From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Researchers in Madison have found a way to prevent the negative effects of certain treatments for depression on pregnant women.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is promoting the discovery as a top licensing prospect in its health care portfolio of UW-Madison research.
In an overview on the research, WARF notes this marks the first successful attempt to prevent “adverse pregnancy outcomes” linked to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. These drugs are widely used to treat depression and other conditions, and work by increasing the levels of a neurotransmitter called serotonin.
The researchers used several animal models, including mice and sheep, to demonstrate that the effects of SSRIs impact placental function, compromising fetal development. Using another drug called ketanserin, they were able to prevent “adverse effects” in pregnant mice by preventing increasing serotonin signaling, the overview shows.
The treatment “prevented most placental changes and adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes” caused by SSRIs, according to WARF.
“Importantly, ketanserin does not affect the antidepressant effects of SSRI, allowing women to benefit from the effects of SSRI in the brain without harming pregnancy outcomes,” authors wrote, adding this approach is “critical to allow women to benefit from the antidepressant effects of SSRI without compromising fetal health.”
Inventors include Profs. Laura Hernandez and Milo Wiltbank, both of which are affiliated with the university’s Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.
See more in the overview.
— Wisconsin senators were split on their votes as the Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, spoke on the floor ahead of yesterday’s vote, opposing Kennedy’s nomination.
“RFK Jr. will put Americans in harm’s way,” Baldwin said. “Kids will be at risk of getting preventable diseases like measles and mumps. Women will have essential health care ripped away. Families will be further away, not closer to having cures to diseases like cancer, and sadly, the list goes on and on.”
Baldwin called Kennedy the “top purveyor” of vaccine misinformation, and expressed concern about his stance on vaccines and belief in conspiracy theories.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, voted in favor of Kennedy.
“Congratulations to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on being confirmed as HHS Secretary,” Johnson said on X following the vote. “Looking forward to radical transparency and conquering chronic illness. Let’s Make America Healthy Again!”
The only GOP senator who voted against Kennedy’s nomination was U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
— Baldwin is slamming the Trump administration for having “completely stopped funding” for medical research through the NIH, noting the federal agency hasn’t announced any new grants for the past 10 days.
In a release today, the Madison Dem said the administration has awarded 3,600 fewer NIH grants and $1 billion less in funding for U.S. research institutions than during the same period of the previous administration.
Baldwin also notes more than 50 NIH Advisory Council meetings have been canceled, disrupting a “crucial final step” in the grant funding approval process.
“The NIH supports truly lifesaving, groundbreaking work that helps people across the country stay healthy and alive, and halting this funding only means fewer treatments for Americans and fewer American jobs,” she said in a statement.
Her remarks come after a federal judge in Massachusetts earlier this week issued a temporary restraining order blocking a move to reduce the amount of NIH grants going toward overhead costs associated with medical research. Wisconsin and 21 other states have filed suit.
See the release below.
— In an executive session, the state Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families voted unanimously to allow technical colleges to lease their space for a child care center.
Current law allows a technical college to lease its facilities only for non-school purposes. The bill would create an exception that would allow leasing to child care centers.
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