l-theanine: From tea leaf to trending supplement - does the science match the hype for brain health and relaxation?

l-Theanine is a unique non-protein amino acid found abundantly in tea leaves. Interest in its potential use as a dietary supplement has surged recently, especially claims related to promoting relaxation and cognitive enhancement. This review surveys the chemistry, metabolism, and purported biological activities of l-theanine.

Insulin therapy adherence and its associated factors among diabetic patients in a Ghanaian primary care hospital.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global health problem. Adherence to intensive insulin therapy is necessary to achieve better glycemic control in types 1 and 2 DM. This study aimed to evaluate the extent of adherence to insulin therapy, its predictors and to identify barriers to its adherence.

Coordinated immune networks in leukemia bone marrow microenvironments distinguish response to cellular therapy.

Understanding how intratumoral immune populations coordinate antitumor responses after therapy can guide treatment prioritization. We systematically analyzed an established immunotherapy, donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI), by assessing 348,905 single-cell transcriptomes from 74 longitudinal bone marrow samples of 25 patients with relapsed leukemia; a subset was evaluated by both protein- and transcriptome-based spatial analysis. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) DLI responders, we identified clonally expanded CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes with in vitro specificity for patient-matched AML.

Diverse and highly differentiated lava suite in Jezero crater, Mars: Constraints on intracrustal magmatism revealed by Mars 2020 PIXL.

The Jezero crater floor features a suite of related, iron-rich lavas that were examined and sampled by the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance, and whose textures, minerals, and compositions were characterized by the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL). This suite, known as the Máaz formation (fm), includes dark-toned basaltic/trachy-basaltic rocks with intergrown pyroxene, plagioclase feldspar, and altered olivine and overlying trachy-andesitic lava with reversely zoned plagioclase phenocrysts in a K-rich groundmass. Feldspar thermal disequilibrium textures indicate that they were carried from their crustal staging area.

Cryo-EM structure and regulation of human NAD kinase.

Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) is a crucial reducing cofactor for reductive biosynthesis and protection from oxidative stress. To fulfill their heightened anabolic and reductive power demands, cancer cells must boost their NADPH production. Progrowth and mitogenic protein kinases promote the activity of cytosolic NAD kinase (NADK), which produces NADP, a limiting NADPH precursor.

Bioprinted optoelectronically active cardiac tissues.

Electrical stimulation of existing three-dimensional bioprinted tissues to alter tissue activities is typically associated with wired delivery, invasive electrode placement, and potential cell damage, minimizing its efficacy in cardiac modulation. Here, we report an optoelectronically active scaffold based on printed gelatin methacryloyl embedded with micro-solar cells, seeded with cardiomyocytes to form light-stimulable tissues. This enables untethered, noninvasive, and damage-free optoelectronic stimulation-induced modulation of cardiac beating behaviors without needing wires or genetic modifications to the tissue solely with light.

Carbon stock quantification and climate mitigation potential of a tropical moist forest in Ethiopia.

The significance of forests in absorbing and storing carbon plays a crucial role in international greenhouse gas policies outlined by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCC). This study was conducted in a typical tropical moist forest of Ethiopia to assess its carbon stock, a critical issue in climate policy. The study domain was divided into six strata using elevation criteria.

Romosozumab Improves Tissue Thickness-Adjusted Trabecular Bone Score in Women With Osteoporosis and Diabetes.

Context: Trabecular bone score (TBS), a gray-level texture index derived from lumbar spine (LS) dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans, is decreased in patients with diabetes and is associated with increased fracture risk, independent of areal bone mineral density (aBMD), but potentially influenced by abdominal fat tissue.

Objective: Evaluate effect of romosozumab (210 mg monthly) for 12 months followed by alendronate (70 mg weekly) for 24 months vs alendronate alone (70 mg weekly) for 36 months on LS aBMD and TBS in women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) enrolled in the ARCH study.

Methods: This post hoc analysis included women from ARCH who had T2D at baseline and LS DXA scans at baseline and ≥1 postbaseline visit (romosozumab-to-alendronate, n = 165; alendronate-to-alendronate, n = 195).

Ensifentrine in COPD patients taking long-acting bronchodilators: A pooled post-hoc analysis of the ENHANCE-1/2 studies.

Background: The efficacy and safety of ensifentrine, a novel PDE3/PDE4 inhibitor, were previously evaluated in the ENHANCE-1 (NCT04535986) and ENHANCE-2 (NCT04542057) trials. Here, we present a pooled post-hoc subgroup analysis of patients according to background chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) maintenance medication regimens.

Objective: This analysis aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of ensifentrine in patients receiving long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) or long-acting beta-agonists with inhaled corticosteroids (LABA + ICS).

An open chat between Prof Asifa Akhtar and Klaudia Jaczynska.

To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2025, we invited Prof Asifa Akhtar, Vice President of the Max Planck Society's Biology and Medicine section, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Honorary Professor at the Albert Ludwigs University and recipient of the 2025 FEBS | EMBO Women in Science Award to meet and chat with Klaudia Jaczynska, final year PhD student at Jose Rizo's laboratory in UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and 2024 FEBS Open Bio Article Prize winner. We invited them to talk about challenges limiting equal representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, initiatives to foster supportive environments as a research institute and the importance of highlighting diverse examples of success.

Representational geometry explains puzzling error distributions in behavioral tasks.

Measuring and interpreting errors in behavioral tasks is critical for understanding cognition. Conventional wisdom assumes that encoding/decoding errors for continuous variables in behavioral tasks should naturally have Gaussian distributions, so that deviations from normality in the empirical data indicate the presence of more complex sources of noise. This line of reasoning has been central for prior research on working memory.

Variants in the SOX9 transactivation middle domain induce axial skeleton dysplasia and scoliosis.

