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New Neuropsychological Reference Standards Enable Earlier Detection of One in Five Incipient Alzheimer’s Disease Cases

Dr. Ignacio Illán i Dra. Sara Rubio

The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has led a multicenter project that redefines what is considered normal cognitive performance. The work, carried out in collaboration with Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla in Santander, and the CITA-Alzheimer Foundation in San Sebastián, has resulted in two complementary scientific articles published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (DADM), which establish new cognitive reference standards based exclusively on individuals without amyloid pathology and demonstrate their ability to improve early diagnosis.

A Study Reveals How Hippocampal Synapses Adjust Their Proteins to Specialize Their Function

Diego del Castillo_Àlex Bayés_Oriana Victoria Zerpa

A research team led by Dr. Àlex Bayés, Head of the Molecular Physiology of the Synapse Group at the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau), has achieved what for decades had been an elusive goal: obtaining a precise, differentiated molecular portrait of individual synaptic types in the hippocampus, the brain structure that serves as the core of learning and memory.

New C3 Complement Mechanism Identified in Atherosclerosis Progression

2025_Identifiquen un nou mecanisme del complement C3 en la progressió de l’ateroesclerosi_Óscar Rafael Escate_Teresa Padro_Esther Peña_Maisa García-Arguinzonis

Researchers from the Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease Progression group at the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau) have identified a new mechanism by which complement C3, a key immune system protein, can directly influence the progression of atherosclerosis. The study, published in the journal Cells, shows that activation of this molecule alters the structure and behavior of the cells that form the arterial wall, contributing to lesions becoming more unstable and more prone to rupture.

The Combination of Carvedilol and Simvastatin Improves Portal Hypertension Control and Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Cirrhosis

La combinació de carvedilol i simvastatina millora el control de la hipertensió portal i els marcadors inflamatoris en pacients amb cirrosi

Researchers from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) have conducted a clinical trial demonstrating that the combination of two widely available drugs, carvedilol and simvastatin, significantly improves the control of portal hypertension in patients with hepatic cirrhosis.

The International System for Assessing Organ Dysfunction in Critically Ill Patients Is Updated After Thirty Years

Dr. Otavio Ranzani

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has recently published the updated version of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), the global reference system in intensive care medicine used to assess the degree of organ dysfunction in critically ill patients. The results were also presented in parallel at the Annual Congress of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM LIVES 2025), held in Munich, in a featured session on current topics broadcast live.

An Experimental Treatment Restores the Reparative Capacity of Stem Cells in Type 2 Diabetes

Dra. Gemma Arderiu

A team from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has discovered that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can reverse the functional impairments of adipose tissue–derived stem cells in people with type 2 diabetes. This restores their ability to proliferate, migrate, and form new blood vessels.

Early Control of Hemodynamic Parameters Improves Recovery in Patients with Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Dr. Pol Camps, Dr. Alvaro Lambea, Dra.

A multicenter study led by the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Hospital de Sant Pau, published in Neurology, demonstrates that the early and coordinated implementation of a comprehensive care protocol significantly improves functional recovery in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. This is one of the most severe forms of stroke.

Qdenga Vaccine Shows Effectiveness Against Dengue Under Real-World Conditions During Brazil’s 2024 Outbreak

Dr. Otavio Ranzani

An international team of researchers has demonstrated that the tetravalent dengue vaccine Qdenga provides significant protection against the disease under real-world conditions during the major 2024 epidemic in São Paulo, Brazil. The study, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases and led by Dr. Otavio Ranzani, head of the DataHealth Lab group at the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau). Together with Dr. Julio Croda, Fiocruz, Brazil, provides the first evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness following its approval.

A New Blood Biomarker Predicts the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease Even in Its Earliest Stages

A team of researchers at the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) has demonstrated that the plasma biomarker p-tau217, obtained through a simple blood test, can predict the clinical progression of Alzheimer’s disease even in its earliest stages. This is when symptoms are not yet evident. The study, published in the journal Neurology, reinforces the role of blood tests in the future of diagnosing and monitoring dementias.

Sant Pau Participates in One of the Most Relevant International Trials on the Discontinuation of Invasive Mechanical Ventilation in Critically Ill Patients

Dr. Indalecio Morán i Dra. Núria Rodríguez

Physicians from the Intensive Care Medicine Department at Hospital Sant Pau, members of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), have participated in the international PROMIZING study. This is one of the most ambitious clinical trials to date aimed at optimizing the discontinuation of mechanical ventilation in patients with severe respiratory failure.

A New CAR-T Therapy from Sant Pau Achieves Positive Results in a High Proportion of Patients with a Refractory Type of Lymphoma

Researchers at the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), in collaboration with the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, have developed an innovative CAR-T cell therapy targeting the CD30 protein (HSP-CAR30). This therapy has shown high efficacy in patients with refractory CD30+ lymphoma.

The expression of two glutaminergic genes is associated with the accumulation of the TAU protein in Alzheimer’s disease

A study led by Víctor Montal, researcher at the Research Institute of the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau and Jorge Sepulcre, of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston (United States ) has described the association between the accumulation of the TAU protein in certain areas of the brain and the overexpression of the APOE and SLC1A2 genes in the same areas. The work has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers from the IIB Sant Pau provide new data on cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome

Alzheimer’s disease has become the leading medical problem in adults with Down syndrome due to the chromosomal alteration and the increase in life expectancy of this population, with a risk of more than 90% of developing dementia throughout their lives.

Study identifies 10 new genetic regions linked with the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19

An international macro-study in which researchers from the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Research Institute – IIB Sant Pau have participated has located 11 new chromosomal regions involved in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and in severity COVID-19 clinic. The work is published in the journal Nature.

Early Differentiated T Lymphocytes Predict Prognosis in Patients With Pneumonia

Researchers from the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, the Immunology Department and the Geriatrics Unit of the Internal Medicine Department of the same hospital have identified that the increased levels of CD28+ CD27+ T lymphocytes early differentiated is associated with a better prognosis in patients older than 65 years who are admitted for pneumonia.

Sant Pau and the Catalan oil PDOs collaborate in a research project on Mediterranean diet and fertility

Large genomic analysis highlights COVID-19 risk factors

IIB Sant Pau 2019 Scientific Report

You can find it here.

The Sant Pau Institute for Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau) has initiated more than 30 research projects to combat and learn more about the new coronavirus and Covid-19 disease. The projects are developed in different research areas in order to have a global vision of the disease.

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