Chikungunya virus, once confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, has infected millions of people in the Americas since 2013, when mosquitoes carrying the virus were discovered in the Caribbean. About half of all people infected with chikungunya virus never show symptoms, while some develop fever and joint pain that lasts about a week, and 10% to […]
As U.S. scientists ramp up a national effort to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine candidates at clinical trial sites across the country, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development have been tapped to join the historic effort to find a COVID-19 vaccine that can prevent […]
Airborne and potentially deadly, the virus that causes COVID-19 can only be studied safely under high-level biosafety conditions. Scientists handling the infectious virus must wear full-body biohazard suits with pressurized respirators, and work inside laboratories with multiple containment levels and specialized ventilation systems. While necessary to protect laboratory workers, these safety precautions slow down efforts […]
The virus that causes COVID-19 probably originated in wild bats that live in caves around Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people, according to the World Health Organization.
Six months into the pandemic, people diagnosed with mild cases of COVID-19 still are told to isolate themselves and wait out the infection at home. Doctors monitor such patients so they can intervene if their condition deteriorates, but no antiviral drugs have been shown to hasten recovery or forestall severe illness in people who are […]
A major U.S. study reveals large gaps between urban and rural patients in quality of care received after a stroke and rates of survival. In more rural areas, the ability of hospitals to deliver advanced stroke care is lower and mortality rates substantially higher, the research shows.
With Brazil leading the world in newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, Latin America has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, outbreaks continue to escalate in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Public health authorities worldwide desperately need to expand testing so they can track the spread of the infection, but molecular diagnostic […]
People who inject illicit drugs can develop potentially deadly infections of the heart, blood, joints and soft tissues. Typically, such infections require weeks of hospitalization to treat effectively. But a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that drug users who, while in the hospital, started IV antibiotics […]
In the weeks before the St. Louis region saw its first patients with COVID-19, physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine began planning and preparing how best to collect blood and other biological samples from such patients so specimens could be quickly disseminated to researchers seeking strategies to treat, prevent and contain the novel coronavirus.
The global effort to quickly develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 has been hampered by limited numbers of laboratory mice that are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have developed a mouse model of COVID-19 that replicates the […]
Using induced pluripotent stem cells produced from the skin of a patient with a rare, genetic form of insulin-dependent diabetes called Wolfram syndrome, researchers transformed the human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to correct a genetic defect that had caused the syndrome. They then implanted the cells into lab mice […]
When Washington University Vice Chancellor for Research Jennifer K. Lodge first sounded the alarm about the disruptive impact COVID-19 likely would have on labs across the university, the research community heeded her warning, taking steps to shut down lab work and move as much as possible online. Those in position to do so began pivoting their research […]
Infectious diseases physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an expanded access program to give blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to critically ill patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Led by principal investigator Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine, a team of researchers began enrolling potential donors […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a clinical trial in patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 but who are not sick enough to be hospitalized. The trial is investigating whether the antidepressant medication fluvoxamine, which is currently used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), can be repurposed […]
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is launching a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The trial will investigate the effectiveness of different combinations of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus. Express Scripts, a Cigna company, […]
With no drugs or vaccines yet approved for COVID-19 and the number of U.S. cases increasing by the thousands every day, doctors are looking to revive a century-old therapy for infectious diseases: transfusing antibodies from the blood of recovered patients into people who are seriously ill. During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, doctors were […]
Immunotherapy that involves treating cancer with the body’s own immune cells, or those of a matched donor, shows promise in clinical trials for some patients, but not all. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that the age of certain immune cells used in such therapy plays a role […]
A component of breast milk may help protect premature babies from developing sepsis, a fast-moving, life-threatening condition triggered by infection. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have found — in newborn mice — that a molecule called epidermal growth factor in breast milk activates receptors […]
Soon after a novel coronavirus first appeared in China in late 2019, researchers, doctors and staff at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis began preparing for the possibility of an outbreak. Infectious disease physicians started planning how to respond if a person with suspected exposure to the virus arrived on campus, and researchers […]
New research in mice suggests that certain immune cells may help guide fetal development of the heart and play a role in how the adult heart beats, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, published in the journal JCI Insight, may help lay a foundation for immunotherapies […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis appear to have discovered a way to make radiation therapy for colorectal cancer more effective by inhibiting a protein found in cancer cells in the gut. The approach also helps protect healthy tissue from the negative effects of radiation. Studying cells, mice and tumor samples […]
The aggravating skin condition eczema is most commonly treated by suppressing the immune system, but not all patients get relief. Now, a drug strategy aimed at revving up the immune system and boosting a type of immune cell known as natural killer cells appears, at least in mice, to effectively treat eczema. The innovative approach, […]
Researchers have converted human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated in mice infused with such cells that blood sugar levels can be controlled and diabetes functionally cured for nine months. The findings, from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, are published online Feb. 24 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. “These […]
A new study that reveals the dozens of molecular changes that bring about endometrial cancer offers insight into how physicians might be able to better identify which patients will need aggressive treatment and why a common treatment is not effective for some patients. The study appears Feb. 13 in the journal Cell. Funded by the […]
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s most vexing public health problems. About 1.5 million people died from this bacterial lung infection in 2018, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-quarter of the world’s population — some 2 billion people, mostly in developing countries — are infected with the bacteria that causes TB. […]
