Health News

A New Strategy For Developing Meningitis Vaccines

Date: May-28-2012
Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the protective membrane that covers the spinal cord and brain. Children, elderly patients and immunocompromised patients are at a higher risk for the development of severe bacterial meningitis. Recently, researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia sought to identify new vaccine targets in Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the world. Led by Dr. Abiodun Ogunniyi, the research team developed a new method of screening for bacterial genes that are expressed during meningitis in brain...

Gene Therapy Can Correct Forms Of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

Date: May-28-2012
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines Also Included In: Genetics Article Date: 28 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT  email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions    rate article  Current ratings for: 'Gene Therapy Can Correct Forms Of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency' Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: Severe combined immunodeficiency is defect in the immune system that results in a loss of the adaptive immune cells known as B cells and T cells. Mutations in several different genes can lead to the development of severe combined immunodeficiency,...

A Change In Fate: Lymphatic Vessels Reprogrammed To Blood Vessels

Date: May-28-2012
Blood circulation requires the vascular system, the vast network of arteries and veins through which blood is pumped. In a parallel network, known as the lymphatic system, lymph fluid, which contains a mixture of immune cells, bacteria, fat, and other debris, is circulated through specialized lymphatic vessels. The lymphatic system plays a critical role in helping the immune system fight off foreign pathogens in the body. Though the development of lymphatic vessels and blood vessels is completely separate in the body, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia recently...

Device May Inject A Variety Of Drugs Without Using Needles

Date: May-28-2012
Getting a shot at the doctor's office may become less painful in the not-too-distant future. MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths - an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now commercially available. The researchers say that among other benefits, the technology may help reduce the potential for needle-stick injuries; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that...

How The Brain's Emergency Workers Find The Disaster Area

Date: May-28-2012
Like emergency workers rushing to a disaster scene, cells called microglia speed to places where the brain has been injured, to contain the damage by 'eating up' any cellular debris and dead or dying neurons. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have now discovered exactly how microglia detect the site of injury, thanks to a relay of molecular signals. Their work, published in Developmental Cell, paves the way for new medical approaches to conditions where microglia's ability to locate hazardous cells and material within the brain is...

The Cells' Petrol Pump Is Finally Identified

Date: May-28-2012
Researchers from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, describe how mitochondria, the cell's power plants, are supplied with fuel Our cells breathe and digest, as does the organism as a whole. They indeed use oxygen to draw the energy contained in the nutrients they ingest, before discarding the waste, as carbon dioxide and water. Glucose is a preferred nutrient for the cells. Its digestion occurs in the cytoplasm, in the absence of oxygen, and leads to the formation of pyruvate and a small amount of energy. Pyruvate is then carried into mitochondria, the cell's power plants, for a complete...

Anti-Psychotic Drug Pushes Cancer Stem Cells Over The Edge

Date: May-28-2012
An anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia appears to get rid of cancer stem cells by helping them differentiate into less threatening cell types. The discovery reported in the Cell Press journal Cell on May 24th comes after researchers screened hundreds of compounds in search of those that would selectively inhibit human cancer stem cells, and it may lead rather swiftly to a clinical trial. "You have to find something that's truly selective for cancer stem cells," said Mickie Bhatia, lead author of the study from McMaster University. "We've been working for some time and it's hard to...

New Clues About Cancer Cell Metabolism Emerge

Date: May-28-2012
For almost a century, researchers have known that cancer cells have peculiar appetites, devouring glucose in ways that normal cells do not. But glucose uptake may tell only part of cancer's metabolic story. Researchers from the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital looked across 60 well-studied cancer cell lines, analyzing which of more than 200 metabolites were consumed or released by the fastest dividing cells. Their research yields the first large-scale atlas of cancer metabolism and points to a key role for the smallest amino acid, glycine, in cancer cell proliferation. Their...

Peritonitis May Be A Deadly Condition For Some Kidney Failure Patients

Date: May-28-2012
An infection called peritonitis commonly arises in the weeks before many dialysis patients die, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that peritonitis may be a deadly condition for some kidney failure patients. Most kidney failure patients on dialysis get their treatments at a clinic, through hemodialysis. But about 10% to 20% receive treatments at home through peritoneal dialysis, where fluids are first pumped into the abdominal cavity to collect wastes from the blood and are later removed from the...

Obese Patients Face Increased Risk Of Kidney Damage After Heart Surgery

Date: May-28-2012
Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of developing kidney damage after heart surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Effective antioxidants or other therapies that reduce oxidative stress might help lower this risk, particularly among obese patients. Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt decline in kidney function, is an increasingly prevalent and potentially serious condition following major surgery. Sometimes AKI arises after heart surgery because the kidneys are deprived of normal blood...