tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20573067857990195852024-02-19T01:19:57.214-08:00Microbophiles MagazineHealth, Microbiological News and varieties of articles of microbiological importance.Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.comBlogger240125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-1251916006049467732018-11-29T07:52:00.000-08:002018-11-29T07:52:18.639-08:00South Korea becomes first East Asian Country to Legalize Medical Marijuana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzuivgbkzCKAoeF7g6EqDgpVXYlJcQYE-EJGSVRYzzL7YtjEisM-HDb7bzGIHXAyrksyVWc7eH8I7F9F6BFCfWJjAgn5eYsgIK9jxG_XvS4X0OrcRYQ59ze5wsW-CvxZsU2iZC2-ApbaY/s1600/cannabis+medical+marijuana+south+korea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="750" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzuivgbkzCKAoeF7g6EqDgpVXYlJcQYE-EJGSVRYzzL7YtjEisM-HDb7bzGIHXAyrksyVWc7eH8I7F9F6BFCfWJjAgn5eYsgIK9jxG_XvS4X0OrcRYQ59ze5wsW-CvxZsU2iZC2-ApbaY/s320/cannabis+medical+marijuana+south+korea.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />South Korea has become the first east Asian country to legalise medical cannabis in a surprising move to expand the treatment options for patients with epilepsy and other rare diseases in the conservative country.<br />
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The country’s national assembly approved amending the Act on the Management of Narcotic Drugs on Friday to allow non-hallucinogenic doses of medical marijuana.<br />
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Still, using weed even for medical purpose will be strictly controlled with patients required to apply to the Korea Orphan Drug Centre, a government body facilitating patient access to rare medicines, after receiving a doctor’s prescription. Approval will be granted on a case-by-case basis, according to the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.<br />
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South Korea has some of the toughest rules on cannabis consumption with citizens prosecuted for using weed in other countries where recreational marijuana is legalised.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yHjjpvCjmAL3gy1iUP241wuKfGd_pxqhODKi9r5mpkwUsvyagwk9dNC_rBf56VDoZbnpAJ-1-yNDEJ8tgAxV1vXiX9PWyzjNYxhWUYXRrPTF-iLHMYQ0nbYhUlwuWaPD4kh_WuDAjeNe/s1600/cannabis+marijuana+south+korea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yHjjpvCjmAL3gy1iUP241wuKfGd_pxqhODKi9r5mpkwUsvyagwk9dNC_rBf56VDoZbnpAJ-1-yNDEJ8tgAxV1vXiX9PWyzjNYxhWUYXRrPTF-iLHMYQ0nbYhUlwuWaPD4kh_WuDAjeNe/s320/cannabis+marijuana+south+korea.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Under the country’s anti-drug laws, smoking and trading marijuana remains illegal with those found guilty facing up to five years in prison. Two other countries in the region – Thailand and Malaysia – are moving towards legalisation of medical marijuana.Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-8511760335696908872016-09-09T09:12:00.001-07:002016-09-09T09:12:22.940-07:00From nostrils to crocodile blood – ten surprising places to look for antibiotics<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/132944/width926/image-20160803-12192-7yoffz.jpg">Amazing things lurk up there… <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/dl2_lim.mhtml?src=1fv5ar9W19RQWl3YDDvBkw-1-8&id=361162187&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></p> <p dir="ltr">One in ten people's noses contain bacteria that could be the source of a powerful new antibiotic, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-36910766">German scientists say</a>. Even resistant superbugs, such as MRSA and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, died when exposed to this new compound, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v535/n7613/full/nature18634.html">lugdunin</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Antimicrobial resistance is a major global threat, with Europe facing "<a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150424/Leading-scientists-warn-of-Antibiotic-Armageddon-in-Britain-and-Europe-by-2025.aspx">Antimicrobial Armageddon</a>" by 2025. Leading scientists predict a million deaths from untreatable infections if more new antibiotics aren't found.</p> <p dir="ltr">So academics hunting for new drugs in unusual places such as human "snot" are on the right track. Here are ten more surprising places scientists are looking for antibiotics, from ants and cow stomachs to medieval libraries and snake blood.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>1. Ants</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The microbes living in and on tropical ants are studied for antibacterial and antifungal drugs by scientists across the world. Matt Hutchings from the University of East Anglia leads a <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/leafcutter-ants/home">major British study</a>, prospecting bioactive compounds from <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/109">fungus-farming attine and arboreal ants</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Attine (leaf cutter) ants from the Americas rely on antibiotics produced by actinomycete bacteria carried on their cuticles to protect their fungal garden from infestations. Tree-living, sap-drinking African slender ants and American Allomerus ants are thought to protect their host trees by cultivating mostly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram-negative_bacteria">Gram-negative bacteria</a>. These produce antibiotics and other compounds, which affect plant pathogens and deter herbivores from destroying their host plants. <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/media-room/press-release-archive/-/asset_publisher/a2jEGMiFHPhv/content/ants-found-to-use-multiple-antibiotics-as-weed-killers">Hutchings said</a>:</p> <p dir="ltr">It's very exciting that ants not only evolved agriculture before humans but also combination therapy with natural antibiotics. Humans are just starting to realise that this is one way to slow down the rise of drug resistant bacteria – the so called superbugs.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>2. Crocodile blood</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Crocodiles not only have the strongest bite, their immune system is also very potent. It allows them to recover quickly from injuries that would kill other animals. <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiN9IGLgaTOAhXoDMAKHQ1QBkUQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cardiffmet.ac.uk%2Fhealth%2Fstaff%2FPages%2FDr%2520Sarah%2520Maddocks.aspx&usg=AFQjCNFinItsEbPSw7mymMLy5GlnVWIF0g&sig2=qM0ncmbyenpiv2v5zi3Hrg&bvm=bv.128617741,d.d24">Scientists from Cardiff Metropolitan University</a> gave an update at <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wcibb/meetings/chemistryandbiologysymposium/">a recent international symposium</a> on the blood of Thai crocodiles as an antibacterial source. Crocodile blood haemoglobin could kill highly-resistant superbugs, such as<i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>. These can cause urinary tract infections and pneumonia in already sick patients or those with cystic fibrosis.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/132945/width754/image-20160803-12234-2wy38f.jpg">Test us … if you dare. <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-404912527/stock-photo-siamese-freshwater-crocodile.html?src=HMrxOzGzaMfkUjF7QaEXUQ-1-4">Shutterstock</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>3. Cow stomachs</b></p> <p dir="ltr">If you thought that cows just turn grass into milk, beef and manure, then think again. The stomachs of the cow harbour billions of microbes that help digest the grass, while competing with each other for their own food. Sharon Huws' team from Aberystwyth University has identified over 100 <a href="https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/research/biologythatdelivers/healthy_plants/">novel antimicrobial candidates</a> from <a href="http://animalsmart.org/species/sheep/what's-a-rumen-">rumen</a>microorganisms. The most promising compounds from pre-clinical tests are currently undergoing further trials.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>4. Dirt, deserts and 10 Downing Street</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Around two-thirds of currently prescribed antibiotics come from soil bacteria. Swansea University Medical School is leading studies digging for antibiotics directly from dirt and very dry habitats. <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiRt6uPgqTOAhVpK8AKHZltDYkQFggvMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swansea.ac.uk%2Fstaff%2Fmedicine%2Flearningandteaching%2Fvankeuleng%2F&usg=AFQjCNEPkpSognf0IVeboBuqs2Cm2j-2kw&sig2=eJ-KWJSzpGZV01LSdidbtA&bvm=bv.128617741,d.d24">I reported</a> on a <a href="http://npronet.com/funding/funded-poc-1/">dirt study</a>and we are now working with industry to engineer a commercially viable route to novel antibiotics from dirt.</p> <p dir="ltr">Paul Dyson's team at Swansea is isolating microbes from <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiY5pffhKTOAhVnAcAKHXqKDS0QFgguMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbsrc.ac.uk%2Fdocuments%2Fchina-previous-awards-pdf%2F&usg=AFQjCNHf3tkDHxd9VM72dsJw_c0bubz7Pg&sig2=GjYmGFOZ3dkK4tQinMEygQ&bvm=bv.128617741,d.bGg">extreme environments</a> such as the Gobi and Arabian deserts and high-altitude Tibetan soils that hardly sustain life. These microbes are now producing antibiotic leads in the laboratory.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/132946/width754/image-20160803-12223-rmy0qu.jpg">Source of a cure? <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-183630518/stock-photo-london-uk-april-10-2009-downing-streets-sign-in-westminster-downing-st-has-housed-government-leaders-for-over-three-hundred-years.html?src=C2Yhrcezi7prHP_8jnCnSQ-1-2">Shutterstock</a></p> <p dir="ltr">And anyone can help. The garden of <a href="http://www.microbiologysociety.org/news/society-news.cfm/number-10-joins-the-hunt-for-new-antibiotics-in-soil">10 Downing Street</a> was dug up recently as part of a project to crowdsource samples for the <a href="http://www.smallworldinitiative.org/">Small World Initiative</a>. SWI's Nicole Broderick said of the progress made by thousands of students across the globe: "The grand goal is to find new antibiotics, while getting young people interested in science."</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>5. Frog skin and foam</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Frogs have been known to make deadly compounds for centuries – the skin of poison dart frogs contains alkaloid toxins that can kill humans quickly. Recently, many other species of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11101278">frogs have been tested for antimicrobials</a>and antibiotic-delivery systems. The tiny Caribbean <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35869662">Tungaran frog produces a foam</a>with its hindlegs that protects its eggs from infection and predation. This foam slowly releases antimicrobials, which scientists at the University of Strathclyde are now testing as novel drug delivery systems for wound care. Paul Hoskisson said: "I'd say we are about half way there to making a stable foam. Once we do that, we would then need to test it in patients, but that will take a few years yet."</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>6. Honey</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Honey is not only spread on toast, it's been used to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831240/">treat patients' wounds</a> for centuries. Honey made from the nectar of the Mānuka tree is particularly potent for wound infections. Microbiologists from Cardiff Metropolitan University have discovered that combinations of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13047332">Mānuka honey</a> and regular antibiotics can make MRSA more sensitive. Rose Cooper, professor of microbiology, said:</p> <p dir="ltr">This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0045600">in combination with Mānuka honey</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>7. Maggots and cockroaches</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Other creepy crawlies are also a proven success. Maggot secretions, cockroach brains, and the humid brood cells of beewolf wasps all contain antimicrobials. Patients suffering from chronic open wounds, or resistant superbug infections, are often reluctant to undergo <a href="http://biomonde.com/en/">maggot therapy</a>, but Yamni Nigam from Swansea University has launched the innovative <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23loveamaggot&src=typd">#loveamaggot</a> campaign. Nigam claims that "maggot therapy is a quick and highly effective way to treat infected and festering wounds. Limbs, and even lives, of chronically ill patients have been saved".