In a paper published in Science Bulletin, a Chinese team of scientists revealed the complexities of hepatic SLC7A11 and the essentiality of SLC7A11-mediated nonessential amino acids in MASLD. Slc7a11 deficiency accelerated MASLD progression via classic cystine/cysteine deficiency–induced ferroptosis, while serine deficiency and a resulting impairment in de novo cysteine production were attributed to ferroptosis-induced MASLD progression in mice overexpressing hepatic Slc7a11. Researchers found that both serine supplementation and blocking ferroptosis significantly alleviated MASLD, and the serum serine/glutamate ratio might serve as a prognostic biomarker for MASLD in patients.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created nanostructured alumina surfaces which are strongly antibacterial but can be used to culture cells. They found that anodic porous alumina (APA) surfaces prepared using electrochemistry in concentrated sulfuric acid had unprecedented resistance to bacterial growth, but did not hamper cell cultures. The team’s technology promises to have a big impact on regenerative medicine, where high quality cell cultures without bacterial contamination may be produced without antibiotics.

Researchers from African and European organisations have published the results of a phase II/III clinical trial that demonstrated the safety and superior efficacy of a new treatment against soil-transmitted helminths (STH), a group of intestinal parasites that afflict 1.5 billion people —the most prevalent of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). WHO's 2021-2030 Roadmap for STH has set the goal of its elimination as a public health problem before the end of the decade, and recommends mass drug administration campaigns in high prevalence regions. These usually translate to annual or biannual treatment rounds with a single dose of albendazole, an antiparasitc drug that is highly efficacious against 3 of the 5 species of STH considered by WHO. Complementing with ivermectin can help target the 5 species, but also complicates logistics, as it is dosed individually. The novel drug is a fixed-dose combination of both albendazole and ivermectin in a single tablet, so it can deliver the simpler logistics of the current approach and the superior efficacy of the combination strategy.