Health

A collaborative effort among researchers at the Henan Academy of Innovations in Medical Science, Zhengzhou University, and Shenzhen University School of Medicine has provided the first proof-of-principle study demonstrating that targeting a receptor on the surface of anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells (Tregs) can restore their function and alleviate asthma in mice.

Damaging variants in genes involved in a rapid immune response (innate immunity) are significantly linked to earlier breast cancer onset in carriers of the harmful BRCA1 genetic mutation, reveal preliminary findings published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

A study by researchers at the University of California San Diego could make it easier to treat breast cancer by uncovering a new way the body helps prevent its spread. The scientists discovered a new role for an inflammatory protein called TYK2 in mechanotransduction, the process by which cells sense and respond to their physical environment. Understanding mechanotransduction can provide insights into how cancer spreads and provide new avenues for treatment.

In new research, scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard University and Brigham Young University, used the Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM Center to capture, for the first time, the formation of an immune signaling complex inside intact human cells.

Color coding on food product labels is becoming more common. How does it influence consumers and their dietary choices? Recent research by scientists from SWPS University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Massachusetts indicates that color coding is much more effective than simple nutritional tables, and it is all due to the way the brain responds to benefit and risk signals. A paper on this topic is published in Current Psychology.

Researchers at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute have demonstrated that combining data from different origins enables a more precise characterization of cell type's diversity into tissues and organs. The team also introduced scOMM, a new machine learning tool for classifying and comparing cell types across the distinct data modalities. The tool is openly available to researchers worldwide and has been successfully tested in kidney tissue, one of the most cellularly diverse organs in the human body and validated in blood and heart tissue. As the results demonstrate, when it comes to understanding complex tissues, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

According to a recent review by researchers at Semmelweis University, published in the journal Nutrients, lifestyle and dietary changes may help people living with endometriosis. The study analyzed more than 100 international papers and found that factors such as a healthy diet, regular physical activity, stress management, good sleep and adequate micronutrient intake can help reduce pain and improve quality of life.

Peptides are widely marketed as a kind of "holy grail" for workout recovery and physical performance.

Scientists have uncovered an important new link between the brain and immune system after stroke, which could lead to potential new treatments to improve recovery and reduce long-term disability. In new research published in the international journal Frontiers in Immunology, researchers from La Trobe University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute discovered that the spleen actively produces inflammatory immune cells after stroke that can worsen brain injury.

The Hospice in the Weald in Pembury runs the sessions for people with life-limiting conditions.

A clinical trial led by University of Auckland researchers found that high-intensity therapy for patients begun within two weeks of a stroke did not improve hand and arm recovery beyond standard care. Targeting new treatments to promote hand and arm recovery is necessary because persistent hand weakness is known to reduce a person's independence at six months after stroke.

Many people with an aggressive blood cancer called diffuse large B cell lymphoma are cured by the current gold standard of treatment: an antibody designed to wipe out cancerous B cells plus a combination of four chemotherapy drugs. However, this treatment regimen fails in about three in 10 patients, and its intense chemotherapy can cause heart damage—a serious risk for older patients, who make up a large share of those diagnosed.

Chronic inflammation can raise a person's risk of cancer, and a new study reveals key details about how that might happen in the gut and points to better ways to identify and reduce risk. Scientists at the Broad Institute and Harvard University have revealed in mice that after colitis (chronic intestinal inflammation), seemingly healed gut tissues may retain the memory of earlier inflammation through molecular "scars" that make it easier for cancer to take hold later on. These memories are encoded as changes in the epigenome that are handed down from cell to cell through many generations of cell division, with long-lasting effects on gene activity that can later drive tumor growth.

Two pregnant women tell the BBC's Will Grant of their hopes and fears as their nation is mired in crisis.

Scientists have discovered novel molecular mechanisms that contribute to recovery from diabetic kidney disease following bariatric surgery in adolescents with type 2 diabetes and obesity, mechanisms that may serve as potential targets for non-surgical treatments for diabetic kidney disease, according to a multi-institutional study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.