Scientists have zeroed in on a culprit that spurs damaging inflammation in the heart following a heart attack. The guilty party is a type of immune cell that tries to heal the injured heart but instead triggers inflammation that leads to even more damage. Further, the researchers have found that an already approved drug effectively […]
Most people with the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma die less than 18 months after diagnosis. But a multicenter clinical trial of a personalized vaccine that targets the aggressive cancer has indicated improved survival rates for such patients. The study appears May 29 in the Journal of Translational Medicine. The phase three clinical trial included 331 […]
Losing weight can seem like an overwhelming undertaking, but even dropping just a few pounds can have a big impact on your overall health. “You get a large ‘bang for your buck’ with only a 5 percent weight loss,” says Samuel Klein, MD, professor of medicine and nutritional science, and director of the Center for […]
Two new studies of patients with difficult-to-control asthma show that the eczema drug dupilumab alleviates asthma symptoms and improves patients’ ability to breathe better than standard therapies. Dupilumab, an injectable anti-inflammatory drug, was approved in 2017 by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for eczema, a chronic skin disease.
A new study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with “travelers’ diarrhea” and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more severe disease in people with blood type A. The bacteria release a protein that latches onto intestinal cells in people with blood type A, but not blood type O or B, according […]
Chikungunya virus is a growing threat to the United States and other regions of the world as the mosquito that carries the virus expands its reach. Telltale symptoms of chikungunya infection are fever and joint pain that last about a week. But in up to half of patients, the virus can cause a debilitating form […]
Visceral fat differs from subcutaneous fat in that it releases fatty acids and inflammatory substances directly into the liver rather than into the general circulation. Some experts believe this may play a direct role in causing the diseases linked to abdominal obesity. But not everyone agrees. Samuel Klein, who heads the Center for Human Nutrition […]
For some people, particularly those who are elderly, even a light touch of the skin or contact with clothing can lead to unbearable itching. What’s worse, anti-itch treatments, including hydrocortisone, don’t provide much relief for this type of itching. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have discovered, in mice, why […]
An investigational drug in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis prevents a common, life-threatening side effect of stem cell transplants, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows. Studying mice, the researchers found the drug prevented what’s known as graft-versus-host disease, a debilitating, sometimes lethal condition that develops when transplanted stem cells […]
Researchers nationwide have reached a major milestone in describing the genetic landscape of cancer. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions have completed the genetic sequencing and analyses of more than 11,000 tumors from patients, spanning 33 types of cancer — all part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) […]
Scientists have designed a new drug compound that dials down inflammation, suggesting possible future uses against autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. The new inhibitor is more selective than other compounds designed to target the same inflammatory pathway, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Such precision, along with […]
People infected with West Nile virus can show a wide range of disease. Some develop life-threatening brain infections. Others show no signs of infection at all. One reason for the different outcomes may lie in the community of microbes that populate their intestinal tracts. A study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis […]
For patients with difficult-to-treat, drug-resistant infections, seeing an infectious diseases specialist can be a lifesaver. Such patients experienced significantly lower mortality rates when treated by physicians specializing in infectious diseases, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Researchers found that infectious disease physicians helped reduce 30-day mortality rates by […]
Patients who developed infections that were resistant to antibiotics were much more likely to survive if doctors specializing in infectious disease were consulted on their cases, according to a study published today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. “Having an infectious-disease specialist see you when you have one of these infections [was linked to] a 50 percent […]
Abstract Background Multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infections are associated with high mortality and readmission rates. Infectious diseases (ID) consultation improves clinical outcomes for drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. Our goal was to determine the association between ID consultation and mortality following various MDRO infections. Methods This study was conducted with a retrospective cohort (January 1, 2006–October 1, 2015) […]
Despite public health campaigns aimed at reducing unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics, the drugs continue to be prescribed at startlingly high rates in outpatient settings such as clinics and physician offices, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers analyzed de-identified data from Express Scripts Holding Co., which […]
A new study indicates that the kinds of microbes living in the gut influence the severity and recurrence of parasitic worm infections in developing countries. The findings, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggest that manipulating the gut’s microbial communities may protect against intestinal parasites, which affect more than 1 […]
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer. These therapies involve collecting a patient’s own immune cells — called T cells — and supercharging them to home in on and attack specific blood cancers, such as hard-to-treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But so far, these T […]
Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 46. In the U.S., there are about 30,000 preventable deaths each year in patients with severe bleeding from trauma. In an effort to stem the number of fatalities, a research team led by Allan Doctor, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Washington University […]
Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, the newly appointed director of the National Cancer Institute, visited the Medical Campus this week to talk about the institute’s research enterprise and hear from faculty, students and staff as part of a listening and learning tour. “I’ve learned a lot about immunotherapy (on the Medical Campus) and had the […]
Recent research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrated that mature cells in the stomach sometimes revert back to behaving like rapidly dividing stem cells. Now, the researchers have found that this process may be universal; no matter the organ, when tissue responds to certain types of injury, mature cells seem to […]
Analyzing the genetics and smoking habits of more than half a million people has shed new light on the complexities of controlling blood pressure, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, published Feb. 15 in The American Journal of Human Genetics, stems from an […]
While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. New research from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine shows that the virus kills brain cancer stem cells, […]