</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>8. Medieval libraries</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The <a href="http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/4/e01129-15">interdisciplinary</a> <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2015/march/ancientbiotics---a-medieval-remedy-for-modern-day-superbugs.aspx">AncientBiotics consortium</a> is hunting for recipes to treat infections in ancient books. One of the recipes found in Bald's Leechbook, an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-32117815">Anglo-Saxon manuscript</a> held in the British Library, proved particularly powerful against superbugs. Consortium founding member Freya Harrison said the team thought the eye salve might show a "small amount of antibiotic activity … But we were absolutely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was".</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/132947/width754/image-20160803-12186-26phdc.jpg">Old books could contain new drugs. <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/dl2_lim.mhtml?src=pd-photo-32742700-2&id=92050808&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>9. Sharks</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The immune system of sharks is naturally powerful to protect them against bacterial and viral infections. This led investigators from the Georgetown University Medical Center to search for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14974605">shark compounds</a> with therapeutical potential. They discovered that the steroid compound squalamine from dogfish sharks is <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128%2FAAC.00421-15">effective against human pathogenic bacteria</a> – for example <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> – and <a href="http://theconversation.com/10.1073/pnas.1108558108">human viruses</a> such as dengue and hepatitis.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>10. Snakes</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Scientists from the Aga Khan University in Pakistan tested whether animals eating germ-infested rodents harboured powerful antimicrobials. They discovered that the blood and other organs such as lungs and gallbladder from <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4083174/">black cobra snakes</a> showed activity against human pathogenic bacteria, fungi and amoeba.</p> <p dir="ltr">Our current range of antibiotics is under severe threat by superbugs with fast evolving resistance. Scientists must keep looking for new antibiotics, even in unusual places such as the human nose. It's a search that could save millions of lives.</p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-67569579047525354082016-07-15T16:05:00.001-07:002016-07-15T16:05:17.447-07:00A cancer patient needs your help!!!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh421KUuDZ9fgodA5O0o8q95bnOOSitkCkxv52cumgHipHOWohQHEzfOe9xiwaG8vuzUX9VDaoSG03YGbglkLXb_uC5SAlyHBXxm5VM7Pv0f3V4wjelJgPU_TxjJ_zx64hZqHddIMOLCwlH/s1600/IMG-20160714-WA0000-717448.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh421KUuDZ9fgodA5O0o8q95bnOOSitkCkxv52cumgHipHOWohQHEzfOe9xiwaG8vuzUX9VDaoSG03YGbglkLXb_uC5SAlyHBXxm5VM7Pv0f3V4wjelJgPU_TxjJ_zx64hZqHddIMOLCwlH/s320/IMG-20160714-WA0000-717448.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6307691700053138514" /></a></p><p dir="ltr">Esther is a 30 year old NCE holder who has been battling cancer for over 6 months. She has been unable to pay for all the treatments and medications. Her aged parent have spent all they had to get they little treatment they can afford. Great Minders International have moved her from her home to Ekiti State Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti. She is set to undergo more treatments at an extremely high cost. Her life may very well, depend on this course of treatment. The only thing standing in her way is the means to pay for it.</p> <p dir="ltr">Great Minders International is calling for donations from individuals and organizations to help save Esther's life. Please join us in helping Esther win this life threatening battle.</p> <p dir="ltr">Donate to:</p> <p dir="ltr">ACCOUNT NUMBER: 2018388785<br> ACCOUNT NAME: MR J.O MAKANJUOLA<br> BANK: UBA</p> <p dir="ltr">Contact:</p> <p dir="ltr">08060426538<br> 07031851545<br> 08035628710</p> <p dir="ltr">#TeamGreatMinders<br> #LetsSaveEsther<br></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-23093641842994385902016-05-15T23:25:00.001-07:002016-05-15T23:25:27.461-07:00Chloroquine Protects Against Zika In Vitro<p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr">The antimalarial drug reduces the number of infected Vero and human brain microvascular endothelial cells—among other cell types—in culture, researchers report in a preprint.<br> <img src="http://www.the-scientist.com/images/News/May2016/310chloro.png">WIKIMEDIA, </p> <p dir="ltr">Chloroquine, a 4-aminoquinoline, is a weak base with anti-inflammatory proprieties already used<a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/24553/title/Beating-Malaria/">to prevent and treat malaria</a>. The drug has protective effects <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390208/pdf/vim.2014.0090.pdf">against dengue infection</a> in monkeys and <a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/282734/">inhibits replication of the virus</a> in infected Vero cells. According to researchers in Brazil, chloroquine appears to also protect against Zika virus infection in various cell types in vitro. The team published its results last week (May 2) in a <i><a href="http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/02/051268.full.pdf+html">bioRxiv </a></i><a href="http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/02/051268.full.pdf+html">preprint</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amilcar_Tanuri">Amilcar Tanuri</a> at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and colleagues tested the effects of chloroquine in different Zika virus–infected cell types, observing each culture for five days. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining revealed that chloroquine at 25 and 50 μM reduced the number of Zika-infected Vero cells by 65 percent and 95 percent, respectively. When tested in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMEC), which are often used to model the blood-brain barrier, chloroquine protected 80 percent of the cells examined from Zika-induced death, the researchers reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Chloroquine . . . is not an antiviral drug as it acts on the cell and not on the virus," Tanuri told <i>The Scientist.</i></p> <p dir="ltr">Zika is known to target <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45796/title/Zika-Seeks--Destroys-Developing-Neurons/">neurospheres and brain organoids</a>; viral infection is associated with<a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.list/tagNo/7325/tags/microcephaly/">microcephaly</a> and <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45803/title/Zika-Linked-to-Another-Neurological-Disorder/">other abnormalities</a> of the central nervous system <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46068/title/Zika-Causes-Microcephaly-in-Mice/">in mice</a> and <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/45839/title/CDC--Zika-Causes-Microcephaly/">humans</a>. In the present study, Tanuri's team found that chloroquine treatment of Zika-infected mouse neurospheres enabled these cells to differentiate as usual, suggesting that the drug can rescue the neurite extension phenotype. </p> <p dir="ltr">Although chloroquine-mediated inhibition of viral infection can occur in both early and late stages of the viral replication cycle, the team observed that adding chloroquine at 30 minutes to 12 hours after infection reduced release of Zika virus (nine to 20 times compared with untreated cells). The drug did not reduce viral production when administered 24 hours after infection. This indicated that chloroquine is most effective in the early phase of Zika infection, when the virus enters the cell, the researchers noted.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://labs.pathology.wisc.edu/oconnor/">David O'Connor</a>, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was not involved with the study, noted that regulatory agenices have already deemed chloroquine safe for use in pregnant women. "There will be a lot of enthusiasm for evaluating different interventions for use in pregnancy, but determining their safety and effectiveness will be time-consuming and could expose pregnant women to risk," he wrote in an email. "If chloroquine is even partially effective at reducing the risk or severity of Zika virus infection during pregnancy, its proven safety could make it extremely valuable."</p> <p dir="ltr">Dosing remains a hurdle, however. The half maximal effective concentration of chloroquine that protected 50 percent of cells from Zika-induced death was between 9.82 and 14.2 μM, depending on the cell type, the Federal University team showed. (Chloroquine is sometimes administered in high concentrations—250 and 500 mg—to pregnant women who have lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.)</p> <p dir="ltr">"At this point we are not suggesting to use chloroquine against Zika virus infection in pregnant women as the dose required to reach the same 14.2 uM of chloroquine, here used to protect hBEMEC, could be too high. Only a clinical trial will tell what is the right dose and real benefit of chloroquine," Tanuri said, adding that he hopes chloroquine derivatives might show similar—or enhanced—effects against Zika virus infection.</p> <p dir="ltr">It is not yet known to what extent reduction of the virus in cells might impact the development of microcephaly. <a href="https://uspdigital.usp.br/tycho/CurriculoLattesMostrar?codpub=67A1EB9415B6">Paolo Zanotto</a> of the University of São Paulo, who works on dengue and zika but was not involved in the study, wrote in a Facebook message that preclinical studies using animal models of Zika virus infection will be required to test the effects of chloroquine in vivo.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Considering that the antiviral drugs so far tested against Zika infection are all toxic for the fetus, the finding that chloroquine has an effect against Zika infection is very promising," said Zanotto.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>R. Delvecchio et al., "Chloroquine inhibits Zika virus infection in different cellular models,"</b><i><b>bioRxiv, </b></i><b>doi:10.1101/051268, 2016.</b></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-65818166136988171632016-04-12T23:54:00.001-07:002016-04-12T23:54:26.241-07:00Antibiotics don't promote swapping of resistance genes<p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/04/160411124713_1_540x360.jpg"></p> <p dir="ltr">Antibiotics can lead to increased populations of resistant bacteria through changes in death-rates rather than an increase in the swapping of resistant genes.</p> <p dir="ltr"><i>Credit: Duke University</i></p> <p dir="ltr">Researchers have shown that, outside of a few specific examples, antibiotics do not promote the spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance through genetic swapping, as previously assumed.</p> <p dir="ltr">While the overuse of antibiotics is undeniably at the heart of the growing global crisis, new research published online April 11 in<i>Nature Microbiology</i> suggests differential birth and death rates and not DNA donation are to blame. The results have implications for designing antibiotic protocols to avoid the spread of antibacterial resistance.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The entire field knows there's a huge problem of overusing antibiotics," said Lingchong You, the Paul Ruffin Scarborough Associate Professor of Engineering at Duke University and lead author on the paper. "It is incredibly tempting to assume that antibiotics are promoting the spread of resistance by increasing the rate at which bacteria share resistant genes with each other, but our research shows they often aren't."