F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCEDISCLOSURES Welcome to Impact Factor, your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I’m Dr F. Perry Wilson of the Yale School of Medicine. How do you tell if a condition is caused by an infection? It seems like an obvious question, right? In the post–van Leeuwenhoek era we...
Month: <span>November 2023</span>
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AHA Reviews Impact of Aggressive LDL Lowering on the Brain
Megan Brooks A newly published scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) focuses on the impact of aggressive low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering on the risk for dementia and hemorrhagic stroke. “The brain is the body’s most cholesterol-rich organ, and some have questioned whether aggressive LDL-C lowering induces abnormal structural and functional changes,” the...
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MOLECULAR ‘WARHEAD’ DESTROYS LYME DISEASE BACTERIA
NOVEMBER 7TH, 2023POSTED BY SARAH AVERY-DUKE This transport mechanism gets internalized in the bacterium and brings in a molecule that causes what we’ve described as a berserker reaction—a programmed death response,” says Timothy Haystead. “It wipes out the bacteria—sterilizes the culture with a single dose of light.” (Credit: Getty Images) Using a technique that has shown...
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CAR-T cell therapy leads to long-term remission in lupus while maintaining vaccine response
by American College of Rheumatology Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, demonstrates that CAR-T cell therapy could lead to sustained suppression of autoantibodies in treatment-resistant lupus while maintaining a robust response to vaccines. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, lupus) is a complex autoimmune disease marked by...
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Study shows saliva gland abnormalities in Sjögren’s worsens over time
by American College of Rheumatology Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) annual meeting, shows that ultrasound-detected salivary gland abnormalities in primary Sjögren’s become more severe over time and that the slow-to-progress disease likely starts long before it is first detected. Sjögren’s disease also known as Primary...
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New monoclonal antibodies targeting ACE2 receptor could treat the next waves of SARS-CoV-2
by Justin Jackson , Medical Xpress Inhibition of authentic SARS-CoV-2 infection by human anti-hACE2 mAbs. a,b, Anti-hACE2 mAbs (2G7A1, 05H02, 05B04 and the hybrid antibody 05B04LC/05D06HC) were serially diluted and incubated with Vero E6 and Huh-7.5 target cells (a) or Vero E6 target cells only (b). Thereafter, cells were infected with authentic SARS-CoV-2 (WA1/2020) (a...
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PET scans may predict Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia in at-risk individuals
by Erin Bryant, National Institutes of Health Heart and brain PET scans from a study participant who developed Parkinson’s disease support a “body first” progression. The top pair of PET scans image show low 18F-dopamine-derived radioactivity in the heart (right, with 13N-ammonia PET scan on left). Later, brain scans showed a loss of dopamine-producing neurons and...
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Positive antiphospholipid antibodies raises cardiovascular disease risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
by American College of Rheumatology Micrograph of a heart with fibrosis (yellow) and amyloidosis (brown). Movat’s stain. Credit: Nephron/Wikipedia New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) annual meeting, describes a link between positive antiphospholipid antibodies and an increased risk of future cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Antiphospholipid...
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Researchers identify incidence and risk factors for new-onset interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis
by American College of Rheumatology Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) annual meeting, reports the incidence and risk factors for new-onset interstitial lung disease (ILD) in previously ILD-negative systemic sclerosis patients. Interstitial lung disease is a common complication and cause of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc,...
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Researchers say AI model accurately identifies, predicts joint damage in hand X-rays
by American College of Rheumatology Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New research at ACR Convergence 2023, the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) annual meeting, shows that a deep learning system could accurately identify and predict joint space narrowing and erosions in hand radiographs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Radiographs are the most commonly used imaging technique...