15/06/2023 - Press release
A study published in iScience, spearheaded by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Centre, part of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, validates these tools for monitoring potential sufferers. Data was analysed from 56 volunteers who participated in the PENSA study, designed to determine whether it is possible to slow cognitive decline in stages prior to the onset of dementia through a combination of a lifestyle intervention programme and the consumption of a preparation based on a green tea component. It was possible to monitor the evolution of the cognitive functions of these people much more closely and continuously than with standard tests. This paves the way for the adaptation, practically in real time, of treatments that can be adjusted to changes in cognitive decline.
30/03/2023 - Press release
Adding a peptide, a molecule made of several amino acids, to oxaliplatin, a chemotherapy drug used to treat colorectal cancer, avoids the side effects this treatment can have on normal cells, including potential chemotherapy resistance. This is confirmed by an article published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, led by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). This work is the second part of a recent study that explored how platinum accumulation in normal cells promotes platinum resistance in colorectal cancer cells. This new approach prevents healthy cells surrounding the tumour from accumulating platinum. This avoids the activation of certain genes linked to poor treatment response and tumour progression.
01/03/2023 - Press release
Low levels of a particular protein in squamous cell carcinoma cells indicate that they are preparing to start migrating to other organs, thereby causing the tumour to spread to other areas of the body. This is according to a study by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, which has just been published in the journal Life Science Alliance. Tumour cells prepare to migrate by changing their metabolism so that they can consume lipids, in other words, cholesterol molecules. This raises the possibility of studying ways to block this process and prevent tumour metastasis.
Més informació "Marker discovered that shows when a type of skin cancer is preparing to metastasise"
21/02/2023 - Press release
A study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute shows that the oxaliplatin administered in some cases of colorectal cancer accumulates in non-cancerous/healthy cells from the tumor environment. This accumulation causes healthy cells to produce a protein that further activates them, triggering tumor resistance to treatment and assisting in tumor regeneration. The researchers discovered a marker that can identify these tumors unresponsive to chemotherapy. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, paves the way for new strategies enhancing the effects of chemotherapy on cancer cells while avoiding adverse side effects on non-cancerous cells.
20/01/2023 - Press release
A person's biological age, in other words, the real age of their body, which is independent of chronological age and which can be measured in specific blood tests, is conditioned by their lifestyle habits. A study by the Neurovascular Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, published in the journal Biology, has for the first time associated a higher biological age with the presence of an indicator of brain ageing, white matter hyperintensities, areas of the brain that blood has a harder time reaching. Lifestyle habits influence the DNA configuration and determine biological age. If these habits are modified, DNA ageing and, therefore, biological ageing can be slowed down, thereby decelerating the increase in white matter hyperintensities in brain tissue.
11/01/2023 - Press release
A study led by researchers from the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute has revealed the key role a protein plays in identifying patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who will not respond to standard treatment. The study, published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, shows that combining chemotherapy with an inhibitor for this protein helps to eliminate treatment resistance in an animal model. This is a rare disease, which is diagnosed in around a hundred people each year in Spain, mainly paediatric patients.
02/12/2022 - Press release
The Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute is leading the study that will evaluate whether a new molecule can be used to improve the cognitive performance of people with Down syndrome. The study is part of the ICOD project for the improvement of cognition in Down syndrome, promoted by the European Union, which is funding a project of this type for the first time. The treatment has already passed the trial phase with volunteers without Down syndrome, which sought to certify the safety and tolerability of the medicine. In this new phase, the safety of the treatment in people with Down syndrome will be validated and the first indications of effectiveness will be obtained. It is estimated that results may be available by mid-2023.
16/11/2022 - Press release
A study led by the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Centre (BBRC), a research unit from the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, and the University of Gothenburg, has compared the validity of nine biomarkers for the day-to-day diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in hospital centres. The work involved a cohort of patients from Hospital del Mar with various neurological pathologies. The researchers analysed the presence of nine variants of the Tau protein in blood samples from these people. Some of these blood markers are just as useful for detecting Alzheimer's as those measured in the reference test used, namely the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid obtained by lumbar puncture. Less invasive plasma biomarker determinations than those performed after a lumbar puncture may provide a tool for improving the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and determining which individuals should undergo further testing to confirm the diagnosis. The work has been published in the leading journal in this field, Alzheimer's & Dementia.
03/11/2022 - Press release
A study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute links psychological trauma in childhood with an increased risk of developing some kind of mental disorder years later. This is the first study to analyse the relationship between psychological trauma and various mental pathologies at a transdiagnostic level. It examines fourteen already published reviews or meta-analyses, involving more than 90,000 participants. The study is published in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience and demonstrates the need to study the history of patients suffering from a mental disorder.
26/10/2022 - Press release
People with low levels of this compound who suffer this pathology have almost a 40% greater risk of dying or being admitted to hospital than those with higher levels. This is according to a study carried out jointly by Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM-Hospital del Mar). The research team analysed blood samples from 905 patients with heart failure, who were monitored for three years. The results of the study have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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