Candida News and Research

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Study shows how deadly Candida albicans might be rendered harmless

Candida albicans is a double agent: In most of us, it lives peacefully, but for people whose immune systems are compromised by HIV or other severe illnesses, it is frequently deadly. Now a new study from Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School shows how targeting a specific fungal component might turn the fungus from a lion back into a kitten.

25 Sep 2013

Microbiologist finds breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for common human fungal pathogen

A Kansas State University microbiologist has found a breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for a common human fungal pathogen that lives in almost 80 percent of people.

13 Sep 2013

New antibody could prevent Candida infections in patients who receive central lines

A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has developed an antibody that could prevent Candida infections that often afflict hospitalized patients who receive central lines.

12 Sep 2013

Antioxidant substances in red wine, dark chocolate, olive oil linked with health benefits

The scientific spotlight focuses today on the healthful antioxidant substances in red wine, dark chocolate, olive oil, coffee, tea, and other foods and dietary supplements that are enticing millions of consumers with the promise of a healthier, longer life.

12 Sep 2013

Research shows how mucosal surfaces in body respond to C. albicans to prevent damage

Candida albicans is a common fungus found living in, and on, many parts of the human body. Usually this species causes no harm to humans unless it can breach the body's immune defences, where can lead to serious illness or death.

3 Sep 2013

FDA approves first mass spectrometer system in U.S. for identification of bacteria, yeasts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing in the U.S. of the first mass spectrometer system for automated identification of bacteria and yeasts that are known to cause serious illness in humans.

22 Aug 2013

Study shows ART has reduced immunosuppression and viremia among PHIV youth

The advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic disease. In one of the largest studies of perinatally infected HIV (PHIV) patients to date, Agwu, et al, found that the proportion of patients on ART has increased and rates of viremia and advanced immunosuppression have decreased. But the rates of both markers in older patients are higher, according to an article in the Fall issue of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JPIDS).

20 Aug 2013

Chemical compound prevents fungal cells from adhering to surfaces

Targeting serious and sometimes deadly fungal infections, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) has discovered a chemical compound that prevents fungal cells from adhering to surfaces, which, typically, is the first step of the infection process used by the human pathogen Candida albicans (C. albicans).

14 Aug 2013

Newly developed palm-sized microarray platform could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery

A new palm-sized microarray that holds 1,200 individual cultures of fungi or bacteria could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery, according to a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

25 Jun 2013

Common sugar molecule promising target for development of broad-spectrum vaccine

Developing new vaccines to protect against diseases that plague humans is fraught with numerous challenges-one being that microbes tend to vary how they look on the surface to avoid being identified and destroyed by the immune system. However, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a sugar polymer that is common on the cell surface of several pathogens.

28 May 2013

FDA accepts Merck's NDA for NOXAFIL tablets

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that its New Drug Application for an investigational, tablet formulation of the company's antifungal agent, NOXAFIL (posaconazole), has been accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

11 Apr 2013

Sosei commences SO-1105 Phase III trial in oropharyngeal candidiasis

Sosei Group Corporation, the biopharmaceutical company, today announces that its Japanese subsidiary, Sosei Co., Ltd., has initiated a Phase III trial for SO-1105 for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis.

12 Mar 2013

Oral Candida infection weakens tooth enamel

Oral infection with Candida albicans is associated with demineralization of tooth enamel, potentially increasing susceptibility to caries, research shows.

11 Feb 2013

First new TB vaccine in century fails initial testing

The first of a series of new vaccines that have been developed to combat tuberculosis failed to show efficacy compared with placebo in South African infants, show results from a phase II trial.

7 Feb 2013

C. albicans capable of sexual reproduction

Like many fungi and one-celled organisms, Candida albicans, a normally harmless microbe that can turn deadly, has long been thought to reproduce without sexual mating. But a new study by Professor Judith Berman and colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Tel Aviv University shows that C. albicans is capable of sexual reproduction.

31 Jan 2013

UMDNJ develops rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum

A rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum, the fungus primarily responsible for 39 deaths among patients injected last year with a contaminated steroid medication, has been developed by a research team led by David S. Perlin, PhD, Executive Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

10 Jan 2013

Pergamum’s DPK-060 Phase II trial on acute external otitis meets primary end-point

Pergamum AB announced today that the primary end-point was met in the randomized Phase II trial of DPK-060 for treatment of acute external otitis.

21 Dec 2012

Jagaricin and antifungal drugs: an interview with Prof Christian Hertweck

Most people have already experienced a fungal infection (mycosis) of the outer layer of the skin, athlete’s foot or ringworm. Whereas such infections may be cumbersome and often difficult to cure, usually they are not dangerous. However, in cases where a fungus causes a systemic infection, this is, it infects internal organs such as lungs or brain, the infection may turn into a life-threatening disease. Of course, only pathogenic fungi cause problems and the degree of virulence varies.

18 Dec 2012

NovaDigm announces data from NDV-3 vaccine Phase 1 study on Candida and Staph infections

NovaDigm Therapeutics, a company developing innovative vaccines for fungal and bacterial infections, today announced the publication of data from its first-in-human Phase 1 study of its NDV-3 vaccine program in the journal Vaccine.

13 Dec 2012

Study finds important links between Pf malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma

New research, presented this morning at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), has identified important associations between Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma (eBL) that may help researchers identify young children who are more susceptible to eBL.

12 Dec 2012