by University of California – San Diego UC San Diego Health has launched a Phase III clinical trial, part of a global effort, to assess whether a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders might also have therapeutic value for COVID-19 patients who have developed or at high risk of developing serious...
Fecal transplantation improves outcomes in patients with multi-drug resistant organisms
by Digestive Disease Week Transferring fecal matter from the digestive systems of healthy donors to extremely ill patients who had previously been infected with drug-resistant bacteria resulted in shorter hospital stays, fewer bloodstream infections and infections that were easier to treat, according to research that was selected for presentation at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2020....
Researchers unravel protein mystery of three brain diseases
by KU Leuven Microscopic image of mouse neurons to which the patient-derived α-synuclein protein was administered. The protein deposits (green) form after seven days. Credit: Microscopy by Anke Van der Perren The accumulation of one particular protein in the brain is the basis of three very different age-related conditions. Until recently, nobody understood how this...
Low vitamin D, smoking predict worse cognitive function in MS
(HealthDay)—For multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with clinically isolated syndrome, lower vitamin D and smoking predict worse long-term cognitive function and neuronal integrity, according to a study published online April 16 in Neurology. Marianna Cortese, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Bergen in Norway, and colleagues conducted a study involving 278 patients with clinically isolated syndrome...
Scientists edge closer to treatment for myotonic dystrophy
by University of Nottingham untreated and treated with kinase inhibitors. Following treatment with inhibitors targeting CDK12 nuclear foci in DM1 cells are reduced. Credit: Dr. Ami Ketley , the University of Nottingham Scientists at the University of Nottingham have taken a step closer towards developing a treatment for the long-term genetic disorder, myotonic dystrophy. In...
‘Backpacks’ boost immune cells’ ability to kill cancer
by Harvard University Macrophages are immune cells that patrol the body looking for potential threats like viruses, bacteria, and cancer cells, and engulf and destroy them. However, cancerous tumors have a nasty trick up their sleeves: they secrete substances that “switch” arriving macrophages from their tumor-killing state to a tumor-promoting state, in which they suppress...
A new strategy to trigger ferroptosis in target cancer cells using drug-metal coordination complexes
by University of Science and Technology of China Rapidly increasing cancer incidence and mortality worldwide have raised great challenges for the currently available anticancer options, which warrants the development of new therapeutic modalities based on novel antitumor mechanisms. Ferroptosis, a recently discovered form of non-apoptotic cell death, is one such candidate and has already demonstrated...
Researchers find new insights linking cell division to cancer
by Huntsman Cancer Institute To visualize LEM2’s role in mitosis, the Ullman Lab used colored fluorescent markers to label the different components: LEM2, the fibers, and the DNA. Credit: Huntsman Cancer Institute To replace aging and worn cells, the body primarily uses a process called mitosis, in which one cell divides into two. When a...
A new approach to treating vascular insulin damage in coronary heart disease
by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress A team of researchers affiliated with institutions in the U.K., Greece and Germany has found a new way to treat insulin damaged blood vessels associated with heart disease. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes how they studied blood vessels in multiple heart...
Pharmacists warn against malarial drugs as a cure for coronavirus
PHARMACY experts at the University of Huddersfield are urging caution over claims that widely-available antimalarial drugs could be a “magic bullet” to prevent and cure CoVid-19. And the medicines can – if used rashly – have serious side effects. Although there have been some encouraging signs from small-scale preliminary trials of the drugs chloroquine (CQ)...