Latest news with #ComplutenseUniversity
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New stem cell therapy shows 'promising' results for treating hair loss in preclinical trials
Researchers at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid may have targeted a potential solution for hair loss. A recent study analyzed the effect of injecting mice's skin with stem cells from human fat — "adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs)" — as a means of treating androgenetic alopecia (AGA), more commonly known as male- or female-pattern hair loss. The team found that male mice achieved the best hair regrowth after three weeks when they received low-dose ASCs, combined with an energy-boosting molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Hairstylists And Medical Expert Confirm Temporary Hair Loss Affecting Ozempic Users Low-dose and high-dose ASC treatments along with ATP led to no hair regrowth improvement in females, but medium-dose ASC plus ATP led to greater regrowth. The researchers concluded that hair regrowth was improved in "all experimental groups" where male mice received stem cell solutions supplemented with ATP. Read On The Fox News App The findings were published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Lead study author Dr. Eduardo López Bran — dermatologist and professor at The Complutense University of Madrid — shared his expectations for the study in an interview with Fox News Digital. This Daily Beauty Routine Could Be Ruining Your Hair, Experts Warn "We expected good results, but not such a high level of success," he said. "We're talking about a very high degree of hair regrowth in both male and female mice." With appropriate doses, the researchers achieved "very high percentages" of hair regrowth, noting that 100% of the male mice and up to 90% of the female mice regrew hair. "These results demonstrate that advanced therapies may represent a new therapeutic approach for many diseases for which no effective treatments are currently available," Bran went on. "Achieving such promising results in the preclinical phase with a completely novel approach to androgenetic alopecia — one that avoids chronic treatment and is also safe — is a significant scientific milestone." The main limitation of the study was the thinness of mouse skin, Bran noted, which "posed a challenge in administering the therapy." "This required the development of protocols to minimize experimental variability, and will be a key factor when studies in humans begin," he said. These new findings should be "interpreted with caution and scientific rigor," Bran cautioned. "Although the results in mice represent significant progress, it is also true that it is essential to wait for clinical benefits in humans to be confirmed." Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter The researcher encouraged those with androgenetic alopecia to continue consulting with their dermatologists and to follow prescribed treatments as research develops. "It is important to remain hopeful. Research advances are pointing toward possible solutions that, in the future, may offer long-lasting results without the need for continuous treatment to maintain benefits," Bran added. Looking ahead to human clinical trials, researchers are "actively working" on confirming safety for men and women between 18 and 50 years old with moderate androgenetic alopecia, the researcher noted. "If everything progresses as expected, the most optimistic timeline points to the treatment becoming available in approximately five years," he said. In a separate interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Brendan Camp, M.D., a New York-based dermatologist who was not involved in the study, commented on the potential for this method. "While not commercially available, this study suggests that injection of stem cells supplemented with ATP into scalp skin could potentially encourage hair regrowth in individuals with androgenetic alopecia," he reiterated. For more Health articles, visit "This study is small, and more research is needed on this method as a potential treatment option for androgenetic alopecia." Until then, Camp encourages people to focus on currently available and "well-studied" treatments to address hair loss, and to visit a board-certified dermatologist for article source: New stem cell therapy shows 'promising' results for treating hair loss in preclinical trials
Fox News
25-06-2025
- Health
- Fox News
New stem cell therapy shows 'promising' results for treating hair loss in preclinical trials
