Good aerobic fitness doesn’t protect children against type 2 diabetes, staying active does

It is a generally accepted idea that good aerobic fitness reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, and it has also been thought to protect against other obesity-induced adverse changes in the glucose metabolism. However, this idea is based on studies whose methodology does not allow a distinction between the roles of aerobic fitness and body fat percentage as risk […]

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Study vaccine protects monkeys against four types of hemorrhagic fever viruses

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an investigational vaccine that protected cynomolgus macaques against four types of hemorrhagic fever viruses endemic to overlapping regions in Africa. The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and Profectus BioSciences of New York are developing and testing the candidate quadrivalent VesiculoVax vaccine, with support from NIH’s National Institute of […]

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Tiny blood cells could protect against cerebral palsy

Platelets—tiny cells critical for blood clotting—could be the key to protecting against brain damage occurring during pregnancy or around the time of birth. Information gained from the pre-clinical study led by Dr. Alison Farley and Dr. Samir Taoudi from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute could enable doctors to intervene at the right time to prevent brain bleeds—a significant risk […]

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Engineering B cells to express pathogen-specific antibodies to protect against infection

Antibodies are currently in use to treat diseases that range from cancer to autoimmunity and are usually administered to patients in multiple doses, much like medical drugs. However, the production and storage of antibodies are comparatively more expensive, with considerable interest on finding alternative strategies to deliver them. In a recent study, Howell F. Moffett and an interdisciplinary research team […]

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Engineered DNA vaccine protects against emerging Mayaro virus

Infections by the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV) have largely been restricted to people who ventured into the heavily forested areas of Trinidad and Tobago and neighboring regions of South America. However, recent laboratory studies showing additional mosquito vectors can transmit MAYV as well as a reported case of MAYV infection in Haiti in 2015, reveal the potential for the virus […]

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Protection against malaria: A matter of balance

A balanced production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines at two years of age protects against clinical malaria in early childhood, according to a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). The results also indicate that early exposure to the parasite does not affect the risk of developing the disease, although it could affect the parasite-specific immune response […]

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New investigational antibiotic effective against drug-resistant bacteria in phase 2 trial

Results from a phase 2 randomised trial suggest that a new investigational antibiotic is as effective as the current standard-of-care antibiotic for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by several multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. The findings, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, indicated that patients treated with the siderophore-based drug, cefiderocol, had a higher and more sustained […]

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Photoactive bacteria bait may help in fight against MRSA infections

Purdue University researchers are testing whether a light-active version of heme, the molecule responsible for transporting oxygen in blood circulation, may help people infected with MRSA. The research was published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Infectious Diseases in September. The World Health Organization identifies MRSA as one of about a dozen antibiotic “superbugs” that pose an enormous threat […]

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Immunotherapy effective against hereditary melanoma

Individuals with an inherited form of skin cancer often have a poor prognosis. The type of immunotherapy that was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is, however, particularly effective in this patient group, research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows. The study is published in the Journal of Medical Genetics. Congenital mutations of the CDKN2A gene are […]

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