biomedics

A team of researchers led by a researcher from the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB) examined incidences of malaria in analyses involving 1,975 children between 0 and 14 years old in Papua New Guinea. The study found that children with a specific genetic defect had increased protection against Plasmodium vivax malaria. The results challenge the theory that only the most deadly malarial parasite had an affect on the evolution of the human genome.

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grifols, the third world leader in the production of blood plasma based technologies, has seen its turnover increase by 15% in the first half of 2012 to €1.32 billion. Its net profit for the first half of 2012 was €133.5 million, seven times that of the previous year. The company’s success is attributed to its wide geographical consumer base and the recent purchase of US based Talecris Plasma Resources.

Researchers in Barcelona have discovered a new molecule in order to create a new medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike others, the discovery works at several damaged places of the brain at the same time. The molecule inhibits the secretion of the B-amiloide protein, which is a contributory factor in the disease.

This world important discovery should open new paths to develop new drugs and to ultimately find a vaccine against HIV/AIDS. The finding has been published in the international journal PLoS Biology. The study has been funded by the Spanish Government, the Catalan Government, La Caixa savings bank, Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic and Esteve Labs.

Research conducted on genetically modified mice opens a new field of study to prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing the spread of the Tau protein. This protein is a cause of disease which accumulates in the entorhinal cortex, moving from one region to another.

A medical team from the Catalan capital’s Hospital Clínic and the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital, in Greater Barcelona, cured a foetus with a lung malformation in a world pioneer intervention. The baby girl is currently 16 months old, has a normal life, and no further surgery is expected. The malformation was diagnosed in the 20th week of pregnancy, surgery took place in the 26th, and Alaitz was born in the 38th week.

Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic has coordinated a world pioneer medical study with 60,000 patients. The study has compared the effectiveness of early detection of colon cancer by using a colonoscopy or a specific analysis searching blood in the patients’ faeces. The findings have proven that both diagnostic tests are equally reliable. Considering the differences between the financial costs of both tests, health risks, and comfort, colonoscopy might only be used for confirmation or treatment purposes. In addition, from now on all people older than 50 might be regularly checked in an easier and cheaper manner.

The results of the research will be helpful to expand the knowledge on diseases related to the process of protein aggregation. Discovery of this might lead to the early detection of Alzheimer ’s disease. The research has found a way to precisely measure the effects that protein aggregation has on cell aging.

The prestigious medical journal ‘The Lancet’ publishes findings from Barcelona’s CRESIB researchers who work in Papua New Guinea. The study has found a an oral treatment for Pian’s disease, also known as Yaws. The treatment could lead to the total eradication of the illness.

Since December, the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona is the only healthcare centre in the world to use a High Definition 3D camera and lens for surgical interventions. The technology, developed by Olympus, reduces both the time and risks in laparoscopic operations and also facilitates the work of surgeons.

The Parkinson symptoms detector device will help patients fight the degenerative disease and improve their quality of life. The system, partly created by Catalan researchers, now needs to be tested on four volunteer patients from around Catalonia. The initiative has brought together institutions from Italy, Israel, Germany and Spain.

The brain damage a foetus may suffer during pregnancy is sometimes not detected in the first few years of a child's life. If that damage could be detected early, psychological stimulation could reduce future learning disorders. Scientists from Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic have identified biomarkers indicating possible brain damage while carrying out a brain scan.

The vaccine MVA-B against HIV gets a 90% immune response in its first test with humans. In addition, after a year, the vaccine proves to still be effective in 85% of the individuals. The vaccine is still a prototype but it shows a promising perspective. Soon it will be tested as well as a therapeutic vaccine, for people already infected with HIV-AIDS. The vaccine has been developed by the Spanish High Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), in collaboration with Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic and by Madrid’s Hospital Gregorio Marañón.

The study by the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute has managed to demonstrate that a molecule similar to glucose can cause the death of cancerous cells. The research would enable to shortly develop treatments for the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

"This could mean a breakthrough in the fight against cancer," said the head of the study Juan Angel Recio from Barcelona-based Vall d’Hebron Research Institute.