Print Close By Angelica Stabile Published June 25, 2025 Researchers at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid may have targeted a potential solution for hair loss. A recent study analyzed the effect of injecting mice's skin with stem cells from human fat — "adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs)" — as a means of treating androgenetic alopecia (AGA), more commonly known as male- or female-pattern hair loss. The team found that male mice achieved the best hair regrowth after three weeks when they received low-dose ASCs, combined with an energy-boosting molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). HAIRSTYLISTS AND MEDICAL EXPERT CONFIRM TEMPORARY HAIR LOSS AFFECTING OZEMPIC USERS Low-dose and high-dose ASC treatments along with ATP led to no hair regrowth improvement in females, but medium-dose ASC plus ATP led to greater regrowth. The researchers concluded that hair regrowth was improved in "all experimental groups" where male mice received stem cell solutions supplemented with ATP. The findings were published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Lead study author Dr. Eduardo López Bran — dermatologist and professor at The Complutense University of Madrid — shared his expectations for the study in an interview with Fox News Digital. THIS DAILY BEAUTY ROUTINE COULD BE RUINING YOUR HAIR, EXPERTS WARN "We expected good results, but not such a high level of success," he said. "We're talking about a very high degree of hair regrowth in both male and female mice." With appropriate doses, the researchers achieved "very high percentages" of hair regrowth, noting that 100% of the male mice and up to 90% of the female mice regrew hair. "These results demonstrate that advanced therapies may represent a new therapeutic approach for many diseases for which no effective treatments are currently available," Bran went on. "Achieving such promising results in the preclinical phase with a completely novel approach to androgenetic alopecia — one that avoids chronic treatment and is also safe — is a significant scientific milestone." "We're talking about a very high degree of hair regrowth in both male and female mice." The main limitation of the study was the thinness of mouse skin, Bran noted, which "posed a challenge in administering the therapy." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "This required the development of protocols to minimize experimental variability, and will be a key factor when studies in humans begin," he said. These new findings should be "interpreted with caution and scientific rigor," Bran cautioned. "Although the results in mice represent significant progress, it is also true that it is essential to wait for clinical benefits in humans to be confirmed." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER The researcher encouraged those with androgenetic alopecia to continue consulting with their dermatologists and to follow prescribed treatments as research develops. "It is important to remain hopeful. Research advances are pointing toward possible solutions that, in the future, may offer long-lasting results without the need for continuous treatment to maintain benefits," Bran added. "This study is small, and more research is needed on this method as a potential treatment option." Looking ahead to human clinical trials, researchers are "actively working" on confirming safety for men and women between 18 and 50 years old with moderate androgenetic alopecia, the researcher noted. "If everything progresses as expected, the most optimistic timeline points to the treatment becoming available in approximately five years," he said. In a separate interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Brendan Camp, M.D., a New York-based dermatologist who was not involved in the study, commented on the potential for this method. "While not commercially available, this study suggests that injection of stem cells supplemented with ATP into scalp skin could potentially encourage hair regrowth in individuals with androgenetic alopecia," he reiterated. For more Health articles, visit "This study is small, and more research is needed on this method as a potential treatment option for androgenetic alopecia." Until then, Camp encourages people to focus on currently available and "well-studied" treatments to address hair loss, and to visit a board-certified dermatologist for evaluation. Print Close URL
Gizmodo
31-05-2025
- General
- Gizmodo
Did a Neanderthal Spot a Face in This Rock 43,000 Years Ago—and Leave a Fingerprint Behind?
