Astonishing Medical News – Mushrooms, HIV, Depression

Prostate Saving Ingredient – White Capped Mushrooms

Recently found that prostate cancer cells mixed with white button mushroom extract suppressed androgen receptor activity

The chemicals present in white button mushrooms may slow the progression of prostate cancer, Androgens, a type of male sex hormone, promote the growth of prostate cancer cells by binding to and activating the androgen receptor, a protein that is expressed in prostate cells,” the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer center in Duarte, Calif

The original investigational study was done in mice.

Now a phase one clinical trial of white button mushroom powder for patients with recurrent prostate cancer is finding that the mushrooms reduced levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood, with minimal side effects.

HIV Vaccine -First Human Trials

HIV affects more than 38 million people globally, and other than a multidrug regimen, no vaccine has been in the cards till now. The clinical trial, IAVI G001, took place at two sites: George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, enrolling 48 healthy adult volunteers. Participants received either a placebo or two doses of the vaccine compound, eOD-GT8 60mer, along with an adjuvant developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK. Funded by Bill Gates foundation and grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The idea behind this novel approach is to aim to trigger the right ‘B’ cells—cells that have special properties giving them the potential to develop into broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAb-secreting cells).

The vaccine showed success in stimulating the production of the rare immune cells needed to generate antibodies against the fast-mutating virus—and the targeted response was detected in 97 percent of participants who received the vaccine. Yes a small study group, and yes phase 1 but this might be just what it will take to protect from this devasting virus.

Depression In Your Blood

Worldwide, 1 in 4 people will suffer from a depressive episode in their lifetime. At present, the diagnosis of depression and its treatment are hit or miss. A ‘breakthrough’ study opens new light on many mood disorders by offering a promising blood test aimed at a precision approach to medical care.*

Young people — specifically those ages 18 to 24 — were mentally hit the hardest during the pandemic. Hard to study the brain of this population for mood disorders you can cut into it. So this blood identification of a biomarker is very helpful. The study of over four years of 300 participants used a four-step approach of discovery, prioritization, validation, and testing. each point when mood disorder was noted blood was drawn and studied for RNA biomarkers. The team also found that mood disorders are underlined by circadian clock genes — that is we have genes that regulate seasonal, day-night, and sleep-wake cycles.

This is the work of Alexander B. Niculescu, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at IU School of Medicine, who worked on finding blood biomarkers that track suicidality as well as pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease.