The study that improves treatment for a type of schizophrenia, carried out by researchers from the Pasteur Institute de Montevideo, the Vilardebó Hospital and the Faculty of Chemistry (Udelar), won the National Grand Prize for Medicine awarded each year by the Academy of Medicine of Uruguay.

The award ceremony took place on Thursday, December 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Executive Tower Auditorium.

About the study

The work, entitled ‘Study of the variables that affect the response to clozapine in patients at the Vilardebó Hospital’, analyzed the interaction in the organism of a drug used to treat a type of schizophrenia that affects around 10,000 people in the country.

In Uruguay, more than 30,000 people suffer from schizophrenia, and 30% do not respond to conventional antipsychotics. This type of schizophrenia is called resistant schizophrenia. For this group of patients there is clozapine, which controls the disease, but generates adverse effects. In order to understand the effect of this drug, the project motinored 108 adult men and women treated with clozapine at the Vilardebó Hospital for two years.

From genetic and metabolic analyses, the team observed that, in patients that
smoked, the drug is metabolized more rapidly, so doses should be higher. Meanwhile, overweight patients are associated with slower metabolization rates and increased adverse effects compared to non-overweight ones.

These findings led to personalized clozapine dosing, which not only improved treatment efficacy but also reduced adverse effects.

Different professionals from the Institute participated in the study: Magdalena Cárdenas, Clara Menéndez and José Badano, from the Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory; Valentina Blanco and Alfonso Cayota, from the Functional Genomics Laboratory; and Lucía Spangenberg, from the Bioinformatics Unit. The team also includes Ismael Olmos, Carina Ricciardi, Mauricio Mato, Natalia Guevara, Sabrina Acuña, Cecilia Maldonado, Marta Vázquez and Mauricio Toledo, from the Vilardebó Hospital and the Faculty of Chemistry.

Pasteur This course has been designed specifically to teach the functionality and application of organoid models, with a focus on biological research priorities in Latin American countries.

Through practical laboratory-based sessions, demonstrations, seminars, and workshops led by global and regional experts, you will gain the confidence to apply organoid technologies to your own research.

Sessions will cover:

Organoids 101 – the basics
Organoids as 3D models
Derivation of murine intestinal organoids from crypts
Passaging and intestinal organoid culture
Cancer organoids and suspension culture
Thawing and cryopreservation
Disease modelling
2D and 3D culture systems and specialised techniques
Imaging, viability and bioprinting
Single cell and organoid technology
Funding opportunities

There will also be multiple opportunities for participants to present your own work, and discuss challenges and opportunities with the group.

You will leave this course with everything you need to apply organoids to your own research, specifically addressing health challenges for Latin America populations.

Submit your application by 20 August 2024, to be considered for a free place.

Online application: bit.ly/3LqbfyY

 

Instructors

Hellen Daghero

Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

Saira Cancela

Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

 

Giulia Nigro

Pasteur Institut, France

 

Moshe Biton

Weizmman Institute of Science, Israel

 

Thayna M Avelino

The Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Brazil

 

Marimelia Porcionatto

Unifesp, Brazil

 

Ana Carolina Figueira

The Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Brazil

 

Maryna Panamarova

Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK

 

Organisers

Mariela Bollati

Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

Romina Pagotto

Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

 

 

Gabriel Rinaldi, PhD

IP Montevideo

Victoria de la Sovera, PhD

IP Montevideo

Natalia Pinello, PhD

IP Montevideo

Sonia Mondino, PhD

IP Montevideo