While digging inside a cave in the Spanish city of Segovia, archaeologists uncovered an unusual rock. The hand-sized stone naturally resembled an elongated face, and featured a spot of red pigment made from ochre right on the tip of what may be considered its nose. 'We were all thinking the same thing and looking at each other because of its shape: we were all thinking, 'This looks like a face,'' David Álvarez Alonso, an archaeologist at Complutense University in Madrid who was part of the dig, told The Guardian. Álvarez Alonso and his colleagues spent the next three years studying this bizarre rock. The researchers posit that 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal dipped their finger in ochre and pressed it onto the stone's central ridge—leaving behind what is now considered to be the world's oldest complete human fingerprint. It's an intriguing finding that could have significant implications, but some experts would like to see more evidence to support this hypothesis. The team published its findings in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences on Saturday, May 24. In the paper, the archaeologists state that the 'strategic position' of the dot suggests it is evidence of Neanderthals' 'symbolic behavior.' In other words, it's a piece of art that 'could represent one of the earliest human face symbolizations in prehistory.' 'The fact that the [rock] was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ochre shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object,' the researchers write. Whether Neanderthals were capable of making art is a subject of ongoing debate, co-author María de Andrés-Herrero, a professor of prehistory at Complutense University, told the BBC. But over the past decade, a growing body of evidence has led many experts to believe that artistic expression emerged earlier in human evolution than previously thought. The authors of this new study think their stone adds to this evidence. To reach this conclusion, they first needed more data to support the idea that this ancient artist had actually experienced pareidolia: seeing a face in an inanimate object. To that end, they generated a 3D model of the stone's surface and measured the distances between its features, finding that the red dot—or nose—was placed such that it accurately resembled an actual nose on a human face. Then, the researchers enlisted the help of geologists to characterize the red dot, confirming that it was made with ochre. Forensic police experts then used multispectral analysis—a technique that can reveal details invisible to the naked eye—to confirm that the red dot had been applied with a fingertip. Their analysis uncovered a fingerprint that could have belonged to an adult male Neanderthal inside the dot. 'Once we had that and all the other pieces, context and information, we advanced the theory that this could be a pareidolia, which then led to a human intervention in the form of the red dot,' Álvarez Alonso told The Guardian. 'Without that red dot, you can't make any claims about the object.' But Gilliane Monnier, a professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota who studies Neanderthal behavior, is not totally convinced by the researchers' findings. 'The fact that there are these natural depressions—and that we can measure the distance between them and argue that it's a face—that's all well and good,' Monnier, who wasn't involved in the study, told Gizmodo. 'But that doesn't give us any indication that the Neanderthals who [occupied this cave] saw a face in that [rock].' What's more, she is skeptical of the researchers' claim that the red dot was actually made with a human fingertip. It's possible, she said, that the coloring and fingerprint-like ridges formed naturally. 'I would be interested in seeing an explanation by a geologist—someone trained in geology—saying the likelihood of this forming by natural, geological or geomicrobial processes is a very low likelihood,' Monnier said. The researchers, too, acknowledge that 'it is unlikely that all doubts surrounding this hypothesis can be fully dispelled,' and state that the pareidolia hypothesis should not be seen as a definitive claim, but rather a possible explanation for this object based on the evidence. So it's hard to say whether this study clarifies or complicates our understanding of how the human mind evolved the ability to create art. The face-shaped rock is an intriguing piece of the puzzle, but more research is needed to figure out where it fits.
The Herald Scotland
30-05-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Pebble with finger print suggests Neanderthal may have created art
The quartz-rich granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a Rudolph-like red dot visible at center. Significantly, the spot didn't appear to be random, instead bearing evidence indicating it was the product of someone's imagination. "The ocher dot does not appear as a shapeless addition or a mere stain," wrote lead author David Alvarez-Alonso of Madrid's Complutense University. "Rather, it contains a fingerprint that implies the pigment has been applied specifically with the tip of a finger soaked in pigment." The authors consider the artifact a nonutilitarian visual symbol - in other words, not a tool but an altered or marked object with possible symbolic significance. While its age makes it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions, they wrote, the stone could "represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record." ????Hemos resuelto un caso de 43.000 anos de antiguedad Se trata de la????huella dactilar mas antigua del mundo y nuestra Policia Cientifica ha logrado el hito de su identificacion por procedimientos no invasivos de teledeteccion junto a la @unicomplutense Ha sido fundamental el... — Policia Nacional (@policia) May 27, 2025 "The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object," they wrote. An expanding Neanderthal portfolio This isn't the first time a Neanderthal fingerprint has been pinpointed, the authors noted. A partial one, likely made by a thumb, was found on resin discovered in Germany in 1963. However, the discovery offers yet another dab of evidence suggesting that Neanderthals made art. In 2018, The Guardian reported archaeological findings in Spain indicating that Neanderthals used red ocher to produce shapes and symbols on cave walls 65,000 years ago. The species flourished from roughly 350,000 to 40,000 years ago, and studies indicate they and modern humans may have gone their separate ways as long as 800,000 years ago. Increasing evidence has indicated that Neanderthals were more advanced than once thought. In 2020, a paper published in the journal Science said evidence found in a coastal cave in Portugal suggested Neanderthals were skilled fishermen who regularly consumed seafood as part of their diet. Until then, only humans (Homo sapiens) had been thought to look to the sea as a food source. Meanwhile, the discovery of 176,000-year-old structures deep within a French cave hinted at Neanderthals' ability to use fire and work in groups. A 2016 article in Nature described strange, circular edifices constructed in an interior space 360 yards removed from daylight; the formations were made from uniform stalagmites, many of them cut to size. With the earliest known human-built structures 40,000 years old, the cave formations not only predate such activity by Homo sapiens but also show Neanderthal utilization of deep caves began much earlier as well. According to the study, the earliest indications of modern humans using deep caves are less than 42,000 years old.
