Recurrent bouts of systemic lupus erythematosus, marked by the body’s immune system attack of its own tissues, closely tracked with measureable upticks in growth in the gut of a certain species of bacteria. New research from NYU Grossman School of Medicine shows that bacterial blooms of the gut bacterium Ruminococcus blautia gnavus occurred at the […]
Researchers led by Katsunori Tanaka at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) in Japan and Hiromitsu Haba at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science (RNC) have developed a new technique that has the potential to generically treat several kinds of cancer, with fewer negative side effects than currently available methods. Published on June […]
Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, in which urate (a byproduct of purine-rich foods like meat and alcohol) builds up in the body and forms needle-shaped crystals in and around the joints, usually starting in the foot. The crystal deposits lead to flares of severe pain, joint swelling and tenderness, and can […]
A team of researchers have discovered that extracts from plants are able to rescue the function of ion channel proteins carrying mutations that cause human Episodic Ataxia. Individuals with ataxia exhibit abnormal gait, slurring, eye movement abnormalities, difficulties with balance and walking, tremors, and disruption of fine motor skills. “Episodic Ataxia 1 (EA1) is a […]
Clinicians have a new standard for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to results from a phase III study published June 22 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new standard is more effective at preventing GVHD and came with less side effects, compared with the current gold standard. […]
The blood-brain barrier: a layer of cells between blood vessels and the rest of the brain, kicks out toxins, pathogens and other undesirables that can sabotage the brain’s precious gray matter and its overall health. “A leaky blood-brain barrier is a common pathway for a lot of brain diseases, so to be able to seal […]
A team of engineers has designed a new class of tiny, self-propelled robots that can zip through liquid at incredible speeds and may one day even deliver prescription drugs to hard-to-reach places inside the human body. The group’s microrobots used for the study are really small. Each one measures only 20 micrometers wide, several times […]
For many patients with hypertension — an elevated blood pressure that can lead to stroke or heart attack — medication keeps the condition at bay. But what happens when medication that physicians usually prescribe doesn’t work? Known as apparent resistant hypertension (aRH), this form of high blood pressure requires more medication and medical management. Novel […]
Cambridge scientists have created a stem cell-derived model of the human embryo in the lab by reprogramming human stem cells. The breakthrough could help research into genetic disorders and in understanding why and how pregnancies fail. Published today in the journal Nature, this embryo model is an organised three-dimensional structure derived from pluripotent stem cells […]
A decade after UC San Francisco scientists identified an over-the-counter antihistamine as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, researchers have developed an approach to measure the drug’s effectiveness in repairing the brain, making it possible to also assess future therapies for the devastating disorder. The researchers first identified clemastine as a potential MS therapy, and used […]