Category Health/Medical

Pneumonia is an infection of the lung alveoli caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi. It is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, representing a clinical and economic burden and a global public health problem. The microbial ecosystem (or microbiome) of the human respiratory tract colonizes different niches. The respiratory tract microbiome is of interest to scientists as it contributes to human health by stimulating the immune system and protecting against infection by pathogens. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS have demonstrated that the microbiome composition, pathogen load and clinical interventions influence the severity of bacterial pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila...

Vibrant green leaves sprout from tall fragrant plants sitting neatly in two rows of terracotta pots in Valerie Sponsel’s UTSA biology laboratory. One floor just above her is the chemistry lab of Francis Yoshimoto, who is extracting the plant’s leaves for medicinal compounds. Soon, the researchers will meet with UTSA researcher Annie Lin, who will test the extracted compounds on cancer cells.

The plant is Artemisia annua, or Sweet Annie, and it contains medicinal compounds. UTSA researchers are studying the plant to understand the bioactive properties of one of these compounds, Arteannuin B, in cancer cells and COVID, the disease caused by the virus, SARS-CoV-2.

“Around 50% of prescription drugs are derived from natural products. They’re made by plants, fungi or bacteria...

Researchers have unveiled an intriguing phenomenon of cellular reprogramming in mature adult organs, shedding light on a novel mechanism of adaptive growth. The study, which was conducted on fruit flies (Drosophila), provides further insights into dedifferentiation — where specialized cells that have specific functions transform into less specialized, undifferentiated cells like stem cells.

Until now, dedifferentiation has primarily been associated with severe injuries or stressful conditions, observed during tissue regeneration and diseases like tumorigenesis...

Medical researchers have used a 3D human neural cell culture model to show that the exercise-induced muscle hormone, irisin, reduces the level of amyloid beta deposits associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers who previously developed the first 3D human cell culture models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that displays two major hallmarks of the condition — the generation of amyloid beta deposits followed by tau tangles — have now used their model to investigate whether the exercise-induced muscle hormone irisin affects amyloid beta pathology.

As reported in the journal Neuron, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-led team has uncovered promising results suggesting that irisin-b...