06/11/2019 - Press release
Over the past few decades, various studies have investigated the impact of air pollution on cognitive capacities in children. However, very little research has been done on the changes that air pollution could induce in children's growing brains . A new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by "la Caixa", with the participation of Dr. Jesús Pujol, the research director of the Hospital del Mar Magnetic Resonance Unit and researcher at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) who carried out the magnetic resonance imaging studies, with the participation of Dr. Jesús Pujol, has found a link between air pollution and changes in the corpus callosum, a region of the brain associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study was carried out as a part of BREATHE, a project whose earlier findings suggest that air pollution has harmful effects on cognitive functions in schoolchildren and is also associated with functional changes in the brain.
02/10/2019 - Press release
It is an initiative with no precedents, 20 relevant people of Catalonia and Balearic Island ask for tackling with urgency the crisis of plastic waste after checking the presence of plastic in its body derived from plasticized food in the entire distribution chain and consumption. Rezero collected 20 urine samples from 20 participants.Once samples were collected, samples were analyzed from Norwegian Institute of Public Health (www.fhi.no/en), referencelaboratory at international level on the detection of metabolic plastic in human samples. Specifically, it have been analyzed the presence of 27 components related to plastic exposition: 15 phthalates and 12 phenols. Results have been supervised by Doctor Miquel Porta, professor of Preventive Medicine and health and researcher at IMIM. He informed to all participants the results face to face and corroborated the faces of surprise and the impact of theparticipants.
08/10/2019 - Press release
Based on a study of 566 drugs that interact with 129 different proteins, researchers from the Systems Pharmacology research group, part of the GRIB Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics, a joint programme between the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), in collaboration with researchers from the University of New Mexico, in the United States, realised that 71% of drugs have stronger affinities for their target proteins than those of the small internal molecules responsible for regulating their functions. Surprisingly, this is the first time that the affinities of endogenous ligands and drugs for the same proteins have been quantified. Humans have thousands of proteins, each with a specific function that is often regulated by thousands of small molecules synthesised by our bodies. This set of small molecules, also known as "endogenous metabolites", is known as the "human metabolome". Each one interacts with its native protein with a certain affinity that has been carefully optimised, in a natural way, throughout the long process of evolution, and this can vary between species and even in some instances, more subtly, between individuals.
Més informació "Our own bodies hold the key to designing safer drugs"
23/08/2019 - Press release
Researchers from the Molecular Cancer group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and doctors from Hospital del Mar, have demonstrated the effectiveness of a drug for treating metastatic bladder cancer in patients who did not respond to the usual treatment. The preliminary results of an ongoing clinical trial show that TAK-228, a mTORC1/2 protein inhibitor, can stop the progression of the disease. Four of the seven patients in the trial showed positive results. The trial also involved Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, Hospital Universitari Parc Taulí in Sabadell, Clínica Universitaria in Navarre, and Hospital General Universitario in Elche.
Més informació "Effectiveness of a new bladder cancer treatment demonstrated"
10/07/2019 - Press release
A study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), has determined, for the first time, the importance of a cell mechanism that may be key to treating metastatic tumours. The work has demonstrated the role a protein, kinase IKKα, plays in the ability of tumour cells to repair themselves. This is a key factor in treatment resistance and tumour spread. The research has been published in the journal Molecular Cell. The researchers analysed the role of this protein, activated by mutations of the BRAF and KRAS oncogenes, present in the majority of the most aggressive tumours. The function of this protein is to facilitate DNA-repair in tumour cells after they have been damaged by chemotherapy, making them more resistant to the action of these drugs. This is key for the treatment approach, since this new study demonstrates, conclusively, that combining a BRAF oncogene inhibitor with chemotherapy deactivates and kills the tumour.
Més informació "Mechanism determined for treating the most aggressive tumours"
28/06/2019 - Press release
The ageing of NK lymphocytes circulating in the blood of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer is a marker that can predict the success or failure of monoclonal antibody therapies, which act on a specific factor in tumour cells. This is the conclusion of a study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the Pompeu Fabra University, and doctors from the Hospital del Mar, published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research. The study also involved staff from the Medical Oncology Service at Hospital Clínic in Valencia, the Pathological Anatomy Services at Hospital del Mar, Fundación Jiménez Díaz in Madrid, and the Immunogenetics Service at Puerta de Hierro University Institute, also in Madrid. It involved analysing blood samples from 66 patients, immunogenetic and functional studies of the NK lymphocytes of these patients, as well as analysing tumour biopsies. The ageing of these cells was measured by quantifying the NK lymphocytes in the blood that express the CD57 molecule. The results show that patients with high blood counts at the time of diagnosis are more likely to be resistant to chemotherapy and anti-HER2 antibody treatment.
Més informació "Possible marker of treatment resistance in HER2 breast cancer identified"
19/06/2019 - Press release
Researchers from the UAB and the IMIM published in Scientific Reports the first evidence in a non-human species, the domestic dog, of a relation between joint hypermobility and excitability: dogs with more joint mobility and flexibility tend to have more anxiety problems. The relation between collagen laxity and anxiety in humans is widely known, but this relation has never been observed before in other species. A team of researchers led by professors Jaume Fatjó and Antoni Bulbena from the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the UAB, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the UAB Affinity Foundation Chair in Animals and Health, analysed a set of 13 animal behaviour characteristics and hip joint mobility in a total of 5575 domestic dogs. The results point to an association between hip joint hypermobility and a brain activation linked to emotions in dogs, with similar results as to those observed in people.
Més informació "Joint Hypermobility Related to Anxiety, Also in Animals"
04/04/2019 - Press release
Doctors and researchers at Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have shown, for the first time, that osteoporosis and bone fractures in HIV sufferers is caused by the body's response to the presence of the virus, in the form of inflammatory processes, and not only the antiretroviral treatment, as was previously believed. The study, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, used a bone-quality measuring technique designed in the United States in collaboration with staff from Hospital del Mar, together with a protocol developed by the same people, which shows that the risk of fractures is related to the inflammation caused by the chronic infection. This represents a change in how this problem is conceived, as well as how it is approached. The study involved staff from the Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine services at Hospital del Mar, as well as members of the IMIM's Musculoskeletal Research Group. Dr. Todd T. Brown, from Johns Hopkins University, in the United States, also participated.
Més informació "Paradigm shift in how bone fractures are avoided in HIV patients"
03/04/2019 - Press release
In general, the creation of parks and green spaces in urban centers has positive effects on the health of city residents. However, looking in more detail, only those who belong to the most favored social classes may be benefitting from these spaces. A new article published by a group of researchers from the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and the Medical Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar (IMIM) shows that, although living in areas with green spaces are associated with better self-perceived health on the part of residents at large, such benefits exclude those with a lower educational level and lower incomes. The progressive "greening" of cities through the creation of green spaces, parks and ecological corridors can have positive effects on the physical and psychological health of people.
Més informació "Urban green spaces do not benefit the health of all"
29/10/2018 - Press release
The study, published in the journal Cancer Research, shows the pivotal role of the enzyme USP27X in the control of the proliferation, invasion and formation of breast cancer metastasis and opens new pathways to the development of anti-tumour drugs. A team of researchers from the Cancer programme of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), led by Drs Victor M. Diaz, of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and Antonio García de Herreros, of the IMIM, has identified a key enzyme in cancer development called USP27X.
Més informació "Discovery of a key protein in tumour metastasis"
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