Both preclinical and clinical studies implicate functional impairments of several neuroactive metabolites of the kynurenine pathway (KP), the major degradative cascade of the essential amino acid tryptophan in mammals, in the pathophysiology of neurologic and psychiatric diseases. A number of KP enzymes, such as tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO2), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenases (IDO1 and IDO2), kynurenine aminotransferases (KATs), kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid oxygenase (3-HAO), and quinolinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase (QPRT), control brain KP metabolism in health and disease and are therefore increasingly considered to be promising targets for the treatment of disorders of the nervous system. Understanding the distribution, cellular expression, and regulation of KP enzymes and KP metabolites in the brain is therefore critical for the conceptualization and implementation of successful therapeutic strategies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses are a group of neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) was approved for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), a subtype of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses. The aim of this study was to quantify brain volume loss in CLN2 disease in patients on ERT in comparison with a natural history cohort using MRI.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Reocclusion after treatment is a concern in endovascular therapy for isolated intracranial atherothrombotic stroke-related large-vessel occlusion (AT-LVO). However, the optimal endovascular therapy technique for AT-LVO has not yet been investigated. This study evaluated the optimal endovascular therapy technique for AT-LVO in a real-world setting.

Advancements in immunotherapy in the perioperative setting have revolutionised the treatment of resectable nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we present the methodology and results of the clinical trial CheckMate 816 demonstrating the benefit of neoadjuvant therapy with nivolumab plus chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone. Furthermore, this article discusses the implications for future practice in resectable NSCLC and the need for future research.

WASHINGTON — When Karen Pence found out that an art therapist in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico couldn’t afford the clay her clients needed, she sprang into action.

A trained watercolor artist and advocate of the little-known mental health profession, Vice President Mike Pence’s wife went to the Virginia art supply store she frequented when they lived in the state during his tenure in Congress, bought 120 pounds of self-drying clay and packed it aboard Air Force Two for their flight down to survey the damage.

“She cleaned him out,” the vice president said of the store’s owner.

Mrs. Pence made art therapy her cause ever since she first learned about it more than a decade ago. She has visited numerous art therapy programs, both in the U.S. and abroad, and on Wednesday in Florida, nine months into the administration, she planned to formally announce the goals for her art therapy initiative.

She wants to help people understand the difference between art therapy and arts and crafts, and to grasp that art therapy is a viable option for treating trauma, injury and other life experiences. She also wants to encourage young people to choose art therapy as a career.

“I don’t think that a lot of people understand the difference between therapeutic art and art therapy,” Mrs. Pence, a trained watercolor artist, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the announcement at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The school has an art therapy program she described as “tremendous.”

Blabbing to a girlfriend can be therapeutic, she explained, but it is not the same as art therapy, which has three elements: a client, a trained therapist and art.

READ MORE: VP Pence’s wife aims to raise awareness about art therapy

As passionate as she is about raising art therapy’s profile, other issues help make Karen Pence tick, too.

One of them is helping military families, especially spouses. Her only son, Michael, is in the Marines.

There’s also her interest in honeybees. Mrs. Pence installed a beehive on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory, where the vice president’s official residence is located, to help call attention to a decline in managed bee colonies that officials say could negatively affect U.S. agricultural production. She had a beehive at the Indiana governor’s residence for the same reason.

Now 60 and married to the vice president since 1985, Mrs. Pence has long been viewed as one of her husband’s most trusted political advisers. They are often together on trips, at the White House, or at the observatory, almost always holding hands.

Since returning to Washington in January (the family lived in the area when her husband served in Congress), she has accompanied the vice president on goodwill tours of Europe, Asia and Latin America, as well as trips to survey recent hurricane damage in Texas, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She tries to visit art therapy programs wherever she goes. Journalists who travel with Pence often keep an eye out for his wife; she often brings them cookies when he ventures back to the press cabin for small talk.

READ MORE: Devastated Puerto Rico needs unprecedented aid, says governor

She’s even done a little campaigning, urging Virginians to vote next month for Ed Gillespie in what’s viewed as a tight gubernatorial race.

