Showing posts with label Help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Help. Show all posts

Friday, March 19, 2021

Botanical drug is shown to help patients with head and neck cancers


In continuation of my update on Curcumin

In a UCLA-led phase I clinical trial, a new plant-based drug called APG-157 showed signs of helping patients fight oral and oropharyngeal cancers. These cancers are located in the head and the neck.

Image result for curcumin STRUCTURE

APG-157  (a botanical drug containing multiple polyphenols, including curcumin see above structure), is made up of multiple compounds produced by plants, including curcumin. UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers found that treatment with this botanical drug resulted in high concentrations of curcumin and its byproducts circulating in the blood and absorbed by tumor tissues within three hours after being taken orally.
APG-157 reduced the concentration of cytokines—proteins involved in inflammation—in the saliva when administered to cancer patients. The therapy also reduced the relative abundance of Bacteroides species, a group of gram-negative bacteria. Gram negative refers to a group of dangerous bacteria that have an outer layer which hides them from the immune system. The relative abundance of gram-negative bacteria compared to the presence of other types of bacteria is correlated with oral cancer.
APG-157 also resulted in the expression of genes that are associated with attracting immune system T cells to the tumor area. This therapy could have a beneficial effect when used in combination with immunotherapy drugs that help immune system T cells recognize and kill tumors.
The treatment did not have any adverse effects on the study's participants.
Cancers of the head and neck account for 4% of all cancers. About 650,000 new cases are reported each year around the world. People with advanced head and neck cancers have a low survival rate and current treatment options such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy can have adverse effects. Therefore, more effective and less toxic therapies are needed to help improve the quality of life and outcome for those with these cancers.
APG-157 is a botanical drug developed under the FDA's Botanical Drug Guidance, which includes requirements for production of plant-based therapies that are marketed as prescription medications. The drug is made up of botanical compounds including curcumin from the Curcuma longa plant, which is commonly referred to as turmeric and is a member of the ginger family.
Curcumin is one of the medicinally active or therapeutic molecules that has been tested as a possible treatment to help fight multiple cancers because it is an antioxidant that reduces swelling and inflammation. However, there is poor absorption into the bloodstream when curcumin is taken orally. In this study, UCLA researchers found that when APG-157 is taken through oral mucosal absorption, patients have high levels of curcumin circulating in their blood and absorbed by cancer tissues.
UCLA researchers conducted the study of APG-157 comparing 12 people who had oral and oropharyngeal cancer with a control group of 13 people who did not have cancer. The reason both the people with cancer and without cancer were part of the study was to show that the drug was not toxic to either people with cancer or those without cancer.
The medication was given each hour for three hours and was delivered as a lozenge that slowly dissolved in the mouth. Blood and saliva samples were collected beforehand—each of the three hours the medication was administered—and 24 hours after the last dosage. The medication was given to 12 people (some who had cancer and some who did not) and a placebo was given to 13 people. Blood and electrocardiogram tests did not show increased toxicity in the people who took the active medication in comparison with the people who took the placebo, regardless of whether they had cancer or not.
For the cancer patients who took the medication, there was a decrease in Bacteroides and an increase in T cells in the tumor tissue as compared to cancer patients who took the placebo. Neither the subjects nor the investigators knew whether the drug or a placebo was given when reviewing the blood and saliva test results of the blinded study.
APG-157 is a botanical  that has low toxicity. It works effectively to reduce inflammation that contributes to the growth of cancer cells. It also attracts T cells to the tumor micro-environment. When used in combination with immunotherapy drugs, APG-157 might have the ability to make the immune system more effective in attacking head and neck cancers. With potential to inhibit the growth of Bacteroides species, APG-157 could also improve cancer therapy through oral microbial changes.
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cncr.32644

Friday, June 14, 2019

Could Diabetes Drug Metformin Help Keep People Slim?

New research suggests a first-line drug for treating type 2 diabetes   'metformin'  may help people with pre-diabetes maintain long-term weight loss.

