Archive for category: News

Cervical cancer screening is a vital public health intervention, yet women with physical disabilities (WWPD) face disparities in accessing this screening. Existing research indicates that WWPD are 48% less likely to receive cervical cancer screening compared to women without physical disabilities. Various factors contribute to this disparity, including lack of accessibility, cultural incompetency among healthcare professionals, and assumptions that WWPD are not sexually active and therefore do not require screening. The prevalence of physical disabilities among women is steadily increasing, with 51% of the disabled population having physical disabilities. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancers transmitted sexually through skin-to-skin contact.

Alternative Screening Methods for Women with Physical Disabilities

Self-screening for primary HPV using self-sampling kits has been implemented in European countries as an alternative screening method. This method has shown increased participation among those least likely to undergo conventional screening methods. In the US, WWPD have not been sufficiently engaged in public health efforts to improve access to cervical screening services tailored to their needs. Current surveys do not adequately capture the screening prevalence among WWPD due to limitations in survey formats, hindering their voices from informing public health interventions effectively.

Experiences with Novel Self-Sampling Devices for HPV Screening

Recent qualitative interview study was conducted with WWPD using interpretivist and phenomenological approaches to explore their experiences with novel self-sampling devices for primary HPV screening and traditional speculum-based cervical cancer screening. Participants included key informants and community members who tested different self-sampling kits. Findings revealed that WWPD often had negative experiences with in-office speculum examinations, citing disability-specific factors that impacted their experiences, such as clinic environment, lack of accommodations, and perceived differential treatment by healthcare staff.

Preference for At-Home Self-Sampling among Women with Physical Disabilities

On the other hand, participants found at-home self-sampling to be comfortable, convenient, and empowering. Self-sampling eliminated barriers associated with in-office screening, such as transportation challenges and the need for specific accommodations. Most WWPD expressed a preference for self-sampling over traditional screening methods and believed it would increase their likelihood of getting screened regularly.

Advantages of Self-Sampling in Addressing Barriers to Screening

The study highlighted the potential of self-sampling to address disability-specific barriers to cervical cancer screening and emphasized the need for clinician training in disability health to ensure equitable screening practices. By providing options for self-sampling kits, individuals with disabilities can have greater control over their health and screening experiences. Educating patients on the accuracy and procedure of self-sampling is crucial to ensure confidence and adherence to screening recommendations. The study acknowledges limitations in recruitment pathways and participant demographics, emphasizing the intersectionality of gender, disability, race, and ethnicity in shaping screening experiences. Overall, the findings suggest that self-sampling could be a promising strategy to increase cervical cancer screening participation among WWPD and other underscreened populations. This research contributes to ongoing efforts to promote equitable and inclusive health practices for all individuals, regardless of ability status.

Key Points

– Women with physical disabilities (WWPD) face significant disparities in accessing cervical cancer screening, being 48% less likely to receive screening compared to women without physical disabilities.

– Factors contributing to these disparities include lack of accessibility, cultural incompetency among healthcare professionals, and misconceptions about the sexual activity and screening needs of WWPD.

– Self-screening for primary HPV using self-sampling kits has shown increased participation among groups least likely to undergo traditional screening methods, but WWPD in the US have not been sufficiently engaged in tailored screening services.

– A qualitative study on WWPD’s experiences with self-sampling devices revealed negative experiences with speculum examinations due to disability-specific factors, highlighting the need for more accommodating screening methods.

– WWPD expressed a preference for at-home self-sampling over traditional methods, citing comfort, convenience, and empowerment, and believed it would increase their likelihood of regular screening.

– Self-sampling was found to address disability-specific barriers to screening and emphasized the importance of clinician training in disability health to ensure equitable screening practices, indicating it could be a promising strategy to increase screening participation among underscreened populations.

Reference –

A. Vinson et al. (2025). Cervical Cancer Screening In Women With Physical Disabilities. *JAMA Network Open*, 8. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.57290.

A new study published in the journal of BMC Nephrology showed that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been linked to a reduction in nephrotoxicity brought on by antibiotics.

In clinical practice, antimicrobials are frequently used to treat a variety of infectious disorders. According to the recommendations, patient survival can be increased by 7.6% with timely diagnosis (within an hour) and timely administration of effective antimicrobials. However, there is a chance that using antimicrobials might have negative side effects, such as nephrotoxicity. And, nephrotoxicity brought on by antibiotics may cause acute kidney damage (AKI), extended hospital stays, and increased medical expenses.

Numerous antibiotic classes have been shown to have the capacity to cause nephrotoxicity. These consist of beta-lactams, vancomycin, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides. A commonly recommended antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has shown positive renoprotective effects in a number of studies.

In both clinical and experimental animal models, NAC has been shown to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, enhance kidney function, and guard against nephrotoxic damage. The lack of randomized clinical studies makes it difficult to assess NAC’s effectiveness in patients receiving antibiotics, even if it may lower the frequency of AKI in patients undergoing heart surgery and contrast delivery. This study evaluated effectiveness of NAC in avoiding nephrotoxicity caused by antibiotics.

