New study finds that pregnancy affects bats' sensing capabilities
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Research
Apr 23rd, 2023
Bats Get “Pregnancy Brain” Too
- Life Sciences
"Pregnancy brain" - sometimes called “brain fog” or “mommy brain" - refers to a pregnant woman's forgetfulness during and shortly after pregnancy. And there have indeed been several studies pointing to an impairment of the cognitive abilities of pregnant women. Apparently, the condition does not just affect us humans: a new Tel Aviv University study reveals that bats, too, experience a decline in their ability to hunt and orient in space during pregnancy.
This impairment stems from the fact that they produce about 20 percent fewer calls, the sounds that allow them to orient themselves using echolocation, on top of flying at a slower pace and at a lower altitude. The researchers highlight the fact that, to the best of their knowledge, this is the first evidence of pregnancy affecting mammals’ sensory abilities.
"When a bat makes fewer calls, it gathers less information about the environment, its chance of colliding with objects increases, and its chance of finding food decreases — and this is at a time when the bat needs extra food to sustain the fetus in its womb." Prof. Yossi Yovel
Affecting Bats' Safety and Hunting
The study was led by Mor Taub, a research assistant in the laboratory of Prof. Yossi Yovel, head of Tel Aviv University’s Sagol School of Neuroscience and faculty member of the School of Zoology at The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. The study’s findings were published in the journal BMC Biology.
Mor Taub explains: “At the peak of pregnancy, bats carry about 20 percent more than their normal body weight, and it is clear that this excess weight impacts their flying capacity. In this study, we wanted to check whether and to what extent pregnancy affects bats’ echolocation ability, their sonar."
"Bats’ sonar is based on the emitting and receiving of strong and frequent sounds in order to map their surroundings. To make these sounds, bats, like us humans, need to transfer high-pressure air from the lungs through the vocal cords, or vocal membranes, which involves many muscles, such as the chest and diaphragm. We wanted to see if the excess weight from pregnancy affects the production of sounds.”
Prof. Yossi Yovel
To this end, Prof. Yovel and his colleagues taught bats to search for and land on a small landing pad in a flight room in the bat laboratory at Tel Aviv University’s Garden for Zoological Research. They recorded the echolocation of two groups: pregnant bats and non-pregnant bats. The researchers found that the rate at which the pregnant bats emitted sounds was significantly lower than that of the control group, with 20% greater intervals between each sound.
Prof. Yovel, Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research recipient, explains that “bats change the rate of the sounds they make in accordance with the level of difficulty of the task. The average rate is about ten calls per second, but when the bat lands, this rate can increase to 100 calls per second. The pregnant bats produced sounds at a rate of only about seven per second and flew a little slower and lower."
"Obviously, this slowing down is likely to affect their hunting. When a bat makes fewer calls, it gathers less information about the environment, its chance of colliding with objects increases, and its chance of finding food decreases — and this is at a time when the bat needs extra food to sustain the fetus in its womb. In the second phase of the study, we used a computer simulation to simulate the effect of the decreased rate of calls on the bats’ performance, and indeed, we saw that the slowed rate makes it more difficult for the bats to locate prey.”
“This is the only evidence we found in the professional literature showing that pregnancy affects mammals’ sensory abilities.” - Mor Taub
Preserving the Vulnerable
The bats in the experiment were of the Kuhl's pipistrelle species, tiny bats that weigh only about six grams (when they are not pregnant). These bats are very common in Israel, and feed mainly on mosquitoes. Despite their weight, bats can live for decades, and their pregnancies are therefore also relatively long, lasting about four months.
Previous studies conducted on other species of bats have shown that during pregnancy, bats tend to change their diets. To date, the assumption was that this change in diet was due to the bats’ difficulty in flying, but the current study raises the possibility that the change may also be due to their sensory difficulty in detecting certain types of prey.
“This is the only evidence we found in the professional literature showing that pregnancy affects mammals’ sensory abilities,” says Mor Taub. “We assume that there are similar cases in other species as well, but this is the first time that researchers have been able to measure and demonstrate the impairment empirically. Beyond the scientific interest, it is important to preserve mammal species in the wild, especially during pregnancy and newborn care, since animals are particularly vulnerable during this period.”
