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An international study led by the UB has shown cognitive and analgesic effects in early mouse trials. A study published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry presents a new family of candidate compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and pain, which have shown promising effects in animal models.

Photoactivable drugs are activated when irradiated by a beam of light - via an optical fibre - thus generating a controlled and local therapeutic effect on target tissues.

Insulin resistance precedes and predicts the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), a chronic disease that causes high morbidity and mortality worldwide. In affected people, insulin is unable to facilitate the uptake of glucose through tissues and organs, leading to an increase in blood glucose (chronic hyperglycaemia).

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that manifests itself mainly with skin symptoms (dryness, itching, scaly skin, abnormal patches and plaques). It affects about 2% of the population and is mediated by an altered immune system response that triggers the proliferation of skin cells. Depending on the severity, there are different therapeutic options (topical medications, phototherapy, systemic drugs, etc.), but some conventional treatments can have harmful effects on patients.

UB researchers detect that people with schizophrenia have an altered ability to visually perceive contrast According to a review of more than 600 studies, these patients would have difficulty in detecting differences in light intensity between adjacent areas, without which they cannot adequately see their surroundings and objects.

US researchers have participated in a study that reveals how alterations in brain development in psychosis may be related to metabolism and neurotransmitters. Researchers from the University of Seville have participated, together with representatives from other Spanish, British, American and Canadian research centers, in a recent scientific study that has identified important anomalies in the brain maturation of individuals with psychosis.

Research at the Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS) shows that the combination of melatonin and methylprednisolone effectively protects against multiple sclerosis in animal models, allowing to reduce up to four times the dose of corticosteroids.

The Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (UV-CSIC) has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of all mutations in the protein set of coxsackievirus B3, which causes severe heart inflammation. The findings, published in Plos Biology, will help to identify regions of the virus genome with low tolerance to mutations, facilitating the development of drugs targeting these areas.

A team from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) has developed paper sensors with rare-earth nanoparticles capable of detecting small concentrations of glucose in aqueous solutions. The work, published in the journal Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces , offers a non-invasive alternative for measuring glucose levels in patients with diabetes, eliminating the need to prick fingers to draw blood.

The University of Valencia, together with the INCLIVA Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínic Universitari de València, has led a study involving the Hospital La Fe de València and Oftalvist and with the collaboration of the Universitat Politècnica de València to analyse the most effective doses of anti-VEGF to treat the retinopathy of prematurity and to avoid adverse effects.

The pharmaceutical drug, named ATX-01, has just been authorised to start clinical trials in the US. This new therapeutic advance gives hope to those suffering from Myotonic Dystrophy type 1, an hereditary degenerative disease currently lacking of effective treatment.

A clinical trial carried out by Hospital del Mar, Pompeu Fabra University, the Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela and the Pere Virgili Health Park investigated the efficacy and safety of a medicine for outpatients with COVID-19. The treatment acts on the replication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease, and reduces the severity and duration of some of the symptoms.

A team of pharmacogenetics experts from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Hospital Universitario de La Princesa have questioned the clinical utility of a biomarker that has been assumed to hold promise for personalized drug treatments. The results, published in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics , highlight the importance of rigorous and continuous evaluation of pharmacogenetic biomarkers prior to their implementation in clinical practice.

How does a person with physical and sensory limitations feel? What are the restrictions for an elderly person who sees and hears poorly and whose joints are no longer what they used to be? Clinical researchers, especially those who deal with patients, have asked themselves that question and have tried to find the answer, and one of them has been the design of an aging and disability simulation suit.

Researchers from the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the University of Valencia and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), have studied the mechanism by which the body's antibodies target coxsackievirus B3, which causes serious heart inflammation in humans.

Researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) have discovered that lactoferrin, a protein with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, exhibits significant antiviral activity against coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2. This finding, published in the journal Viruses , could open new avenues for the treatment and prevention of viral infections.

Researchers from the University of Valencia and the INCLIVA Health Research Institute (Valencia Clinical Hospital) have analysed the possible effects of the presence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the blood of patients receiving CAR-T therapies, a form of immunotherapy that has been shown to be effective in certain types of haematological cancer.

A study by the Centre for Research on Desertification (CIDE, UV-CSIC-GVA) has evaluated, through the analysis of wastewater, drug use in the city of Valencia during the period from 2011 to 2020. Cannabis, tobacco, and cocaine were the most consumed, especially during weekends and festive periods, in accordance with the EU estimates.

The project, jointly coordinated by UPF professor Ferran Sanz, has enjoyed the participation of numerous members of the GRIB; the UPF research programme in Medical Bioinformatics and the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, as well as the spinoff Med Bioinformatics Solutions, which emerged from the same programme.

A research by the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology and Parasitology, and the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) of the University of Valencia (UV), reveals that