Past News Items - November 2023
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In the News
Kyowa Hakko Educates the Educators on Cognizin® Citicoline and brain health supplements during a unique event in New York City
Acupuncture becomes more mainstream as pain therapy
Fatty liver disease gets a new name
Following a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cognitive decline in older people
Kyowa Hakko Bio Releases Inaugural Creating Shared Value Progress Report
FDA gives update on dietary supplement office status in new Human Foods Program
AACN Program Empowers Nurses to Create Healthier Work Environments That Improve Outcomes
UC Irvine-led team of researchers uncovers battery-like functions of mitochondria
Gnosis by Lesaffre Launches MenaQ7® Protect
Kyowa Hakko Educates the Educators on Cognizin® Citicoline and brain health supplements during a unique event in New York City
Leading international health ingredient manufacturer Kyowa Hakko U.S.A., Inc. celebrated a first-of-its-kind event in New York City on November 8th, embracing the company's vision of improving people's health while addressing the increasing interest in brain health supplements.
With consumer demand for brain health supplements on the rise, the Neuro Navigators event was a meeting of the minds where experts and authorities of science, education and influence debunked some of the myths surrounding dietary supplements and presented facts backed by science and regulations to an engaged audience of dietitians and nutritionists.
Karen E. Todd, RD, CSCS, EP-C, CISSN and Vice President Global Brand Marketing for Kyowa Hakko, U.S.A., Inc., led the conversation with opening remarks that covered the overall state of the industry where 74 percent of U.S. adults have reported taking supplements, according to the 2023 CRN Consumer Survey in Dietary Supplement.
Along with keynote speaker, nationally recognized Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN, panelists and guest speakers at the event included Danielle Citrolo, PharmD and VP Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Kyowa Hakko, U.S.A., Inc.; Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN and Vice President of Scientific Affairs at mindbodygreen; Hannah Margaret Allen, panel, Q&A moderator and head of content at mindbodygreen; Crystal Webber, MS, RD and & Chief Innovation Officer of FIG - Formulation Innovations Group, Diana Morgan, MS, CISSN and Vice President Global Regulatory & Government Affairs for Nutrabolt® and Amy Gorin, MS, RDN and CEO of Master the Media.
Attendees heard exciting discussions about choosing the right supplements as one of the tools at people's disposal to achieve optimal brain health. They also learned that although there are different things to look for in a label, highlighting these three items: branded ingredients, third-party certifications and regulated claims are key when searching for trustworthy supplements. There was great interest in the discussions on the power of research to validate the studies behind supplements. Kyowa Hakko's branded ingredient Cognizin® Citicoline is a case in point due to its over 30 clinical studies.
Discussions about the regulation of the supplement industry, which the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) oversees under its subcategory of food, received a great reception among attendees due in part to the recent surge in news articles discussing the role of dietitians and experts endorsing products - transparency was the key take-away.
Gummies and guiding consumers on how to choose better ones was the talk of the day as one of the market trends that are here to stay. Finally, the main goal of the event, educating healthcare professionals on assessing and identifying supplements with the best-quality ingredients and effective doses while ensuring they have the right tools to guide their clients responsibly, was achieved.
Kyowa Hakko U.S.A. President, Gerard Adams, in a post event interview indicated the Kirin Group's (parent company of Kyowa Hakko) values were exemplified during the event with a display of passion, integrity and diversity. "From the participation and enthusiasm of both the livestream and in-person audience to the transparency, with which we pride ourselves on as the trusted supplier and partner for our customers and consumers, combined with the diversity of these women of science-focused event, supported everything that we passionately believe in."
To learn more about Cognizin® Citicoline, please visit: https://cognizin.com. For interviews with any of the speakers, contact Giselle Chollett at giselle@adinnyc.com or 917.386.7116.
About Cognizin® Citicoline:
Cognizin® Citicoline, manufactured by Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd., is a clinically studied and branded form of Citicoline, a natural substance made endogenously in the body and especially vital to brain health. Citicoline is a potent brain-health nutrient. A proprietary form of citicoline, Cognizin® has been clinically studied to support mental energy, focus, attention, and recall. Cognizin® is manufactured through a fermentation process to yield high quality and high purity. Cognizin® is also highly stable, GRAS, ultra-pure, and allergen-free. For more information on Cognizin®, visit Cognizin.com.