Research
Apr 16th, 2023
Drug-Free Alternative for People with Social Anxiety
Technology-driven treatment found to be as effective as psychiatric medications
- Social Sciences
- Psychology
A new clinical trial conducted at Tel Aviv University has demonstrated an effective technology-driven alternative to psychiatric medications for people with social anxiety. The groundbreaking study found that Gaze-Contingent Music Reward Therapy (GC-MART) is as effective in treating social anxiety disorder as drugs from the SSRI family. The innovative treatment developed at TAU relieved the symptoms of about 50% of the study participants. The researchers hope that this therapy will soon be available as an effective alternative to psychiatric medications.
Affecting 4-12% of the Population
The study was led by Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, Director of the Adler Center for Child Development and Psychopathology, and of the Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience at Tel Aviv University, together with research students Gal Arad and Omer Azriel from The School of Psychological Sciences at the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University Other collaborators included the NIH, the Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) and Sheba Medical Centers, and Prof. Amit Lazarov of TAU. The paper was published in the prestigious American Journal of Psychiatry.
"About 4-12% of the population will develop social anxiety disorder at some stage of their lives. Quite often, people with this disorder avoid social situations – at a heavy interpersonal, professional, and economic price." Prof. Yair Bar-Haim
Prof. Bar-Haim explains that "about 4-12% of the population will develop social anxiety disorder at some stage of their lives. Quite often, people with this disorder avoid social situations – at a heavy interpersonal, professional, and economic price. At present, psychiatry and psychology offer sufferers two types of treatment: SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) drugs, such as Cipralex, and CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). CBT requires 12-20 sessions with a qualified clinical psychologist, in which symptoms are relieved through gradual exposure to the cause of anxiety. Thus, while effective, CBT is a complex treatment necessitating the presence of a highly skilled therapist and requiring patients to face their deepest fears, a requirement that often leads to treatment dropout.
"Because CBT is demanding, expensive, and not readily accessible, many patients turn to medication. However, psychiatric drugs like Cipralex have their own drawbacks: first, some patients prefer not to use psychiatric drugs; second, entire populations, such as young children, pregnant women, and individuals with specific diseases, cannot take SSRI drugs; and third, in some cases the drug has certain side effects."
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The research team (left to right): Prof. Yair Bar-Haim Gal Arad and Omer Azriel
Simple and Patient-friendly
Now, researchers from TAU have developed a third option, which is easy-to-use, quick and simple, and apparently no less effective than psychiatric drugs. Moreover, since the treatment is highly patient-friendly, a much lower dropout rate may be expected.
In the clinical trial, 105 Israeli adults with social anxiety disorder were assigned into three groups: one group was treated with SSRI drugs, in this case Cipralex; a second group was treated with GC-MART; and a control group. After ten 30-minute training sessions, about 50% of the patients provided with the new therapy demonstrated significant improvement in their symptoms - a result similar to the outcome reported for patients who took Cipralex.
"With efficacy similar to that of an existing first line drug treatment, the new treatment does not require the patient to take medications regularly. The new treatment is simple and patient friendly." Prof. Yair Bar-Haim
"The therapy we developed is based on eye-tracking combined with a musical reward," explains Prof. Bar-Haim. "The patients choose the music they would like to hear – Israeli, classical, hip hop, etc., and is shown a simulation of a crowd on a computer screen. Usually, individuals with social anxiety disorder tend to dwell on scowling or threatening facial expressions, quickly picking them out and unable to look away. Consequently, they often interpret the crowd or social situations as hostile, negative, or critical. People without social anxiety disorder, on the other hand, prefer to focus on positive or neutral faces in a crowd. In the new therapy, the music chosen by the patient provides positive feedback for a normal focus of attention on facial expressions in the crowd presented on the screen. Gradually, through training, patients’ biased attention is normalized, and symptoms recede. All participants in our trial underwent a comprehensive clinical assessment both before and after the treatment and were also asked to report on the symptoms and their severity. Results indicated that the new treatment significantly reduced symptoms of social anxiety, with an efficacy that is similar to that of SSRI drugs."
"Our findings are encouraging for both therapists and patients. With efficacy similar to that of an existing first line drug treatment, the new treatment does not require the patient to take medications regularly. The new treatment is simple and patient friendly. It does not necessitate the prolonged intervention of a highly skilled psychologist, but rather interaction with social images on a screen, and therefore potentially offers accessible, effective, and convenient treatment for social anxiety disorder," concludes Prof. Bar-Haim.
