Discovery could lead to ‘kinder’ treatment for devastating childhood cancer

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

 

IMAGE: A BALL OF NEUROBLASTOMA CELLS FORMING MATURE NERVES AFTER DRUG TREATMENT view more 

CREDIT: KIRSTY FERGUSON/DEVELOPMENTAL CELL

Children with neuroblastoma – responsible for 15% of cancer deaths in this age group – could in future be given treatments with fewer side-effects than those associated with the current chemotherapy, thanks to a discovery by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

The approach involves the use of a ‘differentiation therapy’, a type of treatment that does not involve killing cancer cells, but instead involves encouraging cells to become normal non-dividing cells. 

While this new research is still at an early stage and has yet to be trialled in patients, it involves a combination of two drugs already approved for use – palbociclib, a treatment used for certain types of breast cancers, and retinoic acid, used to treat neuroblastoma patients at most risk of relapse.

The findings of the study, funded by Cancer Research UK, are published today in Developmental Cell.

Neuroblastoma is the third most common cause of cancer deaths in children, after brain tumours and blood cancers. It arises in immature nerve cells known as neuroblasts, with around half of all neuroblastomas originating in the adrenal glands, which are located on top of the kidneys, and the remainder occurring in other areas of the abdomen, chest, neck or around the spine where nerve cells exist.

As the embryo develops, cells divide and replicate, migrating around the body, where they stop dividing and ‘differentiate’ into mature cell types, with chemical ‘switches’ attached to the DNA in cells turning its genes on and off and telling the cell how to behave.

Some of these cells go on to form the peripheral nervous system, which includes any nerves outside the brain. Occasionally this programming goes awry and the immature cells carry on dividing instead of forming mature neurons, leading to the development of neuroblastoma. The disease varies in its aggressiveness depending on the maturity of the cells within the tumour, with the most mature or differentiated tumours being the least aggressive, and the least differentiated tumours carrying the highest risk of relapse and death.

Professor Anna Philpott, who led the research at the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute at Cambridge, was inspired to study neuroblastoma after her niece was diagnosed with the disease as a child. Fortunately, unlike many children affected by this form of cancer, her niece’s story had a happy ending, and she is now a student in her twenties.

“I’ve seen first-hand how devastating this disease can be as it affects such young children and can be a particularly gruelling disease for families to manage,” said Professor Philpott, who is also a fellow at Clare College, Cambridge. “Its outcomes are very variable. Some children can be cured with surgery or chemotherapy, but others will need to receive a very high dose of chemotherapy – and some of them then relapse and require further treatment.”

Chemotherapy – while it can be effective – is a blunt instrument. It needs to kill cancer cells, but in doing so it can kill cells in other tissue, causing side effects. In neuroblastoma treatments, some of these side effects are relatively mild and many are temporary, though some can be life-threatening such as severe infections because of impaired immunity. There is also a significant risk of long-term complications including hearing impairment, growth restrictions and infertility. Some children can also develop second cancers as a result of the chemotherapy given to treat neuroblastoma.

Professor Philpott’s previous research had involved studying the normal development of nerve cells in tadpoles, but a chance encounter at a Cambridge seminar with a trustee of the patient charity Neuroblastoma UK made her realise that she could apply her findings to the condition that had affected her niece.

Joint first author Dr Kirsty Ferguson, a researcher at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute said: “From studies of normal development, we know that if you’re able to slow down cell division, then the cells’ programming begins to correct itself and they get back on track in terms of differentiating. We wanted to see if there was a way of encouraging this to happen in neuroblastoma cells.”

The team was able to show in a laboratory setting that treating neuroblastoma cells in a dish with palbociclib – already approved for front-line treatment of HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancers – causes them to slow their division significantly and form mature nerves.

“Neuroblastoma cells don’t look like nerves, but more like round cells that divide very rapidly,” added Dr Ferguson. “But when we treated them with palbociclib, their division slowed down and they started to grow axons and dendrites, which was an indication to us that they were maturing into nerves.”

With collaborator Professor Louis Chesler from the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, they then used the drug to treat mice into which human neuroblastoma cells had been grafted, and found that it was able to significantly reduce tumour growth. The drug was also effective at extending lifespans in mice that had been genetically-altered to develop neuroblastoma.

