese, partly because their bodies were simply better at burning off calories and were able to increase their metabolic rates through activating brown fat." Two groups of mice were fed a high-fat diet for 15 weeks, which rendered them obese. The group that had their AC3-AT protein removed, gained less weight than the control group and were metabolically healthier. "The mice that have no AC3-AT protein, also accumulated less fat in their body and increased their lean mass when compared to the control mice," says co-author, Ronja Kardinal, who is a PhD student at the University of Bonn in the lab of Dagmar Wachten at UKB, continuing: "As AC3-AT is found not only in mice but also in humans and other species, there are direct therapeutic implications for humans." Hope for strategies that support weight loss Although the prevalence of brown fat decreases as humans age, and despite grown-ups not having as much brown fat as newborns, it can still be activated, for instance by cold exposure. When it gets activated, it enhances the rate of metabolism of these individuals, which again may help to stabilize weight loss in conditions where calorie intake is (too) high. Intriguingly, this study not only identified AC3-AT, which is a shorter, previously unknown form of the AC3protein. The researchers also identified other unknown protein/gene versions, that respond to cold exposure, similar to AC3-AT. "However, further research is needed to elucidate the therapeutic impact of these alternative gene products and their regulatory mechanisms during BAT activation," says co-corresponding author Prof. Dagmar Wachten, Co-Director of the Institute of Innate Immunity at the UKB and member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRA) "Modelling" and "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn. "Understanding these kinds of molecular mechanisms not only sheds light on the regulation of brown fat but also holds promise for unraveling similar mechanisms in other cellular pathways. This knowledge can be instrumental in advancing our understanding of various diseases and in the development of novel treatments," says co-corresponding author Prof. Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld, University of Southern Denmark. This study was conducted in the context of the DFG Collaborative Research Center Transregio-SFB 333 "Brown and Beige Fat -- Organ Interactions, Signaling Pathways and Energy Balance (BATenergy)," which is pursuing a better understanding of the different types of adipose tissue and their role in metabolic diseases and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Adipocyte Signaling (Adiposign) at University of Southern Denmark that aims to understand fat cell dysfunction in model organisms and obese patients.