</p> <p dir="ltr">It's long been known that bacteria can swap DNA through a process called conjugation, which allows helpful genes to spread quickly between individuals and even between species.</p> <p dir="ltr">Because the number of resistant bacteria rises when antibiotics fail to kill them, researchers assumed that the drugs increased the amount of genetic swapping taking place. But You thought maybe the drugs were killing off the two "parent" lineages and allowing a newly resistant strain to thrive instead.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Previous studies haven't been able to tease these two ideas apart, but our work decoupled them," said Allison Lopatkin, a doctoral student in You's laboratory and the lead author of the study. "We showed at the single-cell level that the exchange of resistant genes is not influenced by antibiotics at all, which is in contrast to the literature."</p> <p dir="ltr">In her experiments, Lopatkin put bacterial cells under a sort of suspended animation where they could neither die nor reproduce but they could still swap genes. With the birth and death rates no longer a variable, the researchers could see how the rate of gene exchanges responded to antibiotics.</p> <p dir="ltr">They tested nine clinical pathogens commonly associated with the rapid spread of resistance and exposed them to ten common drugs representing each major class of antibiotics. The rates of gene exchange in each test remained flat and, in a few cases, actually decreased slightly as the concentration of antibiotics grew.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It would seem that when antibiotics are applied, the DNA swapping has already occurred and continues to do so," You said. "Depending on their doses, the drugs can let the newly resistant bacteria emerge as the winners. When this occurs, the new strain is much more prevalent than before if tests are run after some growth of the new strain."</p> <p dir="ltr">You points out that there are a few proven examples of antibiotics directly inducing the expression of the genes responsible for donating resistance, but they are very specific. For example, the antibiotic tetracycline induces the expression of genes that only transfer tetracycline resistance.</p> <p dir="ltr">The new study shows that despite these outliers, antibiotics don't promote resistance spread by inducing global changes at the cellular level. The researchers hope further research will soon help clinicians design better antibacterial protocols.</p> <p dir="ltr">"This has direct implications in terms of how we design doses and protocols," said You. "Some antibacterial combinations can drastically promote the overall transfer dynamics. Other combinations, on the other hand, can suppress the pathogens equally well without promoting genetic transfers. These are the issues we're hoping to address in follow-up research. We're trying to learn how to design the antibiotic treatment protocols in such a way that they will be effective but won't promote the spread of antibiotic resistance."<br></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>Story Source:</b></p> <p dir="ltr">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/du-adp040616.php">materials</a> provided by <b><a href="http://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a></b>. <i>Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.</i></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-44512347241476064642016-03-23T04:01:00.001-07:002016-03-23T04:14:46.224-07:00This might be "Bye Bye to condoms" as scientists finds a cure for HIV/AIDS<div class="mobile-photo">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1IbVPGvelCz49VLtjr80pRfckfhDsishGDPbth88MWb_SkOVn482IOg9sX2QuojOXVmENphHvGVMw84tUf-XURo6boHnLzTFqPqxwAE_tY48Qdj7CnimlXZoypC5NmLEc0q-m3C-yTgx/s1600/HIv-Aids-cure-daily-gister-dailygister-795144.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6265201489413800258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1IbVPGvelCz49VLtjr80pRfckfhDsishGDPbth88MWb_SkOVn482IOg9sX2QuojOXVmENphHvGVMw84tUf-XURo6boHnLzTFqPqxwAE_tY48Qdj7CnimlXZoypC5NmLEc0q-m3C-yTgx/s320/HIv-Aids-cure-daily-gister-dailygister-795144.jpg" /></a></div>
Researchers at Philadelphia's Temple University have made a thrilling breakthrough on the path to cure HIV/AIDS . In a recent experiment, they managed to remove HIV-1 DNA out of the human genome. And when they reintroduced HIV to the edited genomes, the cells were no longer infected with the virus .<br />
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It's a huge leap towards the goal of curing the disease that has killed over 25 million people since the 1980's. Treatment has come a long way in the last few years, yet the scientists said antiretroviral drugs, which can regulate the disease, are not a permanent solution. As soon as a person stops receiving the treatment, their cells are once again open to the infection, and the virus usually progresses into AIDS. At this point, doctors are able to keep the virus at bay, but not cure it.<br />
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The Temple University scientists may have brought us one step closer to a cure. They employed CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, first developed in 2012 , to cut HIV-1 out of the genome, after which the human DNA healed itself.</div>
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Dr. Kamel Khalili, director of the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at Temple University claims that they are ready to put his new gene therapy into a new drug that will cure HIV in patients even after they stop taking the drugs.<br />
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In an interview, Dr Khalili said:</div>
<i>"The findings are important on multiple levels. They demonstrate the effectiveness of our gene editing system in eliminating HIV from the DNA of CD4 T-cells and, by introducing mutations into the viral genome, permanently inactivating its replication. Further, they show that the system can protect cells from reinfection and that the technology is safe for the cells, with no toxic effects," </i></div>
Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-13883034647446151402016-02-29T02:33:00.000-08:002016-02-29T02:36:25.590-08:00You don't have to be "OVER-WEIGHT" Forever<div class="mobile-photo" style="text-align: center;">
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Weight loss pills are one of the most controversial topics in the entire fitness world simply because many have tried various pills, but still on the "Fat" side.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "slate pro" , sans-serif;">However, <a href="http://www.t5fatburners.com.ng/?t_id=OlufoworaOlorunleke&a_bid=ba75df78">T5 Fat Burners</a> have proven it's effectiveness in diverse ways. With this recent development, you don't have to be over-weight anymore if you want. <a href="http://www.t5fatburners.com.ng/?t_id=OlufoworaOlorunleke&a_bid=ba75df78">Read more here</a></span></div>
Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-89594435167193287162016-02-15T02:44:00.001-08:002016-02-15T02:44:55.568-08:0010 Healthy foods that may not be actually Healthy<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVhVYTtdGzmd5lu_sDNJ208gU4TIHnzEqLg4uzYrPmqj2DXUl7WR_I5iAwmZIHA_bUZqTKEXJ8c3uUnpTZTNyVnNCjEvoDn9-m20dPllKYAArUMznFxxm-RCwh8CTyyC4T_eUBaV6C4Ii/s1600/fruit-salad-795569.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVhVYTtdGzmd5lu_sDNJ208gU4TIHnzEqLg4uzYrPmqj2DXUl7WR_I5iAwmZIHA_bUZqTKEXJ8c3uUnpTZTNyVnNCjEvoDn9-m20dPllKYAArUMznFxxm-RCwh8CTyyC4T_eUBaV6C4Ii/s320/fruit-salad-795569.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6251467044589161842" /></a></p>Do you think you're eating healthy foods just because you're choosing the salad option over the burger? Well, as healthy as those leafy greens are, the dressing and additives in it could be sabotaging your attempts toward a healthier diet.<br><br>With as hectic as life is these days, the last thing you need to be doing is sifting through long lists of ingredients trying to figure out what is good for you and what isn't. By sticking to simple healthy choices and avoiding the so called healthy foods below, you'll find yourself feeling healthier and happier in no time.<br><br><b>1. Juice<br></b><br>It comes from a fruit so it must be healthy, right? Wrong. By the time juice is processed and filled with sugar, additives, and artificial coloring, there is very often little actual fruit left. While fancy advertising of people picking fresh fruit off of trees leads you to believe that you're putting the same fruit into your body, you're not. Imagine mixing a cup of water with half a cup of sugar, some food coloring, and a few drops of juice from a fruit. This is what you are actually drinking.<br><br>To get the benefits of fruit without downing glasses of sugar, eat the whole fruit instead. Craving a glass of OJ? Eat an orange. Have apple juice on the mind? Eat an apple. It's that simple. The fruit in its original form is not only healthier, it will also leave you feeling satisfied much longer than a liquid cup of sugar.<br><br><b>2. Salad</b><br><br>If you're whipping up a big bowl of salad at home, you can monitor exactly what's going into the bowl and ensure it's full of only the freshest good-for-you ingredients. Salad gets tricky; however, when you order it from a restaurant. The nutrient rich lettuce and vegetables are often covered in high fat and sugar dressings, not to mention the sugar coated nuts, fruits, and croutons that are sprinkled on top.<br><br>For a salad your body will thank you for, stick to the basics. Throw together a big bowl of your favorite lettuce and top it with fresh veggies of your choice. Sprinkle on a low sugar balsamic dressing and enjoy<br><br><b>3. Wheat Bread</b><br><br>With labels like "Whole Grain" and "Harvest Wheat", this popular food item can be seen getting consumed in almost every restaurant and house across the country. We're easily led into believing that wheat bread is good for us because it has beneficial ingredients like fiber; however, added wheat can have a host of negative effects on the body. Most wheat bread is made with refined ingredients, which means they have been stripped of most of their nutritional value. Therefor, instead of consuming heart healthy whole grains, you're actually filling yourself with unnecessary sugar and processed down ingredients.<br><br><b>4. Cereal</b><br><br>Packed with sugar, artificial ingredients, enhanced flavors, and grains that have been refined and processed, cereal is not (despite what marketing wants you to believe) healthy. Not only does it fill you will less than beneficial ingredients cereal also often leaves you feeling hungry just an hour after you have consumed it. When your body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, it will beg for more, regardless of the calories you have already consumed<br><br>To set yourself up right for the day, whip up some protein rich eggs or fill a bowl with heart healthy oatmeal. Your stomach will be full and your body will be energized from the nutrient rich meal.<br><br><b>5. Granola Bars</b><br><br>Whether eating for breakfast or grabbing as a snack on the go, granola bars have often been America's go-to "healthy" food in the form of a bar. The problem is that the good-for-yougranola has been stripped of most of its nutrients during processing and in the good stuff's place, sugar has been added instead. Low in fiber and high in trans fats, granola bars should be viewed more like a sugar-laden dessert than a beneficial breakfast or snack.<br><br>If you're a granola lover and don't want to cut it out of your diet completely, buy plain granola with no additives and enjoy it over oatmeal or mixed in with a bowl of fresh fruit.<br><b><br>6. Sports Drinks</b><br><br>Runners drink it and so should you, right? Not necessarily. While these drinks are marketed as healthy, many of them are filled to the brim with sugar, corn syrup, and artificial food coloring. Some of the ingredients (such as brominated vegetable oil) are so questionable that they are prohibited in other countries. The citric acid in sports drinks has been shown not only to stain teeth, but to also cause unnecessary wear on their enamel.