But palbociclib was not enough to fully stop the growth of neuroblastoma. Although the cells looked like mature nerve cells, they continued to divide, only at a slower rate. To counter this, the team treated the cells in the dish with retinoic acid in addition to palbociclib. Retinoic acid is a drug currently used as a maintenance therapy for neuroblastoma patients at highest risk of relapse, and the team found that this stopped the division of neuroblastoma cells even more effectively.

Professor Philpott and her collaborators, including Professor Suzanne Turner in the Department of Pathology at Cambridge, have now received funding from the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK to continue their research, including testing the effect of the drug combination in mice prior to taking this to clinical trial in children.

Dr Sarah Gillen, joint first author and also from Professor Philpott’s lab, said: “Children will still need chemotherapy to kill the main tumour, but once that treatment is out of the way, we think the combination of palbociclib and retinoic acid should be enough to stop any remaining neuroblastoma cells in their tracks. And because these drugs don’t need to kill the tumour cells, only to guide them back to the right path, it should be a much kinder treatment with fewer side-effects.”

Professor Philpott added: “Because both of these drugs have already been shown to be safe in people – and one of them is already in use in children – the clinical trial process should be much faster. If it’s successful, then we could see this new treatment being used within the next decade.”

Dr Laura Danielson, Children’s and Young People’s Research Lead at Cancer Research UK, said: “Each year in the UK around 100 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Better and less toxic treatments are needed to ensure more of these children survive and with a better quality of life. 

“Although further studies are warranted, it is great to see this early research of a new therapy, or combination of therapies, that could potentially be beneficial in better treating neuroblastoma and with fewer side effects.”

Reference
Ferguson, KM & Gillen, SL et al. Palbococlib releases the latent differentiation capacity of neuroblastoma cells. Dev Cell; 20 Sept 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.08.028

Creative encounters with neuroblastoma patients and families

As well as carrying out her research into neuroblastoma, Dr Kirsty Ferguson writes poetry about her work as a way of engaging with patients and their families.

“It's a really nice way of taking some quite technical science and turning it into a positive force for good and common understanding,” she said.

As part of Cambridge Creative Encounters for the 2023 Cambridge Festival, Dr Ferguson was inspired by patient and family stories from the charity Neuroblastoma UK as a basis for some of her poetry.

“I found some very powerful and moving stories which I combined into a poem to help others understand what it’s like to live through this condition,” she added. “The message ‘fly high’ speaks to children who are sadly no longer with us, those who have survived neuroblastoma and fly high despite side-effects, and families who continue to navigate this path alongside their children and courageously share their stories.”

A ball of neuroblastoma cells forming mature nerves after drug treatment

CREDIT

Kirsty Ferguson/Developmental Cell

Fly High

By Kirsty Ferguson – with many thanks to Neuroblastoma UK and all those who allowed their words to be shared, italicised throughout this poem.

None of us
had heard the word
neuroblastoma,
until that frightful day.

Just 18 months old,
Tumour size of a fist,
With ten per cent chance
of surviving, they say.

Then chemotherapy, surgery,
A stem cell transplant;
We were so proud
Of her fighting spirit.

Radio-,
Differentiation-,
Immuno-therapy;
And he never complained one bit.

This cancer -
It was relentless.
What would we fight
It with now?

There’s a lasting impact
When a child has cancer,
But we continue through,
Somehow.

My little angel
Slipped away that morning,
As I whispered,
“I love you, fly high”.

Now up above,
With wings they spread,
Sparkles of hope
In the deep blue sky.

See everyone
needs a bit of hope,
Even just,
A tiny glimmer.

You never know the journey
Life will take you on -
Remember to look
For the things that shimmer.

Put your heart and soul
Into what you want to achieve -
Don’t let cancer
Hold you back.

I truly wish you
A future you deserve,
Fly high,
And never look back.

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JOURNAL

Developmental Cell

DOI

10.1016/j.devcel.2023.08.028 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Palbococlib releases the latent differentiation capacity of neuroblastoma cells

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Sep-2023

Disclaimer: AAAS 

 

MSU research: saving money, milk and improving human health

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Images

EAST LANSING, Mich. – New research from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University finds that dairy producers overtreat cows diagnosed with non-severe cases of clinical mastitis, which increases farm costs and loss of milk.

Pamela Ruegg, the David J. Ellis Chair in Antimicrobial Resistance and professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, estimates the direct costs of treatment could be reduced by $65.20 per case if the minimum labeled durations are used, which she said provides the same health outcomes as current practices. The cost of mastitis to the U.S. dairy industry is approximately $110 per cow per year — and that dollar amount increases annually.