Research
Apr 16th, 2023
"Family Smoking" on The Porch
Six out of ten children whose parents restrict their smoking to the porch are at risk for being harmed by tobacco smoke
- Medicine
Many parents think that they are protecting their children by smoking on the porch or next to the window in a room. However, a new study by Tel Aviv University finds that, in contrast to such beliefs, restricting smoking to the porch does not protect most children from exposure to tobacco smoke. The research team tested for the presence of nicotine in the hair of children whose parents restrict their smoking to the porch or outside the house. Their findings are worrisome: nicotine was found in the hair of six out of ten children.
The researchers emphasize that “in Israel, home porches should be regarded as part of the environment of the home. Smoking next to a window or in another specific place in the home does not protect most children from exposure. Our recommendations are unequivocal: to reduce children’s exposure to tobacco smoke, smoking should be entirely avoided within a range of ten meters from the house. Likewise, in open areas, smokers should maintain a distance of at least ten meters from the children.”
"The Israeli situation is of great concern because in many cases, porches in Israel are directly adjacent to the living areas and may even be partially open some of the time (…) The parents mistakenly believe that the porch offers a 'safe' place to smoke." Prof. Leah (Laura) Rosen
The Porch is No 'Safe' Place
The study was led by Prof. Leah (Laura) Rosen from the School of Public Health in Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Also participating in the study: Prof. David Zucker from the Department of Statistics and Data Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Dr. Shannon Gravely from the Department of Psychology, Waterloo University, Canada; Dr. Michal Bitan from the Computer Science Department, the College of Management; Dr. Ana Rule from the Department of Health and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore; and Dr. Vicki Meyers from the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Public Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center. The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
In the first stage of the study (published about two years ago), the research team studied hair samples of the children of smoking parents for the presence of nicotine. This provides an estimate of their exposure to tobacco smoke over the past months. It was found that 70% of the children of smoking parents had measurable hair nicotine.
In the current stage of the study, the researchers examined the data by the location of parental smoking. Analysis of the data showed that in families in which the parents restricted their smoking to the porch or outdoors, 62% of the children were still exposed to tobacco smoke.
Prof. Leah (Laura) Rosen
"It is known that smoking outside the house, even when the doors and windows are fully closed, does not completely protect children from exposure to tobacco smoke," says Prof. Rosen. "The Israeli situation is of great concern because in many cases, porches in Israel are directly adjacent to the living areas and may even be partially open some of the time. The proximity allows smoke to drift from those areas to the interior of the house. The parents mistakenly believe that the porch offers a 'safe' place to smoke."
"In fact, the children are likely to be directly exposed when they come out to the porch and someone is smoking, or when smoke drifts into the house. Once in the home, the smoke is absorbed into the environment, for example, into the furniture or walls or rugs, and is then gradually discharged into the air over weeks or months."
"Further, this residual smoke, known as third hand smoke, can be absorbed into the body from the environment via swallowing or through the skin, especially among infants and small children. In addition, smoking parents transmit the toxins from the tobacco smoke on their skin, on their hands, in their hair, on their clothing. Therefore, it is recommended to brush teeth, wash hands, and change clothes after smoking, before contact with children.”
"85% of tobacco smoke is invisible, and our sense of smell is not reliable, so many parents mistakenly believe that they are protecting their children, while in fact they are exposing them to substantial health risks." Prof. Leah (Laura) Rosen
Plea to Israel's Health Ministry
Prof. Rosen notes that this new information is directly relevant to Case 1416/21 on neighbor smoking, currently being heard in the Supreme Court. The appeal against the Ministries of the Environment, Health, and Interior concerns the tobacco smoke that penetrates apartments as an environmental hazard, a claim that is supported by the definition of an environmental hazard in the Clean Air Law, the Hazard Prevention Law, and the Penal Code.
Prof. Rosen: “The results of this study show that among smoking families, restricting smoking to the porch does not protect most children from exposure to tobacco smoke. Therefore, the Health Ministry’s approach, which opposes protection for individuals from smoke incursion into their own homes to protect the smokers’ children, does not protect the children of smokers, and in addition it can cause substantial harm to neighbors and the children of neighbors. We ask the Health Ministry to reconsider its stand in light of these findings.”
