Scurvy

NEW YORK, April 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindus Health, the "anti-CRO" running radically faster, more reliable clinical trials for life science pioneers, has launched an all-in-one package of contract research organization (CRO) services specifically designed for clinical research into respiratory diseases. With the "All-in-One Respiratory CRO", respiratory sponsors will benefit from an array of services including traditional CRO expertise, deep knowledge of this therapeutic area, access to Lindus Health's primary care network of over 30 million electronic health records (EHRs), and their bespoke internal eClinical software, Citrus™. Lindus Health has enrolled over 6,500 patients in respiratory clinical trials within the US, UK and Europe to date, showcasing their extensive resume of experience within this therapeutic area. From inception to completion, this offering covers end-to-end execution across numerous respiratory disease indications, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep apnea, pneumonia, and many more. "There are many nuances for conducting respiratory trials, from solving the challenges of subjective and imprecise measurements for some assessments to the heterogeneity and symptom variability of these conditions," said Luke Twelves, MD, Medical Director at Lindus Health. "We're thrilled to be launching a bespoke CRO offering to respiratory disease sponsors to mitigate the challenges faced in bringing essential respiratory therapies to market." Lindus Health is humbled to be accompanied by a stellar advisory board with respiratory experience including Bob Langer, co-founder at Moderna and institute professor at MIT, alongside other renowned subject matter experts in the industry such as Professor Chris Butler, Peter Polos, MD, and David Stempel, MD. "Working with the Lindus Health team has been a game changer," said Akash Bijalani, Director of Global Market Access at Aptar, a global leader in drug and consumer product technologies in the respiratory space. "They have a can-do attitude and make things happen, going above and beyond the call of duty." Lindus Health's comprehensive "All-in-One Respiratory CRO" solution offers the following services to the respiratory market: End-to-end trial management and CRO services: Lindus Health's clinical operations team brings vast experience to every phase of respiratory research, encompassing everything from the initial protocol design and patient recruitment to comprehensive data management and delivery. All-encompassing recruitment expertise: Lindus Health's primary care network of over 30 million electronic health records (EHRs) provides effective recruitment in addition to community- and site-based strategies and digital marketing tactics. The company puts trials in front of the right audiences, helping respiratory sponsors achieve their enrollment goals faster. Study-specific eClinical technology: Lindus Health's home-grown clinical trial software, Citrus™, ensures seamless data integration by housing all the necessary platforms needed for efficient study execution, including Electronic Data Capture (EDC), Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS), eConsent, randomization, and more. Expert site services: Lindus Health's in-house site operations team maintains excellent rapport with principal investigators (PIs) and other site study personnel and is well-versed in executing respiratory studies of all kinds – single- or multi-site, virtual/hybrid or traditional. Deep regulatory and therapeutic area-specific expertise: Bringing together various research backgrounds, the Lindus Health team resumes exceptional expertise within respiratory clinical trials and the ever-changing regulatory landscapes of the US, UK, and EU. Lindus Health is committed to leading successful respiratory research, providing a robust and efficient framework for clinical trials from inception to completion, and enhancing the experience for both sponsors and participants. For more information on Lindus Health's "All-in-One Respiratory CRO" offering, click here. About Lindus Health Lindus Health is an anti-CRO running radically faster and more reliable trials for life science pioneers – bringing ground-breaking treatments to patients more quickly. Lindus Health does this thanks to a commercial model that aligns incentives (fixed-priced quotes per study, with milestone-based payments), marrying a world-class clinical operations team with its unique software platform, and access to 30 million Electronic Health Records. Clinical trials are the biggest bottleneck to advances in healthcare and by removing this constraint they aim to improve health for everyone. They handle the end-to-end execution of clinical studies, including design, patient recruitment, clinical data capture, monitoring and project management. To date, ‍Lindus Health has delivered more than 90 trials across the US, UK and Europe to tackle a range of conditions including diabetes, asthma, acne, social anxiety, major depressive disorder, hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome and insomnia. The company was named after James Lind, who pioneered the first clinical trial and treatment for scurvy, and co-founded by Michael Young, a former Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister on Life Sciences, and Meri Beckwith, a former life sciences investor. Lindus Health has raised over $24M from investors including Peter Thiel, CREANDUM, Firstminute Capital, Presight Capital, Seedcamp, Hambro Perks, Amino Collective and Calm/Storm. Media Contact: Jodi Perkins Amendola for Lindus Health [email protected] SOURCE Lindus Health

Kiwifruit has proven itself as a powerful mood booster and new research has shown just how fast its effects can be. Kiwifruit has proven itself as a powerful mood booster and new research from the University of Otago has shown just how fast its effects can be. In a study, published in The British Journal of Nutrition, researchers found the furry fruit improved vitality and mood in as little as four days. Co-author Professor Tamlin Conner, of the Department of Psychology, says the findings provide a tangible and accessible way for people to support their mental well-being. "It's great for people to know that small changes in their diet, like adding kiwifruit, could make a difference in how they feel every day." Vitamin C intake has been associated with improved mood, vitality, well-being, and lower depression, while vitamin C deficiency is associated with higher depression and cognitive impairment. However, Professor Conner says limited research has assessed how quickly mood improvements occur after introducing vitamin C supplements or whole food sources. The researchers aimed to fill that gap with an 8-week dietary intervention of 155 adults with low vitamin C. Participants took daily either a vitamin C supplement, placebo, or two kiwifruit. They then reported their vitality, mood, flourishing, sleep quality, sleep quantity, and physical activity using smartphone surveys. The researchers found kiwifruit supplementation improved vitality and mood within four days, peaking around 14-16 days, and improved flourishing from day 14. Vitamin C, on the other hand, marginally improved mood until day 12. Lead author Dr Ben Fletcher, who conducted the research as part of his PhD at Otago, says understanding the nuances of when and how these effects occur day-to-day contributes to our knowledge of the potential benefits of vitamin C-rich foods and supplements on mental health. "This helps us see that what we eat can have a relatively fast impact on how we feel. "Our participants had relatively good mental health to begin with so had little room for improvement, but still reported the benefits of kiwifruit or vitamin C interventions," he says. He adds that, while vitamin C tablets showed some improvements, the study underscores the potential synergistic effects of consuming whole foods like kiwifruit. "We encourage a holistic approach to nutrition and well-being, incorporating various nutrient-rich foods into your diet." In addition to the direct implications for individuals seeking to improve their mental well-being, Professor Conner says the study introduces a novel methodology in nutritional research. "The use of intensive smartphone surveys offers a real-time understanding of the day-to-day changes in mood-related outcomes."

Scientists identify a new molecular model and potential therapeutic target for gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. Many Americans think of gout as a disease from a bygone era, akin to rickets or scurvy. The condition commonly afflicted the rich and royal, including American historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Gout is indeed one of the earliest known diseases, first identified by the ancient Egyptians around 2640 BC. But the disease is more prevalent now than ever, affecting more than 10 million people in the United States or approximately 5 percent of the adult population. Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, in which urate (a byproduct of purine-rich foods like meat and alcohol) builds up in the body and forms needle-shaped crystals in and around the joints, usually starting in the foot. The crystal deposits lead to flares of severe pain, joint swelling and tenderness, and can progress to chronic joint damage that limits patients' movement and quality of life. Excess urate circulating in the blood (known as hyperuricemia) has long been considered the major cause of gout, but counterintuitively, most people with high urate levels do not actually develop the disease. In fact, asymptomatic hyperuricemia is approximately four times more prevalent than gout. Gout patients also show mysteriously higher levels of urate in their joint fluid compared to their blood. Thus hyperuricemia must not be the only thing stimulating urate crystal deposition in the joints. So what else could be causing the disease? In a new study published online on December 1, 2022 in Arthritis & Rheumatology, an international research team led by University of California San Diego School of Medicine identified a novel molecular pathway that causes gout and its progression to joint tissue erosion. The findings position lubricin, a protein found in joint fluid, as a novel therapeutic target for both the prevention and treatment of the disease. The scientists were interested in exploring the genetic factors that lead not to high levels of circulating urate, but specifically to urate production and crystal deposition within joints. To do this, they studied a rare case of gout in which the patient had developed urate crystal deposits and erosion in her joints but did not show high levels of urate in her blood. "This naturally occurring and extremely unusual disorder provided a unique opportunity to look at gouty arthritis through a different lens, and understand what molecular processes contribute to the disease independent of hyperuricemia," said senior author Robert Terkeltaub, MD, professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and section chief of Rheumatology at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. Using whole genome sequencing, RNA-sequencing and quantitative proteomic methods, the researchers were able to identify a major molecular pathway that was disrupted in the patient, centering on a significant reduction in lubricin. The mucinous protein provides essential lubrication and protection to joint tissues, and regulates the function of a specific type of white blood cell that promotes inflammation in the joint. Additional experiments confirmed that under healthy conditions, lubricin suppresses the secretion of urate and xanthine oxidase (an enzyme that produces urate) by activated white blood cells, and also blocks urate from crystallizing in the joint. The researchers then assessed several patients with the common form of gout and confirmed that they too had markedly decreased levels of lubricin. The authors suggest that whether or not a hyperacemia patient goes on to develop gout may thus be influenced by which gene variants they have for lubricin and other molecules that control its production or degradation in the joint. "Our findings show that lubricin may be a new biomarker for tracing patients' risk of developing gout, and that new drugs to maintain and increase lubricin could limit the incidence and progression of gouty arthritis," said Terkeltaub. Co-authors include: Leigh-Ana Rossitto, Ru LiuBryan, Majid Ghassemian, Anaamika Campeau and David J. Gonzalez at UC San Diego; Marin Miner at Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System; Khaled Elsaid and Sandy Elsayed at Chapman University; Amanda Phipps-Green, Tony R. Merriman and Murray Cadzow at University of Otago; Jacob Karsh at University of Ottawa; Gregory D. Jay at Rhode Island Hospital; Marwa Qadri at Jazan University; Talia J. Dambruoso at Brown University; Tannin Schmidt at University of Connecticut Health Center; Nicola Dalbet and Ashika Chhana at University of Auckland; Jennifer Höglund at University of Gothenburg; Nancy Maltez at Ottawa Riverside Hospital; and Niclas G. Karlsson at Oslo Metropolitan University.