Tag: Sleep and arousal regulation

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Abdominal Contractions May Drive Brain Fluid Flow, Aiding in Neural Waste Clearance

Data from a new study in Nature Neuroscience shows that the brain may be more mechanically connected to the body than previously appreciated. Using mice and computational simulations of fluid motion, the team identified a possible biological mechanism that helps explain why exercise benefits brain health. Specifically, they found that abdominal contractions compress blood vessels that are connected to the spinal cord and brain, which helps the organ move gently within the skull. This movement facilitates the flow of cerebrospinal fluid over the brain, potentially washing away neural waste and preventing the development of neurodegenerative disorders. 

The work, which is described in a paper titled “Brain motion is driven by mechanical coupling with the abdomen,” builds on past studies exploring how sleep and neuron loss influence how and when cerebrospinal fluid flushes the brain, according to Patrick Drew, PhD, a professor of engineering science and mechanics, neurosurgery, biology, and biomedical engineering at Penn State University. Drew is the corresponding author on the study. 

“Our research explains how just moving around might serve as an important physiological mechanism promoting brain health,” said Drew. The contraction of abdominal muscles to push blood from the abdomen into the spinal cord acts “just like in a hydraulic system” that puts pressure on the vertebral venous plexus, a network of veins that connect the abdominal cavity to the spinal cavity which causes the brain to move. Computational simulations show “that this gentle brain movement will drive fluid flow in and around the brain” removing harmful waste. 

To view this mechanism in moving mice, the scientists used two-photon microscopy, which allows for high-definition imaging of living tissue, and microcomputed tomography, which supports high-resolution three-dimensional examination of whole organs. They observed the brains shifting in the moments before the mouse moved and right after their abdominal muscles tightened, anticipating further movement. 

To ensure that the abdominal contractions were the reason for the observed shift rather than other movements, the scientists applied gentle and controlled pressure to the abdomens of anesthetized mice. They observed that the mice’s brains moved in response. “Importantly, the brain began moving back to its baseline position immediately upon relief of the abdominal pressure,” Drew said, suggesting “that abdominal pressure can rapidly and significantly alter the position of the brain within the skull.” 

The next step was digging deeper into the fluid’s movement in the brain as well as assessing if the brain’s movement could induce fluid flow. For this task, members of the team developed various techniques to capture this information including conducting imaging experiments of living mice and generating computational simulations of fluid motion. 

“Modeling fluid flow in and around the brain offers unique challenges because there are simultaneous, independent movements, as well as time-dependent, coupled movements,” explained Francesco Costanzo, PhD, a professor of engineering science and mechanics, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and mathematics, who led the computational modeling aspects of the project. “Accounting for all of them requires accounting for the special physics that happens every time a fluid particle crosses one of the many membranes in the brain. So, we simplified it” using the analogy of a sponge for the brain. By simplifying it in this way, Costanzo explained, the team could model how fluid flows through a structure with varied spaces.  

Sticking with the analogy, “we also thought of it as a dirty sponge—how do you clean a dirty sponge?” Costanzo continued. “You run it under a tap and squeeze it out. In our simulations, we were able to get a sense of how the brain moving from an abdominal contraction can help induce fluid flow over the brain to help clear waste products.”  

Further studies are necessary to understand how this mechanism works in human bodies particularly how it cycle cerebrospinal fluid around the brain, and helps to protect against neurodegenerative disease. “This kind of motion is so small. It’s what’s generated when you walk or just contract your abdominal muscles, which you do when you engage in any physical behavior. It could make such a difference for your brain health,” Drew said.  Overall, “our research shows that a little bit of motion is good, and it could be another reason why exercise is good for our brain health.”  

The post Abdominal Contractions May Drive Brain Fluid Flow, Aiding in Neural Waste Clearance appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

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Impact of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields exposure on sleep quality and mental health in a Tunisian power plant: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionExtremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) are ubiquitous in our daily life. They may have an impact not only on physical health but also on mental health.ObjectivesTo assess the impact of occupational exposure to the ELF-EMFs on sleep quality, depression, anxiety and stress among workers at the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (TEGC).MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. The study population included two groups: an exposed group (EG), consisting of power plant employees, and a non-exposed group (NEG), consisting of administrative workers. Exposure to ELF-EMFs was assessed via spot measurements using a magnetometer. Sleep quality, depression, anxiety and stress were assessed by the French versions of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21).ResultsSeventy-seven participants in the EG and 88 participants in the NEG were included in the study. The median value of the ELF-EMFs was 5.86 μT at the power plant [min 0.1, max 40.34 μT]. According to the PSQI global score, 64.9% of the EG had poor sleep quality versus 29.5% of the NEG. Depression was registered in 24.7% of EG and in 3.4% of NEG. Anxiety was noted in 23.4% of the EG and in none of the NEG. Stress was found in 46.8% of the EG and none of the NEG. After multivariate analysis, ELF-EMF exposure was significantly associated with poor sleep quality and depression.ConclusionThe present study revealed that ELF-EMFs can affect sleep and mental health. Further studies are needed to explain the mechanism involved.
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Factors Influencing the Use of Mobile Apps and Wearables: Pre- and Post-Surgery Quality of Life Assessment Study

