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    Category Health/Medical

    Trigger for Autoimmune Disease eg Lupus, Crohn’s, MS Identified

    May 11, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    T-bet expression in B cells is required for the formation of spontaneous GCs, but is dispensable for the formation GCs following deliberate immunization. (A–C) Representative immunofluorescent staining of 5 spleen sections obtained from (A) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (B) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT, or (C) C57BL/6 mice. (D) Percentage of GC B cells identified by FACS as B220+CD19+CD4–CD8–GL7+CD95+ and (E–G) representative immunofluorescent staining of spleens sections obtained from (E) T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (F) T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT mice immunized with NP-CGG and alum (day 11) (n = 4 mice per group), or (G) naive C57BL/6 mice. n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments. Scale bars: 100 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. NS, not significant; PNA, peanut agglutinin.

    T-bet expression in B cells is required for the formation of spontaneous GCs, but is dispensable for the formation GCs following deliberate immunization. (A–C) Representative immunofluorescent staining of 5 spleen sections obtained from (A) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (B) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT, or (C) C57BL/6 mice. (D) Percentage of GC B cells identified by FACS as B220+CD19+CD4–CD8–GL7+CD95+ and (E–G) representative immunofluorescent staining of spleens sections obtained from (E) T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (F) T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT mice immunized with NP-CGG and alum (day 11) (n = 4 mice per group), or (G) naive C57BL/6 mice. n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments. Scale bars: 100 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0...

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    Link between Common Brain Disease and Gut Microbiome

    May 10, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    MRI of a patient with (cerebral cavernous malformation) CCM disease. Credit: Issam Awad, University of Chicago

    MRI of a patient with (cerebral cavernous malformation) CCM disease. Credit: Issam Awad, University of Chicago

    Bacteria in the gut microbiome drive the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain that can cause stroke and seizures, according to new research published this week in Nature by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

    Altering the microbiome in CCM patients may be an effective therapy for this cerebrovascular disease. CCM disease, which occurs in about 1 in 100 to 200 people, can present in 2 forms. One is sporadic, accounting for 80% of cases, and is most frequent in older individuals. The remaining 20% are familial, inherited cases...

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    Astronauts experience Decrease in Blood Vessel function during Spaceflight

    May 10, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Health/Medical

    Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have decreased physical fitness because of a decrease in the way oxygen moves through the body, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology study.

    Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have decreased physical fitness because of a decrease in the way oxygen moves through the body, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology study.

    Astronauts aboard ISS have decreased physical fitness because of a decrease in the way oxygen moves through the body, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology study. Carl Ade, assistant professor of exercise physiology, and collaborators partnered with the Johnson Space Center to find that astronauts’ exercise capacity decreases between 30 and 50% in long-duration spaceflight because the heart and small blood vessels are not as effective at transporting oxygen to the working muscle.

    “It is a dramatic decrease,” Ade said...

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    Vitamin D levels Not Linked to Asthma or Dermatitis

    May 9, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Vitamin D production

    Vitamin D production

    Vitamin D supplementation is unlikely to reduce the risk of asthma in children or adults, atopic dermatitis, or allergies according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine by Brent Richards, of McGill University, Canada, and the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, Canada, and colleagues. Some previous epidemiological studies have suggested that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased rates of asthma, atopic dermatitis and elevated levels of IgE. In the new work, researchers looked at genetic and health data on more than 100,000 individuals from previous large studies to determine whether genetic alterations that are associated with vitamin D levels predispose people to asthma, dermatitis, or high IgE levels.

    The researchers found no statis...

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