"The State of Israel must make the reduction of parental smoking a national goal and invest the appropriate resources in this issue. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions regarding when and how the exposure occurs. 85% of tobacco smoke is invisible, and our sense of smell is not reliable, so many parents mistakenly believe that they are protecting their children, while in fact they are exposing them to substantial health risks. As a society, we must safeguard citizens and distance everyone from the risks of tobacco smoke exposure, especially infants and children, pregnant women, and all vulnerable populations,” concludes Prof. Rosen.
Research
Mar 28th, 2023
Plants Emit Sounds – Especially When Stressed
In a world first, Tel Aviv University researchers record and analyze sounds distinctly emitted by plants
- Life Sciences
- Exact Sciences
- Environment
Do you talk to your plants? While you may not be able to hear them, your plants could very well be chatting away as well (perhaps they are not such great listeners after all), and that's especially true if they are having a bad day (did you forget to water them again?). For the first time in the world, TAU researchers recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants. The click-like sounds, resembling the popping of popcorn, are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at high frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear. The researchers: "We found that plants usually emit sounds when they are under stress, and that each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound. While imperceptible to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects."
"From previous studies we know that vibrometers attached to plants record vibrations, but do these vibrations also become airborne soundwaves - sounds that can be recorded from a distance? Our study addressed this question, which researchers have been debating for many years." Prof. Lilach Hadany
Resolving Old Scientific Controversy
The study was led by Prof. Lilach Hadany from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security at The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, together with Prof. Yossi Yovel, Head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience, faculty member at the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, and Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research Recipient; and research students Itzhak Khait and Ohad Lewin-Epstein, in collaboration with researchers from the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Mathematical Sciences, the Institute for Cereal Crops Research, and the Sagol School of Neuroscience – all at Tel Aviv University. The paper was published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell.
"From previous studies we know that vibrometers attached to plants record vibrations," says Prof. Hadany. "But do these vibrations also become airborne soundwaves - sounds that can be recorded from a distance? Our study addressed this question, which researchers have been debating for many years."
WATCH: Prof. Yossi Yovel and Prof. Lilach Hadany on their findings
At the first stage of the study the researchers placed plants in an acoustic box in a quiet, isolated basement with no background noise. Ultrasonic microphones recording sounds at frequencies of 20-250 kilohertz (the maximum frequency detected by a human adult is about 16 kilohertz) were set up at a distance of about 10cm from each plant. The study focused mainly on tomato and tobacco plants, but wheat, corn, cactus and henbit were also recorded.
"Our findings suggest that the world around us is full of plant sounds, and that these sounds contain information – for example about water scarcity or injury (…) We believe that humans can also utilize this information, given the right tools - such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering." - Prof. Lilach Hadany
Mapping Plants' Complaints with AI
Before placing the plants in the acoustic box, the researchers subjected them to various treatments: some plants had not been watered for five days, in some the stem had been cut, and some were untouched. Prof. Hadany explains that their intention was to test whether the plants emit sounds, and whether these sounds are affected in any way by the plant's condition: "Our recordings indicated that the plants in our experiment emitted sounds at frequencies of 40-80 kilohertz. Unstressed plants emitted less than one sound per hour, on average, while the stressed plants – both dehydrated and injured – emitted dozens of sounds every hour."
The recordings collected in this way were analyzed by specially developed machine learning (AI) algorithms. The algorithms learned how to distinguish between different plants and different types of sounds, and were ultimately able to identify the plant and determine the type and level of stress from the recordings. Moreover, the algorithms identified and classified plant sounds even when the plants were placed in a greenhouse with a great deal of background noise.
In the greenhouse, the researchers monitored plants subjected to a process of dehydration over time and found that the quantity of sounds they emitted increased up to a certain peak, and then diminished.
"In this study we resolved a very old scientific controversy: we proved that plants do emit sounds!" says Prof. Hadany. "Our findings suggest that the world around us is full of plant sounds, and that these sounds contain information – for example about water scarcity or injury. We assume that in nature the sounds emitted by plants are detected by creatures nearby, such as bats, rodents, various insects, and possibly also other plants - that can hear the high frequencies and derive relevant information. We believe that humans can also utilize this information, given the right tools - such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering. Apparently, an idyllic field of flowers can be a rather noisy place. It's just that we can't hear the sounds."
