Category Health/Medical

A fluorescence microscope image shows the skin of a healthy mouse (left) and skin from a mouse with a poison ivy rash (right). Interleukin-33, shown in green stain, is a protein that acts directly on the nerves, telling the brain the skin is extremely itchy. Credit: Sven-Eric Jordt/Duke Health

Scientists have developed a strategy to stop the uncontrollable itch caused by urushiol, the oily sap common to poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak and even mango trees. By blocking an immune system protein in the skin with an antibody, they could halt the processes that tell the brain the skin is itchy. They hope their model could lead to potential treatments for people who are allergic to poison ivy – an estimated 80% of the population.

For most people, contact with poisonous plants is painful but...

E. coli bacteria. Credit: NIAID

For invading bacteria that have figured out how to scavenge iron from their hosts, it’s a fine place to grow and reproduce. And for millions of women a year, that means painful, burning, potentially dangerous urinary tract infections. Now, in an ironic twist, scientists prevented UTIs in mice by vaccinating them with the same molecules that the bacteria usually use to grab iron and fuel their growth. They caution that a human UTI vaccine based on the approach is still years away. But the success of vaccination with the small iron-grabbing molecules, ie siderophores, paves the way for further research.

The same team previously reported success in preventing UTIs using a vaccine made of proteins from the bacteria, called uropathogenic Escherichia coli or UPEC...

agitating host-microbiota interactions to cause low-grade gut inflammation can promote colon carcinogenesis

Emulsifiers, added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter intestinal bacteria in a manner that promotes intestinal inflammation and colorectal cancer, according to a new study. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, show regular consumption of dietary emulsifiers in mice exacerbated tumor development. Colorectal cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, was responsible for about 700,000 deaths in 2012. There is increasing awareness that intestinal microbiota play a role in driving colorectal cancer.

The microbiota is also a key factor in driving Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two most common for...

Vigorous exercise amplified increase in hormone levels

Twelve weeks of aerobic exercise significantly boosted testosterone levels in overweight and obese men, with the greatest increases seen among vigorous exercisers, according to research presented at the Integrative Biology of Exercise 7 meeting in Phoenix. Researchers from Tsukuba University and Ryutsu Keizai University in Japan previously found that a combination of diet and exercise was effective in increasing the testosterone in this population. For this study, however, they looked specifically at the effect of regular aerobic exercise on testosterone levels.

“Testosterone is a male sex hormone, and low circulating testosterone levels lead to various health disorders in men...