<br><br>If you're looking for a drink that will offer more nutrients than water, whip up a mug of warm water and add a tablespoon of honey, lemon juice, and a pinch of Himalayan Sea Salt. Packed with nutrients, it will replenish any lost electrolytes without negatively impacting your health.<br><b><br>7. Low-Fat Yogurt</b><br><br>It's low in calories and fat, so it can seem pretty appealing, but low-fat yogurt actually contains a dirty little secret (or two). While plain and Greek yogurts boast amazing benefits due to their high calcium and probiotic content, their low calorie counterparts sabotage the nutrients found within. To replace the flavor lost by removing the product's fat, additives such as corn starch and artificial sweeteners are put into the yogurt.<br><br>These things, in addition to all the preservatives and artificial coloring, can have a detrimental impact on one's attempt at staying healthy. Stick with full fat yogurt that contains few simple ingredients. Your body will thank you.<br><br><b>8. Packaged Turkey</b><br><br>An excellent source of lean protein, turkey is a fantastic choice for lunch or dinner. The problem with packaged turkey is that it is loaded with sodium. To help keep it fresh, a 2 ounce serving of packaged turkey can contain up to one-third the amount of the recommended daily sodium intake. That's a lot!<br><br>To keep your health on track, opt for fresh slices or pieces of turkey. Roast your own turkey at home. If you're in a bind, pick up a prepared turkey at the grocery store, just make sure it has less than 350 milligrams of sodium per serving.<br><b><br>9. Dried Cranberries</b><br><br>Who doesn't love a handful of cranberries in the afternoon? They are an especially enjoyable snack when mixed with almonds or nuts. Dried cranberries are most often sweetened with sugar. Even if they don't have added sugar, because they are reduced in size, they aren't as filling. This can lead to consuming even more calories.<br><br>If you can't stomach the bitterness of fresh cranberries by themselves, try adding them to a fruit salad. You'll end your snack session feeling full – of nutrients, not wasted calories.<br><br><b>10. Protein Powders<br></b><br>We can all agree that adding healthy protein to your diet is a good thing. Fresh sources like eggs, nuts and meats are great. However, there is such a thing as too much protein. It can have detrimental effects on your kidneys and liver. Protein powders boast their high amounts of protein, when in fact the high amounts may actually be too much.<br><br>The average person only needs 50-100 grams of protein per day, which is easily consumable via regular meals, drinks, and snacks. Adding in protein powder could overload your system with too much protein (not to mention all the refined ingredients that goes along with it). Do your liver and kidneys a favor and pass by the big tubs of powder the next time you're out shopping.<br><br><b>Conclusion</b><br><br>You are what you eat, so to be healthy, you have to eat healthy. Remember, good eating doesn't have to be work. Choose simple ingredients and foods closest to their original form. Your body will thank you!Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-7667582924762886752016-01-25T03:16:00.001-08:002016-01-25T03:16:41.336-08:00See the Rat that Causes Lassa Fever (Photos)<div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">The spread of Lassa fever in Nigeria has necessitated a need to enlighten the general public about means of identifying the pest carrying the virus which is detrimental to human health.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"><br></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i1.wp.com/www.tori.ng/userfiles/image/2016/jan/19/lassa%20rat.JPG?resize=450%2C330" alt="" data-recalc-dims="1" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;"></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><em>Multimammate rat</em></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The name of the rat that possesses and spreads the virus that causes lassa fever is called Multimammate rat (because it has many titss like all these local street dogs after delivery), while the botanical name is Mastomys Natalensis.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i0.wp.com/www.tori.ng/userfiles/image/2016/jan/19/lassa%20rat2.JPG?resize=442%2C418" alt="" data-recalc-dims="1" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;"></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">There is also an upsurge of the disease everywhere. So we should all practice hand washing hygiene. Also all apple lovers should wash them with salt and warm water before refrigerating them to eat. Our wives should avoid testing of dry garri by chewing them for starch in the market. All garri soakers should let go for now.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.2em;">The problem is that most of our garri sellers in the market buy their garri from bush markets. These garri are often fried half dry and are subsequently dried on polythene sheets on the tarred roads or compounds in the villages.</p></div></div>Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-34049206799958035392016-01-25T03:06:00.000-08:002016-01-25T03:07:01.973-08:00Nurses and Patients flee as Lassa fever kills Two at a Federal Medical centre<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJgLZOENEVZCb7_yGLhX4_zI0804b52iPNxxkXtmk-d6s_rsnnosvaVJDFTgJrpxjoJ7KJND1-G_rdIMGdCbpHKgxAzLIpG7ICAgH0lnuc_3EVYI1bh25N8WPlfnM019JyZXVXHnzTdOE/s1600/IMG_20160125_115518-721974.png"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJgLZOENEVZCb7_yGLhX4_zI0804b52iPNxxkXtmk-d6s_rsnnosvaVJDFTgJrpxjoJ7KJND1-G_rdIMGdCbpHKgxAzLIpG7ICAgH0lnuc_3EVYI1bh25N8WPlfnM019JyZXVXHnzTdOE/s320/IMG_20160125_115518-721974.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6243679953694654626" /></a></p><div><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">Tension over Lassa fever outbreak has continued to unsettled patients at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Asaba, Delta State, following the death of two patients within four days.</span><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">While many of the patients and nurses have fled the hospital for fear of the unknown, no fewer than over 55 persons have been reportedly killed across the country in the last few weeks of its outbreak.</span><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">Health workers at FMC struggle to remove bodies of the two patients who died of Lassa Fever.</span><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: rgb(189, 93, 72); text-decoration: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><div id="MBL-Ads"><br><center><br></center></div></a><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">The two victims, hospital sources said died two days interval after being managed for a week plus but the State Health Commissioner, Dr. Nicholas Azinge who refused to confirm the incident, said "I know some persons have died, I cannot speak further on that because the Federal Ministry of Health is already doing something to sensitize the people and we in Delta State are also sensitising our people".</span><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><div style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7urWEAl-Zms2TwNEEjVArNCvAQswZrqBULCFnEAOAqhHGARt-cBbYq4I7u32VcTmcdKyncKGLgYjZSUjezyBeY1vribRAoGkUaQX1H6GblZXp09UFZq7j98_5pRzNDZBxh5CoIF41dVk/s1600/NIGERIA+2.jpg" style="color: rgb(189, 93, 72); text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7urWEAl-Zms2TwNEEjVArNCvAQswZrqBULCFnEAOAqhHGARt-cBbYq4I7u32VcTmcdKyncKGLgYjZSUjezyBeY1vribRAoGkUaQX1H6GblZXp09UFZq7j98_5pRzNDZBxh5CoIF41dVk/s280/NIGERIA+2.jpg" width="280" style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; border: 0px;"></a></div><div style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246); clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">With twenty-two patients quarantined at present at the hospital, further investigation revealed that there are palpable tension and fear of the unknown among the health workers, especially the doctors who feared that the disease may be something else.</span><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><br style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(246, 246, 246);">A Doctor who did not want his name in the print, said "We too we are afraid of the present situation with over twenty two persons already quarantined and so far three have died, so the situation expresses deep fears of the unknown, but by the grace of God shall overcome the situation.</span></div>Olufowora Olorunlekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09215392140309596115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-34185651047871049522015-12-25T06:51:00.001-08:002015-12-25T06:51:20.629-08:00Pregnancy May Explain Ebola Return<p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr">Health officials suspect recently reported cases of the disease in Liberia might stem from a flare-up of the virus in a survivor who became pregnant.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.the-scientist.com/images/Nutshell/December2015/ebola%20full.jpg">FLICKR, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/14674486019">NIAID</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Ebola infections in Liberia, which had been declared free of the virus, could have stemmed from a woman whose pregnancy caused an earlier Ebola infection to resurge, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-ebola-liberia-idUSKBN0U02EJ20151217">Reuters</a> reported last week (December 17).</p> <p dir="ltr">"Ophelia [the pregnant patient] caught Ebola more than a year ago from her brother who died of a presumed Ebola infection in July 2014," according to Reuters. "It is not known exactly how she might have transmitted the virus, which is found in bodily fluids, to her family. Despite her experiences, Ophelia is still alive."</p> <p dir="ltr">This theory being considered by US and Liberia researchers and the World Health Organization is not yet confirmed.</p> <p dir="ltr">Liberia was last <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43925/title/Ebola-Update/">considered Ebola-free</a> in September, after an epidemic struck the country and region throughout 2014 and 2015, killing 4,806 in Liberia and more than 11,000 wordlwide. But<a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44595/title/Ebola-Update/">reports of infections returned</a> in November.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Ebola virus is <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44403/title/Ebola-s-Immune-Escape/">known to persist</a> in so-called immune-privileged tissues and fluids, including the placenta and amniotic fluid. These sites have less immune activity, allowing the virus to linger.</p> <p dir="ltr">The case of Ophelia highlights the need to continue monitoring Ebola survivors for months or years, Reuters noted. "The affected countries want to say they are Ebola-free but they need help with continuing surveillance and health care monitoring," Jonathan Heeney, a professor of Comparative Pathology at Cambridge, told Reuters.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Over time, we do think that everyone who survives Ebola will be completely Ebola-free," Daniel Bausch, an emerging pathogens expert at Tulane University, told <i><a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44403/title/Ebola-s-Immune-Escape/">The Scientist</a></i> in November.</p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-81509215781337783402015-12-25T06:49:00.001-08:002015-12-25T06:49:15.211-08:00Microbes Play Role in Anti-Tumor Response<p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr">Gut microbiome composition can influence the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy in mice.