In dairy cows, mastitis is the inflammation of mammary glands in the udder, usually caused by a bacterial infection that leads to decreased quantity and quality of milk. Milk produced by cows while they’re being treated with antibiotics must be discarded, as well as the milk produced after treatment during the withholding period — usually three to four days after the last treatment has been given.

Published in the Journal of Dairy Science, Ruegg analyzed non-severe cases of clinical mastitis for approximately 50,000 cows on 37 commercial dairy farms in Wisconsin. She found that milk discarded due to antibiotic treatment represents at least 53% and up to 80% of total direct costs for each day of treatment.

The bottom line: Ruegg found that for routine treatments, following the minimum labelled duration for mastitis treatment drugs is critical to farm cost savings and productivity, as well as maintaining animal and human health.  

“Our work indicates that we need to take a hard look at duration of treatment, and unless you can justify improved clinical outcomes, we should treat using the minimum duration listed on product labels, and for shorter durations,” Ruegg said.

“With that, there’s both a financial savings for the producer, and there’s a human health benefit because we’re putting less antimicrobials into our ecosystems. There are benefits for society, and guess what? You’ll have the same outcomes.”

The opportunity to save on the costs of treatment and regain revenue from less discarded milk is hard to ignore for producers who are already facing steep fiscal challenges. Dairy producers in the U.S. are battling against federal milk pricing regulations and pandemic aftermath, losing on average more than $6 per hundredweight (milk sales unit) on farms of more than 50 cows.

And mastitis isn’t going anywhere, Ruegg said.

“The proportion of cows with clinical mastitis isn’t going down. At best, it’s stable, and at worst, it’s increasing, probably because of environmental pathogens that tend to cause larger inflammatory responses.”

Mastitis is an expensive disease. Ruegg said because cows now produce almost twice as much milk since she started practicing in 1984, the same treatment protocol today costs approximately 40% more.

“We have five products labeled to treat clinical mastitis in the U.S. The FDA-approved labeled duration of treatment with those drugs ranges from one day to up to eight days. People generally treat for five days because the milk remains visually abnormal on average for five days. Dairy farmers feel like they should treat until it looks like it’s cured. But a lot of our previous work has shown that the abnormal milk appearance is from inflammation, and it’s not predictive of any outcomes like the presence of bacteria or infection recurrence. Again, there’s no benefit.

Read on MSUToday.

###

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 165 years. One of the world's leading research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 400 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Dairy Science

DOI

10.3168/jds.2023-23388 

ARTICLE TITLE

Variation in Partial Direct Costs of Treating Clinical Mastitis among 37 Wisconsin Dairy Farms

 

Using ‘spent’ coffee and tea to boost shelf life and nutritional value of cakes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: THESE SPONGE CAKES, FORTIFIED WITH SPENT TEA LEAVES (LEFT) OR COFFEE GROUNDS (RIGHT), WERE MORE NUTRITIOUS AND LASTED LONGER THAN CONTROLS. view more 

CREDIT: MOHAMED MAHMOUD

On a crisp fall afternoon, there are few pairings better than a hot beverage and a sweet pastry. But what if you could use the left-over tea leaves or coffee grounds from the drink to make that tasty treat a healthier one, too? Researchers reporting in ACS Omega have done just that by incorporating spent tea or coffee powders into sponge cake batters to make a more nutritious and longer-lasting snack.

Tea and coffee are among the most-consumed beverages in the world — second only to water. In addition to providing caffeine, both are rich in bioactive substances, including antioxidants, fiber and important nutrients, including potassium and calcium. But during the process of preparing the drinks, many of these compounds are left behind, either in coffee grounds or tea leaves. Spent tea or coffee has been added to animal feeds and agricultural compost in the past, but few researchers have looked at incorporating these wastes into foods to fortify them for human consumption. So, Abdelrahman Ahmed, Khaled Ramadan, Mohamed Mahmoud and colleagues wanted to include spent tea and coffee powders in sponge cakes, as well as explore their nutritional and sensory properties and shelf lives.

