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Harnessing power of cancer gene could lead to first curative treatment for heart disease

Researchers trying to turn off a gene that allows cancers to spread have made a surprising U-turn. By making the gene overactive and functional in the hearts of mice, they have triggered heart cell regeneration.

15 Apr 2020

Potential cure for heart disease via cancer gene upregulation

Researchers have found that by switching on a gene that promotes the spread of cancers, they can enhance the regeneration of damaged heart muscle. The study results, published in April 2020 in the journal Nature Communication, could mark the beginning of curative therapy for heart disease.

14 Apr 2020

Voluntary exercise could help prevent liver cancer, study shows

Liver cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death worldwide and is growing rapidly due to the "diabesity pandemic."

14 Apr 2020

Tumors commandeer cell death pathway to avoid immune system attack after radiation

Cancer cells avoid an immune system attack after radiation by commandeering a cell signaling pathway that helps dying cells avoid triggering an immune response, a new study led by UTSW scientists suggests.

13 Apr 2020

New computer model can screen drugs for unintended cardiac side effects

UC Davis Health researchers have developed a computer model to screen drugs for unintended cardiac side effects, especially arrhythmia risk.

12 Apr 2020

USC scientists report wider benefits of well-known hangover drug

A well-known hangover drug not only helps soothe pounding headaches but also triggers profound changes that protect the liver, USC scientists report in new findings that could help prevent alcohol-related harm.

7 Apr 2020

USC researchers show wider benefits to drug used for hangovers

A well-known hangover drug not only helps soothe pounding headaches but also triggers profound changes that protect the liver.

7 Apr 2020

Researchers identify new biomarker to track the development of NAFLD

Fatty liver disease not associated with alcohol consumption, which is called Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD, affects more than one billion people worldwide.

7 Apr 2020

Discovery of novel brain-digestive link

Scientists across the globe have long studied the link between the brain and the digestive system. Previous studies have tied brain networks and how they influence the gastrointestinal tract or vice versa. Food has a unique effect on humans as food tastes or flavors often dictate food-seeking behaviors. So is the palate the only thing that controls food choices among humans?

6 Apr 2020

Young people weigh pain of job loss against risks of virus

Emilio Romero, 23, has mixed feelings about losing his job. It's a major financial setback, but with two previous hospitalizations for pneumonia, a restaurant was not the safest place for the recent college graduate as the COVID-19 pandemic mushroomed.

6 Apr 2020

Study suggests targeted cancer therapy could help with rare neurologic disease

A targeted therapy currently studied for treatment of certain cancers may be beneficial in treating other neurologic diseases.

6 Apr 2020

‘You pray that you got the drug.’ Ailing couple gambles on trial for COVID-19 cure

For 10 days last month, they lay in side-by-side isolation units in a Seattle-area hospital, tethered to oxygen and struggling to breathe as the coronavirus ravaged their lungs.

6 Apr 2020

Clinical trial to evaluate experimental COVID-19 drug is underway at Montefiore and Einstein

Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine has joined a clinical trial to evaluate the experimental drug remdesivir to treat people who are hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection.

5 Apr 2020

Study of rare genetic disorder that causes severe eyesight problems

Nagano prefecture is home to a group of people effected with a rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder called familial amyloid polyneuropathies. This disease impacts the gene encoding protein transthyretin which is produced in the liver and also eyes.

3 Apr 2020

Patients with chronic liver disease need specific care during COVID-19

Currently, there are limited data on the impact of pre-existing liver disease and the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with many open questions.

2 Apr 2020

Is coronavirus spread through feces?

A startling study from China, published in the journal Gastroenterology in March 2020, reports that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can spread via feces as well as the more familiar respiratory droplet route or from virus-contaminated surfaces.

2 Apr 2020

How (easily) does the novel coronavirus spread?

Viruses are tiny bundles of DNA or RNA which have the ability to infect host cells, hijack the machinery of the host cell and then replicate. Once the host cell’s resources are exhausted, the viral particles are released to infect other cells. In this way, the viruses ensure their survival, often at the expense of the host.

1 Apr 2020

AGA publishes new COVID-19 recommendations for PPE during gastrointestinal procedures

Today, the American Gastroenterological Association published new COVID-19 recommendations in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA: AGA Institute Rapid Recommendations for Gastrointestinal Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

1 Apr 2020

Pancreatitis drug Nafamostat shows promise for coronavirus

With the increasing number of infections across the globe, scientists have resorted to studying existing drugs in the hope of discovering a cure for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A team of researchers has found that an existing drug, Nafamostat or Fusan, a drug used to treat acute pancreatitis, may effectively block the process used by the novel coronavirus to spread and cause illness.

1 Apr 2020

Total-body PET provides suitable images of antibodies up to 30 days after injection

Combining 89Zr-labeled antibodies with total-body positron emission tomography (PET) has extended the utility of novel total-body PET scanners, providing suitable images up to 30 days after the initial injection.

31 Mar 2020