In future studies the researchers will continue to explore a range of intriguing questions, such as: What is the mechanism behind plant sounds? How do moths detect and react to sounds emitted by plants? Do other plants also hear these sounds? Stay tuned.
The research team
Research
Mar 27th, 2023
Tiny Robot Navigates in Physiological Environment and Captures Targeted Damaged
Meet the hybrid micro-robot: innovative technology only 10 microns across
- Medicine
- Engineering
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a hybrid micro-robot, the size of a single biological cell (about 10 microns across), that can be controlled and navigated using two different mechanisms - electric and magnetic. The micro-robot is able to navigate between different cells in a biological sample, distinguish between different types of cells, identify whether they are healthy or dying, and then transport the desired cell for further study, such as genetic analysis. The micro-robot can also transfect a drug and/or gene into the captured targeted single cell. According to the researchers, the development may help promote research in the important field of 'single cell analysis', as well as find use in medical diagnosis, drug transport and screening, surgery, and environmental protection.
Inspired by Biological Micro-swimmers
The innovative technology was developed by Prof. Gilad Yossifon from the School of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University and his team: post-doctoral researcher Dr. Yue Wu and student Sivan Yakov, in collaboration with Dr. Afu Fu, Post-doctoral researcher, from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. The research was published in the journal Advanced Science.
“Developing the micro-robot’s ability to move autonomously was inspired by biological micro-swimmers, such as bacteria and sperm cells. This is an innovative area of research that is developing rapidly, with a wide variety of uses in fields such as medicine and the environment, as well as a research tool.” - Prof. Gilad Yossifon
Prof. Gilad Yossifon explains that micro-robots (sometimes called micro-motors or active particles) are tiny synthetic particles the size of a biological cell, which can move from place to place and perform various actions (for example: collection of synthetic or biological cargo) autonomously or through external control by an operator. According to Prof. Yossifon, “developing the micro-robot’s ability to move autonomously was inspired by biological micro-swimmers, such as bacteria and sperm cells. This is an innovative area of research that is developing rapidly, with a wide variety of uses in fields such as medicine and the environment, as well as a research tool”.
WATCH: The Hybrid Micro-Robot
As a demonstration of the capabilities of the micro-robot the researchers used it to capture single blood and cancer cells and a single bacterium, and showed that it is able to distinguish between cells with different levels of viability, such as a healthy cell, a cell damaged by a drug, or a cell that is dying or dying in a natural 'suicide' process (such a distinction may be significant, for example, when developing anti-cancer drugs).
After identifying the desired cell, the micro-robot captured it and moved the cell to where it could be further analyzed. Another important innovation is the ability of the micro-robot to identify target cells that are not labeled - the micro-robot identifies the type of cell and its condition (such as degree of health) using a built-in sensing mechanism based on the cell's unique electrical properties.
Effective in Physiological Environments
"Our new development significantly advances the technology in two main aspects: hybrid propulsion and navigation by two different mechanisms - electric and magnetic," explains Prof. Yossifon. "In addition, the micro-robot has an improved ability to identify and capture a single cell, without the need for tagging, for local testing or retrieval and transport to an external instrument. This research was carried out on biological samples in the laboratory for in-vitro assays, but the intention is to develop in the future micro-robots that will also work inside the body - for example, as effective drug carriers that can be precisely guided to the target”.
"... the technology will support the following areas: medical diagnosis at the single cell level, introducing drugs or genes into cells, genetic editing, carrying drugs to their destination inside the body, cleaning the environment from polluting particles, drug development, and creating a 'laboratory on a particle' - a microscopic laboratory designed to carry out diagnostics in places accessible only to micro-particles." - Prof. Gilad Yossifon
The researchers explain that the hybrid propulsion mechanism of the micro-robot is of particular importance in physiological environments, such as found in liquid biopsies: "The micro-robots that have operated until now based on an electrical guiding mechanism were not effective in certain environments characterized by relatively high electrical conductivity, such as a physiological environment, where the electric drive is less effective. This is where the complementary magnetic mechanism come into play, which is very effective regardless of the electrical conductivity of the environment”.
