Category Health/Medical

Hidden household toxin triples liver disease risk, study finds

Household Toxin Triples Liver Disease Risk
Exposure to PCE can significantly raise the risk of liver fibrosis, regardless of traditional liver disease factors. Scientists warn that environmental toxins like PCE may explain unexplained cases of liver damage. Credit: Shutterstock

PCE, a dry-cleaning chemical found in many everyday products, has been linked to tripled risk of serious liver damage. Scientists have uncovered a new environmental culprit behind liver disease: tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a chemical used in dry cleaning and household products. The study found that people with PCE exposure were three times more likely to develop severe liver scarring, even when traditional risk factors like alcohol or obesity were absent...

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Hidden weakness makes prostate cancer self-destruct

Hidden Weak Spot May Help Defeat Prostate Cancer
Scientists have identified a major weakness in prostate cancer cells by uncovering two enzymes, PDIA1 and PDIA5, that help the disease survive and resist treatment. Blocking these enzymes destabilizes the androgen receptor, the main driver of prostate cancer, causing tumor shrinkage and cell death. Credit: Shutterstock

Scientists found a hidden flaw in prostate cancer’s survival system. Researchers have discovered that prostate cancer depends on two key enzymes, PDIA1 and PDIA5, to survive and resist therapy. When blocked, these enzymes cause the androgen receptor to collapse, killing cancer cells and enhancing the effects of drugs like enzalutamide. They also disrupt the cancer’s energy system, striking it on multiple fronts...

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Turning the gut microbiome into a longevity factory

New research finds that low doses of the antibiotic cephalordine induces the cps operon in bacteria, visualized in red. This operon is responsible for synthesizing colanic acids, resulting in attenuation of age-related metabolic changes. Credit: Meng Wang

A team of researchers has found a way to turn the bacteria living in the digestive tracts of animals into factories that can produce compounds that promote longevity in their hosts—showing a potential new drug development strategy.

Janelia Senior Group Leader Meng Wang and her team study longevity and were interested in seeing how they could transfer their research findings about longevity-promoting compounds into practical applications.

One idea they had was to induce the body’s gut microbiota—a collection of bacteria in th...

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NAD⁺ restores memory in Alzheimer’s disease models by correcting RNA errors

NAD⁺ restores memory in Alzheimer's' disease models by correcting RNA errors
NR induces transcription of genes involved in axon development, oxygen metabolism, mitochondrion localization, and autophagy in tauopathy mice. GO terms enriched in each of the eight classes of clusters in (A); each circular bar graph represents one cluster or class of clusters, and bar length correlates with the number of DEGs represented. GO terms shown in red font relate to mRNA. Clusters 4 and 5 are similar and are grouped together. Class 1 includes clusters 1, 2, and 6 marked with red. Class 2 includes clusters 4 and 5 marked with orange. Class 3 includes cluster 8 marked with yellow. GTPase, guanosine triphosphatase; NAD(P)H, reduced form of NAD phosphate; IRES, internal ribosomal entry site; GTP, guanosine 5′-triphosphate; MHC, major histocompatibility complex. Credit: Science A...
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