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New understanding on how probiotics can prevent disease

Using probiotics successfully against a number of animal diseases has helped scientists from University College Cork, Ireland to understand some of the ways in which they work, which could lead to them using probiotics to prevent and even to treat human diseases.

1 Apr 2009

Stem cell infusion and hyperbaric oxygen treatment improve islet function in diabetes

A study to determine if patients with type 2 diabetes can benefit from a combination of autologous (patient self-donated) stem cell infusions (ASC) and hyperbaric (above the normal air pressure of ) oxygen treatment (HBO) before and after ASC has found "significant benefits" in terms of "improvements in glycemic control" along with "reduced insulin requirements."

12 Mar 2009

Space-grown bacteria help explain Salmonella illness

Salmonella bacteria research from two recent NASA space missions discovered key elements of the bacteria's disease-causing potential that hold promise for improving ways to fight food-borne infections on Earth.

11 Mar 2009

Researchers probe mechanisms of infection

A newly discovered receptor in a strain of Escherichia coli might help explain why people often get sicker when they're stressed.

10 Mar 2009

New protein identified in bacterial arsenal

Nearly a billion years ago, bacteria evolved an insidious means of infecting their hosts - a syringe-like mechanism able to inject cells with stealthy hijacker molecules. These molecules, called virulence factors, play a sophisticated game of mimicry, imitating many of the cells' normal activities but ultimately co-opting them to serve the bacteria's needs.

3 Mar 2009

Researchers block immune cell rush behind deadly sepsis

Researchers have found a way to block the ability of white blood cells to sprint toward the sites of infection when such speed worsens the damage done by sepsis, the often fatal, whole-body bacterial infection, according to a study published today in the journal Blood.

24 Feb 2009

Low cholesterol, depression in men linked to early death

New Geisinger research shows that men with a combination of low total cholesterol and depression were seven times more likely to die prematurely from unnatural causes, such as suicide and accidents.

10 Feb 2009

Link found between Parkinson's disease genes and manganese poisoning

A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

2 Feb 2009

Salmonella prompts recall of Kellogg's snacks

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials in the United States have confirmed the presence of salmonella in a popular snack made by food giant Kellogg.

19 Jan 2009

MRSA's weak point visualised by scientists

An enzyme that lives in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and helps the dangerous bacterium to grow and spread infection through the human body has been visualised for the first time, according to a study out today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

19 Jan 2009

Clioquinol - gastrointestinal drug could become anti-aging treatment

Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol – an 80-year old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders – can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

6 Jan 2009

Discovery of new way for bacteria to transfer toxic genes to unrelated bacterial species

In a laboratory experiment, the scientists from NYU School of Medicine discovered that Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious bacterium that causes toxic shock syndrome and many other types of infections and is the scourge of hospitals nationwide due to its growing antibiotic resistance, could co-opt viral parasites as secret pipelines for transferring toxin genes to vastly different bacterial species.

6 Jan 2009