About Kyowa Hakko USA:
Kyowa Hakko USA is the North & South American office of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co. Ltd., an international health ingredients manufacturer and world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and food & beverage products. Kyowa is the maker of branded ingredients, including IMMUSE™ LC-Plasma, Eyemuse™ Lacticaseibacillus paracasei KW3110, Cognizin® Citicoline, Pantesin® Pantethine, Setria® Glutathione, as well as L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine. For more information, visit http://www.kyowa-usa.com.
Acupuncture becomes more mainstream as pain therapy
In the 1970s, when Brenda Loew first heard that her grandmother was seeking pain relief from an acupuncturist in New York City’s Chinatown, she was horrified.
“Why would she want to have needles stuck in her?” Loew remembers thinking. “It sounded barbaric.”
Today Loew laughs at that reaction. She’s an acupuncture teaching associate with UW Medicine’s Osher Center for Integrative Health and has been in practice for over 30 years.
Acupuncture has become increasingly mainstream, especially as more patients seek out safer methods of pain relief, she said.
"The opioid epidemic is a national public health tragedy that continues to escalate and that is one reason that acupuncture has been catapulted into medical services around the country,” she said. “Due to overprescribing opioids for years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises maximizing nonpharmacological options, including acupuncture."
Current standard nonopioid treatments for managing chronic pain include COX2-selective and nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , which carry both analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. However, these agents have adverse side effects on gastrointestinal and cardiovascular function, Loew said.
A recent nationwide study by the National Institutes of Health found high rates of persistent chronic pain among U.S. adults. Among people with chronic pain, almost two-thirds continue to suffer for more than a year, the study reported.
For decades, the treatment was viewed with suspicion by many practitioners of Western medicine. In the 1970s, the first acupuncture clinic opened in New York City, and the state of Nevada started to accept acupuncture as a medical modality. As of January 2018, there were 37,886 licensed acupuncturists in the United States.
Small studies and meta-analyses have found acupuncture effective in treatment for arthritis and chronic pain and in palliative care for cancer. It’s been shown to influence the immune system and circulation, Loew noted.
Acupuncture stimulates neurotransmitters and encourages the release of endorphins in the body, among other mechanisms. The needles, about the width of a human hair, are inserted at various points in the body. Typically, about 10 to 20 needles are inserted, and sessions last 30 to 50 minutes.
Loew receives patient referrals not only for chronic back and neck pain, but also for gynecological pain, menstrual pain, knee pain, joint pain and headaches. Long COVID patients are seeking care from acupuncturists for balance, brain fog, pain, stress and anxiety, she said.
Loew acknowledges that acupuncture’s healing mechanisms are not wholly understood.
“We do know that there is a broad neuro response and that the body's own opioid peptides are stimulated through needle therapy,” she said. “We also know that acupuncture affects blood flow, affects breathing, augments immunity and appears to have a global effect on every system of the body.”
“We live in an amazing time when we can integrate the best of Eastern and Western medicine. The ancestors, including my grandmother, had the wisdom to pursue such treatments to help people feel better," Loew said.
Written by Barbara Clements - 253-740-5043, bac60@uw.edu
Fatty liver disease gets a new name
The former Metabolic and Fatty Liver Clinic at the University of Chicago Medicine is getting a new name that transcends mere signage.
Clinic director Mary E. Rinella, MD, spearheaded a years-long process to change nomenclature (perceived characteristics) surrounding the disease worldwide.
The new terminology drops stigmatizing words, precisely describes the condition and identifies a subgroup of patients omitted under the former diagnostic criteria, said Rinella, a board-certified transplant hepatologist and professor at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
The new, neutral name under consideration is the Metabolic Liver Clinic. The change is subtle, but it reflects a shift in how clinicians and patients approach a disease that affects up to 30% of adults worldwide.
No more ‘fatty’
Gone is the long-used, problematic term “nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,” which most members of a 236-person multinational panel of clinicians, patients, public health and regulatory representatives agreed could create stigma. But that wasn’t the only reason for dissatisfaction with the label, Rinella said.
“Nonalcoholic liver disease is an exclusionary diagnosis,” she said. “You're saying what it's not – ‘It's not alcohol, but what is it?’”
The answer: it's a metabolic disease. Fat accumulates in the cells of the liver, causing inflammation and scarring that can lead to liver cancer or the need for a transplant.
That’s why the new name for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is “metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease,” or MASLD, which reflects the underpinnings of the disease and changes the conversation with patients, Rinella said.