The very rare animals that reproduce asexually — only about one in 1,000 of all living vertebrate species — are thought to be at an evolutionary disadvantage compared with their sexually reproduced counterparts. But that theory doesn’t hold true regarding the Amazon molly, an all-female fish species that has thrived for millennia in the fresh […]
The current influenza outbreak – the worst across the United States in nearly a decade – is worrisome but still far less dire than a pandemic flu, which could kill millions. Such pandemics are exceedingly difficult to predict, but new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis offers details about flu viruses […]
A new anti-cancer strategy wields light as a precision weapon. Unlike traditional light therapy — which is limited to the skin and areas accessible with an endoscope — this technique can target and attack cancer cells that have spread deep inside the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. […]
Respiratory infections peak during the winter months, and most people recover within a few weeks. But for those with a rare genetic lung disease, the sniffling, coughing and congestion never end. The tiny hairlike structures called cilia that normally sweep mucus through the airways don’t work properly in people with what’s known as primary ciliary […]
More than 10,000 people in the United States are living with memory loss and other persistent neurological problems that occur after West Nile virus infects the brain. Now, a new study in mice suggests that such ongoing neurological deficits may be due to unresolved inflammation that hinders the brain’s ability to repair damaged neurons and […]
Zika virus kills glioblastoma stem cells in early research BY TAMARA BHANDARI While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. New research from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego […]
Rapidly dividing, yet aberrant stem cells are a major source of cancer. But a new study suggests that mature cells also play a key role in initiating cancer — a finding that could upend the way scientists think about the origins of the disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have […]
Our glioblastoma-Zika paper made it in the top 100 Altmetric list of most popular research of 2017. In collaboration with Mike Diamond and Pei-Yong Shi (Texas), we got the Kleberg Foundation award. We received the CT RFP 50K award from Wash U ICTS, to study cancer stem cell populations fresh from patients, using new CyTOF […]
Rapidly dividing, yet aberrant stem cells are a major source of cancer. But a new study suggests that mature cells also play a key role in initiating cancer — a finding that could upend the way scientists think about the origins of the disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have […]
Radiation therapy often is used to treat cancer patients. Now, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that radiation therapy — aimed directly at the heart — can be used to treat patients with a life-threatening heart rhythm. They treated five patients who had irregular heart rhythms, called ventricular tachycardia, […]
Research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue new treatment guidelines aimed at accelerating global elimination of lymphatic filariasis – a devastating tropical disease. An estimated 70 million people worldwide are infected with lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. The disease […]
Diabetes is known to increase a person’s risk of kidney disease. Now, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that the converse also is true: Kidney dysfunction increases the risk of diabetes. Further, the researchers deduced that a likely culprit of the two-way relationship between kidney disease and diabetes […]
Patients who go to the emergency room (ER) with chest pain often receive unnecessary tests to evaluate whether they are having a heart attack, a practice that provides no clinical benefit and adds hundreds of dollars in health-care costs, according to a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. […]
John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a $6 million outstanding investigator award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research aimed at improving therapies for leukemia. DiPersio, the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Professor of Medicine […]
Sebastian Nasamu, an MD/PhD student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, battled successive bouts of malaria as a child growing up in Ghana. He survived – but decided long ago to commit himself to eradicating the disease. The possibility that his work could lead to a treatment is the reason he goes […]
In 1978, during the infancy of the AIDS epidemic, reports about isolated cases of gay men suffering from a rare lung infection and an aggressive cancer began trickling in to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That same year, Rupa Patel was born in the Midwest to immigrants from rural Indian villages. While her parents […]
“This is the beginning of a new era of cancer therapy,” said Washington University oncologist Armin Ghobadi, MD, an assistant professor of medicine, who treats patients at Siteman. “With CAR-T cell therapy, we can take patients’ own cells and turn them into a powerful weapon to attack cancer. It’s a highly personalized, innovative therapy and one […]
An estimated 120 million people worldwide are infected with lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic, mosquito-borne disease that can cause major swelling and deformity of the legs, a condition known as elephantiasis. Health-care workers rely on leg measurements to assess the severity of the condition. However, measuring legs that are severely swollen often proves cumbersome and impractical. […]
Outdoor air pollution has long been linked to major health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A new study now adds kidney disease to the list, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. […]
Warfarin is a blood thinner that is commonly prescribed to patients to prevent life-threatening blood clots. Despite its longtime use, warfarin remains tricky to dose because a person’s genetic makeup influences how the drug is processed in the body. Too much warfarin can cause internal bleeding; too little warfarin fails to prevent blood clots. Now, […]
There’s good fat and bad fat in our bodies. The good fat helps burn calories, while the bad fat hoards calories, contributing to weight gain and obesity. Now, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a way to convert bad, white fat into good, brown fat, at least in […]
Breast cancer that spreads often infiltrates bone, causing fractures and intense pain. In such cases, chemotherapy is ineffective because the environment of the bone protects the tumor, even as the drug has toxic side effects elsewhere in the body. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a nanoparticle that […]
Brazil and other areas hardest hit by the Zika virus – which can cause babies to be born with abnormally small heads – are also home to dengue virus, which is spread by the same mosquito species.
A new study of children living in inner-city areas and at high risk of developing asthma suggests that exposure to certain pet and pest allergens in infancy lowers the risk of developing asthma by age 7. The research also provides evidence that the type of bacteria hitching a ride on the allergen particles is an […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are recruiting volunteers for a national study that is exploring whether strategies to improve cardiovascular health also reduce the risk of dementia in those at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
The roots of chronic itching have long remained a mystery. Meanwhile, those with the condition suffer from an unrelenting and sometimes debilitating urge to scratch. Now, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified immune signaling molecules that are essential for activating neurons in the skin to cause chronic itching.