To create the powders, the team brewed either black tea or Arabica coffee, then thoroughly rinsed, dried and pulverized the leftover grounds or leaves. These were then added into the flour used for sponge cake batter in different amounts, creating loaves with either 1%, 2% or 3% powder. This material gave the cakes a higher antioxidant activity and increased concentrations of important nutrients compared to control ones made with only regular flour. However, a sensory panel rated loaves with higher amounts of spent tea powder with lower sensory properties, largely because of their darkened appearance. Cakes with spent coffee powder were scored more similarly to the control loaves in terms of appearance, taste and texture. Additionally, the fortified cakes were slightly more shelf stable, and had less microbial growth after up to 14 days of storage. The researchers say that this work could help provide new pathways to recycle an otherwise wasted product and improve the nutritional value of foods.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Deputyship for Research and Innovation of the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

 

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JOURNAL

ACS Omega

DOI

10.1021/acsomega.3c03747 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Bioactive Substances in Spent Black Tea and Arabic Coffee Could Improve the Nutritional Value and Extend the Shelf Life of Sponge Cake after Fortification

 

Spotlight on mud snakes: Study unveils evolutionary secrets of enigmatic snake family from Southeastern Asia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

 

IMAGE: A SPECIES OF MUD SNAKE, ENHYDRIS ENHYDRIS, FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA. view more 

CREDIT: KENNETH CHIN

LAWRENCE — A new University of Kansas genomic investigation of a group of unheralded but unique “mud snakes” from Southeast Asia is rewriting the evolutionary history of this family, named the Homalopsidae. The results just were published in the Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists. 

Species of mud snake can inhabit fresh, brackish or saltwater coastal and inland areas, mostly sleeping by day and munching on fish and crustaceans by night. Now, they've also fascinated two generations of KU researchers.

The new DNA-driven investigation by lead author Justin Bernstein, a KU Center for Genomics postdoctoral researcher, is an example of systematics: the study of how species evolve and their relationships through time. It builds on a “monumental” study of mud snakes conducted without benefit of DNA analysis in 1970 by Ko Ko Gyi. Gyi was a promising evolutionary biologist from Myanmar who conducted research in the Division of Herpetology of the KU Natural History Museum during a three-year fellowship from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

“Our new paper looks at the evolutionary relationships and history of mud snakes, which are found in primarily South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Guinea — and they're very poorly studied,” Bernstein said. “We don't know too much about them, despite decades of effort, including the efforts of Gyi, because they're kind of hard to find. They're aquatic snakes who prefer muddy environments. They're nocturnal. Very few people have studied their evolution.”

Bernstein and his co-authors shed light on mud snake evolutionary history using genomics by combining genetic analyses of older museum specimens' mitochondrial DNA with fresher genetic samples from recent field collections (which allow for much higher-resolution molecular analysis — they used data from 4,800 nuclear loci in each genome).

“If you have an animal that's been dead for days and extract DNA from that tissue, it's going to be degraded — it's not going to be high quality, which interferes with our results,” Bernstein said. “That means we either can't analyze it, or the results might be kind of weird and we can't trust them. But this idea of getting DNA from old specimens in natural history museums has really been on the rise in the last decade. While the DNA is degraded, there've been protocols in the last 10 years to get high-quality DNA out of old specimens that are over 100 years old from natural history collections.”

The researchers used the mitochondrial data from those museum-specimen samples to fill in knowledge gaps for a more accurate biogeographic history of Homalopsidae. Combining that with DNA samples from recent specimens, they reconstructed the most comprehensive family tree of Homalopsidae relationships, showing which species branched from common ancestors and roughly when.

Bernstein's co-authors were Hugo de Souza and Kartik Shanker of the Indian Institute of Science; John Murphy, Harold Voris and Sara Ruane of the Field Museum in Chicago; Edward Myers of Clemson University and the California Academy of Sciences; Sean Harrington of the University of Wyoming and American Museum of Natural History; and Rafe Brown, curator-in-charge at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum and professor of ecology & evolutionary biology.

“Following up on Gyi's pioneering and foundational work, Justin has been able to avail of a technological breakthrough, which we refer to now as 'museumomics' — the extraction and sequencing of degraded DNA, even from very old formalin-preserved specimens that were preserved dozens to hundreds of years ago,” said Brown, who served as an “outside” member of Bernstein's doctoral committee at Rutgers. “Obviously, the quality of that highly degraded DNA is variable, but new genomic sequencing technologies, bioinformatic tools, and diligent studies on the part of museum biologists have developed best practices for reconstructing highly fragmented genomes of specimens that were preserved upwards of a century ago. Justin successfully harnessed these new state-of-the-art tools, but also brought his own research 'full circle,' historically following up on Gyi’s work.”