“It speaks to the abnormal metabolism that leads to this liver disease,” she said. “It points you toward an understanding of how you got there in the first place.”
People with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are at high risk, but the disease can be asymptomatic and undiagnosed, Rinella said.
Patients sometimes land in her clinic after an ultrasound, CT scan or blood test reveals the disease. A screening tool known as FIB-4 can help identify liver disease and is recommended for at-risk people, particularly individuals with diabetes.
“If you catch it early enough, you can reverse it. The problem is that it's not noticed, and then people get super sick and they get cirrhosis, or they get cancer,” Rinella said.
An alphabet of new names
MASLD is part of a constellation of new, neutral names announced in June at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress. The news was published simultaneously in Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology and Annals of Hepatology, on behalf of the American Association for Study of Liver Disease, the EASL in Switzerland and the Asociación Latinoamericana para el Estudio del Hígado in South America (ALEH).
Steatotic liver disease is the overarching term for liver disease with metabolic or alcohol-related causes, Rinella said.
The new category, “MetALD,” covers patients with metabolic liver disease who consume moderate amounts of alcohol, bridging a gap between MASLD and alcohol-related liver disease.
Until now, such patients would have been excluded from clinical trials for MASLD, “which means that we may not understand how they respond to treatment,” Rinella said.
“There are actually medications that would work nicely in a patient population like that, so there's already research activity starting on that group of patients,” she said.
Worldwide change
The Nomenclature Development Initiative led by Rinella came about after an alternate name was proposed for what is now MASLD. That term, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, or MAFLD, began to gain traction, but it also represented a “very significant” problem by setting more stringent metabolic criteria and allowing for concomitant alcohol use, Rinella said.
As a result, MAFLD defined a patient population that differed from the standard group that served as the basis for decades of research, she said.
MASLD, while providing an affirmative definition, retains alcohol limits in use and is sufficiently broad for the patient population to have near-complete overlap with NAFLD, Rinella said. With the new MetALD category, “disease course in this important population can be assessed and addressed,” Rinella said.
The nomenclature initiative was built around transparency and consensus, using a Delphi process (which uses the collective opinion of panel members).
“We did this to bring all parties together to try and reach a common ground,” Rinella said.
The work is still incomplete. One challenge is changing billing codes, not just in the U.S., but around the globe, Rinella said.
Organizations large and small will have to make the transition in a way that avoids confusing patients or losing identity and referrals — a discussion that will be had before the new clinic name is finalized at UChicago Medicine, Rinella said.
“It just takes time,” Rinella said.
The new terminology “has been taken up extremely well,” she said. “Surprisingly well, actually. All over the world, it’s being used.”
Following a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cognitive decline in older people
Old people who follow a Mediterranean diet are at a lower risk of cognitive decline, according to a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. The study provides new evidence for a better understanding of the biological mechanisms related to the impact of the diet on cognitive health in the ageing population.
The study is led by Mireia Urpí-Sardá, adjunct lecturer and member of the Biomarkers and Nutritional & Food Metabolomics research group of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, the Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB), the Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the University of Barcelona, and the CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Ageing (CIBERFES).
This European study, part of the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL) was carried out over twelve years and it involved 840 people over 65 years of age (65% of whom were women) in the Bourdeaux and Dijon regions of France.
Healthy diet and cognitive performance
According to Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, UB professor and head of the CIBERFES group, “within the framework of the study, a dietary metabolomic index has been designed —based on biomarkers obtained from the participants’ serum— on the food groups that form part of the Mediterranean diet. Once this index is known, its association with cognitive impairment is evaluated”.
in the study, baseline levels of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, gut microbiota-derived polyphenol metabolites and other phytochemicals in serum that reflect individual bioavailability were chosen as biomarkers. Some of these indicators have not only been recognized as marks of exposure to the main food groups of the Mediterranean diet but have also been held responsible for the health benefits of the Mediterranean dietary pattern.
The metabolome or set of metabolites — related to food and derived from gut microbiota activity — was studied through a large-scale quantitative metabolomic analysis from the serum of the participants without dementia, from the beginning of the study. Cognitive impairment was assessed by five neuropsychological tests over twelve years.
As a result, the study reveals a protective association between the score of the Mediterranean diet based on serum biomarkers and cognitive decline in older people.