USA Today
29-05-2025
- Science
- USA Today
A 43,000 year-old work of art? Neanderthals may have painted portraits.
A 43,000 year-old work of art? Neanderthals may have painted portraits. An ancient granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a red dot. A study says it may have had symbolic significance. Show Caption Hide Caption Tourist climbs sacred Mayan pyramid in Mexico A German tourist was escorted from an archaeological complex when he climbed and attempted to evade security at a Mayan pyramid in Mexico. An eight-inch rock found at an archaeological site in central Spain is the latest indication that Neanderthals were making art long before modern humans, further eroding stereotypes of the extinct species as dull-witted. The July 2022 discovery at San Lázaro rock-shelter in Segovia, described as 'exceptional' by the authors of a paper published May 25 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, dates back 43,000 years – long before modern humans inhabited the area. The quartz-rich granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a Rudolph-like red dot visible at center. Significantly, the spot didn't appear to be random, instead bearing evidence indicating it was the product of someone's imagination. 'The ocher dot does not appear as a shapeless addition or a mere stain,' wrote lead author David Álvarez-Alonso of Madrid's Complutense University. 'Rather, it contains a fingerprint that implies the pigment has been applied specifically with the tip of a finger soaked in pigment.' The authors consider the artifact a nonutilitarian visual symbol – in other words, not a tool but an altered or marked object with possible symbolic significance. While its age makes it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions, they wrote, the stone could 'represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record." 'The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object,' they wrote. An expanding Neanderthal portfolio This isn't the first time a Neanderthal fingerprint has been pinpointed, the authors noted. A partial one, likely made by a thumb, was found on resin discovered in Germany in 1963. However, the discovery offers yet another dab of evidence suggesting that Neanderthals made art. In 2018, The Guardian reported archaeological findings in Spain indicating that Neanderthals used red ocher to produce shapes and symbols on cave walls 65,000 years ago. The species flourished from roughly 350,000 to 40,000 years ago, and studies indicate they and modern humans may have gone their separate ways as long as 800,000 years ago. Increasing evidence has indicated that Neanderthals were more advanced than once thought. In 2020, a paper published in the journal Science said evidence found in a coastal cave in Portugal suggested Neanderthals were skilled fishermen who regularly consumed seafood as part of their diet. Until then, only humans (Homo sapiens) had been thought to look to the sea as a food source. Meanwhile, the discovery of 176,000-year-old structures deep within a French cave hinted at Neanderthals' ability to use fire and work in groups. A 2016 article in Nature described strange, circular edifices constructed in an interior space 360 yards removed from daylight; the formations were made from uniform stalagmites, many of them cut to size. With the earliest known human-built structures 40,000 years old, the cave formations not only predate such activity by Homo sapiens but also show Neanderthal utilization of deep caves began much earlier as well. According to the study, the earliest indications of modern humans using deep caves are less than 42,000 years old.
