University of Cantabria
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Professor of Prehistory and coordinator of the Master's Degree in Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Cantabria
Neurologist at the Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL University Hospital and lecturer at the University of Cantabria
Professor of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Cantabria.
Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Cantabria and President of the Ibero-American Down21 Foundation
President of the Spanish Society of Immunology (SEI) and former secretary of the Spanish Society of Transplantation (SET)
Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Cantabria
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended not granting marketing authorization for Leqembi™ (lecanemab) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) considers that its effect in delaying cognitive decline does not outweigh the risk of serious side effects associated with the drug, in particular swelling and possible bleeding in patients' brains. Leqembi™ was approved in 2023 in the United States.
A family of more than 1,000 members with origins in Colombia has a mutation called "paisa" that leads to the development of Alzheimer's disease. In 2019, an added mutation in the apoE gene called "Christchurch" was described as conferring strong protection to an individual carrying two copies of it. Now, a study has found that 27 family members carry a single copy and that it is also associated with some degree of protection. According to the authors, who publish their findings in the journal NEJM, the discovery could be used to develop new treatments for the disease.
Genetic forms of Alzheimer's are considered to be those in which certain variants of a gene inevitably lead to the disease over time. Until now, only rare alterations in three genes were considered as such. A group of researchers led by the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona has proposed a new, much more frequent form. After analysing data from more than three thousand donated brains and clinical data from more than ten thousand patients, they found that almost all people who carry two copies of the ApoE4 variant in the ApoE gene, which was previously only considered a risk factor, also end up developing the disease.They publish the results in the journal Nature Medicine.
A group of trans scientists and family members of trans people have called on their peers to help build a trans-inclusive academic world and rigorous research on sex and gender issues. In an article published in the journal Cell, the authors describe their experience in academia and propose actions that individuals and institutions can take to support trans scientists, such as creating gender-neutral spaces, collecting environmental data, or obtaining information on trans academic outcomes.
Toledo and Alicante are suffering the first outbreaks of measles recorded in Spain since the pandemic, El País reported today. In total, 15 cases have been confirmed since 1 January, of which seven are imported and eight autochthonous.
A team of researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona (CRG) has found that a region of the genome is less active in model mice and people with Down's syndrome. This region is found in the so-called dark genome and does not code for a protein. According to the authors of the study, this "leads to reduced neurogenesis and impaired plasticity, which play a direct role in learning and memory". The results are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
A study has analysed more than 100 environmental factors and their impact on the immune response. After studying about a thousand volunteers, its conclusions are that smoking is the factor that causes the most alterations in defences. While some changes are transient, others may remain for years after quitting. The results are published in the journal Nature.
Currently, when an organ transplant is performed, the patient has to take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent his or her system from rejecting the new organ. These drugs must be taken for life and have numerous side effects. In a phase 1 clinical trial, researchers gave patients receiving a liver transplant regulatory dendritic cells derived from the original donor, with the hypothesis that these cells could 'teach' the recipient's immune system to tolerate the new organ. The research, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that this treatment could reduce or even eliminate the need for long-term use of immunosuppressants.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has licensed Hipra's vaccine - currently called Bimervax - against SARS-CoV-2 as a booster in people aged 16 years and older who have previously been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. The EMA began the ongoing evaluation of the vaccine, which was expected to be approved in the middle of last year, on 29 March 2022.
People with Down syndrome are at high risk of developing dementia very similar to that caused by Alzheimer's disease. A study published in the journal PNAS has found that in these people, as had been observed in "classic" Alzheimer's, the characteristic proteins of the disease have prion-like features.