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

Personalized blood count could lead to early intervention for common diseases

2024-12-11
(Press-News.org) A complete blood count (CBC) screening is a routine exam requested by most physicians for healthy adults. This clinical test is a valuable tool for assessing a patient’s overall health from one blood sample. Currently, the results of CBC tests are analyzed using a one-size-fits-all reference interval, but a new study led by researchers from Mass General Brigham suggests that this approach can lead to overlooked deviations in health. In a retrospective analysis, researchers show that these reference intervals, or setpoints, are unique to each patient. The study revealed that one healthy patient’s CBC setpoints can be distinguishable from 98 percent of other healthy adults. Results are published in Nature.

“Complete blood counts are common tests, and our study suggests CBCs vary a lot from person to person even when completely healthy, and a more personalized and precision medicine approach could give more insight into a person’s health or disease,” said senior author John Higgins, MD, of the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham. “The long-term stability and patient-specificity of setpoints may provide new opportunities for the personalized management of healthy adults envisioned by precision medicine.”

CBC indices are known to shift due to genetics, disease history, and age. But the new study suggests that individual patients have a “setpoint”—a stable value around which measures fluctuate. By considering CBC setpoints tailored to an individual, clinicians may be able to diagnose diseases in their early stages in adults that appear otherwise healthy, including disorders such as diabetes, heart disease, and kidney failure, all of which can benefit from early intervention.

The study, with first author Brody H. Foy, a research fellow at the MGH who is now a faculty member in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology at the University of Washington, found that for multiple diseases, setpoints produce a two- to four-fold relative risk stratification which is comparable to that provided by common disease screening factors.

The researchers note that these setpoints create new opportunities to investigate the mechanisms of varying CBC thresholds and that the information from CBC setpoints could be used to create more specific treatment plans, including determining if additional screening is needed for an accurate diagnosis.

Authorship: In addition to Foy and Higgins, Mass General Brigham authors include Rachel Petherbridge, Maxwell Roth, Daniel C. De Souza, Christopher Mow, Hasmukh R Patel, Chhaya H Patel, Samantha N Ho, Evie Lam, Camille E Powe, Robert P Hasserjian, Konrad J Karczewski, and Veronica Tozzo. Additional authors include Cindy Zhang.

 

Disclosures: None.


Funding: National Institutes of Health (grant IDs: R01HD104756; R01DK123330).

Paper cited: Foy BH et al. “Hematologic setpoints are a stable and patient-specific deep phenotype” Nature DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08264-5

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Innovative tissue engineering: Boston University's ESCAPE method explained

2024-12-11
When it comes to the human body, form and function work together. The shape and structure of our hands enable us to hold and manipulate things. Tiny air sacs in our lungs called alveoli allow for air exchange and help us breath in and out. And tree-like blood vessels branch throughout our body, delivering oxygen from our head to our toes. The organization of these natural structures holds the key to our health and the way we function. Better understanding and replicating their designs could help us unlock biological insights for more effective drug-testing, and the development of new therapeutics and organ replacements. Yet, biologically engineering tissue ...

Global healthspan-lifespan gaps among 183 WHO member states

2024-12-11
About The Study: This study identifies growing healthspan (years lived in good health)-lifespan gaps around the globe, threatening healthy longevity across worldwide populations. Women globally exhibited a larger healthspan-lifespan gap than men.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Andre Terzic, MD, PhD, email terzic.andre@mayo.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.50241) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

Stanford scientists transform ubiquitous skin bacterium into a topical vaccine

2024-12-11
Imagine a world in which a vaccine is a cream you rub onto your skin instead of a needle a health care worker pushes into your one of your muscles. Even better, it’s entirely pain-free and not followed by fever, swelling, redness or a sore arm. No standing in a long line to get it. Plus, it’s cheap. Thanks to Stanford University researchers’ domestication of a bacterial species that hangs out on the skin of close to everyone on Earth, that vision could become a reality. “We all hate needles — everybody does,” said Michael Fischbach, PhD, the Liu (Liao) Family Professor and a professor of bioengineering. “I haven’t found a single person ...

Biological diversity is not just the result of genes

Biological diversity is not just the result of genes
2024-12-11
How can we explain the morphological diversity of living organisms?  Although genetics is the answer that typically springs to mind, it is not the only explanation. By combining observations of embryonic development, advanced microscopy, and cutting-edge computer modelling, a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) demonstrate that the crocodile head scales emerge from the mechanics of growing tissues, rather than molecular genetics. The diversity of these head scales observed in different crocodilian species therefore arises from the evolution of mechanical parameters, such as the growth ...

Analysis reveals an additional mechanism behind statin therapy’s heart-related benefits in people with HIV

2024-12-11
Investigators who previously found that a daily statin pill helps prevent heart attacks and strokes in people with HIV have now discovered a potential mechanism that may help to stabilize plaques and prevent their rupture in blood vessels. The research led by a team from Mass General Brigham is published in JAMA Cardiology. “Individuals with HIV tend to have an excess of noncalcified plaques that are vulnerable to rupture at a younger age, putting them at high risk for strokes, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death,” said senior author Steven Grinspoon, MD, chief of the Metabolism Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare ...