Up to June 1, 2024, a thorough search of Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was conducted to find pertinent research assessing the effects of NAC on antibiotic-induced nephrotoxicity. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to filter eligible records. To assess how NAC affected nephrotoxicity, the odds ratio (OR) was chosen. This study used a random effects model to pool the retrieved data.

This analysis comprised 3 randomized controlled trials. The combined findings demonstrated that NAC might lower the frequency of nephrotoxicity brought on by antibiotics. On Day 2, the NAC group’s serum creatine (Scr) was much lower than that of the placebo group. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine clearance (CrCl) did not differ.

Overall, the outcomes of this study found NAC to reduce nephrotoxicity associated with antibiotics. Large-scale RCTs are imperative for more study in order to validate these encouraging results.

Source:

Qiu, X., Yang, S., Zhang, Y., Wang, Q., Kong, L., & Zhou, L. (2025). Effect of N-acetylcysteine on antimicrobials induced nephrotoxicity: a meta-analysis. BMC Nephrology, 26(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-025-04037-y

Research published in the Journal of Neurochemistry has detailed the role of a protein, hnRNP A1, in the formation and stability of myelin, suggesting an important impact on neurodegenerative diseases and mental disorders such as multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. The findings pave the way for new research and potential treatments.

Myelin is a fatty substance produced by oligodendrocytes (cells of the central nervous system) that forms a sheath, like a kind of “insulator.” It “protects” the extensions of neurons (axons) and increases the conduction speed of nerve impulses that carry information between neural cells. Scientific literature has shown that patients with multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia lose myelin (called demyelination), leaving part of the axons “unplugged” and causing damage to brain function.

This rodent study examined changes in proteins essential for myelin production (myelination). The results highlight the involvement of hnRNP A1 in maintaining the integrity of this protective sheath.

hnRNP A1 regulates the processing of messenger RNA, i.e., it controls how the molecule is cut and assembled (splicing), thereby determining which proteins are produced and in what amounts. Studied for years by this group of scientists at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, hnRNP A1 had already figured prominently in previous research carried out on brain tissue from people with schizophrenia and on cells grown in the laboratory.

“When I was a master’s student, I worked with oligodendrocyte predecessor cell lines and their responses to antipsychotics. This protein, hnRNP A1, always appeared. We decided to try to understand its role in oligodendrocytes. But to do this, we had to use an animal model to induce myelination and understand the process,” explains Caroline Brandão Teles, first author of the article and FAPESP doctoral fellow at the Institute of Biology (IB-UNICAMP).

For researcher Fernanda Crunfli, also from IB-UNICAMP and corresponding author of the paper, myelin has been an important target of study for neuropsychiatric diseases.

“We were able to analyze the demyelination process in the animals and then restore the myelin sheath. This allowed for an interesting study window. We did behavioral tests to assess locomotion, short- and long-term memory, and social interaction. When the myelin is restored, all these functions return to the brain,” says Crunfli, who was a FAPESP postdoctoral fellow.

Teles points out that this was one of the results that caught the group’s attention – the fact that the changes were detected at the molecular level, without affecting the animals’ behavior.

“With this molecular and non-behavioral alteration, the work has the interesting potential to pinpoint an important protein in the establishment of schizophrenia. This same animal model is analyzed in research on multiple sclerosis, for example, and when there’s a behavioral study, changes are noted. In the case of schizophrenia, the fact that the behavior isn’t altered indicates, in my opinion, that this protein is essential in the development of the disease and may have an influence on its genesis,” Professor Daniel Martins-de-Souza, from IB-UNICAMP, Teles’ supervisor and head of the Neuroproteomics Laboratory, told Agência FAPESP.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality (psychosis), hallucinations, delusions, and impaired cognition, among other symptoms. The exact cause is still unknown, but recent research suggests a combination of hereditary factors and molecular and functional alterations in the brain. Treatment includes antipsychotic medications and psychotherapy.

It is estimated that approximately 1.6 million people in Brazil have schizophrenia. Worldwide, the prevalence is about 1% of the world’s population.

For years, Martins-de-Souza’s research group has been working to understand the role of oligodendrocytes in schizophrenia and has managed to map a series of brain proteins that help to unravel the molecular basis of the disorder.

To understand the research

The group used a rodent (murine) model that has also been studied in cases of multiple sclerosis, a disease characterized by severe demyelination.

From the eighth week of the experiment, demyelination was induced and continued for another five weeks. The process was then interrupted and the myelin sheath was restored. During this time, the researchers analyzed the activity of hnRNP A1. “We saw that the proteins linked to myelin in these animals were all reduced. By disrupting the activity of this protein [hnRNP A1], we ended up disrupting myelination,” says Teles.

The scientists believe that studying the impact of the protein’s alterations on synaptic transmission and cognitive processes could reveal new therapeutic targets.

Reference:

Caroline Brandão-Teles, Victor Corasolla Carregari, Guilherme Reis-de-Oliveira, Bradley J. Smith, Yane Chaves, Aline Valéria Sousa Santos, Erick Martins de Carvalho Pinheiro, Caio C. Oliveira, Impacts of hnRNP A1 Splicing Inhibition on the Brain Remyelination Proteome, Journal of Neurochemistry, https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.16304.