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This month’s medical research from British universities – from treatments for motor neuron disease to deeper medical imaging.
Pre-trial platform accelerates search for motor neuron disease treatments
A clinical trial platform co-led by a researcher at the University of Sheffield could accelerate the search for effective motor neuron disease (MND) treatments by identifying ineffective candidate drugs in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods.
The EXPERTS-ALS study is a pre-trial platform designed to screen potential therapeutics in people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of MND. Rather than committing hundreds of participants to year-long, placebo-controlled trials, the platform evaluates whether candidate drugs can lower blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NFL), a protein biomarker directly linked to nerve cell damage. Using Bayesian modelling, researchers can detect early biological signals of disease-slowing within 18 to 24 weeks using a small sample size.
In the platform’s initial study, testing of two repurposed drugs – metformin and nifedipine – was halted after findings showed neither lowered NFL levels across participating cohorts. While the candidate compounds proved ineffective, researchers highlighted the outcome as a major proof-of-concept success. By ruling out non-viable treatments with approximately 30 participants per arm, EXPERTS-ALS ensures clinical resources are directed toward testing more promising therapies.
“We share the disappointment that neither metformin or nifedipine were able to lower neurofilament light chain levels in EXPERTS-ALS. However, EXPERTS-ALS is the first platform of its kind and this result, at this stage of the study, has exceeded our expectations of how it might perform. These results mark a very important advance in speeding up clinical trials that improves the prospects for finding effective drugs for ALS,” said Chris McDermott, chief investigator and professor of translational neurology at the University of Sheffield.
New oral treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding
Researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh have been awarded nearly £2 million by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to lead a clinical trial for an oral treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding. The three-and-a-half-year study will evaluate whether a daily pill could offer a more effective medical solution than currently available options.
Heavy menstrual bleeding affects one in three women, with over half unable to carry out routine daily activities and 43% forced to take time off work due to severe pain and bleeding. Existing treatment options, such as conventional tablets or the hormonal coil, are frequently ineffective or cause intolerable side-effects. Consequently, many women are forced to undergo a hysterectomy to relieve symptoms, permanently ending their ability to conceive.
The trial will evaluate relugolix combination therapy (relugolix-CT), a daily pill combining relugolix, which temporarily halts the menstrual cycle, with hormone replacement therapy to eliminate menopausal side-effects. Unlike surgical interventions, women can attempt pregnancy immediately after discontinuing the medication. The study will recruit 270 participants to compare relugolix-CT against standard care over a 12-month period, monitoring quality of life, symptom management and NHS resource use.
Heavy menstrual bleeding robs women of the chance to realise their full potential in life – the ability to prevent this could change lives, said Siladitya Bhattacharya, trial co-lead and professor of women’s health at the University of Aberdeen. “The limited success of currently prescribed drugs forces women to choose between coping with symptoms to preserve fertility or opting for surgery that removes their chance of motherhood, but this trial could finally offer an effective, reversible medical alternative”.
Care gaps highlighted in post-hospital follow-up for acute kidney injury
Thousands of patients in England are missing follow-up care after being discharged from hospital following an episode of acute kidney injury, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Manchester.
The research shows that recommended clinical guidelines for post-discharge monitoring are frequently overlooked, pointing to systemic gaps when care is transferred from hospitals to general practice.
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), evaluated healthcare records for more than 209,000 patients across 1,400 GP surgeries in England. Researchers found that only 19% of hospital acute kidney injury episodes were formally documented in primary care records within 30 days of discharge using standard clinical diagnostic codes. Coding rates were notably lower among younger patients under the age of 60 and those recovering from major surgery.
In addition to diagnostic coding shortfalls, the study highlighted significant gaps in clinical monitoring. Despite regular contact with primary care teams, many patients failed to receive recommended blood and urine tests to assess ongoing kidney function. Acute kidney injury affects up to one in five hospitalised patients, leaving them at heightened risk of readmission, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular events. Researchers stress that early monitoring in primary care is crucial to prevent long-term health complications.
“Our study highlights the urgent need to implement kidney health strategies more effectively across both primary and secondary care. Improving post- acute kidney injury care requires greater adoption of a ‘kidney mindset’ and better integration of kidney health into existing services, helping to improve outcomes for patients transitioning from hospital to community care,” said Tom Blakeman, lead author and professor of primary care at The University of Manchester.
