Roundup: Wearable patch reduces alcohol and drug cravings, and more

Health Tech world explores the latest research developments in the world of health technology.

New antibiotic targets IBD, and AI predicted how it would work

Researchers have made two scientific breakthroughs at once: they have discovered a brand-new antibiotic that targets inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and have successfully used a new type of AI to predict exactly how the drug works.

The discovery unveils a promising new treatment option for millions of people affected by Crohn’s disease and other related conditions, while also showcasing important new applications for AI in drug discovery research.

 

Most antibiotics used in clinics today are “broad-spectrum” drugs, meaning they wipe out good bacteria in addition to those that cause disease.

This can create opportunities for invasive and drug-resistant species of bacteria, like E. coli, to move in and colonize the intestines, which can exacerbate conditions like Crohn’s.

But enterololin, the new antibiotic discovered at McMaster, is a “narrow-spectrum” drug, meaning it spares the microbiome and attacks only a specific group of disease-causing bugs, in this case, a family of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae, which happens to include E. coli.

This means it not only kills E. coli, but also reduces the opportunity for drug-resistant strains to colonize the gut in the first place.

To date, AI has been leveraged as a tool for predicting which molecules might have therapeutic potential, but this study used it to describe what researchers call “mechanism of action” (MOA), or how drugs attack disease.

A thorough MOA study can take up to two years and cost around US$2m; however, using AI, his group did enterololin’s in just six months and for just US$60,000.

The research team connected with colleagues at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) to see if any of their emerging machine learning platforms could help fast-track his upcoming MOA studies.

In just 100 seconds, they were given a prediction: the new drug attacked a microscopic protein complex called LolCDE, which is essential to the survival of certain bacteria.

The team began investigating enterololin’s MOA, using MIT’s prediction as a starting point, and, within just a few months, it became clear that the AI was correct.

The team has now successfully used AI to discover viable drug candidates, to fast-track global drug discovery efforts, and to determine how new drugs work.

Wearable patch reduces alcohol and drug cravings

A new study shows that a non-drug, wearable device can help people with substance use disorders (SUD) manage stress, reduce cravings and lower their risk of relapse in real time.

For people in early recovery, stress often triggers cravings, and the struggle to resist those urges can create even more stress. Together, cravings and stress can lead to relapse. Stress and craving also tend to be associated with lower heart rate variability (HRV), the natural variations in time between heartbeats, which reflects underlying health as well as how the body adapts to stress.

Special breathing exercises can raise HRV and help regulate mood and improve cognitive control. Newer HRV biofeedback devices can detect low HRV and provide visual or auditory cues to guide breathing adjustments.

Previous studies have found that biofeedback can reduce craving and anxiety in people with SUD.

In their nationally funded study, the researchers tested whether an HRV biofeedback device can support SUD recovery by conducting a phase 2 clinical trial of 115 adults with severe SUD in their first year of recovery.

Half of the participants got a biofeedback smart patch device (the Lief HRVB Smart Patch), and the other half followed the recovery plan they had in place, such as recovery meetings, psychotherapy, or medicines.

Over eight weeks, participants reported their mood, cravings and any substance use twice a day with their smartphone.

Participants were asked to do at least 10 minutes of scheduled practice a day and at least five minutes of prompted practice.

The participants who got a biofeedback device had less negative emotions, reported fewer cravings for alcohol or drugs and were 64 per cent less likely to use substances on any given day, suggesting that the intervention interfered with the cycle of craving and substance use.

The study focused only on people in the first year of an abstinence-based recovery attempt, and future studies are needed to determine if the intervention has sustained benefits.

Enzyme tech clears first human test toward universal donor organs for transplantation

The first successful human transplant of a kidney converted from blood type A to universal type O has used special enzymes to help prevent a mismatch and rejection of the organ.

The achievement marks a major step toward helping thousands of patients get kidney transplants sooner.

In a first-in-human experiment, the enzyme-converted kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead recipient with consent from the family, allowing researchers to observe the immune response without risking a life.

For two days, the kidney functioned without signs of hyperacute rejection, the rapid immune reaction that can destroy an incompatible organ within minutes.

By the third day, some blood-type markers reappeared, triggering a mild reaction, but the damage was far less severe than in a typical mismatch, and researchers saw signs that the body was beginning to tolerate the organ.

“This is the first time we’ve seen this play out in a human model,” said Dr. Stephen Withers, UBC professor emeritus of chemistry who co-led the enzyme development. “It gives us invaluable insight into how to improve long-term outcomes.”

Traditional methods for overcoming blood-type incompatibility in transplants require days of intensive treatment to strip antibodies and suppress a recipient’s immune system, and require organs from living donors.

This new approach changes the organ rather than the patient, meaning transplants could be performed faster, with fewer complications, and for the first time could unlock the use of blood-type mismatched organs from deceased donors.

Regulatory approval for clinical trials is the next hurdle, and the partner UBC spin-off company Avivo Biomedical will lead development of these enzymes for transplant application and to enable the creation of universal donor blood on demand for transfusion medicine.

AI and omics unlock personalised drugs and RNA therapies for heart disease

AI, omics and systems biology can now help scientists design targeted drugs for cardiovascular disease pathways once thought “untreatable.”

Researchers say these tools could transform heart drug development and save lives, but that global, equitable health policy leadership is urgently needed.

The new review calls for a fundamental shift in how heart drugs are discovered, developed and tested. Using AI, omics and big data to identify and design drugs for disease-related genes and proteins, this “innovation paradigm” could drive the development of truly personalised treatments for CVD.

One promising avenue is RNA-based therapeutics. Unlike conventional drugs, which reach only a small percentage of all potential protein targets, RNA therapies can be designed to influence almost any gene.

They may also be quicker to develop, and early trials already show their potential for lowering cholesterol more effectively than standard treatments.

CVDs vary between patients in terms of their symptoms, underlying mechanisms, and how well they respond to treatment.

Even patients with identical diagnoses present differently, which reflects the broad spectrum of our genes, environments and lifestyles.

The authors predict that, with sufficient investment and support, this innovation paradigm will give rise to a whole new generation of therapies, especially RNA-targeted and digitally designed drugs, that can intervene in disease pathways previously considered ‘undruggable.’

Such advances could dramatically reduce the time, cost, and failure rate involved in the development of cardiovascular drugs.

However, the researchers highlight that turning these tools into real treatments will take more than lab breakthroughs.

The authors call for stronger collaboration between scientists, industry, and healthcare, alongside global policy leadership to ensure precision medicine reaches people everywhere.