Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway obstruction, and remodeling. Allergic asthma is characterized by T helper 2 (Th2) inflammation, which usually responds well to inhaled corticosteroids. In some cases, patients develop severe asthma refractory to high-dose inhaled corticosteroids which shows a need for better and alternative treatment methods. The […]
What is Metformin Used for? Metformin is the most widely-prescribed oral hypoglycemic medication for type 2 diabetes worldwide. In 1922, synthesis of metformin and related biguanide compounds phenformin and buformin was achieved by Werner and Bell, paving the way for metformin to attain widespread use in humans as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes (T2D) […]
Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection is characterized by immune dysregulation, especially in the elderly or immunocompromised patients with comorbidities. Vector-based vaccines (i.e. Ad26.COV2.S by Janssen/Johnson&Johnson) and mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 by Pfizer/BioNTech, mRNA-1273 by Moderna/NIH), are both in wide use in the world. The antibody responses of the vaccines in immune-compromised populations have been described, but the T-cell […]
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by an accumulation of fat in the hepatic parenchymal hepatocytes of more than 5% of the liver weight, without a history of high amounts of alcohol consumption. This condition can cause steatosis and even inflammation, being able to cause necrosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually even cancer. It is […]
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), includes two conditions, Cronh’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both conditions are associated with acute and chronic inflammation of the intestine. Some risk factors to develop IBD include genetic predisposition and factors that alter gut microbiota, such as antibiotics. The effect of nutrition in IBD remains poorly understood, but diets that cause […]
In addition to supporting infant nutrition and development, human lactation and breastfeeding have evolved to protect infants against infectious diseases (ID): breastfed infants have dramatically lower ID risk than infants fed milk substitutes. The activity of the immune system of milk (ISOM) likely plays an important role in this protection. The ISOM includes leukocytes, antibodies, […]
The rapid dissemination of the SARS-CoV-2 new variants of concern and the waning in vaccine-acquired immunity, lead to the introduction of booster shots. In July 2021, Israel was the first country to introduce a third vaccine dose 5 months or more following the second vaccine dose, which was associated with high protection against overall SARS-CoV-2 […]
The current estimate of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevalence in the US exceeds 6 million people. While some evidence suggests that incidence of dementia may be decreasing due to improvements in average cardiovascular health, the number of affected individuals is growing because of our aging population. Most treatments available for AD offer limited symptomatic relief. That […]
In recent years there have been multiple studies that have shown that the use of probiotics to help maintain the good bacteria in the body is essential and can help in multiple conditions. Microorganisms inhabit most areas of our bodies. According to some studies these microorganisms can impact pregnancy and other health outcomes. Recently, a […]
Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus infection, COVID-19, researchers have been looking for a treatment to stop the devastating pandemic. During these efforts, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown potential as the next generation of therapeutic methods with wide application for diseases that have successfully controlled “cytokine storm” following the virus infection. Scientists have […]