Toxins News and Research

RSS

Scientists use extracellular vesicles to track source of chronic inflammation

A new technique to diagnose chronic inflammation developed at Nagoya University can read information from the surface and within individual extracellular vesicles in blood and urine.

3 Nov 2026

Hemoadsorption may improve outcomes in severe poisoning cases

The WHO estimated over 800,000 suicide deaths in 2012, with poisoning a major concern. Three‑quarters of suicides occur in low‑ and middle‑income countries, with an estimated 30% related to pesticides.

30 Oct 2026

Study redefines picobirnavirus as a bacteria hunting virus

Thriving alongside trillions of bacteria in the human digestive tract is a vast population of viruses. Ever since one such denizen of the gut microbiome, known as picobirnavirus, was first spotted decades ago, researchers thought it directly infected human tissue and played a role in gastrointestinal illness.

29 Oct 2026

New satellite technology detects neurological risks from toxic red tides

Red tide, a harmful algal bloom that produces toxins, is known for causing respiratory irritation in humans and killing fish in coastal waters. Recent research shows that the conversation is also shifting to include a more subtle neurological threat.

27 Oct 2026

Taurine helps regulate inflammation linked to aging, Yale study finds

Sustained low-level inflammation is a hallmark of the aging process. The accumulating damage persistently activates the innate immune system-the body's first line of defense-leading to what is known as inflammaging, functional decline and chronic diseases of old age.

23 Oct 2026

Scientists find strange bacterial immune system that works backward

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have uncovered an extraordinarily unusual bacterial immune system that operates in reverse of known defenses.

13 Oct 2026

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

Innovative techniques using electrical energy to treat bladder cancer may lower recurrence rates and minimize the need for radical surgical interventions.

8 Oct 2026

Lipid signaling pathway helps cells survive bacterial toxin damage

Epithelial cells form the body's frontline barriers, helping keep microbes, toxins, and other harmful substances out.

5 Oct 2026

Smart vapes with financial rewards may raise addiction risks

Vaping products are becoming smarter – and potentially more addictive. Some new devices now reward users with cryptocurrency and other incentives tied to vaping behavior.

28 Sep 2026

Frailty linked to greater cognitive impairment risk in men with chronic kidney disease

New research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Department of Medicine is shedding light on how women and men with chronic kidney disease (CKD) may fare differently as they age and their disease progresses.

23 Sep 2026

Researchers mine cobra toxins to uncover a membrane-disrupting antimicrobial peptide

Researchers combined toxin sequence mining with machine learning and deep-learning prediction tools to identify and experimentally test 14 antimicrobial peptide candidates derived from cobra cardiotoxins. Most candidates showed limited antibacterial potency, while CTX-p5 displayed moderate membrane-disrupting activity, revealing both the potential and current limitations of computationally guided venom peptide discovery.

17 Sep 2026

Study reveals processes driving DNA damage in prostate cancer

Cancer begins with errors in the DNA inside our cells, and those errors are often more complicated than a handful of mutated genes.

9 Sep 2026

New nanobody antivenom offers broad protection against Indian cobras

Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and disabilities each year. India alone reports nearly 50,000 deaths every year, the most by snakebite in the world.

9 Sep 2026

Study uncovers bacterial weakness during flagellum construction

New research from Indiana University has uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in how bacteria build the whip-like tails they use to move.

8 Sep 2026

High-dose folic acid appears safe from formaldehyde toxicity

Folic acid – an essential vitamin added to flour and cereals and prescribed at high doses for cancer patients and people with blood disorders – does not elevate toxic formaldehyde in the body, according to a new Cornell University study on mice and human cancer patients who consumed high doses.

2 Sep 2026

UofL receives new federal funding to advance metabolic health research

Chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and metabolic liver disease have sharply increased in recent decades and are among the most urgent health challenges facing our society.

27 Aug 2026

Poison center calls for liver injuries surged 400% between 2000 and 2024

Calls to poison centers involving liver injuries caused by medications, supplements, alcohol and other substances jumped nearly 400% between 2000 and 2024, according to a new study from UVA Health.

13 Aug 2026

Study uncovers molecular trigger behind pyrin inflammation in familial Mediterranean fever

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disease in which the body's own immune system overreacts to minimal or inappropriate stimuli, producing recurrent attacks of fever and painful inflammation.

7 Aug 2026

Blood filtration method helps clear circulating lipids and toxic microplastics

The machine is not new. Some version of it has run in hospital treatment rooms for about four decades, drawing blood from one arm, separating out the plasma, passing it across a filter or an adsorber, and returning it to the other arm.

4 Aug 2026

Perilla oil may curb platelet reactivity and inflammatory signaling in smokers

An eight-week randomized trial found that daily perilla oil increased plasma and red-cell ALA, plasma EPA, and platelet closure time in healthy smokers. Perilla oil also reduced TNF-α and TBX21 gene expression, but it did not improve broader coagulation, lipid, endothelial, or postprandial markers.

3 Aug 2026