Prof. Yossifon concludes: "In our research we developed an innovative micro-robot with important capabilities that significantly contribute to the field: hybrid propulsion and navigation through a combination of electric and magnetic fields, as well as the ability to identify, capture, and transport a single cell from place to place in a physiological environment. These capabilities are relevant for a wide variety of applications as well as for research. Among other things, the technology will support the following areas: medical diagnosis at the single cell level, introducing drugs or genes into cells, genetic editing, carrying drugs to their destination inside the body, cleaning the environment from polluting particles, drug development, and creating a 'laboratory on a particle' - a microscopic laboratory designed to carry out diagnostics in places accessible only to micro-particles.”
Research
Mar 23rd, 2023
Hyperbaric Treatment More Effective than Medicines for Fibromyalgia Caused by
Researchers say "results were dramatic" for patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy
- Medicine
Researchers from Tel Aviv University compared treatment with a dedicated protocol of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to the pharmacology (drugs) treatment available today for patients suffering from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Their findings showed that dedicated hyperbaric oxygen therapy is much more effective in reducing pain than the drug treatment and ended up healing two out of five of the participants in the study.
Chronic Pain Syndrome
The study was conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, led by Prof. Shai Efrati, MD, from the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Shamir Medical Center, and Prof. Jacob Ablin, MD, from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS One.
"At the end of the treatment, two out of five patients in the hyperbaric treatment group showed such a significant improvement that they no longer met the criteria for fibromyalgia. In the drug treatment group, this did not happen to any patient." Prof. Shai Efrati
"Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome, from which between 2% - 8% of the population suffers," explains Prof. Shai Efrati. "Until 15-20 years ago, there were doctors who believed that it was a psychosomatic illness and recommended that patients with chronic pain seek mental health care. Today we know that it is a biological illness, which damages the brain's processing of the signals received from the body. When this processing is malfunctioning, you feel pain without any real damage in related locations."
"Fibromyalgia can be induced by variable triggers - from certain infections, as we have recently seen in post-COVID patients, through post-traumatic stress syndrome to head injuries. We wanted to test whether the new protocols of hyperbaric medicine can provide better results than pharmacological medicine, for patients in whom the fibromyalgia was induced by traumatic brain injury."
Prof. Shai Efrati
Dramatic Results
Hyperbaric medicine is a form of treatment in which the patients stay in special chambers where the pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure at sea level, and where the patients breathe 100% oxygen. Hyperbaric medicine is considered safe, used in many places including Israel, and is already used to treat a long list of medical conditions.
In recent years, scientific evidence has been accumulating that certain, newly developed, dedicated hyperbaric treatment protocols can lead to the growth of new blood vessels and neurons in the brain.
"Overall, existing treatments are not good enough. [Fibromyalgia] is a chronic disease that significantly affects the quality of life, including young people, and hyperbaric medicine meets an acute need of these patients." Prof. Jacob Ablin
In their current study, the researchers from Tel Aviv University recruited 64 Israelis aged 18 and older who suffered from fibromyalgia as a result of a head injury, and randomly divided them into two groups: one group was exposed to 100% pure oxygen at a pressure of two atmospheres for 90 minutes (with fluctuations in oxygen during the treatment every 20 minutes), five days a week, for three months. The second group received the conventional pharmacological treatment (i.e., the drugs pregabalin, which is known under the trade name "Lyrica", and duloxetine, which is better known as "Cymbalta").
"The results were dramatic," says Prof. Efrati. "At the end of the treatment, two out of five patients in the hyperbaric treatment group showed such a significant improvement that they no longer met the criteria for fibromyalgia. In the drug treatment group, this did not happen to any patient. Furthermore, the average improvement in the pain threshold tests was 12 times better in the hyperbaric group compared to the medication group. And in terms of quality-of-life indicators, as reported by the patients, we saw significant improvements in all the indicators among the patients who received hyperbaric treatment."
Meets Acute Need
"Today's accepted treatment for fibromyalgia includes pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic components," says Prof. Ablin. "with respect to the pharmacologic approach, these drugs are not very effective and therefore the emphasis is on the non-pharmacological side, that is, on external correction of pain processing within the nervous system. Currently used recommendations includes aerobic activity, hydrotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and movement-based therapies such as Tai Chi. In addition, quite a few patients request treatment with medical cannabis, and for some it helps."
