Toxins News and Research

RSS

Discoveries could lead to development of novel therapies to prevent C. diff infection

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have obtained the crystal structure of a toxin from the bacterium Clostridium difficile ("C. diff") -- the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the United States.

12 Jan 2016

Experts develop technologies for protecting drinking water

We place high demands on the quality of our drinking water. If pathogens or toxic substances found their way into the piping system, many people could become infected or injured very quickly. That's why this risk must be kept low. To do this, experts have developed technologies for a comprehensive monitoring, early warning and emergency management system.

7 Jan 2016

Common antibiotics can promote C. diff infections by killing off bile acid-altering microbes

New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Michigan finds that bile acids which are altered by bacteria normally living in the large intestine inhibit the growth of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. C. diff is a harmful bacterium that can cause painful and sometimes fatal infections.

7 Jan 2016

Toxins in staphylococcus bacteria can help cancer cells gain control over healthy cells

Our skin is covered in millions of bacteria and most of them help keep us healthy. However, for patients with lymphoma, it may be a rather different story, as new research from the University of Copenhagen shows that toxins in the staphylococcus bacteria help cancer cells gain control over healthy cells.

6 Jan 2016

Processed foods may increase likelihood of developing autoimmune diseases

In today's hustle and bustle world, processed foods are commonplace time-savers. But that convenience factor may come with a bigger price tag than previously known, says an international team of researchers.

31 Dec 2015

SDSU researchers explore ways to eradicate thirdhand smoke

When cigarette smoke is blown into the environment, its chemical constituents don't just vanish into thin air. Residue from the smoke settles into, accumulates and is stored in the surrounding environment, such as upholstery, carpets, walls, clothing and curtains.

30 Dec 2015

Newly discovered molecular mechanism may provide alternative explanation for antibiotic resistance

The bacterium B. cereus had so far been considered to be exclusively endospore-forming. In response to harsh conditions, the bacteria form protective endospores enabling them to remain dormant for extended periods. When conditions are more favourable, the endospores reactivate to become fully functioning bacteria.

28 Dec 2015

New article explores harmful algal blooms and their impact on public health, environment

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur naturally, but their outbreaks are influenced by climate change and droughts, nutrient enrichment and manmade factors, such as contaminants from sewage and stormwater discharge, natural resource extraction or agricultural runoff, to name a few.

23 Dec 2015

Commonly used diabetes drug may have potential to prevent, treat preeclampsia

An article published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reports that a commonly-used drug for the treatment of diabetes, metformin, may have the potential to prevent and treat preeclampsia. Metformin has long been used to treat diabetes in both non-pregnant and pregnant patients, and is considered safe during pregnancy.

22 Dec 2015

Cancer drug may protect kidneys from damage caused by chemotherapy agent cisplatin

A class of drugs used increasingly to help fight cancer may have the additional benefit of protecting the kidneys when packaged with the powerful chemotherapy agent cisplatin.

16 Dec 2015

Study: Brain cell death may trigger multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) may be triggered by the death of brain cells that make myelin, the insulation around nerve fibers, according to research on a novel mouse model developed by scientists from the University of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine. The death of these cells initiates an autoimmune response against myelin, the main characteristic of the disease, which leads to MS-like symptoms in mice.

14 Dec 2015

Early life exposures to toxic chemicals reduce infants' response to TB vaccine

Early life exposures to toxic chemicals such as PCBs and DDT dampen an infant's response to the tuberculosis vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center.

11 Dec 2015

Scientists decipher details of cloaking proteins that protect the toxin that causes botulism

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Stony Brook University and the Institute of Advanced Sciences in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, have discovered new details about how "cloaking" proteins protect the toxin that causes botulism, a fatal disease caused most commonly by consuming improperly canned foods.

7 Dec 2015

Bacteriophage therapy: an alternative to antibiotics? An interview Professor Clokie

A phage is a virus that infects a bacterium. People often get very confused about what the difference is between a virus and a bacterium. A virus, like a bacterium, is also a microorganism, but unlike bacteria, it needs to have a host to be able to replicate and propagate.

2 Dec 2015

Novel class of antimicrobials could be effective in fighting drug-resistant MRSA infection

A novel class of antimicrobials that inhibits the function of a key disease-causing component of bacteria could be effective in fighting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the major drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, according to researchers at Georgia State University.

1 Dec 2015

Columbia University data scientists create world's first catalog of therapeutic venom

What doesn't kill you could cure you. A growing interest in the therapeutic value of animal venom has led a pair of Columbia University data scientists to create the first catalog of known animal toxins and their physiological effects on humans.

26 Nov 2015

Scientists create detailed image of deadly toxin linked to bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, septicaemia

Scientists from the University of Leicester have for the first time created a detailed image of a toxin - called pneumolysin - associated with deadly infections such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia.

25 Nov 2015

Prenatal smoking exposure can potentially affect someone's health for years after birth

New Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research finds that blood taken from children up to the age of five contains molecular evidence about whether their mothers smoked during pregnancy.

23 Nov 2015

Testosterone cause of sex differences in the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests

Men are twice as likely as women to develop Parkinson's disease, a nervous system disorder characterized by tremors and difficulty moving. New research to be presented at Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases: Physiology and Gender suggests that the difference in risk may be due to the presence of the male sex hormone testosterone.

19 Nov 2015

NIH-led collaboration details research strategy to address brain disorders

Infants are starved of oxygen during difficult births. Children's cognitive function is permanently damaged due to malnutrition or exposure to infections or toxins. Adults suffer from crippling depression or dementia. The breadth and complexity of these and other brain and nervous system disorders make them some of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat, especially in the developing world, where there are few resources.