The new paper shows one long-held concept regarding mud snakes was incorrect. For years, scientists (including Bernstein) thought ice age fluctuations in sea level might have acted as a “species pump” that drove diversification of the mud snakes. Indeed, much regional biodiversity can be traced to sea level rise and fall. But the new paper shows, “Pleistocene sea level changes and habitat specificity did not primarily lead to the extant species richness of Homalopsidae.”

Instead, Bernstein and his colleagues believe a more likely driver of mud snake species richness happened around 20 million years earlier, during the Oligocene, when sliding tectonic plates and shifting rivers in Southeast Asia might have severed and reestablished gene flow repeatedly between mud snake groups, driving diversification.

“Although we can never prove what did happen, exactly, to trigger diversification in mud snakes, we can rule out, or reject, some previously articulated hypotheses,” Bernstein said. “Because we found strong statistical support for diversification pre-dating Pleistocene sea level fluctuations by 15-20 million years, we need to look to alternative explanations, or novel ways of interpreting the production of biodiversity.”

Bernstein and Brown are quick to point to the pioneering work on mud snakes performed 50 years ago by Gyi, whose work not only figured into the new paper but had several ideas confirmed by later DNA testing.

“Gyi completed a monumental work on this group of snakes, more than 50 years ago, and without the benefit of molecular analysis,” Brown said. “That, in and of itself, is quite an accomplishment — his work was thoroughly comprehensive for the time, he really made the most of the available technologies, such as detailed X-rays of the skulls of all the species in this mysterious group of snakes, and he totally took the study of the evolutionary relationships of mud snakes 'from zero to 60' in his 1970 monograph. I know his adviser, the late Bill Duellman, was heartbroken to find out that Gyi passed away unexpectedly back in Myanmar, shortly after he left KU. But, here at KU, we still honor revisit and celebrate Ko Ko Gyi’s unique contributions, even to this day, and his work is continued on by Field Museum of Natural History researchers John Murphy and Harold K. Voris — and now by Justin Bernstein.”

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JOURNAL

Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists

DOI

10.18061/bssb.v2i1.9393 

 

Spina bifida congress catalyzes global collaboration to improve patient care

Supplement to the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine represents the international effort addressing this complex medical condition

Peer-Reviewed Publication

IOS PRESS

 

IMAGE: A SUPPLEMENT TO THE JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC REHABILITATION MEDICINE PRESENTS A COMPENDIUM OF ABSTRACTS FROM THE 2023 WORLD CONGRESS ON SPINA BIFIDA RESEARCH AND CARE. view more 

CREDIT: JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC REHABILITATION MEDICINE.

Amsterdam, September 21, 2023 – A supplement to the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (JPRM) published by IOS Press, presents a compendium of abstracts from the 2023 World Congress on Spina Bifida Research and Care. The issue not only serves as a repository, but also as a catalyst to continue the international dialog on research, practical challenges, and real-life solutions for individuals living with spina bifida (SB), their families, and care partners.

According to co-Guest Editor Jonathan Castillo, MD, MPH, Chief of Developmental Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha, at this year's Congress the unmistakable spirit of an international community dedicated to SB care became manifest.

Dr. Castillo explains: "There are many innovative research activities in nearly all aspects of SB care across numerous countries around the globe. From prenatal repair to adult care, both SB care and research are rapidly increasing in complexity. The involvement of the SB community is becoming more and more evident among investigational activities."

The 2023 World Congress attracted an unprecedented number of thought leaders from more than 100 health and research institutions across 18 countries. As the only conference dedicated solely to SB, it showcased the landscape of research and addressed gaps and opportunities in SB care. It included 135 abstract presentations and another 89 abstract posters. The abstracts, and ultimately the larger work they represent, are anticipated to continue to shape the future of spina bifida care for years to come.

On behalf of the Congress' organizing body, the Spina Bifida Association, co-Guest Editor of the issue, Judy Thibadeau, RN, MN, Director of Research and Services, Spina Bifida Association, adds: "The World Congress, designed for researchers, healthcare providers, and individuals living with SB, is a forum to make new connections, develop relationships across disciplines, establish collaborations for future research projects, and discuss the research driving the care for those with SB."

Topics in this special collection of abstracts include urology, neurosurgery, global health, prenatal surgery, and transition to adult care, among others. SB care has required fresh approaches to address its many emerging challenges amidst the global community.