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.the-scientist.com/images/News/Nov2015/620_Healthy_Human_T_Cell.jpg">WIKIMEDIA, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Healthy_Human_T_Cell.jpg">NIH</a></p> <p dir="ltr">The presence of certain types of gut microbes in mice can boost the anti-tumor effects of cancer immunotherapy, according to two studies from independent research teams published today (November 5) in <i>Science</i>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39511/title/Deploying-the-Body-s-Army/">Cancer immunotherapies</a> that block immune inhibitory pathways are now available as treatments for several tumor types, yet patients' responses to these therapies vary. Aside from the presence of T cells within the tumor before the start of treatment, it has not been clear what other factors are linked to a response to these antibodies. The two studies published today, while not the first to suggest that <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38386/title/Gut-Flora-Boost-Cancer-Therapies/">gut microbes can influence the efficacy of cancer therapy</a>, provide a definitive link between gut microbiome composition and cancer immunotherapy response and implicate the positive role of specific bacterial species.</p> <p dir="ltr">"These interesting papers combine two of the hottest areas in science—the microbiome and immunology—showing that gut bacteria can activate [host] anti-tumor responses," said <a href="http://www.immunology.pitt.edu/person/timothy-hand-phd">Timothy Hand</a> of the department of immunology at the University of Pittsburgh who was not involved in either study.</p> <p dir="ltr">"These are beautiful studies that give mechanistic views of how the gut microbiota is critical for regulating the immune system in the context of an immune checkpoint blockade to encourage the immune system in fighting cancer," agreed <a href="http://sonnenburglab.stanford.edu/">Justin Sonnenburg</a>, a microbiome researcher at the Stanford School of Medicine who was also not involved in the research. "The microbiota is connected to our biology in both direct and indirect ways, and these works are adding to the list of how the microbiota is incredibly important for our health."</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.uchospitals.edu/physicians/thomas-gajewski.html">Thomas F. Gajewski</a>, a cancer clinician and researcher at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues were interested to understand what leads some cancer patients to have a strong immune response against a tumor—in the form of T cells that infiltrate the tumor. "Differences in immune responses to cancer may be due to genetic variants, differences in the tumor mutations, environmental differences, or a combination of these factors," explained Gajewski.</p> <p dir="ltr">To explore the role of the gut microbiome, the researchers studied two groups of the same strain of laboratory mice that had been bred at two different mouse facilities and were known to harbor different commensal bacteria in their GI tracts. When both sets of mice were implanted with melanoma tumors, tumors grew less aggressively in the mice sourced from the Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and these mice had more robust T-cells responses against the tumors. When both mouse groups were housed together, the differences in tumor responses disappeared, leading the researchers to hypothesize that commensal microbes from the JAX mice had colonized the other mouse population, sourced from Taconic Biosciences. Sure enough, a fecal transplant from the JAX mice to the other group resulted in better anti-tumor T-cell responses and slower tumor growth in the Taconic Biosciences group, even when housed separately.</p> <p dir="ltr">Next, the researchers decided to test the effects of an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy antibody. The therapy slowed tumor growth to a greater extent in the JAX compared to the Taconic Biosciences mice. Taconic Biosciences mice treated with the antibody had similar tumor control and immune responses to mice who'd received a fecal transplant from the JAX animals, but combining the immunotherapy and the fecal transplant led to greater tumor control.</p> <p dir="ltr">Sequencing the gut microbiome of the mice, the researchers found that <i>Bifidobacterium </i>species were linked to the anti-tumor immune response and that adding a cocktail of these microbes to the Taconic Biosciences mice with melanoma resulted in the same benefit as the fecal transplant. The team also found that the dendritic cells isolated from either the JAX mice or<i>Bifidobacterium-</i>treated Taconic Biosciences mice are able to better stimulate tumor-specific T cells in vitro. </p> <p dir="ltr">"These effects of the gut microbiome on the anti-tumor immune response were stronger than we had anticipated," said Gajewski.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the second study, led by immunologist <a href="http://eati.landesbioscience.com/members/112/">Laurence Zitvogel</a> of INSERM in France, researchers found that the effect of treating mice harboring sarcomas, melanoma, or colorectal tumors with another immunotherapy antibody, against CTLA-4, depended on the presence of <i>Bacteroides</i>species; germ-free or antibiotics-treated mice did not enjoy tumor control as a result of the therapy. Adding <i>Bacteroides</i> species to the germ-free and antibiotics treated mice restored the immunotherapy's anti-tumor benefit. Interestingly, adding murine memory T cells targeting the gut microbes to the mice had the same effect, suggesting that it is the immune system's response to commensal microbes that readies it to fight tumors.</p> <p dir="ltr">Analyzing gut microbiome of 25 metastatic melanoma patients, the INSERM researchers also found that some patients had <i>Bacterioides </i>as part of their gut microbiomes and that a fecal transplant from these patients into germ free mice also restored the anti-CTLA-4 therapy's anti-tumor effects.</p> <p dir="ltr">"What was quite exciting for us is that using microbes may be a way to improve the efficacy of immunotherapies without increasing their toxic side effects," said study author <a href="http://u1019.lille.inserm.fr/research-activities/chamaillard/?lang=en">Mathias Chamaillard</a>, an immunologist at the Center of Infection and Immunity at the University of Lille in France. Both groups of researchers are now sorting out the details of how the gut microbes stimulate the immune system to act against tumors.</p> <p dir="ltr">Of course, whether the gut microbial species identified in these mouse studies will have the same effect in people is not clear. "The impact of the gut microbiota is probably different depending on the context," said Gajewski. "We're starting to understand that that one type of bacteria is not going to cure everything."</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>M. Vétizou et al., "Anticancer immunotherapy by CTLA-4 blockade relies on the gut microbiota,"</b><i><b>Science, </b></i><b>doi:10.1126/aad1329, 2015. </b></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>A. Sivan et al., "Commensal Bifidobacterium promotes antitumor immunity and facilitates anti–PD-L1 efficacy," </b><i><b>Science, </b></i><b>doi:0.1126/science.aac4255, 2015. </b></p> <p dir="ltr"><i>Correction (November 6): This story has been updated from its original version to correctly name the origin of some of the study animals as Taconic Biosciences, not Taconic Farms. </i>The Scientist<i> regrets the error.</i></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-42243514932393894802015-12-25T06:38:00.001-08:002015-12-25T06:38:47.881-08:00MERS Vax Tested in Camels<p dir="ltr"></p> <p dir="ltr">Scientists conduct the first MERS-CoV vaccine trials in camels and provide viral lineage evidence of camel-to-human transfer.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.the-scientist.com/images/News/December2015/620_Dromedary_Camel.jpg">WIKIMEDIA, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dromedary_Camel_(5300863924).jpg">PERETZ</a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dromedary_Camel_(5300863924).jpg"> </a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dromedary_Camel_(5300863924).jpg">PARTENSKY</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Immunization of dromedary camels with a novel vaccine against the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) resulted in an immune response in the animals and reduced infection following a MERS challenge. The study, the first to analyze the effect of a MERS-CoV vaccine on viral load in camels, is published today (December 17) in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/12/16/science.aad1283.abstract"><i>Science</i></a><i>.</i></p> <p dir="ltr">"This study is an important step forward in the research and development of countermeasures for MERS-CoV," <a href="http://f1000.com/prime/thefaculty/member/1609835373175511?referrer=GOOGLE">Kayvon Modjarrad</a>, an infectious disease specialist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Bethesda, Maryland, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email to <i>The Scientist</i>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Virologist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bart_Haagmans">Bart Haagmans</a> of the Erasmus Medical Center, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and his colleagues tested the efficacy of a MERS vaccine consisting of a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector in an eight-camel pilot study. The vaccine virus expresses the MERS-CoV spike protein, which is found in <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43784/title/Synthetic-DNA-based-MERS-Vaccine-Shows-Promise/">other MERS vaccines being tested</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The researchers inoculated four dromedary camels with the vaccine and four animals with a control MVA vaccine virus, by injection (in the neck) and delivering the vaccine to the animals' airways using an atomizer. The vaccinated animals developed detectable serum neutralizing MERS-CoV antibodies against the spike protein within three weeks, the researchers reported.</p> <p dir="ltr">The scientists then challenged the camels with high doses of MERS-CoV into their nostrils. The levels of MERS-CoV in the vaccinated animals were significantly lower compared to that in the control animals. One of the four vaccinated camels excreted infectious virus particles six days after infection, yet sequencing of the spike gene of these particles showed that they coded for the same spike protein sequence, indicating that the virus had not mutated after encountering anti-S protein antibodies.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Not only do we show [the vaccine] is immunogenic and has protective efficacy, but using MVA as a vector has the advantage of inducing immunity also to a different, camelpox virus," Haarmans said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p10392">David Weiner,</a> a professor of pathology at the University of Pennsylvania whose laboratory is working on the <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43784/title/Synthetic-DNA-based-MERS-Vaccine-Shows-Promise/">synthetic MERS vaccine</a> but was not involved in the current study, noted that adult camels infected with camelpox inoculated with the MVA-based vaccine may develop resistance to the vaccine. "The simultaneous camel pox immunity may be a double-edged sword," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">What is not yet clear is how quickly MERS-CoV mutates, and whether one vaccine results in persistent immunity or if multiple immunizations may be required, said <a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/results/directory/profile/0008777/Patricia-M-Perl-MD">Trish Perl</a>, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who was not involved with the work.</p> <p dir="ltr">Because little is known about the adaptive immune systems of dromedary camels, new tools are needed to measure T cell and antibody responses for future, longer studies of the vaccine, said Haagman. It will also be important to compare the results of this vaccine with the several others vaccine candidates being tested, Modjarrad noted.</p> <p dir="ltr">Toward understanding how MERS-CoV may evolve in the camel, <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41405/title/Camels-are-MERS-Reservoirs/">a confirmed animal reservoir of the virus</a>, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and their colleagues, isolated and sequenced MERS-CoV strains from dromedary camels, identifying five lineages including a recombinant one implicated in human outbreaks in 2015. Their analysis, one of the first to provide direct evidence of camel-to-human MERS-CoV transmission, also appeared today (December 17) in <i><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/12/16/science.aac8608.abstract">Science</a></i>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.internationalinstituteofinfectionandimmunity.com/yguan.php">Yi Guan</a>, director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, and his colleagues isolated nasal samples from 1,309 dromedary camels <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43342/title/MERS-Research-Outpaced-by-Outbreaks/">in Saudi Arabia</a>. Along with MERS-CoV, the researchers found that the human 229E-like coronavirus was also prevalent within some of the infected camels.