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is an important surgical outcome, commonly assessed through self-reports, and has the potential to be enhanced by objective information from personal technologies such as smartphone apps and wearables. Understanding patients’ perspectives on this application of personal technologies is scarce. Objective: This study aimed to identify operational aspects of smartphone- and wearable-based assessments, as well as human and operational factors that may influence the acceptability of already owned (mostly smartphone) or new (mostly wearable) technologies by patients for pre- and post-surgery QoL assessments. Methods: Through purposive sampling, 41 patients from 3 health care centers in Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom, who were undergoing or scheduled for surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), liver transplantation, or total hip replacement, were interviewed about their perceptions of QoL, current use of smartphones, health apps, and wearables for self-management and their views on using these technologies to assess QoL before and after surgery. Results: Across the 3 studies (n=41), most (n=36) patients reported improved QoL after surgery, mainly due to reduced pain and fatigue and regained autonomy, while a few patients with DCM reported no change (n=2) or worsening (n=1). Patients were generally comfortable using smartphones and tablets, but few (n=4) used them for health management. Wearables were perceived differently across groups: they were well accepted in transplant@US, moderately in hip@UK, and least in myelopathy@CH. Many patients with DCM found wearables “useless,” believing they added little to their self-awareness or recovery and could not replace human clinical judgment. Others expressed concerns about privacy, complexity, notifications, and battery life, while some acknowledged their motivational value when the data were clearly interpreted. Despite varying acceptance levels, most participants said they would consider using such devices if they contributed to research or improved care. Conclusions: Given a mostly negative attitude of patients toward wearables, we discuss the use of smartphone-based automated logging of physical functioning (sleep and physical activity) instead. Such logging may be less accurate than a dedicated wearable, but it may be accurate enough to measure their pre- and post-surgery physical functioning changes. Additionally, a smartphone has the advantage of being already well integrated into the daily life of patients from the perspective of its functionality and the patients’ routines, contrary to wearable devices, which would have been provided to the patients in the context of pre- and post-surgery clinical care and require additional attention for their continuous wear, charging, and data synchronization, among others.
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A narrative review on oxytocin at the intersection of sleep, stress, and social behavior

Sleep, stress regulation, and circadian rhythms form an interdependent network that shapes cognition, emotion, and social behavior. Disruption of any component can amplify stress sensitivity and impair emotional regulation, leading to neurobehavioral instability. This review discusses evidence from human and animal studies to illustrate how oxytocin (OT) may function at multiple brain regions to modulate sleep regulation, stress physiology, and social interaction. We discuss mechanisms by which sleep deficiency heightens hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity and stress-related behavioral reactivity and impulsivity, and how OT signaling is thought to counteract these effects by reducing HPA output and stress-induced behavioral responses. Furthermore, converging evidence from preclinical and emerging human studies suggests that OT release may contribute to non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stability potentially via modulation of hippocampal-amygdalar circuits and thalamocortical network activity, including sleep spindle-related dynamics, thereby enhancing emotional processing and social memory. Social isolation, a potent stressor, reduces OT signaling and disrupts sleep–wake dynamics, suggesting a mechanistic link between positive social interaction and sleep maintenance. Collectively, we propose OT as a key neuromodulatory regulator at the intersection of sleep, stress resilience, and social behavior, providing new insights into the neuroendocrine pathways that underlie adaptive emotional regulation and identifying potential therapeutic targets for stress-related sleep disturbances.
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Analysis of characteristics of hospitalized patients with chronic insomnia: a single-center retrospective study

ObjectiveInsomnia is a prevalent health issue within the general population. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research specifically addressing chronic insomnia among hospitalized patients. Consequently, the objective of this study is to investigate chronic insomnia in adult inpatients.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on hospitalized patients at Fengjie County People’s Hospital in Chongqing from January 2022 to June 2025. The study included patients aged 18 to 100 years, with comprehensive documentation of their demographic information, laboratory test results, and insomnia treatment details. Patients with incomplete data or those under 18 years of age were excluded from the study. The analysis focused on the age distribution, gender ratio, and BMI distribution of the patients, as well as the prevalence of primary diagnostic categories and the distribution characteristics of fasting blood glucose levels and dyslipidemia.ResultsThe study included a total of 871 patients, with a male representation of 39.6%. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 23.1 ± 3.7 kg/m², and the mean age was 64.1 ± 13.9 years. The predominant sources of disease were identified as infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, tumors, and musculoskeletal conditions. A significant proportion of patients presented with elevated fasting blood glucose levels and dyslipidemia.ConclusionChronic insomnia in hospitalized patients predominantly affects elderly women. Chronic insomnia in hospitalized patients predominantly affects elderly women, who primarily present with infectious diseases, cardiovascular conditions, neurological disorders, tumors, and musculoskeletal issues. These patients often exhibit dyslipidemia and elevated fasting blood glucose levels, necessitating clinical attention.
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Lilly to Acquire Kelonia for Up to $7B, Expanding Cancer Cell Therapy Pipeline

Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion, the companies said today, in a deal that would bolster the buyer’s oncology pipeline with an early clinical phase lentiviral in vivo chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy under study in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Kelonia’s lead program KLN-1010 is a one-time intravenous gene therapy designed to generate anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) CAR T cells, targeting the BCMA protein expressed on the surface of multiple myeloma cells.

