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NK cells can fight against anthrax

One of the things that makes inhalational anthrax so worrisome for biodefense experts is how quickly a relatively small number of inhaled anthrax spores can turn into a lethal infection. By the time an anthrax victim realizes he or she has something worse than the flu and seeks treatment, it's often too late; even the most powerful antibiotics may be no help against the spreading bacteria and the potent toxins they generate.

28 Oct 2011

Beneficial intestinal bacteria can activate immune cells and trigger MS

Multiple sclerosis is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For a long time, pathogens were believed to be such external influences. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, however, it is apparently not harmful bacteria that trigger multiple sclerosis, but beneficial ones - specifically, the natural intestinal flora, which every human being needs for digestion.

28 Oct 2011

Microglia plays a key role in memory and learning

Immune system cells of the brain, which scavenge pathogens and damaged neurons, are also key players in memory and learning, according to new research by Duke neuroscientists.

27 Oct 2011

New MRSA strains are not directly descended from old ones: Study

Check into a hospital and you run the risk of infection with a methicillin-resistant strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. But present day MRSA might have been worse if it had descended directly from a 1950s version of the bug, according to a study co-authored by Barry N. Kreiswirth, PhD, a professor at the Public Health Research Institute of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Oct 2011

Surgeons freeze organoid units and regenerate TESI for short bowel syndrome

Surgeons at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have conducted a study that could put regenerative tissue treatment for short bowel syndrome one step closer to the bedside. The researchers were able to successfully isolate and store organoid units and later generate tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) in a mouse model. The groundbreaking results were presented at the 2011 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

27 Oct 2011

New genomic approach can trace food-borne bacteria with unprecedented accuracy

With salmonella-tainted ground turkey sickening more than 100 people and listeria-contaminated cantaloupes killing 15 this year, the ability to detect outbreaks of food-borne illness and determine their sources has become a top public health priority.

27 Oct 2011

Drug-resistant infections may not contribute to higher surgical ICU death rates

The rates of antibiotic-resistant infections in the intensive care unit (ICU) have increased over the last decade. But new research from the University of Virginia suggests that surgical ICU death rates may, in fact, be declining and that drug-resistant infections are not likely to be a significant factor in overall mortality rates.

27 Oct 2011

Breast milk component induces expression of P-glycoprotein

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have found that a component of breast milk induces expression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp), a protein that is protective against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)--a complex, lethal disease that affects up to 7 percent of babies admitted to the NICU.

27 Oct 2011

Blood tests and cultures may not be necessary in detecting early-onset GBS in newborns

For newborn infants at risk of infection with group B streptococcal (GBS) bacteria, screening blood tests cause extra pain and anxiety—without increasing detection of early-onset GBS disease, reports a study in the October issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

24 Oct 2011

Proper daily care and maintenance of central lines might reduce infection rate in PICUs

By following a few basic rules for handling central venous catheters, nurses and doctors at a group of children's hospitals have, in three years, prevented nearly a thousand infections and saved more than a hundred children's lives and millions of dollars, according to a study by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and elsewhere.

24 Oct 2011

Sewage provides perfect ecosystem for studying diversity of uncharacterized viral populations

Raw sewage provides a perfect ecosystem for studying the diversity of viral populations that remain uncharacterized. This is one of the principal conclusions of a study published in the journal mBio by a team comprising experts from the UB's Laboratory of Water and Food Viral Pollution, Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh, under the direction of James Pipas.

22 Oct 2011

Microbiome and its role in gastric and estrogen-related cancers

In the October 20th edition of the journal Cell Host and Microbe, Drs. Claudia Plottel and Martin J. Blaser of the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology at NYU Langone Medical Center, and the Department of Biology at New York University, present a model for understanding how cancer evolves in humans based on an understanding of the bacteria living in our body, the microbiome.

22 Oct 2011

NIPPV helps decrease mortality rates among hospitalized COPD patients

Although increased use of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV) nationwide has helped decrease mortality rates among patients hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a small group of patients requiring subsequent treatment with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) have a significantly higher risk of death than those placed directly on IMV, according to researchers in the United States who studied patterns of NIPPV use.

22 Oct 2011

DFG announces establishment of twelve research units

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has established nine new Research Units and three Clinical Research Units. The decision was made by the Joint Committee of Germany's central research funding organisation at its October meeting in Bonn.

22 Oct 2011

Wolbachia study reveals novel approaches to control insects transmitting deadly diseases

Researchers at Boston University have made discoveries that provide the foundation towards novel approaches to control insects that transmit deadly diseases such as dengue fever and malaria through their study of the Wolbachia bacteria.

21 Oct 2011

NIH awards DNASU $6.5M grant to expand Protein Structure Initiative-Materials Repository

Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute- is home to a rich trove of biological material. Known as DNASU, this growing storehouse-a sort of genetic Library of Congress-holds over 147,000 plasmids, (circular DNA samples that can be used to produce individual proteins), as well as full genome collections from numerous organisms and proteins associated with many leading human diseases.

21 Oct 2011

Antimicrobial copper surfaces reduce hospital acquired infections in ICU rooms

Results from a comprehensive multi-site clinical trial demonstrated that the use of antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care unit rooms reduced the amount of bacteria in the rooms by 97 percent and resulted in a 41 percent reduction in the hospital acquired infection rate.

21 Oct 2011