19 de Maio de 2025

 
 

EARA News Digest 2025 - Week 21


Welcome to your Monday morning update, from EARA, on the latest news in biomedical science, policy and openness on animal research. 

This week: Common drugs have different effects on male and female mice's brains; Skin bacteria in mice can protect from the sunScientists develop successful blood vessel implants in rats.

Common drugs have different effects on male and female mice's brains

New research from Sweden has shown that combinations of prescribed drugs may influence sex-specific brain function. 

Polypharmacy – taking five or more medications together – is common among older adults.  

Researchers at EARA member Karolinska Institute tested different combinations of commonly prescribed drugs - including analgesics, anti-depressants and cardiovascular medications - on mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.  

In male mice, the combination of five drugs - paracetamol, aspirin, citalopram, simvastatin and metoprolol - improved memory and brain inflammation, and also reduced the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Female mice, however, showed no improvement.  

When some of these drugs - simvastatin and metoprolol - were replaced with drugs of the same class - atorvastatin and enalapril - female memory worsened and male improvements disappeared, showing sex-and drug-specific effects.  

Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the study suggests that drug effects may vary by sex, a variation that has been historically disregarded in research. Favourable drug combinations will now need to be tested in human clinical studies. 

 

 

Skin bacteria in mice can protect from the sun

Researchers in France and Austria have discovered that skin bacteria can directly interfere in the protection against radiation that usually causes sunburn.  

The researchers had found that bacteria in the skin microbiome influence how UV radiation affects the immune response, but they did not know how. 

The study from CIRI and the Medical University of Graz showed that certain bacteria in mice skin can use a molecule produced in response to UVB radiation for growth.  

This molecule, called uronic acid, is known to lead to immune suppression. By using and destroying this molecule, the bacteria increase the skin’s immune protection against UVB radiation in mice.  

Marc Vocanson, co-leader of the study, from CIRI, in France, said: "Understanding these microbe-host interactions could reshape the way we think about sun protection, immune diseases, skin cancer, or even treatments like phototherapy".  

This research was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology

 

 

Scientists develop successful blood vessel implants in rats

Researchers in the United States successfully implanted a synthetic aorta artery in rats, a potential advancement in the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases.  

Current treatments to repair blood vessels include grafts made from a patient’s own tissues or synthetic materials. The former has a significant failure rate, while the latter is limited to large vessels and prone to blood leakage and infections. 

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut, used specific types of cells from rat aortas to produce synthetic ones in 3D printers for biological materials. This technology can be used for large blood vessels, such as the aorta, but also for small vessels. 

The printed aortas were successfully implanted in rats, which recovered and remained in good health after surgery. 

John Geibel, leader of the study, said: "This is the first step to get us toward technology in the future that will allow us to change how we help patients in a way that is dramatic." 

The study was published in Scientific Reports

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