In December at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2025 Annual Meeting, Kelonia presented positive early clinical data for KLN-1010 from the Phase I inMMyCARTM trial (NCT07075185). The data showed the CAR T therapy to have 100% minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative response rate across four patients, all of whom remained in response through the longest follow up of five months.

Those and other results, according to the company, provided initial clinical validation of KLN-1010 and demonstrated promising tolerability. In January, Kelonia won FDA clearance for an investigational new drug (IND) application for KLN-1010, enabling the trial to expand from Australia into multiple clinical sites across the United States.

“The early clinical data for KLN-1010 are highly encouraging, both as a potential step forward for patients with multiple myeloma and as proof of concept for Kelonia’s platform,” Jacob Van Naarden, executive vice president and president of Lilly Oncology and head of corporate business development, said in a statement.

Investors appeared more sanguine about the Kelonia acquisition as Lilly shares were all but flat in early Monday trading as of 11 a.m. ET, to $927.16 from Friday’s close of $927.03. Kelonia is privately held.

KLN-1010 applies the company’s in vivo gene placement system (iGPS®), which uses engineered lentiviral-based particles designed to efficiently and selectively enter T-cells inside the body, enabling a patient’s own body to generate CAR T therapies designed to treat underlying disease.

Lilly and Kelonia reason that KLN-1010 could transform treatment of multiple myeloma by eliminating challenges associated with both ex vivo patient-specific cell therapy manufacturing, and pre-administration chemotherapy.

“Autologous CAR T therapies have meaningfully improved outcomes for patients with various cancers, but significant manufacturing, safety, and access barriers mean that only a fraction of eligible patients actually receive them,” Van Naarden added. “Kelonia’s in vivo platform has the potential to change that by delivering rapid, durable responses in a far simpler, off-the-shelf format.”

Kelonia marks Eli Lilly’s fourth announced acquisition of a smaller biotech this year:

Behind the deals

Behind all the deals is the pharma giant’s desire to capitalize on the billions of dollars it is generating from sales of its obesity and diabetes drugs based on glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor analysts alone or in tandem with a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Lilly markets tirzepatide, a GLP-1/GIP dual agonist, in obesity as Zepbound® ($13.542 billion in 2025 sales) and in diabetes as Mounjaro® ($22.965 billion).

Lilly stands to generate even more in obesity-related sales in coming years once it brings to market its oral obesity drug Foundayo™ (orforglipron), a small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist—though analysts predict the drug’s 2026 sales will likely be lower than once expected because of the price war Foundayo faces competing head to head with Lilly’s arch-rival in obesity drugs, Novo Nordisk. In December, Novo Nordisk got a jump on Lilly when the Danish biotech giant won FDA approval for oral Wegovy® (semaglutide), a once-daily 25 mg GLP-1 receptor agonist tablet indicated for chronic weight management.

A Lilly buyout of Kelonia could compel Johnson & Johnson to take a closer look at acquiring Legend Biotech, Kostas Biliouris, PhD, a managing director on the biotechnology research team of Oppenheimer, wrote Sunday in a research note. He cited the fact J&J’s Janssen Biotech successfully partnered with Legend to develop Carvykti® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR T-cell therapy indicated for adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy. Carvykti generated $1.877 billion in sales last year, up nearly double (96%) from $963 million in 2024.

Also, Biliouris cited the presence in Legend’s pipeline of LUCAR-G39D, a clinical in vivo CAR T program designed to treat B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma by targeting CD19xCD20. LUCAR-G39D showed positive first-in-human safety and efficacy data from a Phase I trial (NCT06395870) at ASH last December.

“We believe in vivo CAR T technology has strong potential, as treatment process is fast and circumvents the need for lymphodepletion, but think it will likely take ~6-8years before safety/durability questions are addressed, and regulatory approval is granted,” Biliouris predicted.

Lilly has agreed to acquire Kelonia for $3.25 billion upfront plus up to $3.75 billion in future payments tied to achieving specified clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones. The acquisition deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Upon closing, Lilly said, it will determine how to account for the transaction in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), then reflect the deal in future financial results and financial guidance.

“Kelonia’s leadership in advancing the immense promise of in vivo cell therapy is unmatched, extending its reach and impact beyond the traditional boundaries of personalized medicine,” Kelonia CEO Kevin Friedman, PhD, stated. “We have demonstrated the ability to achieve deep multiple myeloma remissions with significantly reduced complexity and cost relative to ex vivo CAR T-cell approaches.”

“In combination with Lilly’s strengths, our in vivo iGPS platform is positioned to broaden the reach of cell therapy beyond the current CAR T landscape in hematologic malignancies and to transform treatment across a far wider range of cancers and other serious diseases,” Friedman added.

The post Lilly to Acquire Kelonia for Up to $7B, Expanding Cancer Cell Therapy Pipeline appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.