CREDIT: UT SOUTHWESTERN DALLAS – March 21, 2019 – UT Southwestern researchers have identified two proteins that act as gatekeepers to dampen a potentially life-threatening immune response to chronic infection. IMAGE: DR. ZIXU LIU view more CREDIT: UT SOUTHWESTERN The proteins – the transcription factors SIX1 and SIX2 – activate cellular pathways required for fetal development and later switch to...
Tag: <span>inflammation</span>
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Can a nerve injury trigger ALS?
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO A growing collection of anecdotal stories raises the possibility that nerve injury in an arm or a leg can act as a trigger for the development amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS — a progressive neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the famous New York Yankee who...
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UBC researchers discover how blood vessels protect the brain during inflammation
Findings could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Researchers from the University of British Columbia have discovered how blood vessels protect the brain during inflammation–a finding that could lead to the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. In a study published today...
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A missing gene makes a big difference in patients’ recovery from mild stroke
Brain tissue reveals scar formation (at left) and inflammation (on right) in mice after stroke. Bottom images show less scarring and inflammation (in red) in animals treated with the drug maraviroc, which blocks the CCR5 gene. Credit: UCLA/Carmichael lab More than 6 million Americans live with disabilities following a stroke. Even mild strokes can leave...
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New diagnostic technique reveals a protein biomarker that accurately differentiates bladder cancer from benign inflammation
Philadelphia, PA, February 12, 2019 – Label-free digital pathology using infrared (IR) imaging with subsequent proteomic analysis for bladder cancer (BC) has revealed the first protein biomarker (AHNAK2) for BC. AHNAK2 differentiates between chronic cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) and a non-muscle invasive-type BC (carcinoma in situ) which is challenging to diagnose. A report in...
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The immune system’s fountain of youth
Helping the immune system clear away old cells in aging mice helped restore youthful characteristics WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE If only we could keep our bodies young, healthy and energetic, even as we attain the wisdom of our years. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests this dream could be at least partly...
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One type of brain cell might hold key to inflammation after head injury
SAN DIEGO – By eliminating one type of immune cell in the brain, researchers were able to erase any evidence of inflammation following traumatic brain injury, according to a new study from The Ohio State University. “We used a drug to wipe out cells called microglia in mice that had experienced brain injury, and the...
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How salt can trigger inflammation in multiple sclerosis
Researchers at Yale have identified a high-salt environment as one of the contributing factors to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). In a new study published Oct. 29 in the journal Nature Immunology, they report just how salt can trigger the potentially disabling autoimmune disorder. Credit: CC0 Public Domain First author Tomokazu Sumida, a researcher...
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People with fibromyalgia have inflammation of the brain
The causes of the difficult-to-treat pain syndrome fibromyalgia are largely unknown. Using PET brain imaging, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Massachusetts General Hospital have now shown that glial cells – the central nervous system’s immune cells – are activated in the brains of patients with fibromyalgia. The finding has been published in the scientific journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity and may open the way...
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Solving the gut inflammation puzzle
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella term for a number of gut disorders—including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease—remains a clinical challenge. Current treatments don’t work for all patients, and many stops working over time. But despite their different responses to treatment, all IBD patients share a commonality: intestinal inflammation. A better understanding of what drives...