SOX9 is a crucial transcriptional regulator of cartilage development and homeostasis. Dysregulation of is associated with a wide spectrum of skeletal disorders, including campomelic dysplasia, acampomelic campomelic dysplasia, and scoliosis. Yet how variants contribute to the spectrum of axial skeletal disorders is not well understood.

Determinants of Human Corneal Mechanical Wave Dispersion for In Vivo Optical Coherence Elastography.

Purpose: To characterize frequency-dependent wave speed dispersion in the human cornea using microliter air-pulse optical coherence elastography (OCE), and to evaluate the applicability of Lamb wave theory for determining corneal elastic modulus using high-frequency symmetric (S0) and anti-symmetric (A0) guided waves in cornea.

Methods: Wave speed dispersion analysis for transient (0.5 ms) microliter air-pulse stimulation was performed in four rabbit eyes ex vivo and compared to air-coupled ultrasound excitation.

An Insect Effector Mimics Its Host Immune Regulator to Undermine Plant Immunity.

Plants activate defense machinery when infested by herbivorous insects but avoid such costs in the absence of herbivory. However, the key signaling pathway regulators underlying such flexibility and the mechanisms that insects exploit these components to disarm plant defense systems remain elusive. Here, it is reported that immune repressor 14-3-3e in rice Oryza sativa (OsGF14e) regulates immune homeostasis.

The MASCC COG-IMPACT: An unmet needs assessment for cancer-related cognitive impairment impact developed by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer.

Purpose: Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) can have a profound impact on the lives of cancer survivors. A multitude of subjective and objective assessment tools exist to assess the presence and severity of CRCI. However, no purpose-built tool exists to assess the unmet needs of cancer survivors directly relating to CRCI.

The family medicine accelerated track at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center: results from a 10-year program to bend the primary care curve.

Background: Texas is one of the states with the lowest access to usual sources of primary care; most critically, family medicine (FM) has been projected to have the greatest physician shortage increase between 2018 and 2032. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine developed the Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT), a 3-year curriculum that culminates in the MD degree and links medical students to FM residency programs at TTUHSC campuses in Lubbock, Amarillo or the Permian Basin. This article reflects on 10 years of experience with the program, and particularly its impact on the primary care physician workforce in Texas.

Nitric oxide transfer between nominal Fe and Co biomimetics of the nitrile hydratase active site.

Related to the inactive form of nitrile hydratase, NHase, that contains Fe(NO) within tripeptide NS binding environment, the NO transfer reactivity of (bis-mercaptoethane diazacycloheptane)Fe(NO) and (bis-mercaptoethane diazadimethylethane)Fe(NO) is compared to Co(NO) analogs. Acceptors of NO include cobalt octaethylporphyrin and the [(NS)M] dimeric precursors in the synthesis of the Fe(NO) and Co(NO) biomimetics. Qualitative rates are augmented by a definitive kinetic study finding that rates of NO transfer from (NS)M(NO) to [(NS)M'] are dependent on M and M' as well as the hydrocarbon N to N and N to S linkers.

The role of Iowa gambling task performance in response to citalopram treatment for cocaine use disorder.

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is associated with executive functioning impairments linked to serotonergic function. Previous studies reported efficacy with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram in reducing cocaine use. The current study explored moderation and mediation of citalopram effects on cocaine use by performance across executive function domains.

Development and Pilot Implementation of a Theory-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation Protocol for Adults With Chronic Cognitive Complaints After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the development of and pilot feasibility outcomes for a strategy-based, brief, intensive cognitive rehabilitation intervention delivered to U.S. service members and veterans with mild traumatic brain injury in a recently completed 3-year pragmatic clinical trial: Symptom-Targeted Approach to Rehabilitation for Concussion (STAR-C).

Venoms and Extracellular Vesicles: A New Frontier in Venom Biology.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticle-sized vesicles secreted by nearly all cell types under normal physiological conditions. In toxicological research, EVs have emerged as a crucial link between public health and multi-omics approaches, offering insights into cellular responses to disease-causing injury agents such as environmental and biological toxins, contaminants, and drugs. Notably, EVs present a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of the pathophysiology of envenomation by natural toxins.

Nutritional Factors Related to Canine Gallbladder Diseases-A Scoping Review.

Gallbladder mucocele, cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis, and cholecystitis are significant contributors to morbidity and mortality in dogs. The exact etiology of these conditions remains poorly understood, though various factors, such as endocrinopathies, dyslipidemia, and impaired gallbladder motility, have been suggested as potential contributors. Surgical intervention has been described as the first choice of treatment when biliary rupture or obstruction is suspected; however, medical management may be an important part of therapeutic or preventative strategy.

Persistence of the Immune Response to an Intramuscular Bivalent (GI.1/GII.4) Norovirus Vaccine in Adults.

Background: Major global economic and health burdens due to norovirus gastroenteritis could be addressed by an effective vaccine.

Methods: In this study, 428 adult recipients of various compositions of the norovirus vaccine candidate, HIL-214, were followed for 5 years, to assess immune responses to its virus-like particle antigens, GI.1 and GII.

Early Polytherapy for Probably Benzodiazepine Refractory Naïve Status Epilepticus (Stage 1 Plus).

Stage 1 Plus is defined here as a naïve, previously untreated, status epilepticus (SE) that is probably refractory to Benzodiazepines (BDZ). These cases include not only prolonged SE as previously proposed by the author (SE lasting > 10 min) but also other cases notoriously associated with BDZ refractoriness such as the absence of prominent motor phenomena and acute etiology (especially primary central nervous system etiology). Interestingly, the absence of prominent motor phenomena as is the case of non convulsive SE might implicitly fall in the category of prolonged SE due to the delay in recognition and treatment.