Biomarkers to study the benefits of the diet
According to Mercè Pallàs, professor at the UB Neurosciences Institute (UBneuro), "the use of dietary pattern indices based on food-intake biomarkers is a step forward towards the use of more accurate and objective dietary assessment methodologies that take into account important factors such as bioavailability".
Expert Alba Tor-Roca, first author of the study and CIBERFES researcher at the UB, explains that “we found that adherence to Mediterranean diet assessed by a panel of dietary biomarkers is inversely associated with long-term cognitive decline in older people. These results support the use of these indicators in long-term follow-up assessments to observe the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet or other dietary patterns and therefore, guide personalized counselling at older ages”.
The study was carried out in collaboration with teams from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the Faculty of Biology and the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Chemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the UB. Teams from the University of Bordeaux and the INRAE centre at Clermont-Ferrand University (France), King’s College London (United Kingdom), the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and the Parcelsus Medical University in Salzburg (Austria) have also participated.
Funding was obtained through the International Joint Programming Actions PCIN-2015-229, the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) and from the former Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”.
Kyowa Hakko Bio Releases Inaugural Creating Shared Value Progress Report
Kyowa Hakko Bio, a member of the Kirin Group and the parent company of Kyowa Hakko USA, has published its first report detailing its impact on global health and sustainability.
A creating shared value (CSV) company, Kyowa Hakko Bio is dedicated to leveraging its advanced biochemical technologies to contribute to the achievement of better health and wellbeing, as well as the conservation of the global environment and the realization of a sustainable society.
“Corporations have the unique opportunity to make significant impacts on environmental and social issues,” said Gerard Adams, President and CEO, Kyowa Hakko USA, Inc. “Kyowa Hakko Bio is consistently advancing CSV initiatives to address environmental impacts and human rights through every stage of the value chain, and this report allows us to make these efforts accessible to the industries and consumers we serve.”
The 2023 CSV Progress Report details the company’s vision, environmental and activity policies, management, target goals, and progress to-date regarding sustainability initiates, which are directly tied to many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Kyowa Hakko Bio is continuously working to balance business growth with reducing the company’s negative impact on the environment. CSV initiatives include Kyowa Hakko Bio’s commitment to overcome climate change, reduce water use and contamination, and conserve biological resources.
?In order to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Kyowa Hakko Bio is shifting to energy-saving equipment, including the introduction of high-efficiency boilers at
the company’s U.S. site in 202
0 (reducing annual natural gas consumption by approximately 8%).
?Kyowa Hakko Bio also aims to shift to 100% renewable energy across all operations by 2040, introducing “Renewable Energy Certificates (I-REC)” at its overseas facilities and leasing unused land to large-scale solar power generation companies, contributing to the spread of clean energy.
?Kyowa Hakko Bio actively reduces water consumption through a number of conservation activities, including installing water-saving equipment and implementing a cooling system for recycling and reusing water.
?Dedicated to keeping natural waterways clean, Kyowa Hakko Bio has set voluntary wastewater standards that are stricter than those required by regional regulations and uses excess sludge for composting and other purposes at overseas facilities, contributing to the reduction of waste.
?Kyowa Hakko Bio values the use of sustainable biological resources and has set the target of achieving 100% use of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified or recycled paper for packaging materials by 2030. Four of five sites have already accomplished the goal.
Kyowa Hakko Bio has established a CVS Promotion Team to integrate its CSV initiatives into corporate strategies, as well as monitor and report on the progress of its CSV commitments.
“Consumers are spending their money on brands that align with their personal values, and we’re proud to give sustainability-minded shoppers more confidence to purchase products made with Cognizin®, IMMUSE™, and other branded ingredients from Kyowa Hakko Bio,” said Karen Todd, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing, Kyowa Hakko USA.
Within its more than 2,000 employee workforce, Kyowa Hakko Bio is focusing on continued growth by harnessing the strengths of its diverse workforce, which fosters innovation and new value. Among the notable community engagements of the Kyowa Hakko USA team is Todd’s appointment as the first Chairperson at Women In Nutraceuticals.
About Kyowa Hakko USA: Kyowa Hakko USA is the North & South American office of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co. Ltd., an international health ingredients manufacturer and world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and food & beverage products. Kyowa Hakko Bio is the maker of branded ingredients, including IMMUSE™ LC-Plasma,
EYEMUSE™ Lacticaseibacillus paracasei KW3110, Cognizin® Citicoline, Pantesin® Pantethine, and Setria® Glutathione. For more information, visit http://www.kyowa-usa.com.
