Meet Australia's new species of giant stick insect
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CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Sucralose could make cancer treatments less effective, new study says
New research by the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center suggests that sucralose may be detrimental to those undergoing cancer immunotherapy. Recently published in Cancer Discovery, a peer-reviewed medical journal, the study found that patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer who consumed high levels of sucralose had worse response to immunotherapy and poorer survival than those with diets low in the artificial sweetener. However, supplements that increased levels of the amino acid arginine reduced the harmful effects of sucralose on immunotherapy in mice, a strategy that may soon be explored in clinical trials. "It's easy to say, 'Stop drinking diet soda,' but when patients are being treated for cancer, they are already dealing with enough, so asking them to drastically alter their diet may not be realistic," said lead author Abby Overacre, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Immunology at Pitt and UPMC Hillman. "We need to meet patients where they are. That's why it's so exciting that arginine supplementation could be a simple approach to counteract the negative effects of sucralose on immunotherapy." Senior author Diwakar Davar, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Pitt and a medical oncologist and hematologist at UPMC Hillman, collaborating with Overacre and their team, used mice to show that the negative impacts of sucralose are driven by disruption to gut bacteria. Sucralose altered the composition of the gut microbiome in mice, boosting species that break down arginine. As a result, arginine levels dropped in the blood, tumor fluid, and stool. Immune checkpoint inhibitors like anti-PD1 enhance T cell activity to help them better destroy cancer cells. Arginine plays a critical role in supporting T cell function, particularly in the context of cancer. "When arginine levels were depleted due to sucralose-driven shifts in the microbiome, T cells couldn't function properly," said Overacre. "As a result, immunotherapy wasn't as effective in mice that were fed sucralose." In mouse models of lung and skin cancer, adding sucralose to the diet made anti-PD1 immunotherapy less effective, resulting in bigger tumors and shorter survival. However, when the mice were given arginine—or citrulline, which the body turns into arginine—the treatment started working again. To see if this might apply to people, the researchers studied 132 patients with advanced melanoma or lung cancer who were receiving anti-PD1 immunotherapy, either alone or with chemotherapy. These patients completed detailed diet surveys, including questions about how often they used artificial sweeteners in drinks such as coffee, tea, and diet soda. "We found that sucralose impeded the effectiveness of immunotherapies across a range of cancer types, stages and treatment modalities," said Davar. "These observations raise the possibility of designing prebiotics, such as targeted nutrient supplementation for patients who consume high levels of sucralose." With these new findings, researchers aim to launch a clinical trial to see whether citrulline supplements can influence the gut microbiome and improve the immune system's ability to fight tumors in patients. Researchers are also interested in examining how other sugar substitutes, such as aspartame, saccharin, xylitol and stevia, impact the immune system and response to immunotherapy.
CNN
9 hours ago
- CNN
Meet Australia's new species of giant stick insect
A team of Australian scientists has discovered a new species of giant stick insect, Acrophylla alta, in the tropical forests of northeastern Australia. At nearly 40 cm long and weighing 44 grams, it could be the heaviest insect ever recorded in the country.
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Too Many Scientific ‘Discoveries' Get Discredited
It's not a good look for science when the most hyped, heavily marketed, and supposedly transformative discoveries are later discredited. Among the more spectacular cases were claims that a team of scientists had discovered fossilized Martian life in a meteorite, and that spores found in amber and salt crystals had been revived after lying dormant for millions of years. Last week, the research journal Science finally retracted a headline-grabbing study published in 2010, which claimed scientists had found arsenic-based life. NASA had promoted the discovery as bolstering the case for the existence of extraterrestrials and a new tree of earthly life known as the 'shadow biosphere.'