“It really makes a difference, I can tell you. Nobody thought that we were going to win,” she said, an apparent reference to the Trump-Pence ticket.

The vice president often refers to his wife as the family’s “prayer captain.” She has led congregations in prayer during their hurricane-damage trips.

“We’re people of faith so we just try and approach everything with prayer,” Mrs. Pence said from her sunny, second-floor office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex, where she and her staff enjoy coveted views of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial. Art therapy drawings given as gifts adorn the outer office.

She proudly displayed several of her paintings, including of the Capitol dome, the vice president’s residence, a Ball canning jar-turned-flower vase, a cardinal bird and a pink peony. She turns many of her watercolors into prints and boxed notecards that she gifts to art therapists she meets.

Except for myriad pets, including two cats, a dog and a rabbit named Marlon Bundo, the Pences are empty nesters. Their son and two adult daughters are off on their own.

“I think for us this is a good time in our life for this role because our kids are out of college. They’re living their own lives,” Mrs. Pence said.

She’s also launching a blog in conjunction with Wednesday’s announcement to chronicle her visits to art therapy programs.

The post Karen Pence to outline goals for art therapy initiative appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

The European Space Agency is sending a probe to get a closer look at the asteroid Dimorphos, which had its orbit altered by NASA’s DART mission in 2022

The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft must be thoroughly tested before being sent to investigate the aftermath of the collision of NASA's DART probe with Dimorphos

I’ve been with my partner for three years and our sex life has suddenly died. Is it normal and how long should I go before I start questioning it? If sex ...

The post Ask Ash: Sex therapist answers tough reader questions appeared first on Star Observer.

<p>In October 2024, China based Bio-Thera Solutions&nbsp;(Bio-Thera)&nbsp;and Hungary’s Gedeon Richter announced they have reached an exclusive commercialization and license agreement for BAT2206, a biosimilar candidate to&nbsp;Johnson &amp; Johnson’s Stelara (ustekinumab).</p>

Researchers around the world are working at record speed to find the best ways to treat and prevent COVID-19, from investigating the possibility of repurposing existing drugs to searching for novel therapies against the virus.

A new type of drug that targets chemotherapy directly to cancer cells reduces the risk of death from the most common type of bladder cancer by 30%, a phase III trial in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested.

By Jonathan Montagu, CEO of HotSpot Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC HotSpot’s trip to Barcelona for the recent European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting was no ‘European Vacation,’ but it was certainly

The post ESMO Reflections: Glimmers of Hope with the Next Wave of I-O Therapies? appeared first on LifeSciVC.

Autolus Therapeutics’ Aucatzyl is now FDA approved for treating advanced cases of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. While it goes after the same target as Gilead Sciences’ Tecartus, Autolus engineered its CAR T-therapy with properties that could improve safety, efficacy, and durability.

The post ‘Serial Killing’ Cell Therapy From Autolus Lands FDA Approval in Blood Cancer appeared first on MedCity News.

As radiopharmaceuticals enter a new phase, industry leaders must rethink external services and internal capabilities to master the complexities of delivering advanced therapies.

The post Unlocking the Future of Radioligand Therapy: From Discovery to Delivering at Scale appeared first on MedCity News.

Neurogene’s Rett syndrome gene therapy has preliminary data supporting safety and efficacy of the one-time treatment. But a late-breaking report of a serious complication in a patient who received the high dose sent shares of the biotech downward.

The post Neurogene Gene Therapy Shows Signs of Efficacy in Small Study, But an Adverse Event Spooks Investors appeared first on MedCity News.

2020 was a difficult year for dental providers as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country. When stay-at-home orders went into effect in the spring, dental offices closed their doors to all but emergency patients.

