Medicine

A major cause of human and animal infections, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria may evade the immune system’s defences and dodge antibiotics by climbing into our cells and then lying low to avoid detection. New research shows how S. aureus makes itself at home in human lung cells for up to two weeks. A team of 12 researchers from University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland and the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK set out to uncover what S. aureus (6850) did inside human lung epithelial cells (A549) using an in vitro model. They found that shortly after S. aureus entered the lung cells,…

The innate immune response is the body's first line of defense against pathogen infection. Dr. Xin Li (University of British Columbia) and colleagues report that three proteins work together in the MOS4-associated complex (MAC) to execute innate immunity in the mustard weed, Arabidopsis. Dr. Li and colleagues study a plant autoimmune model in which a mutation in one immune receptor, SNC1, causes constitutive activation of the plant's immune response. Dr. Li's group found that 3 key downstream effectors of the SNC1 pathway -- MOS4, AtCDC5 and PRL1 -- are homologous to components of the human…

A protein found primarily in the lens of the eye could be the critical "tipping point" in the spiral of inflammation and damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine report. This protein - alphaB-crystallin - is not normally found in the brain, but develops in response to the injuries inflicted on nerve cells by multiple sclerosis. The nerve-cell injuries can cause people to suffer loss of motor control and even paralysis. "The big breakthrough in this paper is answering the question 'What is alphaB-crystallin doing"'" said Lawrence…

A large study has found that black Medicare patients are less likely than white patients to receive blood vessel opening procedures such as angioplasty following a heart attack, whether they are admitted to hospitals that provide or do not provide these procedures, but also experience higher mortality rates at 1 year, according to a study in the June 13 issue of JAMA. Racial differences in care after acute myocardial infarction (AMI - heart attack) appear most marked for the use of invasive and costly technologies, such as coronary revascularization (restoration of adequate blood supply to…

A childhood sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) is known to have negative consequences on cognitive development, behavior, quality of life and utilization of health care resources. However, a research abstract that will be presented Monday at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), finds that breastfeeding may provide long-term protection against the incidence or severity of a childhood SRBD. The study, conducted by Hawley E. Montgomery-Downs, PhD, of West Virginia University, focused on the parents of those children who underwent…

A new novel about Sherlock Holmes or, my favorite, The Saint? No, this really happened in an operating room in St Paul’s Hospital, British Columbia. Dr. Alana Flexman, Dr. Stephan Schwarz and Dr. Giuseppe Del Vicario wrote the case report. The patient, a 42-year-old white Canadian, had developed nerve damage due to restricted blood flow in his lower legs after falling asleep in a sitting position. He was a smoker and his medical history included chronic shoulder pain and migraine headaches. He was was taking a number of prescription medications, including Sumatriptan for the migraines. To…

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a potential new target for treating type 2 diabetes. The target is a protein, along with its molecular partner, that regulates fat metabolism. "Over the last 10 years, we have begun to understand the importance of fat metabolism in diabetes," notes lead author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Penn and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Type 2 diabetics are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease because they also…

Researchers have discovered a completely new way to treat stroke and head trauma victims, potentially saving the lives of numerous such patients. The discovery was made by the NordForsk-financed Nordic Centre of Excellence on Water Imbalance Related Disorders (WIRED). After head trauma or after stroke, brain swelling - caused by an influx of water into the brain - is one of the factors most likely to cause death, taking a great toll on society in terms of human suffering and economical costs. The development of efficient therapies for this condition has been hampered by a lack of…

Robotic surgery may be coming to your town. Robots that perform surgery can be driven by surgeons who no longer stand by the patient, but direct the operation from a computer console. In most cases the surgeon is seated at a console within the theatre, only a few metres away from the patient. Now a team of surgeons and scientists have shown that the surgeon and robot can be linked via a 4,000 mile Internet connection or even by satellite. This raises the possibility of a surgeon’s expertise being made available to patients lying in surgical theatres thousands of miles away. Robots are…

If you're inactive as a child, you are basically 'storing up' illnesses for when you are an adult, University of Leicester study says. Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor Melanie Davies and Dr Margaret Stone surveyed over 3500 pupils from five inner city secondary schools in Leicester. They identified low levels of physical activity in both South Asian and white children. For example only half the children walked to school although south Asian children were less likely to walk to school compared to white children. Furthermore, half the pupils spent 4 hours or more a day watching television or…