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Simplified diagnosis of endometriosis possible with stool test

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Endometriosis tissue seen under a microscope

Bio Photo Associates/Science Photo Library

Low levels of certain compounds in your feces may be a sign of endometriosis, and supplementing with those compounds may also help control your symptoms.

Endometriosis, which affects about 200 million people worldwide, occurs when the tissue lining the uterus grows in other parts of the reproductive tract. There is no known cure, but once the condition is diagnosed, lesions can be removed periodically through surgery. However, it currently takes more than six years on average for endometriosis to be diagnosed, largely due to a lack of awareness and understanding.

Previous research suggests that the gut microbiome may play a role in this condition. To investigate further, ramakrishna konmagani and colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, collected stool samples from 18 women with endometriosis and 31 women without endometriosis. They investigated the bacteria in feces and the metabolome, the set of chemicals produced by gut bacteria.

They found that women with endometriosis had lower levels of the metabolite 4-hydroxyindole in their feces. This is likely due to changes in the gut microbiome.

Based on this finding, commercially available stool analysis could enable rapid screening of this widely “underdiagnosed, understudied, and underdiagnosed” condition, potentially leading to early and effective management. Konmagani said.

“Stool sampling is very easy and not as invasive as current diagnostic techniques such as laparoscopy.” [a kind of keyhole surgery]” he says.

To test whether 4-hydroxyindole had a protective effect, the research team gave additional 4-hydroxyindole to a group of mice that had tissue implanted in their abdomens to induce endometriosis. After 14 days of treatment, these mice did not have fewer lesions compared to control animals, but the lesions were significantly less severe and showed signs of significantly reduced pain.

Further experiments showed that administering 4-hydroxyindole to mice with established endometriosis significantly improved the lesions. The results were similar in mice transplanted with human endometriosis lesions, suggesting that the treatment may be equally effective in humans.

“We believe this is a very good treatment option because it is something that occurs naturally in the body and is not drugged or synthetic,” Konmaghani said. I say.

However, large-scale human studies will be needed to confirm whether 4-hydroxyindole can be used to diagnose endometriosis and whether the compound is effective as a treatment.

topic:

  • women's health/
  • microbiome

Source: www.newscientist.com

Decoding Earth’s magnetosphere: A simplified understanding

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Earth’s magnetosphere, essential for protecting us from solar radiation, is in sharp contrast to Mars, which has lost its protective field. Studying this shield, especially through NASA missions such as the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, is important for understanding space weather and its effects on Earth.

What is Earth’s magnetosphere?

Enveloping our planet and protecting us from the wrath of the sun is a giant magnetic bubble called the magnetosphere. It deflects most of the solar material that rushes toward us from our star at more than 1 million miles per hour. Without the magnetosphere, the relentless activity of these solar particles could strip Earth of the protective layer that protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. It is clear that this magnetic bubble was the key to the development of Earth into a habitable planet.

The magnetosphere envelops our planet and protects us from the brunt of the sun, and is key to Earth’s development into a habitable planet. credit: NASA

Earth vs. Mars: The role of the magnetosphere

compare with earth Mars – A planet that lost its magnetosphere about 4.2 billion years ago. It is thought that solar winds stripped away most of Mars’ atmosphere, probably after the Red Planet’s magnetic field disappeared. As a result, Mars is the desolate, barren world we see today through the “eyes” of NASA’s orbiters and probes. In contrast, Earth’s magnetosphere appears to continue to protect the atmosphere.

“If we didn’t have the magnetic field, we might be left with a completely different atmosphere, devoid of life as we know it,” said Eftihir Zesta of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Geospace Physics Laboratory. states.

The magnetosphere is the result of the Earth’s internal magnetic field, generated by the rotation and convection of electrically conductive material within its central core. This magnetic field spreads out into space and acts as a shield against the solar wind, forming the magnetosphere.

Understanding and researching the magnetosphere

Understanding the magnetosphere is a key element in helping scientists predict space weather that could one day impact technology on Earth. Extreme space weather events can disrupt communication networks. GPS Navigation and power grids.

The magnetosphere is a permeable shield. The solar wind periodically connects to the magnetosphere and forces its reconfiguration. This can cause cracks and allow energy to flow into our safe haven. These cracks open and close many times a day, sometimes even an hour. Most of them are small and short-lived. Others are vast and persistent. When the sun’s magnetic field connects with the Earth’s magnetic field, fireworks begin.

“Earth’s magnetosphere absorbs incoming energy from the solar wind and releases it in bursts in the form of magnetic storms and substorms,” ​​Zesta said.

Illustration of four MMS spacecraft in orbit in the Earth’s magnetic field. Credit: NASA

Magnetic Reconnection and MMS Mission

How does this happen? Magnetic field lines converge and rearrange, resulting in magnetic energy and charged particles flying around at breakneck speeds. Scientists have been trying to understand why this crossing of magnetic field lines, called magnetic reconnection, causes such violent explosions and opens cracks in the magnetosphere.

NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) launched in March 2015 to make the first observations of the electronic physics of magnetic reconnection. Four of her MMS spacecraft, packed with high-energy particle detectors and magnetic sensors, flew close to the region on the surface of Earth’s magnetosphere where magnetic reconnection occurs. Since then, MMS has conducted similar searches in the magnetotail.

MMS complements the missions of NASA and partner agencies such as THEMIS, Cluster, and Geotail, and will provide important new details for ongoing studies of Earth’s magnetosphere. The data obtained from these surveys not only helps us understand the fundamental physics of the universe, but also helps improve space weather forecasting.

Source: scitechdaily.com