Dear doctors, it has been for a long time that all of us have been exposed to the news of horrific events linked to the waves of the ongoing pandemic. While you and your peers continue to stay strong like always, we want to play a part in helping you maintain that positive approach. The M3India team introduces a new weekly feature where you will be able to catch up on some positive developments in the world of medicine. We hope this new feature leads to a more positive start to the next week and improves morale which you carry through to your patients.

1. Researchers in the US see the feasibility of heart transplantation with NRP

Imagine heart from Donation after Cardiac Death (DCD) transplanted with Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) and salvaging optimal myocardial functioning in the recipient’s body! Isn’t that great?

A team of surgical researchers in the USA confirmed these positive results with eight heart transplants, where they successfully resuscitated donated hearts and weaned them from Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB) without inotropic support. The organs showed perfect cardiac function following the transplants, involving CPB that allowed immediate regional reperfusion, cardiac unloading, and instant correction of metabolic derangements.

The confirmation of the procedure’s success would mean it can be quickly adapted for surgeries. In fact, during the study, six livers and 14 kidneys could be recovered from the available donors, which means more organ availability for even non-cardiac patients.

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2. Repairing damaged liver tissue may have become easy as per Japanese researchers

A team of researchers from Japan reported that MSCs (AD-MSC-sEVs) and AD-MSC-g-sEVs derived from human adipose tissue can promote macrophage motility and phagocytic activity. Also, AD-MSC-g- sEVs contain macrophage-inducible proteins, which help inflammation and fibrosis in cirrhosis.

They discovered that Interferon-g (IFN-g), pre-conditioned human AD-MSC-derived sEVs (AD-MSC-g-sEVs) are capable of inducing anti-inflammatory macrophage counts, which help promote tissue repair and enable its in-vitro regeneration, including regression of fibrosis.

They applied a single-cell RNA-sequence and confirmed that AD-MSC-g-sEVs therapy can indeed induce multi-dimensional transcriptional changes. The combined results suggest that AD-MSC-derived sEVs can tweak the shape and function of macrophages in a way that they can be applied to damaged areas of the liver for repair. These findings will soon be used on humans in controlled clinical trials.

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3. New evidence shows that targeting hPRLrI could help with a more effective drug for the treatment of breast cancer

Prolactin is a major contributor to breast cancer development because of an altered form of its receptor called the Human Prolactin Receptor Intermediate Isoform (hPRLrI). This has been proven through a study by researcher Charles Clevenger, M.D., PhD, and his team from the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Centre.

The identification of this prolactin receptor holds a lot of value in the treatment of breast cancer and its varied forms. The researchers discovered that hPRLrI is directly responsible for breast cancer as its interaction with other types of receptors causes benign breast cells to turn malignant. In fact, they also observed that the presence of hPRLrI in breast cancer cells was linked to triple-negative breast cancer, fast-paced cell-reproduction and poor outcomes.

The findings give a clear direction for drug formulations, by targeting hPRLrI and perhaps, even enable designing advanced diagnostic applications for breast cancer. In another experiment, Clevenger's lab was successful in preventing tumour growth in pre-clinical models of ER-positive breast cancer by using an HDAC6 inhibitor – a drug known to block a protein linked to the prolactin hormone.

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Details of researches and studies referred in the article can be found in the original articles. We hope you like this section and turn to it for a quick read every week.