At 11 million cases annually, urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common outpatient infections in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At least half of all women will have a UTI during their lifetimes, and many of the infections — which have increasingly become resistant to a wide...
by Sarah Lichtman, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center A study published today in the journal Nature could help explain why certain people who develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a deadly neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, are prone to autoimmune diseases. ALS, which has no known cure, causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the...
By Sally Robertson, B.Sc. Researchers at Ligandal Inc., the University of California San Francisco and Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, have designed novel synthetic peptides that potently inhibit the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells. The team’s SARS-BLOCK™ peptides competitively inhibit the receptor-binding domain (RBD) on the SARS-CoV-2...
Frankfurt scientists identify possible Achilles’ heel of SARS-CoV-2 virus GOETHE UNIVERSITY FRANKFURT In the case of an infection, the SARS-CoV-2 virus must overcome various defense mechanisms of the human body, including its non-specific or innate immune defense. During this process, infected body cells release messenger substances known as type 1 interferons. These attract natural killer...
by Frontiers Treatment with antivirals such as interferons may significantly improve virus clearance and reduce levels of inflammatory proteins in COVID-19 patients, according to a new study in Frontiers in Immunology. Researchers conducting an exploratory study on a cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wuhan found that treatment with interferon (IFN)-α2b significantly reduced the du-ration...
by Ana María Rodríguez, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine When immunologist Dr. Wei Cao joined Baylor College of Medicine three-and-a-half years ago, her first project was to investigate how inflammation contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. “Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. The current understanding is that, in addition to having beta-amyloid...
Hepatitis B is notoriously difficult to eradicate with currently available agents.. Now, in a new study, a novel form of “pegylated” interferon-β has reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in experimental human-derived cells and in mice more effectively than the conventional pegylated interferon-α2a, suggesting that it could lead to improved treatment for hepatitis B infection in humans....