High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a new study in mice suggests they have a down side: They lead to more plaque in the arteries. Further, the new research shows that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque — the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked arteries. More plaque buildup […]
Their mother’s death when they were teenagers set identical twins Obi and Malachi Griffith on a shared path to find better cancer therapies. Today, the twins, both geneticists and computational biologists at the School of Medicine, are seeking precision treatments for the disease. The Griffith Lab, driven by the twins’ independent and complementary research interests, […]
The highly contagious norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting and is notorious for spreading rapidly through densely populated spaces, such as cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and day care centers. Each year, it is responsible for some 200,000 deaths, mostly in the developing world. There are no treatments for this intestinal virus, often incorrectly referred to […]
In critically ill patients who require a heart pump to support blood circulation as part of stent procedures, specific heart pumps have been associated with serious complications, according to a new study led by cardiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Though the observational study does not prove that the heart pumps […]
Studying mice, scientists have shown that boosting the activity of specific immune cells in the heart after a heart attack can protect against developing heart failure, an invariably fatal condition. Patients with heart failure tire easily and become breathless from everyday activities because the heart muscle has lost the ability to pump enough blood to […]
Benjamin D. Humphreys’ hobbies include experimenting with international cuisine in his kitchen, harvesting heirloom tomatoes in his backyard, and growing miniature kidneys in his laboratory. He has been perfecting his first two hobbies for years. However, his interest in growing tiny kidneys — specifically, using human stem cells to cultivate kidney organoids — began in […]
As obesity rates climb, so do the number of people receiving weight-loss surgery. One of the most frequently performed weight-loss procedures in the world — Roux-en-Y gastric bypass — is effective, but another procedure rarely performed in the U.S. is more effective at eliminating type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity. A new study from […]
At nearly 250 pounds, Linda DeCosta had tried everything — and failed — to lose weight: prescription drugs, exercise programs, dieting. She had even considered bariatric surgery, but insurance wouldn’t cover it. “I was almost starving myself,” DeCosta said. “Our family doesn’t eat out a lot. I don’t cook a lot of fried foods. I […]
Bloodstream infections caused by the fungus Candida are among the most common and deadly infections in hospitals, with 25,000 such cases seen annually in the U.S. – mostly in people originally hospitalized for other reasons. About 40% to 45% of people with Candida in their blood die of the infection. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in […]
Certain human gut microbes with links to health thrive when fed specific types of ingredients in dietary fibers, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The work — conducted in mice colonized with human gut bacteria and using new technologies for measuring nutrient processing — is a step […]
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis appear to have solved a decades-long mystery regarding the precise biochemical pathway leading to a fatal genetic disorder in children that results in seizures, developmental regression and death, usually around age 3. Studying a mouse model with the same human illness — called Krabbe disease […]
A single high dose of radiation aimed at the heart significantly reduces episodes of a potentially deadly rapid heart rhythm, according to results of a phase one/two study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Patients in the study were severely ill and had exhausted other standard treatment options. The radiation used to […]
The battle against HIV increasingly looks winnable, and Washington University in St. Louis is helping lead the charge. Rupa Patel, MD, an assistant professor of medicine, has received a grant for $3.9 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a regional resource center at the university to aid HIV prevention efforts […]
Zika virus can cause babies to be born with devastating brain damage. But the signs of Zika infection in adults – rash, fever, headache and body aches – are nonspecific, so a pregnant woman who develops such symptoms can’t be sure if she has contracted Zika or something less risky for her fetus. A diagnostic […]
Since chikungunya virus emerged in the Americas in 2013, it has infected millions of people, causing fever, headache, rash, and muscle and joint pain. For some people, painful, debilitating arthritis lasts long after the other symptoms have resolved. Researchers have suspected that the virus or its genetic material – in this case, RNA – persist […]
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis supports evidence that children with mild asthma can effectively manage the condition by using their two inhalers — one a steroid and the other a bronchodilator — when symptoms occur. This is in contrast to the traditional method of using the steroid daily, […]
Antibiotics are known to upset the balance of bacteria in the intestinal tract. In some cases, antibiotics can cause the bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) to overgrow wildly, causing diarrhea and, in severe cases, life-threatening intestinal inflammation. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found the molecular signature of a healthy gut microbial […]
Pancreatic cancer is especially challenging to treat – only eight percent of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are of limited benefit, and even immunotherapy – which revolutionized treatment for other kinds of cancer by activating the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells – has been largely ineffective because […]
Only a few cases of the newly discovered Bourbon virus have been reported, and two of them ended in death, partly because no specific treatments are available for the tick-borne illness. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an experimental antiviral drug that cures mice infected with the potentially […]
Extended use of popular drugs to treat heartburn, ulcers and acid reflux has been associated with an increased risk of premature death. However, little has been known about the specific causes of death attributed to the drugs. Now, a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Veterans Affairs St. […]
COX’S BAZAR DISTRICT, Bangladesh — From high atop barren hills and the crests of skinny, rutted roads, the views of the vast camps that serve as makeshift homes to more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees are staggering. In every direction, stretches of hastily built, criss-crossed bamboo walls and roofs hold in place dirty orange, blue, black […]
Cysts likely to become cancerous identified with 95% accuracy
KATHERINE BASORE Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a detailed 3-D structure of chikungunya virus (shown in blue and green) attached to a mouse protein (in magenta) that the virus uses to get inside cells and cause disease. The findings could accelerate efforts to find new ways to prevent […]
MATT MILLER Robert D. Schreiber, PhD, right, consults with doctoral student Samuel O. Ameh. Their work exploring the immune system’s role in controlling cancer is fueling development of a range of approaches to cancer immunotherapy. A few short decades ago, cancer treatment consisted mainly of three pillars: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Although each has earned […]