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Tag: vanderbilt university

  • Probiotics Used To Inhibit Weight Gain: Study

    Researchers at Vanderbilt University have utilized bacteria that produce a therapeutic compound in the gut to inhibit weight gain, insulin resistance, and other negative effects of a high-fat diet in mice, according to redOrbit.

    The team used a safe bacterial strain called E. coli Nissle 1917, which has been used as probiotic treatment for diarrhea since its discovery nearly 100 years ago.

    They genetically modified the strain to produce a liquid compound called NAPE, which is normally synthesized in the small intestine in response to feeding. NAPE is rapidly converted to NAE, a compound that reduces both food intake and weight gain.

    “NAPE seemed like a great compound to try — since it’s something that the host normally produces,” senior researcher Sean Davies said.

    The researchers added NAPE-producing bacteria to the drinking water of a group of mice that ate a high-fat diet for eight weeks. Mice that received the NAPE-producing bacteria had lower food intake, body fat, insulin resistance, and fatty liver when compared to a group of mice receiving the control bacteria.

    Researchers found that the protective effects of the NAPE-producing bacteria lasted for as long as four weeks after the bacteria was removed from the drinking water. And even after 12 weeks, the mice that received the NAPE-producing bacteria strain had much lower body weight and body fat when compared to the control mice.

    “We still haven’t achieved our ultimate goal, which would be to do one treatment and then never have to administer the bacteria again,” Davies said. “Six weeks is pretty long to have active bacteria, and the animals are still less obese 12 weeks out.

    “This paper provides a proof of concept. Clearly, we can get enough bacteria to persist in the gut and have a sustained effect. We would like for that effect to last longer.”

    Davies has had a long-standing interest in using probiotic bacteria to deliver drugs to the gut in a sustained manner, eliminating the need for pharmaceutical drugs that treat chronic illnesses. In 2007, he received a National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award to pursue his idea.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mosquito Repellent 1000x Stronger Than DEET

    Mosquito Repellent 1000x Stronger Than DEET

    Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have developed a mosquito repellent that is 1000 times stronger than DEET, and works on many different types of insects.

    The new substance is tentatively called VUAA1, is far more effective than N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), and works on mosquitoes, ants, flies, moths and a slew of other bugs. According to project researcher Laurence Zwiebel, VUAA1 is the product of an initiative to combat malaria.

    “It turns out if we found the world’s greatest mosquito repellent, no one would care,” Zwiebel commented, adding, “So we needed to find something that would work against all insects.”

    Existing bug sprays attempt to camouflage the user from the offending insect, by masking any odor indicative of a food source. VUAA1 likewise works via scent, but in an opposite way. “We decided to take a more aggressive approach and, rather than turn off the mosquito’s olfactory system, we could look for something that would turn it too far on, to see if we could design a new generation of insect repellents based on overloading their smell system,” Zweibel said, adding, “They hate, just like we hate, overstimulation. They will move away from too much smell.” So far, VUAA1 has worked on every insect it’s been tested on.

    Malaria, which will likely be contracted by up to 500 million people this year, killed roughly 660,000 in 2010. “Our hope is that we’re able to help develop a product that can be sold for profit in the developed world, and use that profit to leverage distribution in the developing world,” Zwiebel said. “Our hope is that every time we spray on a mosquito repellent here in America, we’re subsidizing malaria reduction in Africa and Asia.”

    Here is an animation describing how malaria enters the bloodstream of a host:

    The malaria research project was supported by the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative funded by the Foundation for the NIH through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. No word on when a VUAA1 product will hit stores, as it is still being tested for safety.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons