Category: 8. Health

Polyethylene terephthalate microplastics (PET-MPs) may initiate and exacerbate the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a new study found.

The findings come as public health officials have raised concerns about the potential health implications of microplastics. The report was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.¹

While the underlying mechanisms behind the development of IPF are not yet fully understood, previous research has shown that environmental factors, including cigarette smoke and airborne particles, can contribute to the disease’s initiation and development, explained corresponding author Bing Bai, PhD, of the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in China, and colleagues.²

The potential role of environmental factors is an important research topic, Bai and colleagues said, because the incidence of IPF is rising swiftly. A 2015 study, for instance, found that the global incidence of IPF was rising by approximately 11% per year.³

Bai and colleagues explored the potential role of microplastics in the rising rates of IPF.¹ Defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, microplastics enter the environment via industrial emissions, plastic degradation, and household products. From there, ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact can all lead to the microplastics entering the human body.

PET-MPs are the most common microplastics encountered in daily life, the authors explained, and there are several reasons why they may play a role in lung diseases like IPF.

“PET-MPs can induce oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and inflammatory responses in pulmonary cells, contributing to chronic lung injury,” the authors wrote, adding that PET-MP particles smaller than 10 μm can penetrate the alveolar barrier and accumulate in lung tissue, leading to a fibrosis-like pathology.

Yet, there is “scarce” research examining potential links between PET-MPs and the onset or exacerbation of IPF, the investigators noted. Bai and colleagues said they suspected that PET-MPs might contribute to IPF by modulating certain key molecular targets and signaling pathways.

To test the hypothesis, the investigators used public databases and a toxicity-prediction tool called ProTox 3.0 to identify potential targets and analyze their potential roles in IPF. They used network toxicology, molecular docking, Mendelian randomization, and single-cell sequencing analysis.

In the end, they identified 3 core targets through which they believe PET-MPs might aggravate IPF: AKT1, PIM1, and PIK3CD. The microplastics appear to affect metabolic, lipid, atherosclerosis, and C-type selection receptor signaling pathways, the authors said. They added that the binding affinity of PET-MPs to these core targets was “potent.”

The lung toxicity of PET-MPs may be associated with the proteins AKT1, PIK3CD, and PIM1, the authors said, and they said AT2 and CD8+ T cells are susceptible to the fibrotic effects induced by PET-MPs.

Bai and colleagues said the data show that prolonged exposure to microplastics is linked with the development of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, and therefore they said it is urgent that regulators adopt better ways to track and restrict microplastics in the environment.

“Furthermore, establishing long-term exposure databases and conducting multi-regional cohort studies will be key to assessing population-level health impacts,” they wrote.

It will also be important to raise public awareness of the dangers of microplastics so that individuals—and their employers—can take steps to mitigate exposure.

The authors cautioned that their work was based on modeling toxicity using publicly available databases, adding that it is very difficult to adequately replicate long-term, low-dose exposure to microplastics. They concluded their hypotheses will require validation through both in vitro and in vivo experiments.

References

1. Zhao W, Yang S, Hu S, Feng Y, Bai B. Polyethylene terephthalate microplastics promote pulmonary fibrosis via AKT1, PIK3CD, and PIM1: A network toxicology and multi-omics analysis. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. Published online August 27, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118954

2. Raghu G, Remy-Jardin M, Richeldi L, et al. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (an update) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis in adults: an official ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT clinical practice guideline. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2022;205(9):e18-e47. doi:10.1164/rccm.202202-0399ST

3. Hutchinson J, Fogarty A, Hubbard R, McKeever T. Global incidence and mortality of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a systematic review. Eur Respir J. 2015;46(3):795-806. doi:10.1183/09031936.00185114

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While it will take more work to see this approach leveraged in the clinic, the researchers are excited about the possibilities this breakthrough represents.

“This is a huge step forward for personalized immune cancer therapy,” added Lippman.

Additional coauthors of the study include: Xin Zhao, and Maria Trifas, from New York University Langone Health; William N. William from UC San Diego and Oncoclínicas São Paulo; Bin Liu, PhD, Raymond J. Lim, and Yushen Du from UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Yu-Jui Ho, Francisco M. Barriga, and Scott W. Lowe from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

This study was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health (grants K99 CA266939, R01DE026644, U01CA0290479, P01 CA106451, P50 CA097007, P30 CA023100, R37CA248631, and R01HG012590), the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (grants 5T32CA160001 and David Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Research Pilot Project), the Gerry Metastasis and Tumor Ecosystems Center (GMTEC) (Postdoctoral Fellowship and Classic Individual Funding), the Edward P. Evans Foundation (Young Investigator Award), the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (grant T30DT0963), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Geoffrey Beene Chair for Cancer Biology, the Agilent Thought Leader Program, the UCLA Technology Development Group Innovation Fund, the NCI Early Detection Research Network (grant 1U2CCA271898), the Department of Veterans Affairs (grants 1I50CU000157), Cancer Research UK (grant C67321/ A29060), and Stand up to Cancer.

Disclosures: Scott Lowe receives consultant fees and holding equity in Blueprint Medicines, ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Mirimus, PMV Pharmaceuticals, Faeth Therapeutics, Senescea Therapeutics and Constellation Pharmaceuticials. Steven Dubinett receives research funds from Janssen and Novartis, stock options and is on the advisory board of Lung Life AI, Inc. and Early Diagnostics, Inc. Teresa Davoli is a member of the SAB of io9 (now Acurion) and KaryoVerse therapeutics. Scott Lippman has served in an advisory capacity for, and received stock options from Sympto Health, Biological Dynamics; he is a cofounder of io9 LLC (now Acurion, Inc.); and is a co-inventor of IP related to genomic (9p) predictive biomarkers and precision immunotherapy: Title: Methods and Biomarkers in Cancer (inst) to Davoli and Lippman, PCT/U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63/483,237; and Title: Artificial Intelligence Architecture for Predicting Cancer Biomarkers (inst) to Lippman and Alexandrov, U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63/412,835, U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63/412,835 Title: Genetically-Defined Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitor Resistance in Aggressive Precursors of HPV– Head and Neck Squamous Cancer. All other authors report no disclosures.

Bipasha Basu had once opened up about the emotional rollercoaster she and husband Karan Singh Grover experienced after the birth of their daughter, Devi, in November 2022. Born with a rare heart condition called a ventricular septal defect, Devi underwent life-saving surgery at just three months old.

Learning about Devi’s heart condition

Speaking to Neha Dhupia on Instagram Live in 2023, Bipasha opened up about her challenging journey as a new mother during an Instagram Live with Neha Dhupia. She revealed that she learned on the third day after Devi’s birth that her daughter was born with two holes in her heart. Bipasha described the experience as far tougher than the smile she now wears and said she wouldn’t wish it on any mother. She shared her story to support other mothers, noting how difficult it was to find guidance and support during that time.

Early days were overwhelming

The actress further spoke about Devi’s condition, visibly emotional as she spoke. She admitted that neither she nor Karan fully understood what a ventricular septal defect (VSD) was initially. The early days were overwhelming for the couple, leaving them in a blur. While they wanted to celebrate the birth of their daughter, the reality of her heart condition left them feeling numb and unsure of how to process everything.She also opened up about preparing for Devi’s surgery, revealing that Karan Singh Grover initially struggled to come to terms with it. She shared that the first five months after Devi’s birth were extremely challenging, but praised their daughter’s resilience from day one. Doctors advised monthly scans to monitor if the ventricular septal defect could heal on its own, but given the size of the hole, surgery was deemed inevitable and best performed when Devi was three months old.

Facing the tough decision

Bipasha recalled the third month when they went for Devi’s scan. She shared that she had done extensive research, met surgeons, visited hospitals, and consulted doctors, feeling mentally prepared for the surgery, while Karan was not. She was determined that their daughter would be fine, and thankfully, Devi came through successfully. The most challenging part, she added, was making the decision to operate at the right place and the right time.The actress also revealed to Neha that Devi’s surgery lasted six hours, and admitted she didn’t sleep for 40 days and 40 nights, emphasizing the emotional toll the period took on her.

Some parents avoid giving their kids fruit juice, for fear that it might rot their teeth.

But the bad effects of juice on a child’s oral health could be short-lived, thanks to the remarkable properties of saliva, according to a new study.

Saliva protects teeth and gums from bacteria by creating a slippery film on teeth, and also can help repair early damage to tooth enamel, researchers said.

Sipping some apple juice temporarily disrupts this protection, but the effect begins to wear off within 10 minutes, researchers reported Sept. 3 in the journal PLOS One.

In fact, researchers found that water causes greater initial disruption to saliva’s protective properties, although recovery is much faster.

“We were genuinely surprised by these results,” lead researcher Mahdi Mutahar said in a news release. He’s a senior lecturer in dentistry with the University of Portsmouth’s School of Dental, Health and Care Professions in the United Kingdom.

“It’s long been believed that apple juice, like other acidic drinks, immediately harms our oral health, including the teeth,” he said. “However, our research shows that saliva plays a vital role in protecting and quickly repairing the mouth to prevent lasting damage.”

There’s a “but,” however.

“But it’s important to point out that long-exposure to apple juice — by repeatedly drinking it or not washing your mouth out with water after taking a sip — can have a long-term negative effect on our oral hygiene,” Mutahar added.

For the study, researchers asked 32 healthy college students and staff to rinse their mouths with apple juice for one minute, then repeat the process with tap water.

The team used cutting-edge lab techniques to measure how slippery and protective saliva is before and after drinking both beverages.

Results showed that key proteins found in saliva are affected when a person drinks apple juice, but that mucins — spit’s main lubricating proteins — remain stable.

After one swig of apple juice, lubrication returns to normal as mucins resume their slippery protective work, researchers said.

“The biggest shock though was discovering that rinsing mouths with tap water actually caused more friction and disruption than apple juice,” Mutahar said.

Portsmouth tap water contains high concentrations of sodium, potassium and magnesium, which interfered with mucins, lab tests revealed.

“The Portsmouth water we used contains minerals that seem to interfere with saliva’s lubricating proteins, more than the fruit juice did,” Mutahar said.

These results suggest that drinking fruit juice now and then might not be immediately damaging, thanks to how saliva works.

But chugging fruit juice throughout the day could overwhelm the natural defense provided by saliva, affecting oral health, researchers warned.

“Think of it like a cut on your skin,” Mutahar said. “Your body can heal small, occasional damage quite well, but if you keep reopening the wound, it becomes a problem. The same principle applies here.”

Researchers recommend that children and adults who want to drink some fruit juice should:

Drink the juice quickly, rather than sipping slowly.

Rinse with water immediately afterward, to remove lingering acids and sugars.

Use a straw to reduce contact between the juice and teeth.

Give your mouth time to recover between juice drinks.

The research team is now exploring what happens if people drink juice several times a day. Future research could look at whether adding protective proteins like mucins to everyday drinks could protect people’s teeth and gums.

More information

The University of Pennsylvania has more on juice and tooth health.

Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Backed by NOK 50 million (~USD 5 million) from the Mohn Foundation in partnership with the University of Bergen (UiB) and Haukeland University Hospital, the Center will unite clinicians, neuroscientists, and data experts to understand who is at risk, how disease begins, and how to protect the brain before irreversible damage occurs. 

A cornerstone of the Center is research on REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) – a sleep condition in which people act out their dreams. Many individuals with RBD already have very early, so called prodromal, disease changes in their brain and a substantially increased risk of later developing full blown PD, DLB or MSA. This creates a rare opportunity to understand early mechanisms driving these disease and, crucially, to test strategies that might delay or prevent disease progression.

What the Center will do

• Build a national RBD cohort as a platform for world-class clinical research.
• Develop and validate biomarkers (digital, molecular, imaging) to detect early disease, monitor change over short intervals, and measure treatment effects.
• Design and run pioneering preventive trials in at-risk populations, testing whether early interventions can meaningfully alter disease trajectories.
• Leverage artificial intelligence to discover patterns that signal risk even earlier – potentially before symptoms emerge.

“TMF has supported high-quality research in Bergen for over two decades. We are pleased to support the research environment led by Professor Tzoulis at UiB and Haukeland University Hospital. We have high expectations that this initiative will significantly advance understanding of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders”, says Nicholas Nunn, Managing Director, Trond Mohn Research Foundation.

Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest-growing brain disease, and there is still no treatment that can slow or prevent progression,” says Professor Charalampos (Haris) Tzoulis, Head of the Mohn Research Center for Neuroprotection, Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics at UiB and Consultant Neurologist at Haukeland University Hospital. “By identifying risk earlier and developing scalable tools to monitor change, we can finally test prevention – moving from reacting after irreversible damage has occurred to protecting the brain at a very early stage.”

Professor Tzoulis also leads the K.G. Jebsen Center for Parkinson’s Disease and directs the Neuro-SysMed Center for Clinical Treatment Research in Neurology, providing a strong clinical and research foundation for the new Center.

Why it matters

The Mohn Research Center offers new hope to affected individuals and a promise to reduce the enormous societal burden these diseases represent, bringing us closer to a new era of prevention-driven brain medicine.

A new report shows that certain mental health conditions escalate the risk of developing heart disease by 50-100%—and adverse outcomes from existing heart conditions by 60-170%.

Every 34 seconds, someone in the United States dies from heart disease. As nearly half of the country suffers from some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD), another 1 in 4 adults experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime, signaling an inevitable overlap.

The new report in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe summarizes cardiovascular health disparities among those diagnosed with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The article is part of a series aiming to raise awareness around disparities in CVD health in four populations: women, the elderly, racial minorities, and those with mental health conditions.

Emory University professor Viola Vaccarino led this metareview linking mental health conditions to CVD, along with coauthors Amit Shah and Douglas Bremner, also Emory professors.

The report associated the following conditions and their corresponding risks of developing CVD:

• Major depression, 72%
• PTSD, 57%
• Bipolar disorder, 61%
• Panic disorder, 50%
• Phobic anxiety, 70%
• Schizophrenia, nearly 100%

The research also shows that these conditions are associated with a poorer prognosis, greater risk for readmission, and higher mortality from existing heart conditions. For example, major depression more than doubles the mortality rate in those with existing CVD.

Additionally, the report emphasizes a bidirectional relationship. “More than 40% of those with cardiovascular disease also have a mental health condition,” adds Vaccarino.

According to the report, a well-documented relationship exists among depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, and abnormal stress responses in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA).

The former allows the brain to manage involuntary responses, such as functions of the liver, heart, sweat glands, and eye muscles. The ANS also manages both acceleration and deceleration of these functions, regulating inflammatory responses. Since most major organs have ANS nerve endings, this system affects most bodily functions.

The HPA also influences immune response and metabolism, which can affect cardiovascular function.

According to the report, dysregulation of these systems creates “adverse downstream effects that can affect cardiovascular risk chronically, including increased inflammation, metabolic abnormalities, high blood pressure, enhanced systemic vascular resistance, and autonomic inflexibility.”

Inflammation has also been implicated in both the development of heart disease and mental health conditions.

The role of social determinants of health in CVD disparities is critical. Those with mental health conditions may face disruptions and barriers in the continuum of care, such as affordability and accessibility. Compromised health literacy or communication can also impede access to health screenings and treatment.

Clinicians could also be challenged to care for patients with certain mental conditions, which can be compounded by stigma and existing models that fragment mental and physical health care. Stigmas are also present in the field of clinical research, where having a mental health condition is often an exclusionary criterion in randomized trials.

Moreover, according to the report, current prediction models don’t account for mental health disorders when forecasting the risk of developing heart disease.

To address the disparities of CVD among people with mental health disorders, the authors recommend an integrated approach with interdisciplinary care encompassing behavioral, mental and cardiovascular health.

“The tight connection between cardiovascular and psychological health warrants changes in the health care system that are more amenable to patients with comorbidities,” says Vaccarino.

“A clinical team would be ideal for the care of these patients—a team of specialists, social workers, and nursing staff who work in collaboration to provide multidisciplinary care and resources.”

The report concludes that closing the health disparity gap upholds the rights of those living with a mental health condition to achieve the highest level of health and fully participate in society.

Source: Emory University

Breast cancers frequently spread to the bone, establishing tumors that are largely impervious to treatment and are associated with poor patient prognoses. A deficiency in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, or anemia, is among the most common complications of these common metastases. Though such anemia was thought to stem from the tumor’s disruption of bone marrow-the body’s manufacturing hub for all blood cells, including its oxygen-bearing red blood cells-its precise underlying causes were a mystery.

No longer. In exploring the niche in bone marrow where such tumors take root, researchers led by Yibin Kang and Yujiao Han of the Princeton Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research uncovered a pair of canny strategies breast cancer cells employ to access the metabolic support essential to their survival and proliferation in the oxygen-poor microenvironment of bone marrow. These adaptations, they report in the current issue of Cell, directly disrupt the function of specialized bone marrow cells that produce red blood cells, causing the anemia that accompanies bone metastasis.

Targeting these metabolic transactions between cancer cells and specialized cells of the bone marrow microenvironment could lead to novel therapies that disrupt tumor growth while preserving bone marrow function and alleviating anemia, a frequently overlooked but debilitating complication for women living with metastatic breast cancer.”

Yibin Kang, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Metastasis is a tall order for the average cancer cell. Only a select few in any given tumor evolve the full suite of skills and capabilities required to sally forth and take root in other organs. These venturesome cells must not only survive a dangerous migration, through inhospitable terrain, to distant sites but also adapt extensively to the unfamiliar and frequently hostile microenvironments of alien tissues to establish a tumor. The latter feat often entails mimicking some properties of local cells to better handle the metabolic demands of their new home. It also typically involves the manipulation of noncancerous cells in the vicinity to furnish, among other things, the nutrients essential to cancer cell proliferation.

Iron is a case in point. Though bone marrow has healthy reserves of this essential mineral, it is not readily available to invading cancer cells. So Han, Kang and colleagues took note when they discovered that a highly specialized type of iron-recycling immune cell-the erythroblast island (EBI) macrophage-was noticeably abundant in the metastatic niche and seemed to cluster around cancer cells.

In healthy bone marrow, EBI-macrophages serve as nurse cells, providing iron to erythroblasts, the precursors of red blood cells. Erythroblasts need the mineral to make functional hemoglobin molecules, which red blood cells use to capture oxygen for dissemination throughout the body.

“We found that EBI-macrophages are hijacked by metastatic breast tumor cells to acquire iron, depriving erythroblasts of a mineral essential to the production of red blood cells,” said Han. “Depleting these macrophages in mice impaired bone metastasis of breast cancer.”

The researchers show that similar iron-handling macrophages are found in human bone metastases not only from breast cancer, but also from lung and kidney tumors. This suggests that the hijacking of iron-recycling macrophages might be a common phenomenon in cancers that metastasize to the bone.

The researchers also discovered that with a dedicated source of iron now available to them, the cancer cells begin to mimic erythroblasts, expressing a component of hemoglobin-β-globin-to better survive the hypoxic environment in the bone marrow. And, again, this mimicry was reflected in human tumors: elevated β-globin expression in tumor cells, they show, is associated with an increased risk of bone metastasis.

The two adaptations have synergistic effects. By coopting EBI-macrophages, cancer cells corner the local market for iron in bone marrow, disrupting the generation of new red blood cells. They then use that iron to support their own survival and proliferation, which further compromises erythroblast function.

“We’ve uncovered a novel axis of tumor-immune-metabolic crosstalk that promotes both metastatic progression and cancer-associated anemia,” said Kang. “Our work illustrates the remarkable plasticity of metastatic cells that grow in the bone and identifies a potential mechanism underlying the anemia caused by such metastases. These findings can be exploited for the development of therapies that could improve both the survival and the quality of life of cancer patients.”

This work was supported by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the Brewster Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Aside from his post as a Member of the Princeton Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Yibin Kang is Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University and an Associate Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) is pleased to announce the Late Breaking Clinical Research that will be presented at its Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), September 26-29, at the at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Late breaking clinical research to be featured during two plenary sessions includes results and updates from these major randomized trials: 

Sunday, September 28 Plenary Session | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Late Breaking Clinical Research 1: Devices and Cardiomyopathies

• Integra-D Trial
  • Effects of a Novel Cardiac Contractility Modulation-Defibrillator (CCM-D) on NYHA Functional Class in ICD-Indicated Patients: Post-Implant Results from the Integra-D Trial
• FUTURE-HF
  • Development of an Individualized Congestion Score using a Novel Implantable Inferior Vena Cava Sensor: the FUTURE-HF Trial Portfolio
• DETECT-HF
  • Development and Training of a Voice-Based Algorithm for Heart Failure Monitoring: Performance results from 599 Patients over 360,000 Patient-Days
• FOREST-HCM
  • Safety and Efficacy of Aficamten in Patients with Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: a 96-week analysis from FOREST-HCM
• MAPLE-HCM
  • Divergent Effect of Aficamten Versus Metoprolol on Exercise Performance in Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Prespecified Analysis of MAPLE-HCM
• ATTRibute-CM
  • Acoramidis Reduces Cumulative Cardiovascular Outcomes Within the First Month of Treatment in Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy: Results From ATTRibute-CM
• HELIOS-B
  • Reduction in Gastrointestinal Events in ATTR-CM Patients Treated with Vutrisiran Compared with Placebo: Analysis from HELIOS-B

Monday, September 29 Plenary Session | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Late Breaking Clinical Research 2: Novel Therapies 

• VICTOR Trial
  • Vericiguat Efficacy and Safety Across Baseline Background Therapy in Contemporary Ambulatory Patients with HFrEF Enrolled in the VICTOR trial
  • Tolerability and Safety of Vericiguat in Chronic Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction
• SEISMiC C
  • Safety and Efficacy of Intravenous Administration of Istaroxime for 48 hours in Patients with SCAI C Cardiogenic Shock due to Acute Heart Failure
• SUMMIT Trial
  • Effects of Tirzepatide in Obesity-Related HFpEF by Sex: A Prespecified Secondary Analysis from the SUMMIT Trial
• GARDEN TIMI-74
  • GDF-15 Neutralization in Patients with Heart Failure: Primary Results of the GARDEN-TIMI 74 Trial
• Danicamtiv Trial
  • Danicamtiv Restores Ventricular and Atrial Function in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy Caused by Genetic Variants that Depress Sarcomere Function

Late Breaking Clinical Research showcases novel results of major randomized trials and rapidly evolving research. Due to the quantity of remarkable trials submitted, HFSA will also feature late breaking research through Rapid Fire Oral Sessions. These Rapid Fire sessions are fast-paced oral presentations spotlighting key data from late breaking clinical research. Sessions take place on Sunday and Monday with Q&A and new topics each day. 

Sunday September 28 | Rapid Fire 1 | 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM

• Phase 1 Study of Daratumumab-Hyaluronidase for Reduction of Circulating Antibodies in Patients with High Allosensitization Awaiting Heart Transplantation
• Safety of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in Post-Heart Transplant Patients: A Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort Study
• Long Term Outcomes after LVAD Weaning for Myocardial Recovery: Results from the VAD Wean Recovery Network
• First-In-Human Implantation of a Next-Generation Membrane-Based LVAD
• Long Term Trajectory of Glomerular Filtration Rate Post-LAVD and the Impact on Clinical Outcomes: An analysis of the MOMEMTUM 3 Study
• Increased LVEF at Six Months Following LVAD Implant is Associated with Improved Long-Term Outcomes – A MOMENTUM-3 Analysis
• Screening for advanced heart failure in stable outpatients (The SAINTS study)

Sunday, September 28 | Rapid Fire 2: | 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM

• Clinical Outcomes for Heart Failure at High Risk of Hyperkalemia according to Optimization of Agents Targeting the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System
• Intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose in Patients With Ischemic Versus Non-Ischemic Etiology of Heart Failure and Iron Deficiency
• Residual Risk of Hyperkalemia Among Patients with Heart Failure Treated with SGLT2i and ARNI Instead of ACEI/ARB
• High-Dose IV Loop Diuretic Therapy and Ototoxicity Risk in Patients with Acute Heart Failure: Insights from the FASTR Trial
• Expanded Results from a Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Clinic
• Optimized Heart Failure Therapy in Patients at Risk of Cardiac Wasting in Patients with Advanced Cancer: Results from the EMPATICC trial
• Supervised Exercise Training Improves Outcomes in Heart Failure: Evidence from the PACT-HF 2×2 Factorial Trial

Sunday, September 28 | Rapid Fire 3 | 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM

• Cardiac Contractility Modulation Reduces Mortality and Heart Failure Hospitalizations: A Matched Comparison of Patients Receiving and Not Receiving CCM Derived from a Real-World Dataset
• PROACTIVE-HF: 2-year outcomes, stratified by LVEF
• Outcomes of Poor Clinical Responders After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Older Patients
• Invasive Hemodynamic Risk Stratification and Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Tricuspid Repair: One-Year Results from TRILUMINATE Pivotal Trial
• Relationship between changes in seated pulmonary artery pressure, blood pressure, heart rate, and weight prior to heart failure hospitalization
• A Randomized Trial of a Remote, Digital Intervention Targeting Heart Failure Medical Therapy
• Machine-Learning Estimation of Pulmonary Capillary Wedge and Right Atrial Pressures With a Non-invasive Multisensor Device
• Deep learning assisted prediction for occurrence of pacing-induced cardiomyopathy in the atrio-ventricular block

Monday, September 29 | Rapid Fire 4 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

• Effect of vericiguat, compared with placebo, across baseline risk categories in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in the VICTOR Trial
• Effect of Vericiguat on Heart Failure Hospitalisation Events in Ambulatory Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction: VICTOR Trial Prespecified Analysis
• Effect of Vericiguat on Mortality in Ambulatory Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction: VICTOR Trial Prespecified Analysis
• Regional Variation in Outcomes and Response to Vericiguat in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: The VICTOR Trial
• Effect of the Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Stimulator Vericiguat on Health Status in the Phase 3 VICTOR Trial
• The Effect of Vericiguat on Mode of Death in Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction in the VICTOR Trial
• Rapidity of benefit of simultaneous initiation of finerenone and empagliflozin in people with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes: the CONFIDENCE trial
• Dapagliflozin in Patients with Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis of DAPA-HF, DELIVER, and DAPA ACT HF-TIMI 68

The meeting kicks off in just three weeks. A full schedule at a glance is available online, as well as information on the science and research and networking available at the meeting. Learn more about the meeting and register at hfsa.org/asm2025.

About the Heart Failure Society of America

The Heart Failure Society of America, Inc. (HFSA) represents the first organized effort by heart failure experts from the Americas to provide a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure, and congestive heart failure (CHF) research and patient care. The mission of HFSA is to provide a platform to improve and expand heart failure care through collaboration, education, innovation, research, and advocacy. HFSA members include physicians, scientists, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, trainees, other healthcare workers and patients. For more information, visit hfsa.org.

Media Contact: Laura Poko, 301-798-4493, ext. 226, [email protected]

SOURCE Heart Failure Society of America

A single dose of penicillin works just as well to cure early syphilis as the three-injection regimen now used by many doctors, a new clinical trial says.

Second and third doses of benzathine penicillin G don’t provide any additional benefit in treating early-stage syphilis, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Benzathine penicillin G is highly effective against syphilis, but the three-dose regimen can be burdensome and deter people from attending follow-up visits with their health care providers,” said Carolyn Deal, chief of the enteric and sexually transmitted infections branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The new findings offer welcome evidence for potentially simplifying treatment with an equally effective one-dose regimen, particularly while syphilis rates remain alarmingly high,” Deal said in a news release. She was not involved in the research, which NIAID funded.

Syphilis continues to be a health threat for sexually active Americans, researchers said in background notes. In 2023, the nation saw more than 209,000 syphilis cases, up 61% from 2019 levels.

Without treatment, syphilis can cause brain damage, organ failure, pregnancy complications and birth defects, researchers said. The bacterial infection also increases a person’s likelihood of acquiring or transmitting HIV.

BPG is one of the few antibiotics known to be effective against syphilis. It’s imported into the U.S. now to resolve a nationwide shortage, researchers noted.

For the new study, 249 people with early syphilis were recruited at 10 U.S. medical centers, nearly all men and 61% living with HIV.

Participants were randomly chosen to receive either one shot of BPG or the three-dose series at weekly intervals.

About 76% of people in the single-dose group responded to the penicillin, based on blood tests, compared to 70% of those in the three-dose group. Overall, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant, researchers said.

“Syphilis has been studied and treated for more than a century, and BPG has been in use for more than 50 years, yet we are still acquiring knowledge to help us optimize treatment,” said lead researcher Dr. Edward Hook III, an emeritus professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“We hope these promising results will be complemented by scientific advances in syphilis prevention and diagnosis,” he added in a news release.

Limiting syphilis treatment to a single dose could help prevent the bacteria from developing antibiotic resistance, researchers said, as well as helping limit the impact of drug shortages.

“During our trial, as on several occasions over the past several decades, benzathine penicillin G was in short supply in the United States,” researchers wrote in their paper.

“This shortage led public health authorities to prioritize which patients receive benzathine penicillin G and which should be treated with alternative therapies,” researchers wrote. “Global shortages of benzathine penicillin G are also common and undermine syphilis-control efforts in many countries.”

Although the trial provides evidence that a single dose of BPG is as effective as three doses, more research is needed to fully understand the potential of a shorter treatment strategy, researchers noted.

It’s also not clear whether a one-dose approach would work in people with late-stage syphilis or syphilis that has already invaded the nervous system, researchers added.

More information

Yale Medicine has more on syphilis.

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