Category Health/Medical

(A) Image of Rothia mucilaginosa grown on a blood agar plate showing mucoid, grayish colonies after incubation at 37℃ for 48 hr. (B) Microscopic image of the cultured isolates showing clusters of gram-positive cocci (Gram stain, ×1,000).

Researchers have isolated an enzyme from bacteria present in human saliva that has potential as a therapy for celiac disease (CD). An estimated 3 million people in the U.S. have celiac disease. Currently, the main course of treatment for people with CD is adherence to a strict gluten-free diet. “Gluten are proline- and glutamine-rich proteins present in wheat, barley and rye, and contain the immunogenic sequences that drive celiac disease (CD),” the researchers wrote...

Childhood asthma. Mother helping her baby son to use an inhaler. The inhaler is attached to a spacer. The spacer acts as a reservoir, retaining the vapour from the inhaler and allowing the patient to inhale it at their chosen rate.

“Our study is the first to show that breastfeeding can modify the effect of asthma-related genetic profiles on respiratory symptoms in the first year of life,” commented Dr Olga Gorlanova, from the University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB), and the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Genes that are associated with asthma risk are located on chromosome 17 and called 17q21. A recent study reported that children who possessed genetic variants on chromosome 17q21 had an increased risk of developing wheeze, when combined with certain environmental exposures.

PRC1 (polycomb complex) maintains intestinal homeostasis by repressing the expression of ZICs, a family of transcription factors inactivating the β-catenin/TCF complex. Importantly, interfering with PRC1 activity completely inhibits the formation of Wnt-dependent tumors.

Researchers at the University of Tampere discovered a regulation mechanism governing the intestinal homeostasis. Disturbances in this mechanism are implicated in celiac disease and possibly also in colorectal cancer. The study provides new information on the pathogenesis of the differentiation defect of the epithelium in the small intestine in celiac disease.

In celiac disease, ingested dietary gluten causes intestinal mucosal damage with villus atrophy and crypt hyperplasia...

Schematic of mice with dysfunctional and functional Wnt signaling Source: Alzheimer’s Research UK

Memory loss in mice has been reversed following the discovery of new information about a key mechanism underlying the loss of nerve connectivity in the brain. The team found Wnt proteins play a key role in the maintenance of nerve connectivity in the adult brain and could become targets for new treatments that prevent and restore brain function in neurodegenerative diseases.

Professor Salinas said: “Synapses are absolutely critical to everything that our brains do. When these important communication points are lost, nerve cells cannot exchange information and this leads to symptoms like memory and thinking problems...