New research from the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) suggests that drinking alcohol, even in moderation, makes us more prone to fractures later in life. As we age our bones gradually get weaker, increasing the likelihood of osteoporosis and fractures and our lifestyle has a significant impact on this process. It’s established that chronic alcohol consumption causes weak bones - alcoholics are at much greater risk of osteoporosis and fractures - it is less clear whether more moderate drinking habits could also give us brittle bones, or if there is a ‘safe’ level of drinking that has no effect. Drinking habits Research led by BRC investigator Professor Cyrus Cooper, published in the journal Bone, has demonstrated that regularly drinking even a small amount of alcohol can affect our bone structure and strength. They analysed the bone structure of 376 participants in their seventies and eighties from the long-term Hertfordshire Cohort Study, and compared this with their drinking habits. Overall they found that the more alcohol participant tended to drink each week, the more likely they were to have weak bones, with this trend particularly clear for men. Less is more Even those who tended to drink a low to moderate amount of alcohol, 11 units or less a week – below the current government guideline limit of 14 units a week - had a weaker bone structure in old age than those who drank less than a single unit or didn’t drink at all. These results suggest that drinking, even in moderation, increases the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis in old age, and that cutting down on alcohol may be beneficial for our bones.

Our state-of-the-art Wessex Investigational Sciences Hub (WISH) laboratory has joined forces with AstraZeneca to investigate new ways to combat the growing threat of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Southampton’s WISH lab will be the centre of a new strategic partnership with AstraZeneca Innovative Medicines in Gothenburg, Sweden, in a multiyear collaboration to investigate the effects of viral infection in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is the fourth most common cause of death worldwide, and death rates continue to rise with limited therapeutic options. It causes the lungs to become inflamed, narrowing the airways and causing severe breathlessness, with periods of worsening symptoms. These are often the result of infections by viruses such as rhinovirus and influenza, but it is unclear why these viral infections lead to flair ups. Industry standard facility The WISH lab is an advanced research facility which works to industry standards. It will culture lung cells from COPD patients, which will then be infected with respiratory viruses to investigate the response. Collaborators at AstraZeneca will also perform RNASeq analysis, a means of identifying differentially expressed genes, to discover fundamental differences between COPD patients and individuals without the disease. The collaboration will address a lack of greatly needed treatments for the condition, specifically investigating differences in gene expression that drive the immune response to viral infection. The hope is that it will increase our understanding of the disease and identify drug targets, providing the basis for the development of new COPD therapies.

New research demonstrates that a low calorie diet with omega-3 supplements lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre and Jagiellonian University in Poland have found that obese people could lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by following a low calorie diet and taking omega-3 capsules. A serious problem Diabetes affects an estimated 3.9 million people in the UK, of which 90% have type 2 diabetes, and this figure is rising. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body is no longer able to control the amount of sugar in the blood, most usually developing over several years. If left untreated, it can lead to sight loss, kidney failure and foot ulcers, as well as increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Obesity greatly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, and even those who are obese but do not have diabetes can have early warning signs, such as insulin resistance or low insulin sensitivity. If these people lose weight and eat a healthy diet, they can lower their risk of developing the disease. Omega-3 can help This study, published in BBA Clinical and conducted at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, investigated whether a low calorie diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, naturally found in oily fish and some seeds, can protect against diabetes to an even greater extent. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups for three months - the first group ate a low calorie diet only, while the second group followed the same diet but also took a daily dose of omega-3 supplements. The researchers measured their Body Mass Index (BMI), hip and waist circumference, blood pressure and fat tissue at the start and end of the study. Amongst those taking omega-3 supplements they found a 20% reduction in insulin resistance not seen in those eating the low calorie diet only, indicating an improved ability to metabolise sugar with the supplements. These findings suggest that omega-3 supplements could further reduce risk of type 2 diabetes for those tackling excess weight through a low calorie diets.

Director of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Professor Keith Godfrey, has been named as one of 34 newly appointed NIHR senior investigators in the UK. On 1 April each year, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) selects a limited number of senior investigators, informed by the advice of an international expert panel. Senior investigators are NIHR’s preeminent researchers and represent the country’s most outstanding leaders of clinical research. They join the exclusive NIHR College, a prestigious body with networking opportunities and a programme of events. As a new senior investigator in the field of nutrition & dietetics, Professor Godfrey will receive an award of £15,000 each year to fund his research, and can also apply for additional NIHR funding to support the wider work of our nutrition and lifestyle focussed NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. As director of the NIHR Southampton BRC in Nutrition, Professor Godfrey’s research focuses on early development, defining measures to improve the early growth and development of children, thereby improving their lifelong health. Southampton Professors Andrew Lotery and Professor John Primrose were also named senior investigators, in the fields of ophthalmology (for the second time) and of surgery respectively. The three of them join Professor Ratko Djukanovic and Professor Cyrus Cooper in holding this prestigious award.

A new technology, using water treated with high-frequency sound waves, could help fight debilitating lung infections in conditions like cystic fibrosis. The importance of keeping teeth and gums healthy through good oral hygiene is important to us all, but especially so to those with chronic respiratory conditions like cystic fibrosis, as oral bacteria can spread to the lungs and airways, causing infections and often leading to serious complications. Tooth plaque is a form of biofilm, or protective layer created by populations of bacteria that makes their removal extremely difficult. To better tackle infections form oral bacteria, researchers at the NIHR Southampton Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) conducted a study, published in the Journal of Dental Research, investigating a new way to keep teeth clean and remove plaque. The researchers tested a new technology, known as ultrasonically activated water, to clean plaque from artificial teeth made out of etched glass. High-frequency sound waves, above the limits of human hearing, were used to create a cloud of bubbles in freely flowing water that was directed at the artificial teeth coated in plaque. The teeth were then examined under the microscope to assess how much plaque had been removed. This ultrasonically activated water stream was found to be much better at cleaning the artificial teeth than just a normal flow of water, with 99.9% removal of the plaque after just ten seconds. It was able to remove plaque biofilms produced by three types of tooth decay-causing bacteria. This research has demonstrated that ultrasonically activated water could be an extremely effective new tool in the fight against tooth decay, helping to improve oral hygiene.

Southampton researchers have used a new 3D x-ray imaging technique for the first time to better understand idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an incurable lung disease affecting 5,000 more people each year. A team from the NIHR Southampton Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) have used powerful scanning equipment at Southampton’s µ-VIS Centre for Computed Tomography, originally designed for analysing engineering parts such as jet turbine blades, to create 3D images of diseased lung. The study, published in JCI Insight, is the first time this technique has been used to analyse IPF lung samples in three dimensions, providing new insights into how such scarring lung diseases develop, and has the potential to transform how the disease is diagnosed. Scarred lungs Each year over 5,000 new cases of IPF are diagnosed in the UK, with a life expectancy of only three to five years. The condition causes inflammation and scarring of the lungs, which makes it increasingly difficult to breathe. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, used the technique micro CT to scan inside lung biopsy samples from IPF patients, and also involved researchers at the Royal Brompton Hospital, National Jewish Health in Colorado, and University College Dublin. New insights Micro CT rotates 360 degrees whilst taking thousands of 2D images, which are then used to build detailed 3D images. When applied to IPF lung tissue, this enables the researchers to get a whole new perspective on how the disease develops. It was previously thought that the disease progressed as a ‘wave’, but the team discovered that it spreads out from multiple individual sites of scarring. They are now studying how this technique can help doctors improve the way we diagnose such diseases more accurately, to ensure every patient will receive the correct treatment.