New research presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and published simultaneously in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology shows how the glucose-lowering drug lixisenatide can slow or prevent damage to the kidneys in macro-albuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. The study is...
Post
Cyclic peptides for cancer therapy and prognosis assessment
The glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa (known as GRP78) is emerging as a target for cancer therapy and a biomarker for cancer prognosis. It is usually produced in greater quantities in cells that are under stress conditions. In many types of cancers, GRP78 protein has been observed to be produced in abnormally large quantities and it tends...
Post
Stage four sarcomatoid kidney cancer patient first to show complete response to immunotherapy
“You see this place on the image? That’s where your kidney was,” says VCU Massey Cancer Center medical oncologist Asit Paul, M.D., Ph.D., to 69-year-old Thomas Bland. “And the tumors we saw in your lung and other places still have not returned. I’m happy to say you’ve been disease-free for more than two-and-a-half years.” Asit...
Post
Alternative medicines may aid in the treatment of psoriasis
A. Caresse Gamret, from the University of Miami, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies evaluating all documented CAM psoriasis interventions. Included interventions had more than one randomized clinical trial (RCT) supporting their use. (HealthDay)—Some complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) may be helpful in the treatment of psoriasis, according to a review published online Sept. 5...
Post
ReFRAME drug repurposing collection yields hope for treating diseases that kill millions
Calibr scientists build and deploy new ReFRAME drug collection to find potential therapies against HIV, tuberculosis and parasites that causes severe illness in children LA JOLLA, CA – Oct. 3, 2018 – Each year, millions of people worldwide suffer from potentially fatal infectious diseases that often leave survivors facing a lifetime of related health problems....
Post
Glow-in-the-dark paper as a rapid test for infectious diseases
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands) and Keio University (Japan) present a practical and reliable way to test for infectious diseases. All you need are a special glowing paper strip, a drop of blood and a digital camera, as they write in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie. Not only does this make the technology...
Post
Phage therapy draws renewed interest to combat drug-resistant microbes
The married professors were spending their Thanksgiving holiday in Egypt when the husband, Thomas L. Patterson, Ph.D., got very sick very quickly, experiencing fever, nausea and a racing heartbeat. By the time Patterson was accurately diagnosed with a highly multi-drug resistant bacterial infection, he was near death. His wife, Steffanie Strathdee, Ph.D., promised to “leave...
Post
Delay in replacing the Pap smear with HPV screening is costing lives
An abnormal Pap test. Credit: Komsan Loonprom/Shutterstock.comIt was established a decade ago that testing for the presence of HPV – the virus that causes cervical cancer – is a better cervical screening test than the Pap smear. Yet in England, the Pap smear is still used, and it’s costing lives. Credit: Iryna Inshyna/Shutterstock.com Current screening for...
Post
New cancer vaccine can teach the immune system to ‘see’ rogue cells and kill them
Vaccine teaches immune system to recognise rogue cells as part of treatment Method involves extracting immune cells from a patient, altering them in lab they can then ‘see‘ a protein common to many cancers and then reinjected A trial vaccine is showing promising results in patients with a range of cancers. One woman treated with the vaccine, which teaches the immune system to recognize rogue cells, saw her ovarian cancer...
Post
Genetic variants reveal new targets for chronic kidney disease treatment
The kidney does more than double or even triple duty compared to other organs—it extracts waste, balances body fluids, forms urine, regulates blood pressure, and secretes hormones. Given this complexity, when things go wrong, havoc can ensue, causing a suite of symptoms called chronic kidney disease (CKD), which includes toxin accumulation, fatigue, and high blood...