by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Researchers from Peter Mac have discovered an innovative way to dampen severe inflammation in mice, uncovering a potential new therapeutic approach for inflammatory and autoimmune conditions such as arthritis, psoriasis and liver disease, as well as some cancers. The research, co-led by Prof Mark Dawson’s laboratory, in collaboration with scientists...
Category: <span>Inflammation</span>
Clinical trial in COVID-19 patients tests anti-inflammatory drug
by The Scripps Research Institute An anti-inflammatory drug developed at Scripps Research 25 years ago is now being tested as a way to prevent acute respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The drug, a monoclonal antibody now owned by the pharmaceutical company Implicit Bioscience, is planned to...
Altered cancer drug takes the fight to inflammatory diseases
By Nick Lavars Inflammation is a major focus of much medical research, with its links to arthritis, liver disease, cancers and many more illnesses. A new study carried out at Australia’s Peter Mac Cancer Centre has provided a possible new pathway forward, revealing that drugs under development to treat cancer could be used to temper...
Improving the treatment of periodontitis
by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin For the first time, researchers from Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin have shown that a unicellular parasite commonly found in the mouth plays a role in both severe tissue inflammation and tissue destruction. Most patients with severe and recurrent periodontitis (gum disease) showed an increased presence of the amoeba Entamoeba gingivalis inside their...
US biotech firm says its pneumonia treatment could help save the lives of coronavirus patients by ‘cleaning up’ killer lung inflammation
Scientists at BioAegis in New Jersey are developing a drug version of the protein gelsolin It exists in the human body and helps combat life-threatening inflammation like that seen in patients with pneumonia from coronavirus Their small trial in mild pneumonia patients found that it helped them recover better and faster than those given standard...
Cells must age for muscles to regenerate in muscle-degenerating diseases
by Hokkaido University Exercise can only improve strength in muscle-degenerating diseases when a specific type of muscle cell ages, report a Hokkaido University researcher and colleagues with Sapporo Medical University in Japan. Their study utilizing mice models suggests that exercise and a cell-aging drug could help cases of chronic myopathy. Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are rare...
Bariatric surgery may be effective treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY WASHINGTON–Bariatric surgery may be an effective treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), suggests a new study accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, and publication in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The study compared three types of bariatric, or weight loss, surgery: gastric sleeve, gastric band...
Alzheimer’s disease: Inflammation triggers fatal cycle
University of Bonn study proves disastrous contribution of an ancient immune mechanism UNIVERSITY OF BONN An immune reaction in the brain seems to play a major role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In a way, it “adds fuel to the fire” and apparently causes an inflammation that, in a sense, keeps kindling itself. The...
How to slow down ageing?
ESTONIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL Healthy ageing has become one of the priorities of research in Europe. University of Tartu researchers looked for differences in the immune systems of young and old people. They focused on monocytes and found that the monocytes of the elderly do not seem to produce as much energy, and there is an...
Our own immune cells damage the integrity of the blood-brain barrier
by Nagoya University Researchers have shown that microglia, a class of immune cells in the brain, regulate the permeability of the brain’s protective barrier in response to systemic inflammation. During inflammation, microglia initially protect the barrier’s integrity, but they can later reverse their behavior and increase the barrier’s permeability. The blood-brain barrier is a layer...