inflammation tagged posts

Josh Zimmerman, Ph.D., (right) and Todd McDevitt, Ph.D., discovered a biomaterials hack that can boost cells’ ability to combat inflammation and potentially treat autoimmune diseases. Credit: Elisabeth Fall

A biomaterials hack can boost cells’ ability to combat inflammation and potentially treat autoimmune diseases. With a trick of engineering, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes improved a potential weapon against inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Their work could one day benefit patients who suffer from IBD or organ transplant rejection.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) reside in bone marrow and have been found to secrete anti-inflammatory proteins that help regulate the immune system...

Model for the regulation of visceral fat ER stress in obesity. Induction of TRIP-Br2 and GATA3 during obesity via ER stress is critical for the visceral fat proinflammatory responses.

Researchers have long-known that visceral fat (which wraps around the internal organs) is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat (under the skin). But how visceral fat contributes to insulin resistance and inflammation has remained unknown. A study points blame at a regulatory molecule in cells called TRIP-Br2 that is produced in response to overeating’s stress on the machinery cells use to produce proteins.

In previous studies, in obese humans TRIP-Br2 was turned-up in visceral fat but not in subcutaneous fat...

The human lymphatic system © Inserm, Léa Lemierre

In a new heart failure study, the blood system is being explored for the purpose of improving heart function. The study has revealed the potential of a secondary system that had previously received scant attention.

The researchers analysed the heart lymphatic system in an animal model which was highly impaired following a myocardial infarction. Using a biotherapy based on the injection of innovative microparticles, they succeeded in regenerating lymphatic vessels in a targeted manner. This treatment promotes lymphatic drainage, thus limiting post-infarct oedema and inflammation. Heart function is thereby improved.

Lymphatic vessels in the rat heart visible in red by immunofluorescence © Inserm, Ebba Brakenhielm

When the heart is no longe...

Chronic, low-grade inflammation caused by high fat diets contributes to obesity and type 2 diabetes and other inflammation-related disorders like cardiovascular disease, stroke and rheumatoid arthritis. Prof David Earnest, Ph.D. and his team have shown that consumption of saturated fats at certain times may “jet lag” internal clocks, as well as the resulting inflammation.

Earnest’s previous work suggested that a high-fat diet alters how our body clocks keep time, particularly in immune cells that mediate inflammation. Earlier findings show that a high fat diet slows down the clocks in immune cells such that they no longer “tell” accurate time. Now, he and his team, including Robert S. Chapkin, Ph.D...