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COVID-19 could compromise key element of immune response

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have made the unsettling discovery that infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might compromise the activation of the CD8+ T-cell responses that would usually ameliorate disease and drive recovery in cases of respiratory disease.

20 Aug 2020

Antibody and cellular immunity in severe vs. mild COVID-19

Now, a new study published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy in August 2020 shows that while humoral and T-cell immune responses are more robust in severe infection, the disease activates memory T cells as part of the adaptive immune system in COVID-19 patients irrespective of disease severity.

18 Aug 2020

Link not found between child sexual abuse and telomere length

Researchers and medical experts have long known that child sexual abuse has profoundly negative effects on the health of survivors; however, an international team of researchers was not able to find a link between the abuse and telomere length, considered an indicator of cellular aging and health.

17 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 viral load predicts risk of death

As the coronavirus pandemic evolved, there have been many developments in testing for the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in patients. Now, a team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, has found that the SARS-CoV-2 viral load can predict mortality in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

13 Aug 2020

Study focuses on genetic neurological disorders that develop in children over time

A team of researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) affiliated with the CHOP Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) further bridged the gap between genomic information and clinical outcome data by systematically linking genetic information with electronic medical records, focusing on how genetic neurological disorders in children develop over time.

12 Aug 2020

Using medieval medicine to find new treatments for modern-day infections

News-Medical spoke to researchers from the University of Warwick about their research investigating natural antimicrobials and their potential as antibiotics.

11 Aug 2020

New research on COVID-19 and aging

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that genetic factors, chronic disease, and biological aging define the relationship between aging and the severity of COVID-19.

11 Aug 2020

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevents blindness in mouse model of CLN3 Batten disease

Gene therapy to the inner retina prevented blindness in a mouse model of the neuro-degenerative disorder CLN3 Batten disease.

10 Aug 2020

Encouraging results from Phase I NovaVax SARS-CoV-2 nanoparticle vaccine trial

NVX-CoV2373, a recombinant nanoparticle vaccine developed by Novavax and manufactured at Emergent Biosolutions, was found to be well tolerated and immunogenic – inducing T-cell response and neutralization antibodies four-fold higher than the mean observed in hospitalized coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, shows a recent study available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2020

New insight into the molecular underpinnings of muscle development

In the world of weightlifting, some people gain more muscle faster than others, no matter what they do. Now, a novel human study may explain why this happens.

6 Aug 2020

New computational model can help determine drug viability

About 50% of people who take the drug infliximab for inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease, end up becoming resistant or unresponsive to it.

5 Aug 2020

Machine learning may offer a better way to identify antibiotic-resistant pathogens

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown that different strains of the same bacterial pathogen can be distinguished by a machine learning analysis of their growth dynamics alone, which can then also accurately predict other traits such as resistance to antibiotics.

4 Aug 2020

Study reveals impact of TP53 gene mutations on MDS severity

Considered the "guardian of the genome," TP53 is the most commonly mutated gene in cancer. TP53's normal function is to detect DNA damage and prevent cells from passing this damage on to daughter cells.

3 Aug 2020

Study shows how G406R single point mutation of the Cav1.2 channel confers autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder initiated early in development and characterized by abnormal social communication. Accumulating evidence supports the idea that specific mutations affect regulatory proteins that control arrays of cellular pathways.

3 Aug 2020

New biomarkers may identify Type 1 diabetes patients who could benefit from immunotherapy

Scientists at UCL have discovered new biomarkers, which may identify those people with Type 1 diabetes who would benefit from the immunotherapy drug Abatacept, a finding which could eventually help thousands manage the disease more effectively.

3 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein recognized by innate immune receptors in a glycan-dependent way

The spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) depends on its ability to infect new host cells following its replication and release from infected cells. This pivots on its ability to bind to cell surface receptors like the ACE2 enzyme.

3 Aug 2020

New simple way of detecting COVID-19 in blood plasma

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic claims increasing numbers of patients, testing numbers are rising in most nations at the leading edge. However, the current reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) testing is often unavailable and takes up to several days for results to arrive.

31 Jul 2020

Anti-inflammatory Tetracycline activity may modulate COVID-19 severity

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to attack the human airway epithelium primarily. In severely affected patients, the illness progresses to hypoxemic respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The latter is treatable mainly by supportive management.

30 Jul 2020

Platelet hyperreactivity, a unique feature of COVID-19

A new study by Irish researchers and published in the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 reports a bidirectional relationship between COVID-19 and coagulation abnormalities.

29 Jul 2020

Deep learning algorithm can identify genetic alterations from routine histological images of tumors

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, working with colleagues in Europe, created a deep learning algorithm that can infer molecular alterations directly from routine histology images across multiple common tumor types.

28 Jul 2020