Metformin.svg
People who lost weight while taking metformin maintained a loss of about 6% of their body weight for six to 15 years. People who lost weight through lifestyle changes -- eating healthily and exercising regularly -- managed to keep off just under 4% of their initial body weight for the same period, the study found.
Metformin doesn't seem to be particularly helpful for shedding pounds in the first place, though. In fact, an earlier phase of the study found that people were much more likely to lose 5% or more of their body weight through lifestyle changes -- healthy eating and exercising -- than by using metformin.
"Although lifestyle changes were superior for inducing weight loss early on, metformin was better for long-term weight maintenance," said senior study author Dr. Kishore Gadde. He's a professor in heart disease prevention at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.
Not everyone is convinced that metformin can keep you slim, however. After reviewing the findings, Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said, "This study was very well done, but it doesn't show metformin is effective for everyone. The ones on metformin who did lose weight only regained a little less weight."
He added that metformin isn't well-tolerated by a lot of people. It can cause digestive problems, such as nausea and diarrhoea.
An  effective intervention for losing weight and maintaining that loss is clearly needed. Nearly three-quarters of the American population is overweight or obese -- a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Losing a significant amount of weight more than 5% of your body weight  seems to help prevent pre-diabetes from turning into type 2 diabetes, and can help delay the progression of type 2 diabetes.
The latest study was a continuation of the three-year diabetes prevention clinical trial that compared three different groups of people with pre-diabetes to see what type of intervention would help prevent type 2 diabetes from developing. One group was given metformin, another was coached on intensive lifestyle changes, and the third group was given a placebo.
This study found that lifestyle changes led to the greatest initial weight loss, followed by the metformin group, according to Gadde.
From the original study group -- more than 3,000 people -- just over 1,000 lost more than 5% of their body weight.
The researchers followed this group for as long as 15 years to see who maintained their weight loss.
People taking metformin had the greatest weight loss from years six to 15, according to the study. The study also found that being older and losing a greater amount of weight in the first year were consistent predictors of lasting weight loss, the study authors said.
Gadde said it's not exactly clear why the metformin group was better at maintaining weight loss. "Metformin does reduce food intake a little bit, but it's not a dramatic effect. And, from what we know, it doesn't significantly alter energy expenditure."
He said other recent research suggests that metformin may alter the body's microbiome (the healthy bacteria in your gut). It also seems that metformin may have some effects on muscle function. But Gadde said, more research is necessary to know for sure.

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Statins Help the Heart, No Matter What Your Age


Lovastatin


Cholesterol-lowering statins are already known to help cut heart risks for seniors and the middle-aged. Now, research confirms the meds can also help people aged 75 and older.
"Statin therapy has been shown to prevent cardiovascular disease in a wide range of people, but there has been uncertainty about its efficacy and safety among older people," said lead investigator Anthony Keech. He's a professor of medicine, cardiology and epidemiology at the University of Sydney in Australia.
He and colleagues at the University of Oxford in England analyzed the findings of 28 large clinical trials of statins. The trials involved nearly 187,000 people in six age groups: younger than 55; 55 to 60; 60 to 65; 65 to 70; 70 to 75; and older than 75.
"Our study summarized all the available evidence from major trials to help clarify this issue. We found that there were significant reductions in major vascular events in each of the six age groups considered, including patients [who were] aged over 75 at the start of treatment," Keech said in an Oxford news release.
Major vascular events included heart attack, stroke and procedures to clear clogged arteries.
"Statin therapy appears to be just as effective in people aged over 75 years as it is in younger people," study co-investigator Jordan Fulcher said in the news release. Fulcher is a cardiovascular research fellow at the University of Sydney.
"We have definitive evidence that statins benefit older people who have suffered a heart attack or stroke. Fewer healthy older people were represented in these trials, so more information in this group of people would help confirm the same benefits that we see in our overall trials population," he said.
Fulcher noted that a new randomized trial in Australia is exploring whether statins prolong disability-free survival in a healthy population.
The risk of heart attacks and strokes rises sharply with age, yet statins are not used as widely in older people as they should be, study co-investigator Colin Baigent said in the news release. He's director of Oxford's Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit.
"Since the risk of heart attack and stroke increases with age, the potential benefits are likely to be even greater for older people," he said.
"Therefore, there is a need to ensure that patients at risk of cardiovascular disease due to their age are offered statin therapy where there is good reason to believe that it will be beneficial," Baigent said.
Anyone with concerns about whether statin therapy is right for them should discuss it with their health care provider, he added.