"In the group that received hyperbaric treatment, you could see the repair of the brain tissue, while in the control group there was only an attempt to relieve the pain - without treating the damaged tissue - and of course the medication group experienced the side effects associated with drug treatment." Prof. Shai Efrati
"Overall, existing treatments are not good enough. [Fibromyalgia] is a chronic disease that significantly affects the quality of life, including young people, and hyperbaric medicine meets an acute need of these patients. Of course, these are preliminary studies, and we must follow and see what effect the medical protocol has on the patients after one, two and three years - and if it is necessary to maintain the positive results with further exposure to hyperbaric sessions."
Looking to Cure
According to Prof. Efrati, the importance of the research is in healing the damaged brain tissue - and not in treating its superficial symptoms: "In the group that received hyperbaric treatment, you could see the repair of the brain tissue, while in the control group there was only an attempt to relieve the pain - without treating the damaged tissue - and of course the medication group experienced the side effects associated with drug treatment. This is a difference in approach: to cure instead of just treating the symptoms."
"We assessed the improvement of the participants in the hyperbaric group more than a week after the last hyperbaric session. More follow-up studies are needed to see the duration of the beneficial effect of the treatment and if and for whom additional treatment will be needed. Our goal as doctors is not only to treat the symptoms but, to the extent possible, also to treat the source of the problem, thus improving the quality of life of fibromyalgia patients."
"It is important to emphasize that the dedicated hyperbaric oxygen treatment protocol found to be effective is only available in medical centers that have licensed hyperbaric chambers. Be careful of so-called 'private chambers', since these cannot provide the therapeutic protocol found to be effective, and they are not regulated or approved for medical use," cautions Prof. Efrati.
Research
Mar 20th, 2023
“Super Seaweed” Produces Natural Health Compounds and Medicine from the Sea
New Israeli technology could lead to anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and antibiotic treatments
- Life Sciences
After developing an innovative technology that enables the growth of seaweed enriched with proteins and minerals such as zinc, iron, iodine, magnesium, and calcium for humans and animals, researchers from Tel Aviv University's School of Zoology at The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) have made a new advancement: They succeeded in significantly increasing the ability of seaweed to produce healthy natural substances, focusing on enhancing the production of bio-active compounds that offer medical benefits to humans, such as antioxidants - the concentration of which was doubled in the seaweed; natural sunscreens - its concentration tripled; and unique protective pigments of great medical value, the concentration of which increased by ten-fold.
The study was carried out with the innovative and sustainable approach of integrated aquaculture, which combines seaweed with fish cultivation, upgrading the seaweed while at the same time helping to purify the seawater and minimizing negative environmental impacts. According to the researchers, these findings may serve the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food, and nutritional supplement industries.
Manufacturers of Valuable Compounds
The new development was led by Ph.D. student Doron Ashkenazi of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, under the guidance of Prof. Avigdor Abelson of Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and Prof. Alvaro Israel of the IOLR in Haifa, in collaboration with other leading researchers from Israel and around the world, including Guy Paz from IOLR; organic chemistry expert Dr. Shoshana Ben-Valid; Dr. Eitan Salomon from the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat; and Prof. Félix López Figueroa, Julia Vega, Nathalie Korbee, and Marta García-Sánchez from Malaga University in Spain. The article was published in the scientific journal Marine Drugs.
Ph.D. student Doron Ashkenazi (left) and Prof. Avigdor Abelson (right)
Doron Ashkenazi explains that “seaweed, also known as macroalgae, are marine plants that form the basis of the coastal marine ecosystem. The seaweed absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the environment. They purify the water, provide food, habitat, and shelter for numerous species of fish and invertebrates. Not many know that seaweed also produce a wide variety of distinct bio-active compounds that are beneficial to humans. The seaweed living in the intertidal zone face extreme stress conditions, which include changes in salinity, temperature, desiccation [loss of moisture] conditions, changes in the availability of nutrients and high exposure to solar radiation, especially in the ultraviolet (UV) range."
"Not many know that seaweed also produce a wide variety of distinct bio-active compounds that are beneficial to humans." Doron Ashkenazi
To survive, the seaweed has developed a unique set of chemical defense mechanisms – natural chemicals that help them cope with these harsh environments. They are highly efficient natural factories that produce valuable substances that may offer significant benefits to humans.
In the current study, they sought to examine whether and how it is possible to increase and maximize the seaweed’ production of bio-active compounds, and secondary metabolites, that offer significant health benefits. These substances include antioxidants, protective pigments, and natural UV radiation filters.
A dedicated aquaculture system where the researchers grew three local species of algae
Future Looking Greener Than Ever?
