Experts caution against widespread use due to a potential for tolerance, abuse, and dependence AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION Washington, D.C., — A new study appearing online today from the American Journal of Psychiatry finds that ketamine’s acute antidepressant effect requires opioid system activation, the first time that a receptor site has been shown in humans to be necessary...
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HKBU scholars in world-first breakthrough for difficult-to-treat breast cancer
Chemists at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have discovered the use of a metal compound that inhibits the enzyme closely associated with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most difficult forms of breast cancer to treat. The metal compound is found to inhibit the TNBC tumors with less toxicity in mice, thus their work...
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Restless legs syndrome brain stimulation study supports motor cortex ‘excitability’ as a cause
Experiments with patients suggest brain stimulation may be a viable treatment JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say new experiments using magnetic pulse brain stimulation on people with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome (RLS) have added to evidence that the condition is due to excitability and hyperarousal in the part of the brain’s motor cortex...
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Failing immune system ‘brakes’ help explain type 1 diabetes in mice
Immune reactions are usually a good thing–the body’s way of eliminating harmful bacteria and other pathogens. But people also rely on molecular “brakes,” or checkpoints, to keep immune systems from attacking their own cells and organs and causing so-called autoimmune disease. Now, working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that in the rodent form...
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On the horizon: An acne vaccine
Significant progress made in the development of an acne vaccine using a novel therapeutic approach, according to a new study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology ELSEVIER Berlin, August 29, 2018 – A new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reports important steps that have been taken towards the development of an acne...
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Research brief: Researchers 3D print prototype for ‘bionic eye’
A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, fully 3D printed an array of light receptors on a hemispherical surface. This discovery marks a significant step toward creating a “bionic eye” that could someday help blind people see or sighted people see better. The research is published today in Advanced Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific...
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New way to break cancer’s vicious cycle
University of Toronto researchers have uncovered why some cancers grow faster than others. The team led by Liliana Attisano, Professor in U of T’s Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, has identified a protein called NUAK2, which is produced by cancer cells to boost their proliferation and whose presence in tumours is associated with poor disease prognosis....
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Newly discovered skull channels play role in immunity
Researchers have now discovered “tiny channels” that allow the injured brain to communicate with bone marrow in the process of inflammation. These “tunnels” are key to ensuring a quick immune response. Inflammation occurs as an immune response to instances of infection or injury within the body. ‘Tiny channels’ in the skull allow injured brain tissue to...
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Bladder control via gene therapy?
What are the limits of gene therapy? “There are no currently available FDA-approved gene therapy treatments for overactive bladder,” reads this press release. And that’s true. But is it, like, a problem? Urovant Sciences believes so, which is why it licensed just such a gene therapy for overactive bladder. It’s called hMaxi-K, and it targets...
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Stem Cells from Baby Teeth Regenerate Dental Pulp after Implantation into Injured Teeth
Going to the dentist is usually not anyone’s idea of fun. In particular, root canals are no fun. However, if you have an abscessed tooth that hurts like the dickens, then a root canal may be your best bet for resuming normalcy. In younger patients, the innermost part of the tooth, the pulp, may die...