In response to President Obama’s National Cancer Moonshot initiative to eliminate cancer, the USPTO has launched the “Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program.” The Pilot Program provides an accelerated review for applications related to cancer immunotherapy and is set to launch in July 2016. According to the USPTO, this initiative: aims to cut the time it takes to...… Continue Reading

Life can sometimes feel like a never-ending cycle of stress and decisions. That's usually my weekdays in a nutshell: chasing deadlines, making tough calls, and hopping between meetings. When your brain feels like it's on overdrive, it's time to hit pause. Engaging in some therapeutic activities can give your mind the breather it desperately needs. The good news? They don't have to be complicated or time-consuming. Here are some that can work wonders for your mental clarity and overall well-being. Step outside for a walk Walking is one of the simplest ways to clear your mind. It's amazing what a little fresh air at your nearby PCN can do. Just stepping outside and getting those legs moving can shift your perspective in a matter of minutes — and burn a few calories too! Disconnect from your phone and enjoy the sights and sounds of the great outdoors. I find that a 30-min walk and a change of environment works wonders for me, helping me rationally dissect my worries, such as my crushing feelings of inadequacy at work.

Time to Talk CINV� Video

Robert Kuske, MD

Proton therapy will be used to treat brain tumors, Hodgkin lymphoma and other solid tumors and is the most advanced form of radiation technology available to patients.

The Paralympic torch design has a mirrored finish so its colour adapts to its surroundings and also shines.

medlinkPsychedelics/medlink, previously known as dangerous party drugs, are now being explored as addiction treatments, but extensive research is

According to the July issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), helmet therapy is a highly

medlinkHormone therapy/medlink (HT) may slow medlinkbiological aging/medlink in postmenopausal women, particularly those with lower socioeconomic

medlinkHormone therapy/medlink was found to be beneficial in reducing insulin resistance in postmenopausal women, revealed study (!--ref1--). h2What

While poor sleep is common during and after pregnancy, Canadian researchers suggest cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) as an effective solution.

Black patients with bmedlinktriple-negative breast cancer/medlink (TNBC)/b received immunotherapy at significantly lower rates than white patients.

A newly developed platform mimics nature to enhance immune-based treatments in the fight against medlinkcancer/medlink. h2Fighting Cancer from

A new treatment that activates the immune system to fight cancer has boosted the survival rate for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma to an impressive

A preclinical study suggests it may soon be possible to determine which patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer, could benefit from immunotherapy.

Tissue stiffness in HER2-negative breast cancer, the most common type, can directly contribute to disease progression and metastasis, which can have serious consequences on patients.

Mini-proteins are engineered protein capsule, bcapable of delivering targeted radiation dose directly to tumor cells expressing Nectin-4/b. Nectin-4

Drugs aimed at HER2-positive breast cancer may also help certain patients with bile duct cancer, as indicated by findings from a patient trial that will

Light therapy administered through the skull was found to accelerate tissue recovery following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) (!--ref1--). Their

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and it is the second leading cause of death in women. It mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women.

As mounting evidence supports the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies, the FDA nears a groundbreaking decision: the approval of psilocybin, the

Remote video consultations with medlinkmental health/medlink specialists lead to a small yet meaningful improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety (!--ref1--).

With FDA approval, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland pioneers gene therapy for beta thalassemia, a rare genetic blood disorder, potentially alleviating

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or aHSCT, often used to treat medlinkblood cancers/medlink, was also demonstrated to be safe and

Researchers in Australia have identified a previously unknown population of stem cells fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18) stimulated Gremlin 1 cells,

Nobel Prize-winning inventors of CRISPR, awarded in 2020, have seen their gene-editing tool gain approval in the UK for the first-ever therapy targeting

Two girls with a rare genetic brain disorder called Rett Syndrome was successfully treated by a first-ever novel gene therapy- NGN-401, developed by US-based Neurogene.

medlinkPregnant women/medlink with high levels of certain genetic mutations- especially those associated with involuntary muscle contraction - were less likely to respond to preterm treatment.

CDD - CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a most common type of medlinkgenetic epilepsy/medlink in children, occurs due to the loss of genes producing the CDKL5 enzyme.

Stem cell therapy emerges as a viable and safe choice for individuals grappling with challenging traumatic medlinkspinal cord injuries/medlink, said experts (!--ref1--).