More than a third (36 percent) of people with type 2 diabetes who took part in a weight management programme delivered in NHS primary care are in remission two years later, the latest findings of the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) have revealed. The second year results of the trial, funded by Diabetes UK and led by...
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Alzheimer’s-like symptoms reversed in mice, researchers say
Credit: CC0 Public Domain A diet containing compounds found in green tea and carrots reversed Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in mice genetically programmed to develop the disease, USC researchers say. Researchers emphasize that the study, recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, was in mice, and many mouse discoveries never translate into human treatments. Nevertheless, the findings lend credence to...
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Reducing B cells with CAR T cells is effective treatment of experimental lupus
CD-19-targeting CAR-T cells restored proper skin structure and reduced inflammation in mouse models of lupus (bottom). Credit: R. Kansal et al., Science Translational Medicine (2019) Depleting the number of harmful B cells with a novel immunotherapy that employs modified T cells may offer an effective strategy to treat lupus, according to a new study funded...
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Potential new therapy for Crohn’s, colitis identified
The cells that line the gut of an ulcerative colitis patient are inflamed and filled with a protein called PAI-1 (shown in red) that is linked to blood clotting. Nuclei are shown in blue, and other intestinal cells are marked in green. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that blocking the...
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Old drugs bring new hope to a cancer that lacks precision therapy
Credit: CC0 Public Domain An estimated 15 to 20 percent of all breast cancer patients are “triple negative.” These unfortunate women lack three crucial treatment targets—the estrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Because they lack these targets, most triple negative patients are treated with standard chemotherapy, rather than the...
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Low-cost ‘cancer probe’ could spot deadly melanoma early
Optical probe designed for preliminary screening for skin cancer designed at UBC Credit: Lou Corpuz-Bosshart Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is diagnosed in more than 130,000 people globally every year. Now, work is being done on a tool to help in its early detection: a simple, compact laser probe that can distinguish between...
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Promising new drug shows potential to stop progression of sepsis
IMAGE: PROFESSOR STEVE KERRIGAN, RCSI. view more CREDIT: RCSI Thursday, 7 March 2019: Research into a new breakthrough therapy in the fight against sepsis has shown that the drug has potential to stop all sepsis-causing bacteria from triggering organ damage in the early stages of the condition. The pre-clinical trial of InnovoSep, carried out by researchers at RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons...
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SGLT-2 inhibitors work by inducing a fasting state that triggers metabolic benefits
IMAGE: INVESTIGATOR AT JOSLIN DIABETES CENTER AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL view more CREDIT: JOHN SOARES SGLT-2 inhibitors are a relatively new class of diabetes drugs that have shown many benefits for people with type 2 diabetes who have not responded well to previous interventions, including diet changes and metformin. Patients who take this medication see...
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Vitamin B3 analogue boosts production of blood cells
IMAGE: MITOCHONDRIA IN HEMATOPOETIC STEM CELLS, VISUALIZED WITH A GREEN FLUORESCENT DYE view more CREDIT: N. VANNINI, LUDWIG INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH Stem cell-based therapies are becoming more and more common, especially in the treatment of blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. In these cases, the patient’s cancerous blood stem cells are removed and replaced with new, healthy ones....
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Potential new treatment for heart attack
Scientists have found a potential new drug for treating the heart damage caused by a heart attack by targeting the way the heart reacts to stress, according to new research published in the journal, Cell Stem Cell and part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). [1] The research team used stem cells to grow heart tissue and mimic a ‘heart attack...