Houston, TX – New research by a team at Pennsylvania State University suggests that microbes in the human gut could be harnessed to block absorption of toxic metals like mercury and help the body absorb useful nutritional ones, like iron. The group presents their findings at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.    Methylmercury, a neurotoxin, is particularly worrisome, said Daniela Betancurt-Anzola, a graduate student at Penn State who led the new study. It ...

Houston, TX –  In a study by a research group at Baylor College of Medicine, oral administration of a commercially available probiotic bacterial strain was found to improve dry eye disease in an animal model. The findings were presented at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Dry eye, a common condition in which tears produced by the eye can’t keep the eye adequately lubricated, afflicts approximately 1 in 20 people in the United States. It can cause eye stinging and burning, inflammation, blurry vision and light sensitivity. Extreme cases can result in damage ...

While heavy drinkers can tolerate a certain amount of alcohol better than light or moderate drinkers, the concept of “holding your liquor” is more nuanced than commonly believed, according to new research from the University of Chicago. The researchers conducted the study with three groups of young adults in their 20s with different drinking patterns. They found that drinkers with alcohol use disorder (or AUD, traditionally known as alcoholism) displayed less impairment on fine motor and cognitive tasks than light or heavy social drinkers after consuming a standard intoxicating dose—equivalent ...

Social isolation may negatively impact bone health, suggests a study conducted in mice being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “Social isolation is a potent form of psychosocial stress and is a growing public health concern, particularly among older adults,” said lead researcher Rebecca Mountain, Ph.D., of MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, Maine. “Even prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly increased the prevalence of isolation and loneliness, researchers have been concerned about a rising ‘epidemic ...

Receiving rapid access to testosterone therapy reduced feelings of gender dysphoria and led to a clinically significant reduction in depression as well as a 50% reduction in suicidality among transgender and gender diverse adults, according to research being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “This is the world-first randomized clinical trial supporting the significant benefits of testosterone in reducing gender dysphoria, depression and suicidality in trans individuals desiring commencement of testosterone,” said Brendan Nolan, M.B.B.S., F.R.A.C.P., a Ph.D. candidate at ...

A three-year-long retrospective cohort study of a single Atlanta hospital’s patient population found transgender and gender-diverse teenagers rarely chose to discontinue gender-affirming hormone therapy, according to a study being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. Among 82 transgender and gender-diverse adolescents treated at an academic pediatric endocrinology center from beginning of 2016 to end of 2018, only three chose to halt gender-affirming hormone therapy. None of them resumed identifying as their assigned sex at birth. One participant stopped hormonal therapy due to insurance ...

Hyperthyroidism treatment like radioactive iodine or surgery was associated with a decreased risk for death, according to research being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago. “Hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid gland is common, affecting up to 3% of the population, and is associated with long-term adverse cardiac and metabolic consequences. The optimal treatment choice remains unclear,” said Kristien Boelaert, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of endocrinology from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Boelaert and colleagues identified 55,318 patients ...

Houston, TX – Candida auris, an emerging fungal pathogen resistant to many antimicrobial agents, continues to threaten U.S. public health. Researchers at bioMérieux Inc. conducted a retrospective analysis of blood cultures positive for C. auris and found an upsurge in detection of this pathogenic yeast between 2021 and 2023. The average detection rate of 0.014% before October 2022 (July 2020 to September 2022) rose to 0.057% after October 2022 (October 2022 to March 2023). They presented their findings at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. The researchers investigated changes in C. auris infection rates geographically and over ...

Houston, TX – New research by investigators in Ghent, Belgium shows that intravenous treatment with MK-3402, a metallo-beta-lactamase inhibitor, can be an effective strategy in fighting antimicrobial resistance. The findings are presented at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to public health. Some bacteria are resistant to treatment because they produce the enzyme metallo-beta-lactamase, which make a certain class ...

Houston, TX – Matching an infection with Candida auris, a pathogenic yeast, to an effective antifungal is a critical clinical decision. That decision relies on susceptibility testing, but commercially available antifungal tests perform poorly for many treatments, researchers at Indiana University and Indiana University Health have found. The investigators, who tested the accuracy of 4 available tests for use with C. auris, present their findings at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.  C. ...

Transgender people who come to the emergency room for care tend to be sicker than cisgender people who are otherwise similar to them and are much more likely to be admitted to the hospital once they visit the ER, according to a study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “Our findings suggest that decreasing discrimination against transgender people in society and in health care, and improving the outpatient care they are able to access in the community, may keep them healthier and help them avoid visits to the ER,” said lead researcher Daphna Stroumsa, ...

CHICAGO—People with obesity may have lower work productivity due to increased risk of illness, contributing to increased costs for employers, according to industry-supported research being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, in Chicago, Ill. Obesity is a significant public health issue affecting approximately 42% of people in the United States. Employees with overweight or obesity are more likely to develop weight-related comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular ...

