An estimated 3 million people in the UK suffer from a severe loss of smell But new jabs help restore smell by encouraging nerve cells to regeneration After a single injection four of five test subjects said their small had come back Jabs of blood into the nose may offer new hope to those who...
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Targeted drug shows promise in rare advanced kidney cancer
Some patients with a form of advanced kidney cancer that carries a poor prognosis benefited from an experimental drug targeted to an abnormal genetic pathway causing cancerous growth, according to research led by a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientist. The drug, savolitinib, showed clinical activity in patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) whose tumors were driven...
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Tiny bubbles offer sound solution for drug delivery
Your brain is armored. It lives in a box made of bones with a security system of vessels. These vessels protect the brain and central nervous system from harmful chemicals circulating in the blood. Yet this protection system—known as the blood-brain barrier—also prevents delivery of drugs that could help treat patients with brain cancers and...
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Review: Insomnia medication may wake up some patients from vegetative state
In a new systematic review in JAMA Neurology, Michigan Medicine researchers found reason to further explore the surprising effects of zolpidem that have been observed outside the scope of its primary Food and Drug Administration approval. “We saw a dramatic effect in a small amount of patients with a variety of conditions,” says Martin “Nick” Bomalaski,...
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Researchers chart pathway to ‘rejuvenating’ immune cells to fight cancers and infections
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital immunologists have discovered how immune cells called T cells become “exhausted”—unable to do their jobs of attacking invaders such as cancer cells or viruses. The finding is important because patients treated with immunotherapies against cancers are often non-responsive or experience a relapse of their disease, and it has been suggested...
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Ribosomal DNA copy number loss and sequence variation in cancer
Abstract Ribosomal DNA is one of the most variable regions in the human genome with respect to copy number. Despite the importance of rDNA for cellular function, we know virtually nothing about what governs its copy number, stability, and sequence in the mammalian genome due to challenges associated with mapping and analysis. We applied computational...
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MAIT cells launch a rapid, robust and distinct hyperinflammatory response to bacterial superantigens and quickly acquire an anergic phenotype that impedes their cognate antimicrobial function: Defining a novel mechanism of superantigen-induced immunopathology and immunosuppression
Abstract Superantigens (SAgs) are potent exotoxins secreted by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. They target a large fraction of T cell pools to set in motion a “cytokine storm” with severe and sometimes life-threatening consequences typically encountered in toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Given the rapidity with which TSS develops, designing timely and truly targeted therapies...
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5 kilograms of broccoli in a pill slashes diabetics’ blood sugar
Doctors frequently tell us to eat our greens, but soon they could be prescribing broccoli. A powder that contains concentrated extract from the vegetable could prove indispensable to people with type 2 diabetes. The extract reduced blood sugar levels by up to 10 per cent in people with the disease. Type 2 diabetes usually develops around middle...
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Extra virgin olive oil staves off Alzheimer’s, preserves memory, new study shows
Temple University research shows extra-virgin olive oil protects against memory loss, preserves the ability to learn and reduces conditions associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at the college’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine found mice with EVOO-enriched diets had better memories and learning abilities compared to the rodents who didn’t eat the oil. The real effect...
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Could autism be helped by changing a patient’s diet? Taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle may improve sufferers’ social behaviour and ability to express emotions
Gluten causes a ‘leaky gut’, where toxins travel to the brain and cause symptoms Probiotics are thought to reverse this process by strengthening the gut’s lining Researchers believe this may offer a cheap, effective way of treating the disorder They add that more research is needed and behavioural therapy should continue Autism may be helped by...