Immunology

Immunotherapy success may hinge on presence of a type of neutrophil

and maintenance of social bonds, complicate the effects of age-related cognitive decline, and, for individuals on the autism spectrum, contribute to a decreased face processing ability.

Expanding the diagnostic criteria, and letting patients know they have some form of the disorder, could help them plan ways to reduce the effects the condition has on their daily lives. Identifying the condition could help physicians too, by guiding care plans, including recommending treatment that, in severe cases, could introduce patients to cognitive training that could enhance their perceptual abilities or improve face associations.

Gerontology

Cancer immunotherapies, which recruit a patient’s immune system to destroy tumors, have been transformative. But their success has been uneven. Research by HMS systems biologists and colleagues at the University of Geneva and Ludwig Cancer Research may explain why. The scientists found that neutrophils have different molecular identities: some promote cancer growth, others combat it. The more cancer-combating neutrophils there are, the better the response to immunotherapy. These findings from work in mice, coupled with outcomes analyses of patients with cancer, could inform new treatments that would target neutrophils and boost immune responses.

Gungabeesoon J et al., Cell, March 2023 is low. In fact, the researchers found that as many as one in 33 people, or 3 percent, may meet the criteria for face blindness, which translates to more than 10 million people in the United States.

The researchers found that face blindness lies on a spectrum that can range in severity and presentation. This range, the authors note, indicates that diagnostic criteria should be expanded, and they offer diagnostic suggestions for identifying mild and major forms of face blindness based on guidelines for neurocognitive disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition.

A better understanding of how to diagnose the condition is important because face blindness can be a socially debilitating. Having the condition can limit employment opportunities, cause social distress and embarrassment, hamper the development

Age-related fat may impair muscle function

RESEARCHERS AT HMS AND HEBREW SENIORLIFE have found that age-related accumulation of abdominal fat is associated with lower muscle density.

Low muscle density means that the muscle has more fat than muscle tissue in it, which can lead to less effective muscle function that in turn may lead to a greater risk of falls. According to the findings of their study, individuals with the greatest six-year accumulation of visceral adipose tissue, which is fat that wraps organs deep in the abdominal cavity, had significantly lower muscle density than they did at the beginning of the study, particularly in muscle around the spine, resulting in lesseffective muscle function.

The research is the first large, longitudinal study of the association between changes in visceral adipose tissue and muscle density. The authors note that the study’s findings may provide greater insight into the role that obesity has on the risk for low muscle mass or muscle density. In addition, the findings show that visceral adipose tissue may be a potential indicator for poor musculoskeletal outcomes with aging.

Liu C-T et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, December 2022