Blood Markers may help to predict Seizures before they happen
Researchers at FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases, hosted at RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) discovered a formation of certain pattern of molecules that appear in blood before a seizure happens in people living with Epilepsy. At present, the Epilepsy therapy market is dominated by several Antiepileptic Drugs (AEDs) like GABA Enhancers/ Inhibitors, Ca Channel Blockers, Na Channel Blockers, etc. However, Epidiolex is the only approved therapy in Epilepsy therapeutic market. The discovery of certain changes in the blood due to the fragments of transfer RNAs (tRNAs), will help patients deal with the most difficult aspect of Epilepsy- unpredictable occurrence of seizures.
Pneumonia-causing bacteria mapped in a genomic survey
Research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases mapped the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia around the world. The research revealed the most prevalent strains of Streptococcus pneumonia discovering 621 strains. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people a year globally and is the single largest infectious cause of death of children under 5 years old worldwide. The pneumococcus can cause disease in other areas of the body too, for example infecting the brain or blood, causing meningitis or bloodstream infections, which can all lead to sepsis. The use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) for the past ten years has helped in reducing a number of childhood infections, but even then these vaccines are effective against a few coat types. The identification of new strains will help in advancing vaccine use against Pneumonia.