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Our study is the first to provide a detailed picture of the evolution of the virus in its direct host, showing clearly the development of the virus in camels and its transmission to humans," Guan wrote in an email to <i>The Scientist</i>.</p> <p dir="ltr">It's not yet clear how MERS-CoV is transmitted from camels to people. "We now have the animal side of the story," said Perl, "but now we need to look at the human side of the story."</p> <p dir="ltr">"The state of the science on this emerging pathogen is still relatively young and there is much to learn about MERS-CoV biology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology," Modjarrad wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>B.L. Haagmans et al., "An orthopoxvirus-based vaccine reduces virus excretion after MERS-CoV infection in dromedary camels," </b><i><b>Science, </b></i><b>doi:10.1126/science.aad1283, 2015.</b></p> <p dir="ltr"><b>J.S.M Sabir et al., "Co-circulation of three camel coronavirus species and recombination of MERS-CoVs in Saudi Arabia," </b><i><b>Science, </b></i><b>doi:10.1126/science.aac8608, 2015.</b></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-69748695228737775322015-11-30T21:57:00.001-08:002015-11-30T21:57:15.337-08:00Several Job Vacancies at The Institute of Human Virology (IHVN)<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.jobmaxi.com/wp-content/plugins/mobilepress/libraries/timthumb.php?src=http://www.jobmaxi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ihvn.png&w=50&h=50"><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11898/"></a></p> <p dir="ltr">The Institute of Human Virology (IHVN) is a leading and reputable indigenous non-governmental organization implementing comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, Multi-Drug Resistant TB, Malaria and Research Programs, in partnership with the different tiers of the Government of Nigeria, health facilities and community-based organizations.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.jobmaxi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ihvn.png"><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ihvn.png"></a></p> <p dir="ltr">The organization is seeking applications from suitable qualified candidates to occupy the position below:</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11892/">Senior Program Officer Maternal, </a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11892/">Neonatal and Child Health (</a><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11892/">MNCH</a><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11892/">)</a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11893/">Laboratory TB Consultant</a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11894/">Program Officer Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (</a><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11894/">MNCH</a><a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11894/">)</a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11895/">Program Manager, Prevention and Community DR-TB</a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11896/">Senior Program Officer Care and Support (C&S)</a><br> <a href="http://www.jobmaxi.com/2015/12/11897/">Program Officer Care and Support (C&S)</a></p> Ayodeji Aladejanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07686858891814263443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-36966589054184876592015-08-03T14:36:00.001-07:002015-08-03T14:36:11.574-07:00How bees naturally vaccinate their babies<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4N3mr9DHLw8-gB21XvaRCFHmPbp0BAsB2TLzDeWqLA7f-B3pTilLBKNKklXilSuLf7egvJbHoVlUIh5db4PZyj_8mpcBNvCnJhrhyKcew2IauCvpY6RpMnXNzyOhp5kdmOc0QWu02kw/s1600/1-howbeesnatur-771575.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4N3mr9DHLw8-gB21XvaRCFHmPbp0BAsB2TLzDeWqLA7f-B3pTilLBKNKklXilSuLf7egvJbHoVlUIh5db4PZyj_8mpcBNvCnJhrhyKcew2IauCvpY6RpMnXNzyOhp5kdmOc0QWu02kw/s320/1-howbeesnatur-771575.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6178902179781022994" /></a></p>When it comes to vaccinating their babies, bees don't have a
<br>choice—they naturally immunize their offspring against specific
<br>diseases found in their environments. And now for the first time, scientists have discovered how they do it.
<br>
<br>Researchers from Arizona State University, University of
<br>Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä and Norwegian University of Life Sciences made the discovery after studying a bee blood protein called vitellogenin. The scientists found that this protein plays a critical, but previously unknown role in providing bee babies protection against disease.
<br>
<br>The findings appear today in the journal PLOS Pathogens. "The process by which bees transfer immunity to their babies was a big mystery until now. What we found is that it's as simple as eating," said Gro Amdam, a professor with ASU's School of Life Sciences and co-author of the paper. "Our amazing discovery was made possible because of 15 years of basic research on vitellogenin. This exemplifies how long-term
<br>investments in basic research pay off."
<br>
<br>Co-author Dalial Freitak, a postdoctoral researcher with
<br>University of Helsinki adds: "I have been working on bee immune priming since the start of my doctoral studies. Now almost 10 years later, I feel like I've solved an important part of the puzzle. It's a wonderful and very rewarding feeling!"
<br>
<br>
<br>How it works
<br>
<br>In a honey bee colony, the queen rarely leaves the nest, so
<br>worker bees must bring food to her. Forager bees can pick up
<br>pathogens in the environment while gathering pollen and nectar.
<br>
<br>Back in the hive, worker bees use this same pollen to create
<br>"royal jelly"—a food made just for the queen that incidentally
<br>contains bacteria from the outside environment.
<br>
<br>After eating these bacteria, the pathogens are digested in the gut and transferred to the body cavity; there they are stored in the queen's 'fat body'—an organ similar to a liver. Pieces of the bacteria are then bound to vitellogenin—a protein—and carried via blood to the developing eggs. Because of this, bee babies are 'vaccinated' and their immune systems better prepared to fight
<br>diseases found in their environment once they are born.
<br>
<br>Vitellogenin is the carrier of these immune-priming signals,
<br>something researchers did not know until now.
<br>
<br>
<br>First edible vaccines for bees
<br>
<br>While bees vaccinate their babies against some diseases, many pathogens are deadly and the insects are unable to fight them.
<br>
<br>But now that Amdam and Freitak understand how bees vaccinate their babies, this opens the door to creating the first
<br>edible and natural vaccine for insects.
<br>
<br>"We are patenting a way to produce a harmless vaccine, as well as how to cultivate the vaccines and introduce them to bee hives through a cocktail the bees would eat. They would then be able to stave off disease," said Freitak.
<br>
<br>One destructive disease that affects bees is American Foul
<br>Brood, which spreads quickly and destroys hives. The bacterium infects bee larvae as they ingest food contaminated with its spores. These spores get their nourishment from the
<br>larvae, eventually killing them.
<br>
<br>This disease is just one example where the researchers say a
<br>vaccine would be extremely beneficial.
<br>
<br>
<br>Why this discovery is important to humans
<br>
<br>It's widely known that pollinators, including bees, are facing serious environmental dangers. During the past six decades, managed honey bee colonies in the United States have declined from 6 million in 1947 to only 2.5 million today. Not only are bees affected by diseases, they have been decimated by a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.
<br>
<br>Researchers don't know exactly what causes this, but pesticides, pests, pathogens and nutrition problems may all be
<br>contributing factors.
<br>
<br>According to a 2014 report by the U.S. government, pollinators
<br>are instrumental for a healthy economy and critical to food
<br>security, contributing 35 percent of global food production. In North America, insects pollinate 87 of the top 115 food crops and honey bees are vital in keeping fruits, nuts and vegetables in our diets.
<br>
<br>Humans depend on bees and other pollinating insects for a huge
<br>portion of their food supply. Insect vaccines could play an
<br>important role in helping to combat colony collapse disorder, in addition to fighting a variety of diseases.
<br>
<br>
<br>All egg-laying species have vitellogenin
<br>
<br>This discovery could have far-reaching benefits for other
<br>species, as well as substantial, positive impacts on food
<br>production. All egg-laying species including fish, poultry,
<br>reptiles, amphibians and insects have vitellogenin in their
<br>bodies.
<br>
<br>The food industry could implement the use of natural vaccines that would not only be inexpensive to produce, they could easily be used in developing countries.
<br>
<br>"Because this vaccination process is naturally occurring, this process would be cheap and ultimately simple to implement. It has the potential to both improve and secure food production for humans," said Amdam.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-52817107321282167662015-08-03T14:19:00.001-07:002015-08-03T14:19:21.312-07:00First ever successful field testing of Ebola vaccine reported<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejjfezW2QDwUBKfNS4gIVqL_aRGfBPOZuNyJE5CaobXmRNwNVmcWTJify-uvKppt8gpCJ0LwsWdVnwBOlx3-x1IhxjT5nwSsdrqkdkNiAczy_E7mM_3Ya9-AJi9jLQgXNwtG1LzQE-XY/s1600/a-syringe-on-a-map-of-africa-761313.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejjfezW2QDwUBKfNS4gIVqL_aRGfBPOZuNyJE5CaobXmRNwNVmcWTJify-uvKppt8gpCJ0LwsWdVnwBOlx3-x1IhxjT5nwSsdrqkdkNiAczy_E7mM_3Ya9-AJi9jLQgXNwtG1LzQE-XY/s320/a-syringe-on-a-map-of-africa-761313.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6178897843434003650" /></a></p>Field testing of a new vaccine against Ebola conducted in
<br>Guinea, West Africa - called rVSV-ZEBOV - has revealed that it is effective in protecting individuals and containing the spread of the deadly virus.
<br>
<br>The World Health Organization (WHO) trial, whose results are
<br>published in both The Lancet and The BMJ, was designed by
<br>researchers from the University of Bern in Switzerland.
<br>
<br>A technique known as "ring vaccination" was the inspiration
<br>for the trial. This method involves tracking down and
<br>vaccinating anyone who may have been exposed to someone
<br>carrying a virus, in order to contain its spread. Ring vaccination was behind the eradication of smallpox in the 1970s.
<br>
<br>For the trial, researchers first identified people who, within the previous 21 days, had been in close contact with someone that had recently contracted the Ebola virus. These people were
<br>considered to be directly at risk and included relatives,
<br>household members and clinical staff.
<br>
<br>Next, they identified people who might have been indirectly at
<br>risk of contracting the virus. These included the neighbors and
<br>work colleagues of people identified in the first step of the trial.
<br>
<br>Together, all of these people were considered to be part of a
<br>"ring," and if they were considered eligible to receive the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, they were asked to participate in the
<br>trial.
<br>
<br>A total of 90 rings were identified for examination by the researchers, consisting of 5,415 contacts who were eligible for vaccination. Of these, a total of 3,512 individuals were
<br>recruited and received the vaccination.
<br>
<br>Participating rings were then randomly assigned into one of
<br>two equally sized groups. One group received the Ebola vaccine immediately, while the other group was vaccinated after 21 days - the incubation period of the virus.