FDA gives update on dietary supplement office status in new Human Foods Program
As FDA announced at the start of the year, we are embarking on an ambitious plan to transform our current organizational structure in the various foods programs across FDA into a unified Human Foods Program (HFP).
Some stakeholders have raised concerns about how dietary supplement oversight fits in this new vision and the potential impact on the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP). We take these concerns seriously.
While ODSP has done a tremendous job in advancing the regulation of the marketplace, dietary supplement oversight has faced challenges given the size and diversity of the industry and its products when compared to available resources, the largely post-market nature of its oversight, and the unique issues and expertise needed to effectively regulate the marketplace. We believe that implementation of the HFP proposal will strengthen the oversight of dietary supplements in general and the effectiveness of ODSP in three main ways.
First, as proposed, ODSP will remain a distinct office and be integrated into a new larger office called the Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements and Innovation (OFCSDSI). This new office will leverage FDA information systems and scientific expertise that apply to pre-market reviews and post-market surveillance of substances added to conventional foods or dietary supplements.
Aligning our surveillance efforts and safety assessments through the same risk management area will advance the efficiencies of these existing programs, but also provide opportunities for the early identification of potential public health threats that may affect the different commodities.
The opportunity to integrate the scientific expertise that applies to safety evaluations of both foods and dietary supplements and collaborate in promoting innovative ingredients for the conventional food and dietary supplement marketplaces would advance both programs.
But ODSP would retain the important dietary supplement perspective in applying the appropriate statutory authorities to supplement-specific matters.
Second, the proposal will increase accountability and transparency to stakeholders regarding priorities for dietary supplement regulatory activities and use of our programmatic resources. Congressional appropriations for dietary supplements dictate the level of effort we can bring to dietary supplement oversight and FDA is committed to using our resources as Congress specifies.
Under the proposed redesign of the HFP, ODSP will remain the lead office responsible for executing the agency’s unique dietary supplement responsibilities. ODSP will retain its own line status in the FDA budget, providing a clear delineation between funds spent on dietary supplements and those expended for other specific programs.
And finally, the proposed reorganization will bring greater clarity to decision making. For example, many functions critical to the regulation of dietary supplements are divided across multiple offices beyond ODSP, including inspections, import operations and testing.
This realignment intends to address fundamental organizational challenges in our current structure by modernizing inspectional and compliance processes, defining decision rights, mapping resource allocation to allow greater risk prioritization, improving operational relationships between field and program laboratories, enacting an enterprise-wide transformation of how the entire field workforce operates, realigning state and local partnership programs, and redesigning the HFP from stem to stern.
These are not superficial fixes but rather well thought out improvements that will deliver a program designed to operate with greater agility, effectiveness and efficiency.
In sum, our proposed structure of a larger Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements and Innovation will ensure that our responsiveness to dietary supplement issues and inquiries will not be diminished. To the contrary, we will continue to prioritize additional resources and modernized authorities to strengthen our oversight of the dietary supplement marketplace. FDA will continue to collaborate with our stakeholders to ensure that products marketed as dietary supplements are safe, well-manufactured and accurately labeled.
AACN Program Empowers Nurses to Create Healthier Work Environments That Improve Outcomes
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is bringing the lessons learned from its proven nurse leadership and innovation program and its Healthy Work Environment (HWE) initiative to help nurses at hospitals around the country improve the health of their workplaces.
AACN Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy is a unit-based program using implementation science to leverage direct care nurses’ expertise and build additional skills, preparing and supporting them as clinician leaders who effect positive changes that improve patient, nurse and hospital outcomes.
Building on CSI Academy’s successful 11-year history and the documented benefits of sustaining an HWE, AACN has established a special version of its 12-month, team-oriented CSI program that will focus on implementation of “AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments” (HWE standards).
The initial cohort is now underway in Los Angeles, with nurses from Los Angeles General Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Nurses from hospitals in Ohio, Oregon, Delaware, Texas and Washington will participate in other regional cohorts launching now through spring 2024. The program will eventually encompass to 80 teams with three to four nurses each.
The HWE standards serve as the cornerstone of AACN’s comprehensive HWE initiative, a long-term commitment to creating environments in which nurses can provide the highest standards of safe, compassionate patient care while being fulfilled at work.
