Infection tagged posts

New Study shows how Salmonella Tricks Gut Defenses to cause Infection

3D illustration of Salmonella bacteria in yellow green color
Salmonella infects the small intestine and alters the colon environment

A new UC Davis Health study has uncovered how Salmonella bacteria, a major cause of food poisoning, can invade the gut even when protective bacteria are present. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how the pathogen tricks the gut environment to escape the body’s natural defenses.

The digestive system is home to trillions of bacteria, many of which produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that help fight harmful pathogens. But Salmonella manages to grow and spread in the gut, even though these protective compounds are present. The study asks: How does Salmonella get around this defense?

“We knew that Salmonella invades the small intestine, although it is not ...

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Common Immune Response is found to be Protective Across Many Diseases

Common immune response protective across many diseases
Overview of study design, analytic methods, and dataset multi-omics. (A) Cartoon describing the collected single-cell and bulk multi-omic datasets with paired clinical data from infection, autoimmunity, and cancer contexts. (B) Cartoon depicting experimental and analytic strategies for single-cell and bulk data with a focus on NKG2A/C-expressing cell types. (C) Cartoon demonstrating NKG2A+ and NKG2C+ bias assignment at single-cell and bulk levels. (D) Cartoon displaying the different clinical and biological -omics to be compared between NKG2A+ and patients with an NKG2C+ bias. Credit: Cell Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113872

Combined, infection, autoimmunity and cancer account for 4 out of every 10 deaths worldwide, and represent major global health challenges...

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Why we Lose Fat and Muscle during Infection

Parasitic Trypanosoma brucei parasites (dark blue) among mouse blood cells (light blue and white).
Parasitic Trypanosoma brucei parasites (dark blue) among mouse blood cells (light blue and white).

Scientists discover role immune system’s T cells play in regulating fat and muscle loss during infection in mice. Scientists discovered that 1) the wasting response to T. brucei infection in mice occurs in two phases, each regulated by different immune cells and 2) fat loss did not benefit the fight against infection, but muscle loss did. The findings inform the development of more effective therapeutics that spare people from wasting and increase our understanding of how wasting influences survival and morbidity across infections, cancers, chronic illnesses, and more.

Although infections can present with many different symptoms, one common symptom is the loss of fat and muscle, a proc...

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The Wound Dressing that can Reveal Infection

The wound dressing that can reveal infection
A nanocellulose wound dressing that can reveal early signs of infection through a shift in colour.
CREDIT: Olov Planthaber

A nanocellulose wound dressing that can reveal early signs of infection without interfering with the healing process has been developed by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden. Their study, published in Materials Today Bio, is one further step on the road to a new type of wound care.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. A wound disrupts the normal function of the skin and can take a long time to heal, be very painful for the patient, and may—in a worst-case scenario—lead to death if not treated correctly. Also, hard-to-heal wounds pose a great burden on society, representing about half of all costs of out-patient care.

In traditional wo...

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