Bacteria News and Research

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Combination of bedaquiline and verapamil reduces side effects, improves outcomes for TB patients

While an effective treatment is available for combating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, it carries serious side effects for patients.

31 Dec 2014

Synthetic Biologics doses first patient in SYN-004 Phase 1b trial to prevent C. difficile infection

Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a developer of pathogen-specific therapies for serious infections and diseases, with a focus on protecting the microbiome, today announced that enrollment has initiated and the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial of SYN-004, an investigational oral beta-lactamase enzyme for the prevention of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and secondary antibiotic-resistant infections in patients receiving intravenous (IV) beta-lactam antibiotic therapy.

31 Dec 2014

Periods of extreme heat associated with increased hospitalization risk for older adults

Between 1999 and 2010, periods of extreme heat in the U.S. were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for older adults for fluid and electrolyte disorders, kidney failure, urinary tract infections, septicemia and heat stroke, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

24 Dec 2014

Patent recognizes peptide that reduces tissue damage

A Kansas State University research team has received a patent for its use of a peptide that has been shown to prevent or reduce damage to intestinal tissue.

24 Dec 2014

First successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere say that a vaccination they have developed to fight a brain-based, wasting syndrome among deer and other animals may hold promise on two additional fronts: Protecting U.S. livestock from contracting the disease, and preventing similar brain infections in humans.

23 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses play critical role in body's immune defense against bacterial, viral pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

23 Dec 2014

Higher doses of vancomycin linked to increased risk of kidney damage in children, shows study

Results of a small Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study show that hospitalized children given high-dose IV infusions of the antibiotic vancomycin to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections face an increased risk for kidney damage — an often reversible but sometimes serious complication.

23 Dec 2014

Study: Inactivating polymorphism may influence progression of ovarian and luminal breast cancer

A common polymorphism - a variation in a person's DNA sequence that is found with regularity in the general population - can lead to a chain of events that dictates how a tumor will progress in certain types of cancer, including a form of breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer, according to new research from The Wistar Institute that was published online by the journal Cancer Cell.

19 Dec 2014

Bloodstream infections differ based on distance from the equator, health care spending

Where you live affects the type of bacteria that cause bloodstream infections, according to researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and an international team of investigators. The closer you live to the equator, the greater the likelihood of a bloodstream infection caused by a group of bacteria called Gram-negative bacteria, which thrive in warm and moist environments, compared to another group of bacteria referred to as Gram-positive bacteria.

19 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses also play critical role in the body's immune defense against pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

19 Dec 2014

Penn, UGA scientists awarded new contract to develop genome database for microbial pathogens

At the turn of the millennium, the cost to sequence a single human genome exceeded $50 million, and the process took a decade to complete. Microbes have genomes, too, and the first reference genome for a malaria parasite was completed in 2002 at a cost of roughly $15 million. But today researchers can sequence a genome in a single afternoon for just a few thousand dollars. Related technologies make it possible to capture information about all genes in the genome, in all tissues, from multiple individuals.

18 Dec 2014

Trophoblasts respond to inflammatory danger signals, find NTNU researchers

Trophoblasts, cells that form an outer layer around a fertilized egg and develop into the major part of the placenta, have now been shown to respond to inflammatory danger signals, researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology found in a recent study published in Journal of Reproductive Immunology December 2014.

18 Dec 2014

Researchers reveal common features responsible for antibiotic resistance

Treating bacterial infections with antibiotics is becoming increasingly difficult as bacteria develop resistance not only to the antibiotics being used against them, but also to ones they have never encountered before. By analyzing genetic and phenotypic changes in antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli, researchers at the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center in Japan have revealed a common set of features that appear to be responsible for the development of resistance to several types of antibiotics.

18 Dec 2014

Eight researchers to receive 2015 Leibniz Prize

The new recipients of Germany's most prestigious research funding prize have been announced. In Bonn today, the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) decided to award the 2015 Leibniz Prize to eight researchers.

18 Dec 2014

Study offers insights into mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides are a distinctive class of potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics produced by the body's innate immune system--the first line of defense against disease-causing microbes.

18 Dec 2014

Scientists discover how certain gut bacteria can protect themselves, others from antibiotics

Scientists from the Institute of Food Research and the University of East Anglia have discovered how certain gut bacteria can protect themselves and others in the gut from antibiotics.

18 Dec 2014

Researchers identify a single protein as root cause of multiple allergic reactions

Johns Hopkins and University of Alberta researchers have identified a single protein as the root of painful and dangerous allergic reactions to a range of medications and other substances. If a new drug can be found that targets the problematic protein, they say, it could help smooth treatment for patients with conditions ranging from prostate cancer to diabetes to HIV

17 Dec 2014

Diabetes drug can boost efficacy of TB medication without causing drug resistance

A more effective treatment for tuberculosis (TB) could soon be available as scientists have discovered that Metformin (MET), a drug for treating diabetes, can also be used to boost the efficacy of TB medication without inducing drug resistance.

17 Dec 2014

UCLA researchers develop lens-free microscope that can detect cancer, other cell-level abnormalities

UCLA researchers have developed a lens-free microscope that can be used to detect the presence of cancer or other cell-level abnormalities with the same accuracy as larger and more expensive optical microscopes.

17 Dec 2014

Bacterial biofilms may increase colon cancer risk

Researchers from Johns Hopkins have found that dense mats of interacting bacteria, called biofilms, were present in the majority of cancers and polyps, particularly those on the right side of the colon. The presence of these bacterial bunches, they say, may represent an increased risk for colon cancer and could form the basis of new diagnostic tests.

17 Dec 2014

Bacteria News and Research

Combination of bedaquiline and verapamil reduces side effects, improves outcomes for TB patients

Synthetic Biologics doses first patient in SYN-004 Phase 1b trial to prevent C. difficile infection

Periods of extreme heat associated with increased hospitalization risk for older adults

Patent recognizes peptide that reduces tissue damage

First successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease

Endogenous retroviruses play critical role in body's immune defense against bacterial, viral pathogens

Higher doses of vancomycin linked to increased risk of kidney damage in children, shows study

Study: Inactivating polymorphism may influence progression of ovarian and luminal breast cancer

Bloodstream infections differ based on distance from the equator, health care spending

Endogenous retroviruses also play critical role in the body's immune defense against pathogens

Penn, UGA scientists awarded new contract to develop genome database for microbial pathogens

Trophoblasts respond to inflammatory danger signals, find NTNU researchers

Researchers reveal common features responsible for antibiotic resistance

Eight researchers to receive 2015 Leibniz Prize

Study offers insights into mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Scientists discover how certain gut bacteria can protect themselves, others from antibiotics

Researchers identify a single protein as root cause of multiple allergic reactions

Diabetes drug can boost efficacy of TB medication without causing drug resistance

UCLA researchers develop lens-free microscope that can detect cancer, other cell-level abnormalities

Bacterial biofilms may increase colon cancer risk

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