Key Points Question What is the association between dry eye disease and migraine headaches? Findings In this population-based case-control study of 72 969 patients, the odds of having dry eye disease with a diagnosis of migraine headaches was at least 20% higher than that of individuals without a diagnosis of migraine headaches. Meaning Although this association...
Post
How does the body respond to diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis?
IMAGE: ASPECTS OF B CELL, T CELL, AND MACROPHAGE RESPONSES CONTRIBUTE TO PARASITE SURVIVAL IN DCL PATIENTS. INCREASED B CELL PRESENCE AND ALTERED ANTIBODY REPERTOIRES PROMOTE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PHENOTYPES IN THE LESION… view more CREDIT: CHRISTENSEN, ET AL. (CC BY 4.0, 2019) In diffuse cutaneous leishmanisis (DCL), a rare form of leishmaniasis, parasites grow uncontrolled in skin lesions across...
Post
SHANK3: the good, the bad and the hopeful
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron or nerve cell to communicate with another neuron. Absence of or certain changes in gene SHANK3 disrupt neuron-neuron communication and lead to Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Credit: National Institute on Aging, NIH. Some neuropsychiatric conditions may boil down to how well brain cells communicate...
Post
Cytomegalovirus infection broadens spectrum of environmental allergens
This image shows airway co-exposure to cytomegalovirus and environmental antigen sensitizes for allergic airway disease Credit: Lemmermann NAW and Reddehase MJ Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can convert a harmless, inhaled protein antigen into an allergen, according to a study published March 7 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogensby Rafaela Holtappels from the University Medical Center of the...
Post
Growing evidence: water as a potential treatment for inherited cause of kidney failure
Lead researcher Dr Priyanka Sagar looking into a microscope Credit: The Westmead Institute for Medical Research People with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) could benefit from a moderate increase in water intake, according to new research. A study from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research found that a moderate increase in water intake in rats with PKD led to a...
Post
Researchers aiming to cure spina bifida get a step closer to their goal
Aijun Wang has identified stem cell byproducts that protect neurons. Credit: UC Regents / UC Davis Health Researchers on the path to finding a cure for spina bifida have identified specific elements in stem cell secretions as key to protecting neurons and ultimately reducing the lower-limb paralysis associated with the birth defect. Those elements are exosomes—vesicles...
Post
‘Game changer’ in treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
The Cardiff researchers say that the test could now be a ‘game changer’ in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). It also has the potential to change how other cancers, including myeloma and breast cancer, are treated. While previous versions of the test had taken a week to process, results can now be ready in a...
Post
Genomics Could Guide Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Pancreatic cancer is a grim diagnosis, with a five-year survival rate of less than 9 percent. To improve those odds, researchersat UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine sought genetic signatures in the largest study of its kind that could be used to better match drugs to patients and for early detection. https: The Pancreas. Image credit: Blausen.com staff...
Post
Identification of potential target protein aggregates for treating Alzheimer’s
The aggregation of alpha-synuclein proteins in Parkinson’s disease and tau proteins in Alzheimer’s disease is intimately linked to the progression of these neurodegenerative diseases. These aggregates propagate from one neuronal cell to another, attaching themselves to the cells. They multiply during this propagation. It has already been shown that the propagation and amplification of these...
Post
Promising compound selectively kills brain cancer stem cells
Scripps Research scientists have discovered a compound that potently and selectively kills the stem-like cells that make glioblastoma brain cancers so deadly. In a study published this week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Scripps Research scientists found that the new compound, which they dubbed RIPGBM, kills glioblastomastem-like cells cultured from patients’ tumors with more than 40...