Toxins News and Research

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Research: Mechanisms behind bacterial warfare could be harnessed to target pathogenic bacteria

Two UC Santa Barbara graduate students have demonstrated how certain microbes exploit proteins in nearby bacteria to deliver toxins and kill them.

28 Aug 2015

Breakthrough approach saves patient's eyes and life from flesh-eating disease

The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation today announced that a patient's eyes—and life—were saved by doctors at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN, working with NNFF, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and Dr. John Crew, director of the Advanced Wound Care Center at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, CA.

27 Aug 2015

Researchers to design, test sensors to protect firefighters from respiratory damage and illnesses

During the next three years, researchers at Case Western Reserve University will team with NASA Glenn Research Center and firefighters nationally, from Cleveland to Oregon, to design and test sensors aimed at protecting firefighters from respiratory damage and illnesses.

27 Aug 2015

Elite CBD Remedy Tincture now available through Mary's Nutritionals

Elite Botanicals, the leading cultivator of CBD-rich hemp in Colorado, today announced that it's Elite CBD Remedy Tincture is now available through medical and recreational dispensaries in Colorado, as well as online through Mary's Nutritionals.

26 Aug 2015

European chestnut leaves contain ingredients with power to disarm deadly staph bacteria

Leaves of the European chestnut tree contain ingredients with the power to disarm dangerous staph bacteria without boosting its drug resistance, scientists have found.

24 Aug 2015

Wyss Institute scientists develop improved blood-cleansing therapeutic device to treat sepsis

Last year, a Wyss Institute team of scientists described the development of a new device to treat sepsis that works by mimicking our spleen. It cleanses pathogens and toxins from blood circulating through a dialysis-like circuit. Now, the Wyss Institute team has developed an improved device that synergizes with conventional antibiotic therapies and that has been streamlined to better position it for near-term translation to the clinic.

21 Aug 2015

Scientists create membrane capable of detecting organisms that trigger diarrhea, intestinal problems

A group of scientists from the Institute of Ecology and the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Mexico, created a membrane capable of simultaneously detecting numerous organisms in the water or food that cause diarrhea and intestinal problems. This health problem annually kills 760 000 children under the age of five, according to the World Health Organization.

20 Aug 2015

MU researcher proposes method to identify human vulnerabilities

Historically, males have been considered the vulnerable sex, sometimes called "male vulnerability." Charles Darwin noted that boys are more likely to die in infancy than girls and have a higher risk of premature death throughout their lifetimes. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri suggests that research in "male vulnerability" should be expanded to include "female vulnerability."

18 Aug 2015

Researchers reveal how toxins turn healthy proteins into poison to disrupt immune response

Researchers who have revealed a highly efficient way that bacteria use toxins to interrupt the immune response say that until now, the trickery of these toxins has been underappreciated in science.

11 Aug 2015

ONR holds workshop to discuss impact of sleep deprivation on warfighters

Americans are famously hard chargers who usually don't get enough shut-eye. That's particularly true in military ranks, where operational tempo is fast paced and mission completion paramount. Sleep can become a casualty, and fatigue too often a reality.

11 Aug 2015

HHMI scientists identify stem cells that give rise to functional liver cells

Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have identified stem cells in the liver that give rise to functional liver cells. The work solves a long-standing mystery about the origin of new cells in the liver, which must constantly be replenished as cells die off, even in a healthy organ.

6 Aug 2015

New biosensors detect efficient microbial workers that produce chemical, pharmaceutical commodities

Super productive factories of the future could employ fleets of genetically engineered bacterial cells, such as common E. coli, to produce valuable chemical commodities in an environmentally friendly way.

5 Aug 2015

IU scientists find evidence that invisible war between microorganisms may affect human health

Health experts have warned for years that the overuse of antibiotics is creating "superbugs" able to resist drugs treating infection.

31 Jul 2015

Researchers demonstrate direct connection between NOX proteins and liver fibrosis

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated a direct connection between two signaling proteins and liver fibrosis, a scarring process underlying chronic liver disease, the 12th leading cause of death in the United States.

30 Jul 2015

Study findings could lead to new ways to tailor therapies for cancer

By studying the yeast used in beer- and bread-making, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have uncovered the mechanism by which ancient proteins repair DNA damage and how their dysfunction could lead to the development of tumors.

28 Jul 2015

RGS2 protein plays significant role in healthy egg-sperm union in mice

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered a protein that plays a vital role in healthy egg-sperm union in mice. The protein RGS2 can delay an egg's development into an embryo in order to allow time for sperm to arrive and merge with the egg in a healthy fertilization process. The embryo cannot survive without the male chromosomes.

28 Jul 2015

New paper describes positive effects of CRAC channel inhibitors in animal models of acute pancreatitis

Researchers from CalciMedica, Inc. and the University of Liverpool today announced the publication of a paper describing positive effects of calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel inhibitors in animal models of acute pancreatitis. The paper, titled "Inhibitors of ORAI1 prevent cytosolic calcium-associated injury of human pancreatic acinar cells and acute pancreatitis in 3 mouse models" appears in the August edition of the journal Gastroenterology.

25 Jul 2015

Mayo Clinic researchers test Spheroid Reservoir Bioartificial Liver to treat patients with acute liver failure

Approximately 30,000-40,000 people die from liver disease each year, according to the American Liver Foundation. For people who experience acute liver failure, the only proven treatment has been liver transplantation. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed and are testing an alternative to liver transplantation called the Spheroid Reservoir Bioartificial Liver that can support healing and regeneration of the injured liver, and improve outcomes and reduce mortality rates for patients with acute liver failure — without requiring a transplant.

20 Jul 2015

UTHealth scientist receives $1.9 million from NIH to develop non-antibiotic treatment for C. diff infections

Charles Darkoh, Ph.D., a researcher at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, was recently awarded a five-year, $1.9 million R01 grant by the National Institutes of Health to develop a non-antibiotic treatment for Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections.

10 Jul 2015

Aridis expands, accelerates current AR-301 Phase 2a study for treatment of acute pneumonia in the U.S.

Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company applying proprietary technologies to produce novel anti-infectives and immunotherapies for infectious diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AR-301, also referred to as Salvecin, the company's fully human anti-Staphylococcal α-toxin IgG1 monoclonal antibody being developed for the treatment of hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia (HAP and VAP) caused by Staphylococcus aureus, including multi-drug resistant 'MRSA' strains.

8 Jul 2015