Findings from AACN’s most recent National Nurse Work Environments study indicate healthcare teams who have implemented the HWE standards, or are in the process of doing so, report better results than those who have not. Teams who implemented HWE standards reported higher nurse well-being scores, improved staffing with an appropriate skill mix, and higher quality of patient care, among other outcomes.
“A healthy work environment is an essential element to nurse recruitment, satisfaction and retention, while also improving patient, nurse and hospital outcomes,” said AACN Chief Clinical Officer Vicki Good, DNP, RN, CENP, CPPS. “While the positive impact of HWEs has been demonstrated through decades of research, the nursing community still struggles to translate evidence into practice and gain sustained support for HWE implementation. We aim to change that.”
A grant from the AACN Innovation Fund is underwriting the program, with participating hospitals paying a fee of up to $1,500 per unit and providing paid time away from patient care for nurses to participate in the program and attend CSI Academy workshops and sessions.
CSI Academy encourages participating teams of nurses to immediately apply what they learn in a capstone project that improves outcomes in their own units. Over the past 11 years, participants have reported achieving significant results, including:
Decreased nurse overtime, turnover, moral distress, burnout and staffing challenges
Reduced length of stay, ventilator days, infection rates, delirium, pressure injuries and falls
An average median return on investment of 605% per team
Nationwide, more than 512 nurses at 105 hospitals in 15 states have completed the CSI Academy program since its launch in 2012. In total, the program has touched more than 1.2 million patients and over 7,200 nurses, with an estimated positive fiscal impact to hospitals of $111 million.
AACN offers access to its online collection of CSI Academy innovation projects ? including project plans, clinical interventions, data collection tools, outcomes and references ? as part of the program’s goal to inspire and empower as many progressive and critical care nurses as possible. With over 115,000 unique downloads of project materials, the CSI innovation project library has become a resource for hospitals, healthcare administrators and clinical leaders seeking solutions that improve outcomes and reduce costs.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme
UC Irvine-led team of researchers uncovers battery-like functions of mitochondria
Using new super-resolution microscopes, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania have for the first time observed electrical charge and discharge functions inside mitochondria isolated from cells.
A mitochondrion is a structure within a cell that uses aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate, an organic compound that provides energy to support many processes in living tissues. Medical and biomedical engineering researchers have sought greater understanding of mitochondria, recognizing their importance in human health and disease.
While many past research projects have studied the physical characteristics of these components as they exist within living cells, the UCI-led project is the first to use super-resolution microscopes to study live, extracellular mitochondria. By observing the changes in the mitochondrial membranes under different metabolic states this way, the researchers were able to witness the electrophysiological functioning of these living organelles. The team’s results were published in the journal ACS Nano.
“When we first started studying isolated mitochondria, we knew they behaved like a battery based on some work from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology and UCLA, but we could not control them very well inside the cell to probe them,” said co-author Peter Burke, UCI professor of electrical engineering and computer science. “Now we can control each individual electrical component and cause it to charge and discharge.”
He said the work was made possible by a new generation of super-resolution microscopes. Team members used all three leading methods – Airy microscopy, stimulated emission depletion microscopy and lattice structured illumination microscopy – in their study.
This enabled them to examine cristae, repeating serpentine structures within mitochondria that measure about 100 nanometers. The shortest wavelength of visible light is violet at about 380 nanometers, Burke said, so they needed powerful instruments – super-resolution microscopes – to probe the voltage distribution of something less than a third of that size.
“Imagine trying to study how the battery pack in a Tesla works, but you can only do it by driving the car,” he said. “You would not learn much about the battery pack inside the car.”
By taking mitochondria out of the cell and keeping them alive, Burke and his collaborators –
lead author ChiaHung Lee, UCI graduate student researcher in biomedical engineering, and Douglas Wallace of the University of Pennsylvania – were able to charge and discharge them.
“We could observe in detail how each individual part behaved as a single battery, much like how battery packs in drones and cars – which are many smaller batteries – individually combine to power the vehicle,” Burke said. “Interestingly, we found that the batteries rearrange themselves when they charge and discharge, a feature not found in regular batteries.”
He noted that his experiments proved what researchers had long thought while studying snapshots of frozen (dead) mitochondria: The internal structure changes in response to the metabolic needs of the cell. A mitochondrion can create and destroy its “batteries” (cristae) as needed. This shows that, unlike drones and Teslas, mitochondria can alter their internal shapes based on how much energy is needed by cells.
