Joe Alcock

vasodilator drugs “potentially worsen oxygenation in conditions where hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction has evolved such as pneumonia”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33732460/

Fact

“In addition to antibiotics…several human-targeted drugs, such as beta-blockers, benzodiazepine derivatives, glucocorticoids, PPIs, biguanides, and antidepressants, display effects on the microbiome observable years after previous drug intake”

Disruption to the gut microbiome by non-antibiotics is linked to infection risk http://dlvr.it/TN9lNG

Mine from a few minutes ago

Important work

Counterintuitive

Very cool. I wonder if EBV targeted treatments can improve sepsis mortality.

Causal Discovery in Sepsis Sepsis is acute organ failure resulting from a dysregulated host response to infection.1 Given the marked patient-level heterogeneity in sepsis onset, clinical course, and recovery, investigators have...

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

This is a great explanation of emerging causal discovery techniques applied to biology, by the always readable @ajadmon.bsky.social and Erin Carlton

Cool novel function of platelets

Massive numbers of new COVID–19 infections, not vaccines, are the main driver of new coronavirus variants When the coronavirus copies itself, there is a chance its RNA will mutate. But new variants must jump from one host to another, and the more infections there are, the better chance this will happen.

Hey HHS, look what scientists like me knew back in 2021👇🏻

We were right then and are right now. Vaccines don't *cause* variants. Rather, massive numbers of infections in people with no or waning immunity do.

Evolution is no reason to avoid vaccination.

theconversation.com/massive-numb...

Cool

Metformin is a weird drug - it works in the brain. But recall that there is a gut-brain axis too. What does this brain Rap1 mechanism do to the #microbiota?

If your goal as a government is to prevent death rather than enable and accelerate it, it's amazing what you can do.

Has any sepsis intervention worked in children after failing in adults?

Hosts use flagellin as a cue to stop feeding because it is adaptive for hosts to restrain the growth and proliferation of flagellin expressing microbes

Imidazole propionate is a driver and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis - Nature Imidazole propionate produced by gut microbiota is associated with atherosclerosis in mouse models and in humans, and causes the development of atherosclerosis through activation of the imidazoline-1 ...

Fascinating new paper reveals a new gut microbiome connection to heart disease. Microbes produce imidazole propionate (ImP), which directly triggers atherosclerosis through immune activation - even without high cholesterol.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dr Gaye described his extremely compelling research program to map disease related genetic diversity - 1000 genomes in Senegal - and elsewhere #EvMed

Amadou Gaye plenary talk on the need for a representative human pangenome. #Isemph2025 #EvMed

Great talk on the risk of egg donation as a source of genetic conflict in pregnancy by @reallymccoy.bsky.social winner of the Omenn prize at #ISEMPH2025 #EvolutionaryMedicine #EvMed

As new Editor in Chief of Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, an OA society journal of ISEMPH, we welcome papers at the interface of evolution and medicine. I especially encourage studies in infection biology, broadly construed. We're a great and constructive journal! academic.oup.com/emph

Stress and the microbiome -Nice profile of our recent paper led by fantastic postdoc @crosellcardona.bsky.social

@apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social @anatneuroucc.bsky.social @uccresearch.bsky.social

I usually agree with Eric Topol’s takes but I disagree here. It is estimated that the WHI RCTs saved tens of thousands -up to hundreds of thousands of lives. It is a landmark, remarkable achievement, not a tragedy as described in the substack piece.

Causal role for gut microbes in hypertension and sleep apnea complications? Fecal transplant from obstructive sleep apnea patients to mice caused - higher blood pressure, vascular inflammation and endothelial dysregulation. doi.org/10.1016/j.in...

Nonuniversality of inflammaging across human populations - Nature Aging Analyzing readouts of inflammaging across four cohorts, Franck and colleagues identify strong variation and observe that inflammaging, in its known form, primarily emerges in industrialized—but not no...

A comparison of 2 industrialised populations (Italy, Singapore) with 2 indigenous populations (Tsimane, Bolivia & Orang Asli, Malaysia) suggests inflammaging - age-associated increase in chronic inflammation, considered a hallmark of aging - is a byproduct of industrialisation, not a human universal

WTAF biology‽ 🧪 #EvMed

Doesn’t change the pH as profoundly?

Fifth Centile Versus 50th Centile Mean Blood Pressure Targets in Pediatric Septic Shock: A Randomized Controlled Trial - PubMed Targeting a lower MBP (5th vs. 50th centile) in septic shock showed no significant difference in 28-day mortality. This suggests a lower BP target may be safe, reducing vasoactive drug use and related...

Targeting a lower (5% percentile blood pressure was safe in pediatric septic shock in a small trial. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40511998/

Or maybe, adaptation happens in the way it usually does… not hologenomically

Inflammaging (autocorrect fail)