PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Metabolic hormone 'leptin' linked to vaccine response

Reduced levels of a metabolic hormone known as leptin is linked to poor vaccine antibody responses in the general population, a University of Queensland study has found

2021-05-24
(Press-News.org) Reduced levels of a metabolic hormone known as leptin is linked to poor vaccine antibody responses in the general population, a University of Queensland study has found. The researchers made the discovery while investigating several cohorts' responses to the influenza vaccine or hepatitis B vaccine pre-COVID. UQ's Professor Di Yu identified a link between the metabolic and immune systems that could be used to develop new strategies for improving vaccine protection in vulnerable populations. "Using multiple advanced techniques in immunology, genetics and biochemistry, our study found leptin directly promoted the development and function of cells which are vital in triggering an antibody response," Professor Yu said. "In collaboration with global teams, we identified the reduction of an essential metabolic hormone called leptin was associated with compromised vaccine responses in both young and older individuals. "As a result, we can now identify those who are at risk of not generating an antibody response after vaccination." Professor Yu said leptin was a metabolic hormone largely produced by fat tissue. "Vaccines have been known for a very long time to have a different efficacy for individuals," he said. "Although our genetics partially contribute to the difference, other factors are also essential. "When we are fit and healthy, we have a much better vaccine efficacy. "If we are healthy, we have a good metabolism and a normal level of leptin, but if we have malnutrition or some disease conditions, we may have a low level of leptin, which limits our vaccine response and immune protection." Professor Yu said many people with obesity and high levels of leptin conversely often had leptin resistance which could potentially lead to a poorer vaccine response - an area that should be carefully investigated in the future. The researchers are keen to test responses to the COVID-19 vaccines to determine biomarkers that could identify those people at risk of not generating a strong vaccine response. "During the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, the successful vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 is the major hope to bring society back to normalcy," he said. "Differing vaccine responses cause a major bottleneck in large-scale vaccination programs."

INFORMATION:

The research is published in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23220-x). Media: Professor Di Yu, di.yu@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3176 4569, +61 423 339 898; UQ Communication, med.media@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 5118, +61 436 368 746. END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Higher dose of DHA associated with lower early preterm birth rate, NIH-funded study finds

2021-05-24
Women taking 1,000 mg of docosohexanoic acid (DHA) daily in the last half of pregnancy had a lower rate of early preterm birth than women who took the standard 200 mg dose, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Women who entered the study with the lowest DHA level had the greatest reduction in early preterm birth, which is birth before 34 weeks of pregnancy and which increases the risk of infant death and disability The study was conducted by Susan E. Carlson, Ph.D., at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, and colleagues. It appears in EClinicalMedicine. Funding was provided by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National ...

Stanford bioengineer aims to turn nature's virus fighters into powerful drugs

2021-05-24
Among the powerful biochemicals of the human immune system, peptides are one of the best. Most commonly found in the places where microbes love to take root - mucous membranes of the eye, mouth, nose and lungs - they're known to kill all sorts of tiny invaders, such as viruses, bacteria and fungi. Given their power, one might think peptides would represent promising drug treatments, perhaps even a cure, for many infectious diseases. But, alas, they are fundamentally flawed: They are vulnerable to a myriad of enzymes whose job is to rapidly break them down in a way that robs them of their therapeutic properties. "Because of their vulnerability to enzymatic breakdown, ...

Diabetes vaccine gives promising results in a genetic subgroup

Diabetes vaccine gives promising results in a genetic subgroup
2021-05-24
A clinical study led by Linköping University and financed by pharmaceuticals company Diamyd Medical has investigated whether immunotherapy against type 1 diabetes can preserve the body's own production of insulin. The results suggest that injection of a protein, GAD, into lymph nodes can be effective in a subgroup of individuals. The results have been published in Diabetes Care. In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks the cells that produce insulin. When the insulin-producing cells have disappeared, the body can no longer regulate blood sugar level, and a person with type 1 diabetes must take exogenous ...

Clean water and toilets for healthy shelters

Clean water and toilets for healthy shelters
2021-05-24
Regular, standardized assessments of evacuation shelters can help keep people healthy following natural disasters, according to research published by Tohoku University scientists and colleagues in the journal Heliyon. The study found that a clean tap water supply and hygienic toilets were especially important for protecting evacuees from the spread of infectious diseases. "A clean water supply and maintaining hygiene are important for reducing environmental health risks among victims of natural disasters," says Tadashi Ishii, who specializes in disaster medicine at Tohoku University. "But scientists have not yet established a strong evidence base that describes the relationship between damage in resource supplies and infrastructure ...

Pristine quantum criticality found

Pristine quantum criticality found
2021-05-24
HOUSTON - (May 24, 2021) - U.S. and Austrian physicists searching for evidence of quantum criticality in topological materials have found one of the most pristine examples yet observed. In an open access paper published online in Science Advances, researchers from Rice University, Johns Hopkins University, the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) present the first experimental evidence to suggest that quantum criticality -- a disordered state in which electrons waver between competing states of order -- may give rise to topological phases, "protected" quantum states that are of growing interest ...

