NEWS
COVID-19 vaccine technique shows promise for heart disease
A method for delivering genetic material to the body is being tested as a way to repair damaged heart muscle after a heart attack. The ground-breaking research is presented at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biomedicine 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
The COVID-19 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines use lipid nanoparticles (tiny fat droplets) to deliver mRNA to the body’s cells. This mRNA instructs the cells to manufacture a dummy spike protein on their surface to mimic the protein on the virus causing COVID-19. The body then mounts an immune response by creating antibodies, which can be used if the individual becomes infected with the virus. A similar method for mRNA delivery was used in the current study. However, instead of aiming for an immune response, the researchers’ ultimate goal is to instruct the heart’s cells to repair themselves after a heart attack.
This preliminary study was conducted to determine whether mRNA could be successfully delivered to the heart muscle in lipid nanoparticles. The researchers injected different formulations into the left ventricular
wall of mouse hearts, during open chest surgery, under general anaesthesia. Twenty- four hours after administration, the mice were sacrificed and the location of mRNA translation was examined.
The researchers found that mRNA successfully reached the heart cells 24 hours after injection. However, despite injection into the heart, the highest levels of mRNA translation were found in cells of the liver and spleen.
Study author, Dr. Clara Labonia, of the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, said: “High expression was expected in the liver, since it metabolises the lipid nanoparticles. Nonetheless, it was encouraging to see that there was mRNA translation in the heart tissue which means that lipid nanoparticles could work as delivery systems for mRNA therapy.” She concluded: “The next step of this research is to test more formulations and choose the one which most efficiently targets the heart tissue. We will then assess whether delivery of mRNA to mice with ischaemic hearts (resembling a heart attack) has any therapeutic effect.”
Nuffield Health opens new hospital at St Barts
Nuffield Health, one of the UK’s largest healthcare charities, has announced the opening of the City of London’s first independent hospital, located within the grounds of Barts Health NHS Trust’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital site, a leading specialist heart and cancer centre in Europe.
Nuffield Health at St Bartholomew’s Hospital is a new 55-bed hospital, split over two buildings, specialising in private cardiac surgery, cardiology, orthopaedics, cancer care and women’s health. It’s supported by seven intensive care beds and by a wide range of diagnostic and physiotherapy services, including 26 consultation rooms. The hospital is part of a new health and wellbeing campus, meaning patients will have access to the recently opened Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centre in the Barbican, providing prehabilitation and rehabilitation support, as well as mental wellbeing services, including CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and counselling. The charity will also run free to access community clinics from the campus, including joint pain and COVID-19 rehabilitation programmes. Patients who have long-term symptoms of COVID will be able to refer themselves directly or through
Monkeypox cases
confirmed in UK The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has detected 11 additional cases of monkeypox. These latest cases mean there are currently 20 confirmed cases in the UK, diagnosed since 6 May. Investigations are underway to establish a link between the cases.
Some appear to have been infected in London and a number of cases self-identify as men who have sex with men (MSM). Monkeypox is usually a mild, self-limiting illness, spread by very close contact with someone who is infected.
Most people recover in a couple of weeks. There are also reports of additional cases being identified in other countries. Further cases are expected and the UKHSA is calling for heightened vigilance among healthcare professionals.
COVID study
Two years after infection with COVID-19, half of patients who were admitted to hospital still have at least one symptom, according to the longest follow-up study to date, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The study followed 1,192 participants in China infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first phase of the pandemic. In general, patients recovered from COVID-19 tended to be in poorer health two years after the initial infection compared to the general population. Around half of study participants had symptoms of long COVID – such as fatigue and sleep difficulties – at two years, and experienced poorer quality of life and ability to exercise, more mental health issues, and increased use of healthcare services.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/ PIIS2213-2600(22)00126-6/fulltext
a GP or NHS referral.
The new hospital’s cardiac care pathway also includes cardiac rehabilitation. Patients will be assigned one physiotherapist and one clinical nurse specialist to support them from diagnosis, through treatment and then onto rehabilitation with specialist fitness and dietary support, with the aim of improving their long-term health and preventing a future return to hospital. Patients at Nuffield Health at St
Bartholomew’s Hospital will have access to over 200 consultants, all of whom have university teaching hospital experience and many also practice at Barts Health NHS Trust.
12 l
WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM Cancer trials
The Early Phase Cancer Trials Programme at UCL and UCLH has launched a new website (https://www.
ucl.ac.uk/early-phase-cancer-trials/) highlighting trials open to recruitment. The website will provide information to patients and the public on what taking part in research involves and how early phase research works. The site will also serve as an information and news hub for clinicians, researchers, research partners, and patients and the public, on all aspects on the work of the programme.
JUNE 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
