Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Nov 25 2022 Researchers at Tohoku University have shown that astrocytes in the mouse brain exhibit an acid response with intensified epileptic seizures. The astrocytes’ acid response could lead to the amplification of excitatory neuronal signals and be the underlying drive for generating plasticity for epileptogenesis. The findings were detailed...
Month: <span>November 2022</span>
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Review provides new perspective on grieving loss of a pet
CABI A new review published in the CABI journal Human-Animal Interactions provides counselors with new perspectives to consider in their practice when working with clients who are grieving the loss of their pet. The research highlights how during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was more opportunity for people to spend longer with their pets – relying on...
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Neuroscientists discover a new drug candidate for treating epilepsy
by City University of Hong Kong D4 treatment decreases the proliferation and activation of astrocytes in two different brain regions. Pilocarpine was injected into the mice intraperitoneally to induce seizures. Seven days after pilocarpine-induced seizures, the researchers observed a chronic elevation in the number of astrocytes (marked by GFAP staining in red; all cell nuclei...
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Universal flu vaccine may be available within two years, says scientist
Vaccine against all strains of virus hailed as major step in protecting against potentially devastating flu pandemic The new vaccine is designed to prime the immune system against all 20 subtypes of influenza A and B, potentially arming the body to tackle any flu virus that arises. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAIan Sample Science editor@iansample Fri 25...
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Does Folic Acid Have an Effect on Suicide Risk?
Author: Charles P. Vega, MD Clinical Context Suicide remains in the top 10 for overall causes of mortality in the United States, and healthcare professionals may exacerbate the risk for suicide through the medications they prescribe. A previous study by the authors of the current research examined medications that might affect the risk for suicide....
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Researchers reveal a new ALS hallmark, shedding light on a likely trigger of neurodegeneration
by King’s College London PreT-IR transcripts undergo cleavage/polyadenylation and neurite localisation in SFPQ-deprived neurons. a Correlation between RNAseq read slope gradient in null and number of cleavage sites in introns of sloping IR-transcripts. Two-tailed Pearson correlation coefficient, r: −0.3506, p < 0.0001 (n = 247 sloping IR-transcripts, FDR < 0.05). b Efficiency of cleavage site usage in classic (Left; (n = 107, FDR < 0.05)) and sloping (Middle; (n = 37, m < −0.1, FDR < 0.05)) IR-transcripts...
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New Alzheimer’s genes discovered in world’s largest study
by Cardiff University Study setup and power. a, Schematic of the study setup. The AD association of genes identified in stage 1 was confirmed in stage 2 and significance was determined by meta-analysis. Variant characteristics were investigated in a merged mega-sample rather than the meta-sample, allowing more accurate variant effect size estimates for variant categories/age-at-onset bins. The mega-sample...
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Ten new genetic loci linked to osteoarthritis found
by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress Summary of osteoarthritis mega-GWAS and transcriptome-wide imputation results. Credit: Nature Genetics (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-022-01221-w A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Alabama has linked 10 genetic loci to the development of osteoarthritis. In their paper published in the journal Nature Genetics, the group describes their analysis of data from the...
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Treating acne with systemic antibiotics can have unintended consequences on maturing adolescent skeleton
by Medical University of South Carolina Credit: JCI Insight (2022). DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.160578 During adolescence, sex hormones drive significant physiologic changes. One of the most universal and sometimes distressing experiences during adolescence is the development of acne, a skin condition that results from the plugging of hair follicles with oil and dead skin cells. For some individuals whose acne...
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Scientists develop RNA-targeting strategy to repair genetic cause of ALS and dementia
by University of Florida Jessica Bush, a graduate student at UF Scripps Biomedical Research, confers with her mentor, chemistry department chair Matthew Disney. Disney’s group has developed a compound that addresses a cause of ALS and dementia in a new way. Disney is the senior author and Bush is the first author on the discovery, which...