The lack of new or repurposed drugs to treat patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been one of the biggest hurdles to reducing mortality rates in the ongoing pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A new study, published online in the…
Imbalanced bacterial community in the gums linked to Alzheimer's disease biomarker
Older adults with more harmful than healthy bacteria in their gums are more likely to have evidence for amyloid beta–a key biomarker for Alzheimer's disease–in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), according to new research from NYU College of Dentistry and Weill Cornell Medicine. However, this imbalance in oral bacteria was not…
Natural selection and adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in mammals
Researchers of the Hubei University of Medicine, China, have analyzed several mutations in different variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from mammal species that suggest natural selection and host adaptation are occurring in the virus. A pre-print version of the research paper is available to read in…
Cavity shave margin resection reduces the rate of positive margins in patients with DCIS
According to the American Cancer Society, a noninvasive breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) accounts for approximately one of every four new breast cancer cases in the United States. If left untreated, DCIS has the potential to evolve into invasive cancer, so many patients choose to have breast-conserving…
Specific gene may play a causal role in heart disease independent of cholesterol levels
High cholesterol is the most commonly understood cause of atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries that raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. But now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene that likely plays a causal role in coronary artery disease…
Study shows developmental trajectory of gut microbiota in cesarean-born babies
Infants born by cesarean section have a relatively meager array of bacteria in the gut. But by the age of three to five years they are broadly in line with their peers. This is shown by a study that also shows that it takes a remarkably long time for the…
Tempus’ ECG Analysis Platform receives Breakthrough Device Designation
Tempus, a leader in artificial intelligence and precision medicine, today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company Breakthrough Device Designation for its ECG Analysis Platform, developed in collaboration with Geisinger. The platform provides clinicians with the ability to identify patients at high risk of…
Researchers characterize regions of DNA that impact MECP2 expression
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital (NRI) have identified and characterized two regions of DNA required for the proper expression of Mecp2/MECP2 in mice and humans. These findings, published in Genes & Development, are helping to shed…
Scientists determine DNA required for the proper expression of Mecp2/MECP2 in mice and humans
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital (NRI) have identified and characterized two regions of DNA required for the proper expression of Mecp2/MECP2 in mice and humans. These findings, published in Genes & Development, are helping to shed…
Doctors debate use of blood thinners to prevent clots in women after C-sections
Nearly all women who deliver babies through cesarean section at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City receive injections of the blood thinner heparin for weeks after the procedure, to prevent potentially life-threatening blood clots. Obstetric leaders there say that's good medical practice because the formation of those…
UTHSC professor awarded $1.79 million grant to develop new amyloidosis treatment
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently awarded Jonathan Wall, PhD, professor in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's Graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville, a $1.79 million grant for his study titled "Developing a Theranostic Immunotherapy for Systemic Amyloidosis." Amyloidosis is a rare disease…