<br>
<br>Although this approach meant that some participants would
<br>likely contract Ebola, study author Dr. Matthias Egger states
<br>that it was the only way they could test whether the vaccine
<br>really worked.
<br>
<br>
<br>Could this be the end of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa?
<br>
<br>The researchers found that none of the people who were
<br>vaccinated immediately contracted Ebola, compared with 16 cases of Ebola reported in the group whose vaccination was
<br>delayed. Each of these 16 cases developed within 6 days of the
<br>vaccination being administered. After this time, no further cases were reported.
<br>
<br>Dr. Sven Trelle, from the Clinical Trials Unit at Bern
<br>University Hospital, states that these findings indicate the
<br>vaccine offers full protection from Ebola after around 1 week.
<br>
<br>Fast facts about Ebola
<br>• The 2014 Ebola outbreak is the worst outbreak ever recorded
<br>• Ebola has a fatality rate of up to 90%
<br>• The virus is characterized by abrupt onset of fever, weakness and headache.
<br>
<br>
<br>Looking at the rings overall - which contained several
<br>individuals who had not received the vaccination - the
<br>researchers observed that a 76% level of protection had been afforded, suggesting that implementing the vaccine had a broadly disruptive effect on virus transmission.
<br>
<br>"It is not just the efficacy of the Ebola vaccine that has now
<br>been shown but also the effectiveness of the ring vaccination strategy," explains Dr. Egger. "This could finally be the beginning of the end of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and also be useful when combating this disease in the future."
<br>
<br>Following the success of the initial trial, a data and safety
<br>monitoring board advised that the trial be expanded to gain
<br>further evidence on the vaccine's effectiveness. The board suggested stopping the randomization, however, and simply vaccinating new clusters of eligible participants.
<br>
<br>"The continued enrollment, immediate vaccination, and follow-up of clusters will generate additional data about the effectiveness of ring vaccination to protect communities through herd immunity, and will hopefully help to stop Ebola virus disease transmission in Guinea," the authors conclude.
<br>
<br>While Guinea has been one of the countries most affected by the Ebola epidemic, a recent report published in The Lancet
<br>Infectious Diseases suggests that rising numbers of malaria
<br>deaths have greatly exceeded the total number caused by Ebola, possibly due to the manner in which Ebola disrupted the country's health care facilities.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-4436219501001676302015-07-29T13:39:00.001-07:002015-07-29T13:39:37.410-07:00Worm pheromones trigger plant defenses, study finds<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry6jZBD0X3mHGbhVjk-dWehFB-I3fSiyiIhN5l0colvIDSQAUJsngie5l9lD54AgxpPGcOm85_za_cYw-zHH0kt_LLSwfUZWSTLm8GkyiO2cSG_pOFoijQ7QsFOb_ohluIHPp6yk_A4U/s1600/wormpheromon-777411.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry6jZBD0X3mHGbhVjk-dWehFB-I3fSiyiIhN5l0colvIDSQAUJsngie5l9lD54AgxpPGcOm85_za_cYw-zHH0kt_LLSwfUZWSTLm8GkyiO2cSG_pOFoijQ7QsFOb_ohluIHPp6yk_A4U/s320/wormpheromon-777411.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6177032178117693186" /></a></p>Plants can sense parasitic roundworms in the soil by picking up on their chemical signals, a team of researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI), on the Cornell University campus, has found.
<br>
<br>When plants detect pheromones given off by nematode worms, they activate their immune system for protection. But the chemical warning not only triggers defenses against
<br>nematodes, but also against bacterial, fungal and viral infection.
<br>
<br>This discovery, published July 23 in Nature Communications,
<br>may yield a nontoxic agricultural treatment against nematodes and other pests.
<br>"It's a very significant discovery that plants can perceive chemical signals from an animal – our work provides some of the first evidence for this," said BTI professor Daniel Klessig.
<br>
<br>"This discovery also has great potential for protecting plants
<br>against pathogens and pests in an environmentally friendly
<br>manner." Plants can "see" light and "hear" the vibrations from chewing caterpillars, but now BTI scientists have found that they can "smell" the essence of parasitic nematodes. By monitoring the worms' chemical signals, plants can sense whether they soon will be under attack.
<br>
<br>Nematodes, which are tiny, ubiquitous roundworms,
<br>communicate with each other using chemical pheromones, called ascarosides. These excreted compounds regulate the worms' development and behavior. Scientists have identified more than 200 different ascarosides from a wide range of nematode
<br>species, showing that ascarosides represent an evolutionarily ancient means of chemical communication.
<br>
<br>"When a class of parasites has made the same compounds for
<br>millions of years, then their hosts may learn how to detect those molecules. This apparently has happened with plants, which
<br>have likely been under nematode attack for several hundred
<br>million years," said BTI professor Frank C. Schroeder.
<br>
<br>Nematodes live almost everywhere – in soil, compost, water,
<br>and in association with plants and animals. While many nematode species are harmless, plant-parasitic nematodes cause an estimated $100 billion in agricultural damage worldwide each year. There are few effective treatments, and regulatory agencies in Europe and the U.S. are phasing out some previously approved pesticides because of toxicity or environmental concerns.
<br>
<br>BTI researchers analyzed several of the most damaging plant
<br>parasitic nematode species and found that all of them produce
<br>one specific ascaroside, called ascr#18. They hypothesized that plants may have learned to detect this common ascaroside. To test this idea, the team placed the roots of tomato, potato, barley and Arabidopsis thaliana – a laboratory plant – into water spiked with a tiny amount of ascr#18. They then exposed the plants to different pests and pathogens and
<br>examined the resulting damage.
<br>
<br>"Just a whiff" of ascr#18 triggered a strong immune system
<br>response in all tested plant species and induced increased
<br>resistance to both root knot and cyst nematodes, two commercially important species of plant-parasitic nematodes. Ascr#18 also decreased susceptibility to all bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens the researchers tested, as well as to oomycetes, a group of funguslike microbes. They saw similar results by
<br>simply spraying plant leaves with ascr#18 solution.
<br>
<br>"We show that plants have learned to perceive nematodes, and in response to that, they get stronger. They turn on pathways that help them fend off disease," said Schroeder. "Therefore, the use of ascr#18 may have great potential in agricultural applications for broad-spectrum protection."
<br>
<br>In future work, the researchers intend to identify the receptor
<br>that the plant uses to detect the scent of parasitic nematodes
<br>and to uncover the mechanism or mechanisms that underlie this
<br>activation of the immune system.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-52346366823319845452015-07-29T12:21:00.001-07:002015-07-29T12:21:09.241-07:00Toxin from salmonid fish has potential to treat cancer<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOaAZVmDl6UVuKkY18Rf7imNvW3pE6OhOuoChU5fcrVCEyZTT9AMRPcWl2XPTW94PC0HSfemV4HgT-QgEhnViTvWPL6H5hJsKKZHPMXy4nedpE4WgUGj53DWLv-KWYiswgP3cw2qTp7hU/s1600/1-toxinfromsal-769242.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOaAZVmDl6UVuKkY18Rf7imNvW3pE6OhOuoChU5fcrVCEyZTT9AMRPcWl2XPTW94PC0HSfemV4HgT-QgEhnViTvWPL6H5hJsKKZHPMXy4nedpE4WgUGj53DWLv-KWYiswgP3cw2qTp7hU/s320/1-toxinfromsal-769242.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6177011954502413650" /></a></p>Pathogenic bacteria develop killer machines that work very
<br>specifically and highly efficiently. Scientists from the University of Freiburg have solved the molecular mechanism of a fish toxin that could be used in the future as a medication to treat cancer. The scientists have now published their research in the journal
<br>Nature Communications.
<br>
<br>The Yersinia species of pathogens can cause the bubonic plague and serious gastrointestinal infections in humans. The pharmacologist Dr. Thomas Jank and his fellow researchers in the research group led by Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus Aktories at the University of Freiburg studied a pathogen of the Yersinia family (Yersinia ruckeri). This pathogen causes redmouth disease in Salmonidae, which includes salmon and trout, resulting in large financial losses in the fish industry. The research group was able to identify a toxin injection machine in the Y. ruckeri
<br>genome. The structure of this machine resembles that of viruses that normally attack bacteria. The group demonstrated that the toxin Afp18 in this injection machine is an enzyme that deactivates the switch protein RhoA. RhoA is responsible for many vital processes in the cells of humans and fish. For example, it controls the building up and breaking down of actin filaments. These filaments are not only necessary for cell
<br>division, but also for the spreading of tumour metastases in the body.
<br>
<br>In close collaboration with the developmental biologist Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever, also from the University of Freiburg, the
<br>research group injected the toxin Afp18 into zebra fish
<br>embryos. The result was that cell division was blocked, and the fish embryos did not develop. The toxin caused the actin filaments in the fish cells to collapse. This is because the Afp18 attaches a sugar molecule, an N-acetylglucosamine, onto the
<br>amino acid tyrosine in RhoA. According to the scientists, this is a very unusual reaction in nature. The team was able to shed light on this mechanism at the atomic level through the X-ray analysis of Afp18-modified RhoA crystals. For this, they
<br>collaborated with Prof. Dr. Daan von Aalten from the University of Dundee, Scotland. Rho-regulatory proteins are involved in the growth of cancer, especially metastasis. For this
<br>reason, the researchers from the University of Freiburg believe
<br>that this fish toxin has great therapeutic potential in cancer
<br>treatment.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-7893319229613995412015-07-29T12:09:00.001-07:002015-07-29T12:09:38.418-07:00Structures reveal basis of recurring urinary tract infections<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUI1k29IvJv32ASFIGQrAKILt6NE_oIYDMwbIq-nOMYHw5acO26tOCiUKtvwRQraXhgarTciPKu2DyJBZhBhIYR1U0PLjadTD_Q-B26LnoK9_5PI6mnZ6wMhN3FR2Q9qeeTWfA4uEyNc/s1600/structuresre-778419.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUI1k29IvJv32ASFIGQrAKILt6NE_oIYDMwbIq-nOMYHw5acO26tOCiUKtvwRQraXhgarTciPKu2DyJBZhBhIYR1U0PLjadTD_Q-B26LnoK9_5PI6mnZ6wMhN3FR2Q9qeeTWfA4uEyNc/s320/structuresre-778419.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6177008989444469138" /></a></p>While the best antibiotics can wipe out most of the bacteria that cause notoriously difficult urinary tract infections, a few
<br>"sleeper cells" often remain. These "persisters," as they are
<br>called, survive by going dormant, essentially sleeping through the attack that kills off their more active brethren.