CHICAGO—By being undiagnosed or untreated, a significant fraction of people with obesity or overweight are not getting the recommended care, despite an increase in new treatment options, according to research being presented on June 17 at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “The number of people with obesity is high and rising in the adult U.S. population. Obesity is a complex and expensive disease that has been implicated in many chronic conditions including high blood ...

CHICAGO—Closed-loop insulin delivery systems improve glucose control in children with type 1 diabetes without causing adverse effects, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. A closed-loop system consists of devices that use a continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump to automatically regulate blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. The system operates “closed-loop” because it continuously monitors and adjusts (starting and stopping) insulin delivery based on the person's ...

A proven and effective medication for osteoporosis, which is currently only available as an injection, can be administered orally using a novel “robotic pill,” according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “We believe this study provides the first clinical evidence of safe and successful delivery of the osteoporosis drug teriparatide through an oral robotic pill,” said Arvinder Dhalla, Ph.D., who leads Clinical Development at Rani Therapeutics, the San Jose, Calif.-based company that developed the technology and funded the study. “Data from this study are very encouraging ...

The good news: a monoclonal antibody treatment called benralizumab proved quite effective in a clinical trial at depleting the number of eosinophils found in the blood and digestive tract tissues of patients with eosinophilic gastritis. The not-so-good news: eliminating eosinophils was not enough to stop the symptoms people feel with this uncommon and severe form of food allergy. Nor did the treatment affect key measures of gut tissue health and related gene expression patterns.   These paradigm-shifting Phase 2 clinical ...

MISSOULA – Pregnancy at high elevations often is associated with low birth weights and other complications. These challenges occur in a wide range of mammals, from deer mice to human beings. Research conducted at the University of Montana revealed some of the genetic underpinnings that allow certain highland mouse populations to protect developing fetuses in higher areas. The work was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Understanding how deer mice survive and thrive at high elevations not only informs our understanding of basic evolutionary processes, it may also one ...

Jupiter's moon, Europa, is slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon and is one of the most promising places to search for alien life.  Amid the Jovian system, Europa is of particular interest to scientists because of the strong evidence for nutrients, water and energy to potentially provide a habitable environment for some form of life beyond Earth. In addition, Europa is believed to be made up into four layers (from surface to center): an ice shell, salt water ocean, rocky mantle, and metallic core. Like Earth, Europa’s ...

HOUSTON ― Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found the KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib showed promising activity suppressing cancer growth not only within the lungs but also in brain metastases for patients with KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Findings from the Phase Ib cohort of the KRYSTAL-1 trial, published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, represent the first prospective data of anti-tumor activity from a KRAS G12C inhibitor in brain metastases, providing continued evidence of the ...

Virginia Tech researchers with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have demonstrated that children with a wide range of diagnoses that affect their motor function improve after receiving intensive pediatric neurorehabilitation called ACQUIRE Therapy. The findings were published in June in Behavioral Sciences and will be included in an upcoming special issue of the journal devoted to “shifting the therapeutic paradigm for children with neuromotor disabilities to maximize development.” “We ...

As a part of its life cycle, the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) inserts a copy of its DNA into human immune cells. Some of these newly infected immune cells can then transition into a dormant, latent state for a long period of time, which is referred to as HIV latency. Although current therapies, such current antiretroviral therapy (ART), can successfully block the virus from replicating further, it cannot eradicate latent HIV. If treatment is ever discontinued, the virus can rebound from latency and reignite the progression of HIV infection to AIDS. Scientists from the HIV Cure Center at the UNC School of Medicine, University of California ...

Cancer cells are even smarter than scientists previously believed, according to new CU Boulder research. When these cells are confronted with potent new drugs called CDK2 inhibitors, which are designed to prevent cancer from proliferating, they can trigger a workaround to survive the assault in as little as one to two hours.  But the study, published June 8 in the journal “Cell,” comes with a silver lining.  It reveals how cancer cells complete this adaption and shows that simultaneously administering a second, already widely ...

Breast cancer is a complex disease, and its progression is difficult, yet important, to predict. While many elements may contribute to a breast cancer prognosis, University of Massachusetts Amherst biostatistician Chi Hyun Lee has zeroed in on one risk factor that has emerged for its potential to predict the disease’s progression. Lee will use a two-year, $154,791 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an effort to develop statistical tools that will better predict breast cancer survival rates and survival time after breast cancer recurrence. While the project focuses on breast cancer research, the proposed statistical ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – When the global pandemic put the kibosh on in-person events, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility sought alternatives for ensuring its world-class science and unique equipment remained accessible. These efforts culminated in the Fall for Science Virtual Field Trip Event, which rolled out a virtual tour experience, new website, and unique supporting materials. Now, the event has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America with three Anvil Awards. According ...

Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified several steps in a cellular process responsible for triggering one of the body’s important inflammatory responses. Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Immunology, open up possibilities for modulating the type of inflammation associated with several infections and inflammatory diseases. Specifically, the investigators have improved understanding of the steps that lead to the production of IL-1 beta, a potent inflammatory protein signal released during many inflammatory responses. “We now have a clearer understanding of the stepwise process that leads to the production of IL-1 beta,” said Andrea ...