Burke said this work could have broad applications in human health, including studies on how humans age at the cellular level.
“Once we understand how they create energy, we can start to think of ways to modify this for improving human health and longevity,” he said.
The project was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Army Research Office.
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.
Gnosis by Lesaffre Launches MenaQ7® Protect
A collaboration between Gnosis and Probiotical creates the first private-label, ready-to-market, immune-support supplement featuring clinically validated MenaQ7 K2.
Gnosis by Lesaffre is excited to announce its entry into the private label sector with the new MenaQ7® Protect, a stick pack for daily and long-term optimized immune support. Created in collaboration with Probiotical, MenaQ7® Protect offers a seamless ready-to-market solution that addresses the needs of the increasingly quality-conscious and on-the-go consumer.
Each MenaQ7® Protect stick pack provides 1 billion cells each of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BS01 (LMG-P-21384), Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LR04 (DSM 16605), and Bifidobacterium bifidum BB10 (DSM 33678) – strains all carefully selected for their immune-supporting benefits – with 75 mcg of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7, and 80 mg vitamin C. The product is available in a tangy orange flavor and may be ingested directly or added to a beverage.
“Probiotics function in harmony with our immune system, effectively distinguishing allies from adversaries, and play a pivotal role in shielding us against harmful pathogens,” explains Vera Mogna, CEO of Probiotical. “The probiotic strains selected for MenaQ7® Protect naturally occur in the human body and work in concert with the immune system to fortify the body’s defenses. Through meticulous research, we have selected strains that are able to uniquely interact with the immune system, creating a targeted approach to stimulate and fortify our natural defenses. This pioneering collaboration aims to harness the synergistic potential of our premium probiotic strains and MenaQ7®, offering a promising new avenue to support and bolster immune health.”
While MenaQ7® is well-known and proven as a supporter of bone and cardiovascular health, MenaQ7® Protect also marks the debut of Vitamin K2’s role as an immunomodulator. A MenaQ7® in-vitro research has shown it delivers an anti-inflammatory effect1 and reduces oxidative stress in human muscle cells2, important for immune response. Further, early but important evidence has shown that Vitamin K2 may suppress T-cell activation and proliferation, support lung health3, and protect against gut dysbiosis4, which helps optimize immune function.
“We are particularly excited about MenaQ7® Protect as it represents a foray into new areas for Gnosis, both in producing a finished product, but also shifting MenaQ7® into a new condition-specific arena,” said Philippe Caillat, Global Marketing Director with Gnosis by Lesaffre. “Immune health remains a shared common concern all year long and consumers consistently seek products that can optimize immune function continuously, while fitting into their lifestyles. MenaQ7® Protect perfectly fits this need while offering our customers a ready-to-market solution featuring our clinically proven MenaQ7® K2.”
MenaQ7® Protect was officially launched at this year’s SupplySide West to an excited and receptive crowd. The product is being produced by Probiotical, which will be fulfilling orders.
References
1 Pan M-H et al. J Med Food 2016 Jul;19(7):663-9.
2 Adubulut AC and Schurgers LJ. Bio Life Sci Forum. 2022,12(1).
3 Jespersen et al. ERJ Open Res. 2023 Aug 9;00208-2023
4 Lai Y et al. Front Immunol. 2022 Jan 5:12:791565.
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About Gnosis by Lesaffre
Gnosis by Lesaffre harnesses the power of microorganisms and biotransformation processes like fermentation to cultivate nutritional actives, probiotics, and nutritional and functional yeasts that benefit human health and well-being. The team draws on its focused research and application capabilities to collaborate with nutraceutical and pharmaceutical brands to develop game-changing products for their customers.
Gnosis by Lesaffre – Exploring Life to Improve Living. http://www.GnosisByLesaffre.com
About Lesaffre
A key global player in fermentation for more than a century, Lesaffre, with a 2,7 billion euro turnover, and established on all continents, counts 11,000 employees and more than 90 nationalities. On the strength of this experience and diversity, we work with customers, partners, and researchers to find ever more relevant answers to the needs of food, health, naturalness, and respect for our environment. Thus, every day, we explore and reveal the infinite potential of microorganisms.
To nourish 9 billion people, in a healthy way, in 2050 by making the most of our planet’s resources is a major and unprecedented issue. We believe that fermentation is one of the most promising answers to this challenge.
Lesaffre – Working together to better nourish and protect the planet. www.lesaffre.com