Understanding how the immune system switches between rest and action

Understanding how the immune system switches between rest and action
2024-12-11
SAN FRANCISCO—Cells in the immune system don’t always fight; they often rest and wait for threats, like viruses or bacteria. When such threats emerge, the cells activate to defend the body. This delicate balance between rest and activation is crucial to our health—immune cells must be poised for activation to protect against threats, but if they’re overly active, autoimmune diseases can result. But what controls this important balance? In a new study published in Nature, scientists from Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco ...

Wiley expands its KnowItAll solutions with new tools for LC-MS analysis, enterprise data management, and additional spectral advances

2024-12-11
HOBOKEN, N.J.—Wiley, one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in research and learning, today announced the release of the new version of its KnowItAll software, with numerous advances to accelerate spectral analysis and optimize workflows. KnowItAll 2025, the latest version of Wiley’s comprehensive software suite for spectral analysis and analytical data management, introduces a groundbreaking new tool to automate LC-MS analysis, enhanced data management, and numerous other features to streamline analysis across multiple ...

A new class of antivirals could help prevent future pandemics

2024-12-11
The arrival of Paxlovid in December 2021 marked another turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic—an effective antiviral that has since successfully treated millions. But like many antivirals before it, scientists know that at some point, Paxlovid is likely to lose some efficacy due to drug resistance. Researchers working to stay ahead of such emerging threats have now identified a wholly new way to treat SARS-CoV-2 infections—work that may have even broader implications. In fact, a new study by the Tuschl ...

Nature Biotechnology | Generative chemistry enables Insilico to develop gut-restricted PhD inhibitors promising for intestinal mucosal barrier repair and immunomodulation

Nature Biotechnology | Generative chemistry enables Insilico to develop gut-restricted PhD inhibitors promising for intestinal mucosal barrier repair and immunomodulation
2024-12-11
The study presents the journey of designing and optimizing novel gut-restricted PHD inhibitors using the comprehensive generative chemistry engine Chemistry42. From initiation to preclinical candidate nomination, the program spanned only 12 months, during which approximately 115 molecules were synthesized and screened. Preclinical studies demonstrate ISM5411 to be gut-restricted and PHD-specific, thus reducing cardiovascular and systematical tumorigenic risks. Two Phase 1 clinical trials of ISM5411 for IBD are currently being conducted in parallel in Australia and China, with the last subject out in both ...

2 U-M faculty members elected to National Academy of Inventors

2024-12-11
ANN ARBOR—Two University of Michigan faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. Robert Bartlett, professor emeritus of surgery at the Medical School, and Zhen Xu, professor of biomedical engineering at the College of Engineering and professor of radiology and neurosurgery at the Medical School, were elected this month to the academy. Bartlett and Xu were nominated for being innovative researchers with extensive work translating discoveries into ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study offers new hope for relieving chronic pain in dialysis patients

How does the atmosphere affect ocean weather?

Robots get smarter to work in sewers

Speech Accessibility Project data leads to recognition improvements on Microsoft Azure

Tigers in the neighborhood: How India makes room for both tigers and people

Grove School’s Arthur Paul Pedersen publishes critical essay on scientific measurement literacy

Moffitt study finds key biomarker to predict KRASG12C inhibitor effectiveness in lung cancer

Improving blood transfusion monitoring in critical care patients: Insights from diffuse optics

Powerful legal and financial services enable kleptocracy, research shows

Carbon capture from constructed wetlands declines as they age

UCLA-led study establishes link between early side effects from prostate cancer radiation and long-term side effects

Life cycles of some insects adapt well to a changing climate. Others, not so much.

With generative AI, MIT chemists quickly calculate 3D genomic structures

The gut-brain connection in Alzheimer’s unveiled with X-rays

NIH-funded clinical trial will evaluate new dengue therapeutic

Sound is a primary issue in the lives of skateboarders, study shows

Watch what you eat: NFL game advertisements promote foods high in fat, sodium

Red Dress Collection Concert hosted by Sharon Stone kicks off American Heart Month

One of the largest studies on preterm birth finds a maternal biomarker test significantly reduces neonatal morbidities and improves neonatal outcomes

One of the largest studies of its kind finds early intervention with iron delivered intravenously during pregnancy is a safe and effective treatment for anemia

New Case Western Reserve University study identifies key protein’s role in psoriasis

First-ever ethics checklist for portable MRI brain researchers

Addressing 3D effects of clouds for significant improvements of climate models

Gut microbes may mediate the link between drinking sugary beverages and diabetes risk

Ribosomes team up in difficult situations, new technology shows

Mortality trends among adults ages 25-44 in the US

Discontinuation and reinitiation of dual-labeled GLP-1 receptor agonists among us adults with overweight or obesity

Ultraprocessed food consumption and obesity development in Canadian children

Experts publish framework for global adoption of digital health in medical education

Canadian preschoolers get nearly half of daily calories from ultra-processed foods: University of Toronto study

[Press-News.org] Personalized blood count could lead to early intervention for common diseases