"Ultimately, through the dissemination of this corpus of abstracts, we hope that professionals will be aided and inspired to continue to improve the education, advocacy, and care among the many communities of individuals affected with SB globally," commented co-Guest Editor Tim Brei, MD, Spina Bifida Association, Arlington, VA, and Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the University of Washington School of Medicine.

A special emphasis at this year’s Congress was education and employment to improve quality of life. The new evidence presented sharply underscored the high prevalence of underemployment and the paucity of post-secondary education among individuals living with SB. The numerous findings that echo these findings ultimately highlighted the importance of early interventions and research activities focused on issues related to cognition and early developmental milestones in the lives of individuals with SB.

“Sustaining the international dialog that took place at the World Congress will be essential in mitigating the loss of momentum in the hard-fought collaboration now created,” adds co-Guest Editor Heidi Castillo, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Medicine, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha. “We all would agree that more significant progress is made when we work synergistically; yet continuing the multicenter outreach between conferences requires dedicated energy and vision. It is our hope that a new generation of professionals will leverage today’s technology to remain in close contact moving forward.”

Dr. Jonathan Castillo observes: “In our current global context, neither research nor advocacy is done in a vacuum. From clinical care to SB-related education, the value and necessity of our international community of professionals is self-evident. Therefore, it is my hope that activities such as this World Congress will continue to pave a path forward for true international collaboration.”

JPRM's Editor-in-Chief Elaine Pico, MD, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, is delighted to have been able to publish these abstracts as a supplemental issue to the journal: "The abstracts add so much to our spina bifida literature and truly represent a global effort to address a complex medical condition." 

Spina bifida (split spine) is a birth defect that occurs when an embryo's neural tube is developing but does not form properly. The neural tube eventually becomes the baby's brain, spinal cord and the tissues enclosing them. Although the exact cause of spina bifida is still unknown, it is believed that a complex mix of both genetic and environmental factors act together to cause the condition. Folic acid supplementation in the child-bearing years is known to decrease the risk.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Abstracts of the 2023 World Congress on Spina Bifida Research and Care

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Sep-2023

 

Safer neighborhoods may mitigate risk of child abuse

Improving the built environment and expanding housing services in low-incoming communities are protective factors against child abuse, Rutgers study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Researchers have long suspected that neighborhoods can be a source of risk or protection for child well-being. A new Rutgers study supports this assumption and finds that when parents feel higher levels of stress or hopelessness about their surroundings, they may have a more difficult time caring for their children.

 

“To get the best outcomes for kids and to elicit the best parenting, families need a safe, stable, stimulating environment, both at home and in the surrounding community,” said Katherine Marcal, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work and coauthor of the study published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.

 

“But if you live in a neighborhood where you can’t go outside, can’t go to a park or can’t walk down the sidewalk because there are drug dealers or trash, then families are cooped up in stressful conditions. This stress can make maltreatment more likely to occur.”

 

Most previous work has focused only on residents’ views of neighborhood quality and safety. By examining both parent and outsider perspectives, the researchers were able to substantiate a link between neighborhood disorder and child maltreatment.

 

Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of children born in large United States cities between 1998 and 2000, Marcal and colleagues sought to assess the link between neighborhood conditions at child age 3 and child maltreatment at age 5.

 

As part of the well-being study, mothers reported on how often they encountered drug activity, gang violence and other dangerous elements in their community. Answers ranged from “never” to “frequently.” In the same study, outsiders recorded physical qualities such as vacant buildings, abandoned cars, trash and other signs of physical deterioration in the neighborhoods where mothers lived.

 

Marcal and her colleagues then assessed the relationship between these neighborhood factors with subsequent child maltreatment behaviors.

 

The researchers found that resident and outsider perceptions of neighborhood disorder were independently related to the likelihood of physical abuse. Additionally, resident perceptions of neighborhood disorder were associated with greater likelihood of psychological abuse.

 

The findings have significant implications for child welfare strategies, Marcal said. Improving the built environment, reducing poverty and providing adequate housing and housing services could help reduce maltreatment risks in low-income communities, the researchers wrote.

 

“We’re definitely gaining a better understanding of how stress and hardship affects behaviors,” said Marcal. “Child abuse isn't just a simple matter of bad people being bad parents.”

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JOURNAL

Child Abuse & Neglect

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106331 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Neighborhoods and child abuse: Multiple informant perspectives