To this end, the researchers developed an original and practical cultivation approach, whereby three local seaweed - Ulva, Gracilaria and Hypnea - were initially grown alongside fish effluents, and subsequently exposed to stressors including high irradiance, nutrient starvation, and high salt content.
They investigated how these changes affected the concentration of specific valuable biomaterials in the seaweed, to enhance their production. The results were impressive: antioxidant levels had doubled, seaweed natural sunscreen molecules tripled, and protective pigments were increased by ten-fold. “We developed optimal cultivation conditions and invented a new and clean way to increase the levels of healthy natural bio-active compounds in seaweed to an unprecedented level,” says Ashkenazi. “We in fact produced ‘super seaweed’ tailor designed to be utilized by the emerging health industries for food and health applications.”
“In the future, humanity will focus on creating science-based environmental solutions (...) technologies that promote recycling and the sound use of natural resources without overexploiting them.” Doron Ashkenazi
The researchers believe that in the future it will be possible to use their cultivation approach to elevate in seaweed additional natural materials with important medical properties, such as anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and ant-biotic substances.
They also emphasize that seaweed aquaculture is environmentally friendly, preserving the ecological balance, and reducing environmental risks by minimizing excessive amounts of pollutants caused by humans, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, and lowering the carbon footprint. In this way, seaweed aquaculture can help cope with global environmental challenges such as pollution, habitat loss, and the climate crisis.
“In the future, humanity will focus on creating science-based environmental solutions, like the one we offer in this study - technologies that promote recycling and the sound use of natural resources without overexploiting them. Our study demonstrates how we can enjoy nature without harming it,” concludes Ashkenazi.
Research
Mar 14th, 2023
Do We Need 'Junk DNA'?
Researchers offer possible reason why neutral sequences in the genome of living creatures continue to exist millions of years later
- Life Sciences
A new model developed at Tel Aviv University offers a possible solution to the scientific question of why neutral sequences, sometimes referred to as "junk DNA", are not eliminated from the genome of living creatures in nature and continue to exist within it even millions of years later.
According to the researchers, the explanation is that junk DNA is often located in the vicinity of functional DNA. Deletion events around the borders between junk and functional DNA are likely to damage the functional regions and so evolution rejects them. The model contributes to the understanding of the huge variety of genome sizes observed in nature.
Border Induced Selection
The model describes a phenomenon which the team of researchers refer to as "border induced selection," and was developed under the leadership of PhD student Gil Loewenthal in the laboratory of Prof. Tal Pupko from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at the The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and in collaboration with Prof. Itay Mayrose, also from TAU's Faculty of Life Sciences. The study was published in the journal Open Biology.
Throughout evolution, the size of the genome in living creatures in nature changes. For example, some salamander species have a genome ten times larger than the human genome. "The rate of deletions and short insertions, dubbed 'indels', is usually measured by examining pseudogenes," explains Prof. Pupko. "Pseudogenes are genes that have lost their function, and in which there are frequent mutations, including deletions and insertions of DNA segments."
In previous studies that characterized the indels, it was found that the rate of deletions is greater than the rate of additions in a variety of creatures including bacteria, insects, and even mammals such as humans.
Prof. Tal Pupko
Reverse Bias for Short Segments
The question the researchers sought to answer is how the genomes are not deleted when the probability of DNA deletion events is significantly greater than DNA addition events: "We have provided a different view to the dynamics of evolution at the DNA level," says Loewenthal. "When measuring the rate of indels there will be more deletions, but the measurements are carried out in pseudogenes which are quite long sequences. We assert that in shorter neutral segments, deletions would likely remove adjacent functional segments which are essential for the functioning of the organism, and they will therefore be rejected [through 'border-induced selection']. Accordingly, we assert that when the segment is short, there will be a reverse bias – there will be more insertions than deletions - and therefore short neutral segments are usually retained."
"In our study, we simulated the dynamics of indels, while taking into account the effect of 'border-induced selection,' and compared the simulation results to the distribution of human intron lengths (introns are DNA segments in the middle of a protein-coding gene, which themselves do not code for a protein). A good match was obtained between the results of the simulations and the distribution of lengths observed in nature, and we were able to explain peculiar phenomena in the length distribution of introns, such as the large variation in intron lengths, as well as the complex shape of the distribution which does not look like a standard bell curve."