Men more likely to be infected with TB than women
Men are significantly more likely than women to contract tuberculosis (TB) due to higher levels of exposure to the bacteria rather than an increased biological susceptibility to active disease, according to a global study led by researchers at UCL. The findings offer clarity on why men account for approximately two-thirds of all global TB diagnoses.
The international research team analysed data from more than 22,000 individuals across 11 prospective cohort studies spanning 14 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. It concluded that men were more likely to already host a latent TB infection at baseline, pointing to higher cumulative lifetime exposure. However, after accounting for initial infection status, men were no more likely than women to progress from infection to active, symptomatic disease. This confirms that social and environmental exposure factors, rather than innate biological vulnerability, drive the pronounced sex disparity in TB burden.
Tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease spread via airborne droplets in crowded or poorly ventilated environments, remains a major global public health concern. The researchers are now calling for further investigations into how occupational hazards, social environments, lifestyle patterns and healthcare access contribute to elevated infection risks among men. Identifying these specific drivers will enable public health bodies to design targeted preventive interventions.
“Our findings improve our understanding of why TB disproportionately affects men and suggest that reducing inequalities in TB exposure among men may have a greater impact on narrowing the sex gap in TB burden than interventions focused solely on progression from infection to disease,” said co-first author Yohhei Hamada, clinical research fellow from the UCL Institute for Global Health.
Dundee antimalarial compound shows promise in early-stage trials
An antimalarial compound discovered at the University of Dundee has demonstrated potential to simplify treatment following successful early-stage clinical trials in Africa. The study shows that the novel drug-like molecule cabamiquine possesses a favourable safety profile and efficacy when administered in combination with pyronaridine to adult and adolescent patients.
The compound was invented by scientists within the Drug Discovery Unit at Dundee’s Faculty of Life Sciences, supported by financial and scientific backing from Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Conducted by pharmaceutical company Merck as part of the PAMAfrica consortium, the Phase II trial evaluated the combination therapy in regions endemic to malaria. Researchers believe the results support advancing the treatment to larger clinical trials and paediatric patient groups.
Malaria remains a major global public health challenge and current treatment regimens often require complex multi-day dosing, which can prove difficult to maintain in low-resource settings. An advantage of cabamiquine is its potential to be delivered as a single-dose treatment.
“The benefits of this compound are not only that it looks to be effective, with a good benefit – risk profile, but it can also be delivered in a single dose, which is an important factor when you are treating a disease that occurs commonly in areas where consistent delivery of healthcare can be challenging,” said Ian Gilbert, head of the drug discovery unit at the University of Dundee.
Standardised guide mapping ultrasound detectors promises deeper medical imaging
Scientists from the University of Birmingham and UCL have published the most comprehensive analysis to date of the ultrasound detectors underpinning photoacoustic tomography, an emerging medical imaging technology that uses light and sound to reveal blood vessels, tumours and tissue function deep inside the body.
Photoacoustic tomography works by delivering short pulses of laser light into body tissues, which absorb the energy and emit subtle ultrasound waves. Detecting these acoustic signals allows clinicians to reconstruct detailed structural and functional images. However, sound waves originating deep within tissue arrive extremely weak. The research team analysed performance data across 82 ultrasound detectors, establishing the first standardised “noise-equivalent pressure” landscape to map which sensor types capture the faintest biological signals.
The findings demonstrate that large ceramic piezoelectric detectors offer superior sensitivity for deep-tissue applications such as breast cancer screening. Conversely, optical sensors, which detect sound using light rather than electricity, excel in micro-resolution imaging of tiny vascular structures. As clinical demand grows for fast, high-resolution diagnostic tools, standardising detector metrics will accelerate the development of advanced multi-channel systems capable of imaging deeper tissue structures with unprecedented clarity.
“Our study provides researchers and manufacturers with a practical guide to selecting the right detector technology for specific clinical challenges now. It also highlights where future innovation is needed, for example, to develop dense, small-element detector arrays capable of delivering both deep-tissue and high-resolution imaging,” said lead author James Guggenheim, Royal Society university research fellow at the University of Birmingham.