Deep and extreme: Microbes thrive in transition

Deep and extreme: Microbes thrive in transition
2021-05-24
A diverse microbial community has adapted to an extremely salty environment deep in the Red Sea. The microbes, many unknown to science, occupy a one-meter-thick area overlying the Suakin Deep, an expansive 80-meter-deep brine lake, 2,771 meters below the central Red Sea. The chemical properties of this thin "brine-seawater interface," along with the composition of microbial communities, change surprisingly rapidly across a sharp gradient. "Our study sheds light on how microorganisms in the Suakin Deep's brine-seawater interface make an oasis of life in the desert of the deep Red Sea," says microbial ...

Keeping it rolling

Keeping it rolling
2021-05-24
Osaka, Japan - Scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, and NTN Next Generation Research Alliance Laboratories at Osaka University developed a machine learning method that combines convolutional neural networks and Bayesian hierarchical modeling to precisely predict the remaining useful life of rolling bearings. This work may lead to new industrial monitoring methods that help manage maintenance schedules and maximize efficiency and safety under defect progression. A rolling bearing consists of two rings separated by rolling elements (balls or rollers). Because of the ease of rolling, the rings can rotate relative to each other with very little friction. Rolling bearings are essential to almost all automated machinery with rotating elements. The bearings ...

To make particles flow more efficiently, put an obstacle in their way

2021-05-24
Scientists used to perform experiments by stirring biological and chemical agents into test tubes. Nowadays, they automate research by using microfluidic chips the size of postage stamps. In these tiny devices, millions of microscopic particles are captured in droplets of water, each droplet serving as the "test tube" for a single experiment. The chip funnels these many droplets, one at a time, through a tiny channel where a laser probes each passing droplet to record thousands of experimental results each second. These chips are used for such things as testing new antibiotics, screening drug compounds, sequencing the DNA and RNA of single cells, and otherwise speeding up the pace of scientific ...

36 dwarf galaxies had simultaneous 'baby boom' of new stars

36 dwarf galaxies had simultaneous baby boom of new stars
2021-05-24
Three dozen dwarf galaxies far from each other had a simultaneous "baby boom" of new stars, an unexpected discovery that challenges current theories on how galaxies grow and may enhance our understanding of the universe. Galaxies more than 1 million light-years apart should have completely independent lives in terms of when they give birth to new stars. But galaxies separated by up to 13 million light-years slowed down and then simultaneously accelerated their birth rate of stars, according to a Rutgers-led study published in the Astrophysical Journal. "It appears that these galaxies are responding to a large-scale ...

The birth of a subnanometer-sized soccer ball

2021-05-24
Ever since the existence of molecules was proven and molecular reactions were predicted, humans have wanted to visually observe how such events proceed. Such observations of single-molecule reactions are highly important for the fundamental understanding of chemical sciences, which would aid in the development of novel catalysts, materials, or drugs, and help us decipher the complex biochemical processes. However, this was not possible for the longest time in modern chemistry, and so far the information of dynamical processes on the nanometer scale was obtained only from indirect methods because molecules ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Symptoms of long-COVID can last up to two years after infection with COVID-19

Violence is forcing women in Northern Ireland into homelessness, finds new report

Latin American intensivists denounce economic and cultural inequities in the global scientific publishing system

Older adults might be more resistant to bird flu infections than children, Penn research finds

Dramatic increase in research funding needed to counter productivity slowdown in farming

How chemistry and force etch mysterious spiral patterns on solid surfaces

Unraveling the mysteries of polycystic kidney disease

Mother’s high-fat diet can cause liver stress in fetus, study shows

Weighing in on a Mars water debate

Researchers ‘seq’ and find a way to make pig retinal cells to advance eye treatments

Re-purposed FDA-approved drug could help treat high-grade glioma

Understanding gamma rays in our universe through StarBurst

Study highlights noninvasive hearing aid 

NASA taps UTA to shape future of autonomous aviation

Mutations disrupt touch-based learning, study finds

Misha lived in zoos, but the elephant’s tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations

Eat better, breathe easier? Research points to link between diet, lung cancer

Mesozoic mammals had uniform dark fur

Wartime destruction of Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine has long-term environmental consequences

NIH’s flat 15% funding policy is misguided and damaging

AI reveals new insights into the flow of Antarctic ice

Scientists solve decades-long Parkinson’s mystery

Spinning, twisted light could power next-generation electronics

A planetary boundary for geological resources: Limits of regional water availability

Astronomy’s dirty window to space

New study reveals young, active patients who have total knee replacements are unlikely to need revision surgery in their lifetime

Thinking outside the box: Uncovering a novel approach to brainwave monitoring

Combination immunotherapy before surgery may increase survival in people with head and neck cancer

MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy

High sugar-sweetened beverage intake and oral cavity cancer in smoking and nonsmoking women

[Press-News.org] Metabolic hormone 'leptin' linked to vaccine response
Reduced levels of a metabolic hormone known as leptin is linked to poor vaccine antibody responses in the general population, a University of Queensland study has found