<br>
<br>A new study has shown that a protein called HipA acts as a
<br>kind of molecular Sandman, putting bacterial cells to sleep so they can live another day. The Duke researchers behind the
<br>finding say understanding HipA may give them a way to combat drug-tolerant infections.
<br>
<br>Their research, published July 29 in Nature, found that
<br>particularly potent, mutant versions of HipA cause multidrug
<br>tolerance in urinary tract infections. It explains how these mutations boost the protein's slumberous powers to help more bacterial cells avoid being obliterated by antibiotics.
<br>
<br>"This discovery presents us with a new method for combating
<br>multidrug tolerance," said Richard G. Brennan, Ph.D., professor and chair of biochemistry at Duke University School of Medicine. "If we can find a way to block this protein, we may be able to awaken these problematic cells or keep them from falling asleep in the first place, so that we can eliminate them for good."
<br>
<br>Multidrug tolerance occurs when a disease-causing microorganism manages to survive or tolerate an onslaught of antibiotics or other antimicrobials. It is not to be confused with the related phenomenon multidrug resistance, where pathogens alter their genetic makeup to become resistant to specific drugs.
<br>
<br>In multidrug tolerance, microbes instead change their behavior,
<br>temporarily shutting down cellular functions that are the typical targets of drugs so they are not seen as a threat.
<br>Because only about one in a million bacterial cells employs this tactic, it is particularly difficult to decipher how these so-called "persisters" are able to emerge. More than three decades ago, researchers studying the common bacteria E. coli found that a protein called HipA was responsible for driving cells into dormancy. Studies showed that a mutated version of HipA, called HipA7, could generate 1000 times as many persisters.
<br>
<br>Despite these advances, it still wasn't clear whether the HipA
<br>protein played a role in human disease. To investigate this
<br>possibility, the Duke researchers and their collaborators at Northeastern University sequenced the hipA gene of multiple E. coli samples from patients with urinary tract infections. They found that nearly two dozen of the samples harbored the hipA7 "high persister" mutations, which they then showed were responsible for causing recurrent infections in patients.
<br>
<br>Oddly enough, the mutations were found to reside far from the
<br>part of the protein responsible for flipping the switch make a cell dormant. HipA acts as a kind of signaling protein, ordering other proteins to do the dirty work of driving dormancy. It has to be rather selective about sending out these signals or else all the bacteria will become catatonic. Therefore, HipA spends most of its time inactive, locked tightly in a complex with DNA and its partner protein HipB.
<br>
<br>To see if they could explain the impact of the hipA7 mutations,
<br>the Duke team used x-ray crystallography to produce an atomic-level three-dimensional structure of the larger complex. When HipA is active in signaling, it appears as a single molecule or monomer. But they found that when it is bound in a complex with HipB and DNA to be quiet, it pairs up, or dimerizes, with another copy of itself. These dimers lock the complex into place, while also blocking HipA's active site. Because the hipA7 mutations are located where the two copies of the protein come together, they essentially keep the dimers from forming properly.
<br>
<br>"It suddenly all made sense," said Maria A. Schumacher, Ph.D.,
<br>lead study author and professor of biochemistry at the Duke
<br>University School of Medicine. "The protein is normally kept
<br>inactivated in this tight complex, but when it is set free, then and only then will it be activated. These mutations make it easier for HipA to be released so it can wreak havoc and promote persistence."
<br>
<br>Now that the researchers understand how this structure enables cells to persist and outlast antibiotics, they can begin to explore new therapies that target this specific mechanism of multidrug
<br>tolerance. Brennan and Schumacher are currently searching for molecules that can keep HipA inactive so that it can no longer switch bacterial cells into sleep mode.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-58861684010641517472015-07-29T11:56:00.001-07:002015-07-29T11:56:34.122-07:00Researchers discover new type of mycovirus<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQemT39gG3eJoUmjMHeCcbnNrImDtey4Mxjyvm86HjrOLs_rtbvVLsklGZGuULqNz_cta6Sb9mRzHEi3X-xlcc8Xbvz4ggjVh0diB9voxyVS_rvInmQ61_1TgN5ZqVbGXhMBYk_0PoiA/s1600/127-researchersd-794123.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQemT39gG3eJoUmjMHeCcbnNrImDtey4Mxjyvm86HjrOLs_rtbvVLsklGZGuULqNz_cta6Sb9mRzHEi3X-xlcc8Xbvz4ggjVh0diB9voxyVS_rvInmQ61_1TgN5ZqVbGXhMBYk_0PoiA/s320/127-researchersd-794123.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6177005619217916994" /></a></p>Researchers, led by Dr Robert Coutts, Leverhulme Research
<br>Fellow from the School of Life and Medical Sciences at the
<br>University of Hertfordshire, and Dr Ioly Kotta-Loizou, Research Associate at Imperial College, have discovered a completely novel type of mycovirus. The research has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
<br>
<br>The virus infects the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, which can
<br>cause the human disease aspergillosis. This fungal infection targets the lungs and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals.
<br>The mycovirus called Aspergillus fumigatus tetramycovirus-1
<br>(AfuTmV-1) is comprised of four strands of double-stranded
<br>ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) and possesses unique sequence
<br>features and genomic organisation. Unlike nearly all viruses its genetic information is not encapsidated but coated in a virus encoded protein and these ribonucleoprotein structures were visualised for the first time using atomic force microscopy.
<br>
<br>Most importantly, the genome of AfuTmV-1 can infect the fungus on its own, without a protein capsid, a feature which has
<br>never been shown previously for a dsRNA containing virus.
<br>Therefore, the genome can potentially be altered through genetic engineering and directly introduced into the fungus.
<br>
<br>It is hoped that AfuTmV-1 might eventually be used to develop
<br>a silencing vector, a tool to switch off fungal genes, in order to study what in Aspergillus fumigatus can cause aspergillosis in humans.
<br>AfuTmV-1 is the prototype of a new mycovirus family but is
<br>not unique since similar mycoviruses have also been discovered in different fungal genera suggesting potential utility of these dsRNA elements for constructing generic silencing vectors for fungi in the future.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-77676784690873433202015-07-28T14:36:00.001-07:002015-07-28T14:36:27.055-07:00TB may be treatable with common glaucoma medication<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiino7_8rSw20ViBwRdeumdfkpQPq85qMyxUtD2GGEDpdRFaRE3RRH6WUwZb2O8qeTt8ytAlgIk1ADIe1rJnsd-PpfVN4sDV4PIMcT6Bcqk88sZpXUEnNvarI3uHLh-P166tWYhm08dkhk/s1600/patient-having-injection-787057.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiino7_8rSw20ViBwRdeumdfkpQPq85qMyxUtD2GGEDpdRFaRE3RRH6WUwZb2O8qeTt8ytAlgIk1ADIe1rJnsd-PpfVN4sDV4PIMcT6Bcqk88sZpXUEnNvarI3uHLh-P166tWYhm08dkhk/s320/patient-having-injection-787057.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6176675735923298226" /></a></p>Scientists have discovered a compound found in many drugs
<br>prescribed for the treatment of glaucoma may also be effective against tuberculosis.
<br>
<br>Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the
<br>bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that most commonly
<br>affects the lungs.
<br>
<br>The World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that around 2
<br>billion people around the world are infected with TB bacteria,
<br>but in most cases the immune system keeps it under control.
<br>
<br>But if the immune system becomes weak, then the bacterium gains the upper hand, spreads and causes disease. One strategy that helps it do this is an ability to evade the immune system.
<br>
<br>In the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the team from Michigan State University (MUS) in East Lansing describes how the sulfa-based compound ethoxzolamide switches off the TB bacterium's ability to evade the immune system.
<br>
<br>They also found the compound reduces disease symptoms in mice.
<br>
<br>
<br>Compound 'shuts down TB's ability to grow in immune cells'
<br>
<br>Senior author Robert Abramovitch, an assistant professor of microbiology, says they found ethoxzolamide stops the TB bacterium from deploying its immune-evasion strategy,
<br>effectively "shutting down its ability to grow inside certain
<br>white blood cells in the immune system."
<br>
<br>Fast facts about TB
<br>
<br>• TB is spread from person to person through the air
<br>• Over 95% of TB cases and deaths are in developing countries
<br>• More than 20% of TB cases worldwide are due to smoking.
<br>
<br>TB bacteria are very good at sensing certain cues and adapting to their environment. One such cue is a change in acidity - or pH level - that could herald an attack from the immune system.
<br>
<br>"The compound we found inhibits TB's ability to detect acidic
<br>environments," Prof. Abramovitch explains, "effectively blindfolding the bacterium so it can't resist the immune system's
<br>assault."
<br>
<br>For the study, he and his colleagues screened 273,000
<br>compounds for any that might be effective against the TB
<br>bacterium.
<br>
<br>In earlier research, Prof. Abramovitch had developed a
<br>fluorescent biosensor that glows green under conditions that mimic TB infection. They used this to screen the compounds.
<br>
<br>They ran several tests and showed that "ethoxzolamide
<br>reduces M. tuberculosis growth in both macrophages and infected mice." Macrophages are a type of immune cell that the TB bacterium invades and replicates in.
<br>
<br>The team is excited by their find because not only may the
<br>compound be able to prevent the spread of TB, it may also shorten the duration of treatment, and thus tackle the problem of drug resistance.
<br>
<br>Resistance to standard anti-TB drugs is widespread. The biggest reason for this is because the treatment takes a long time, as Prof. Abramovitch explains: He also notes that it is not necessary to kill the bacterium to stop TB. Drugs that give the immune system a boost by blocking the pathogen's ability to sense and evade the immune
<br>system should also be effective.
<br>
<br>The National Institutes of Health, AgBioResearch, the Jean P. Schultz Biomedical Research Fund, and MSU startup funds
<br>helped finance the study.
<br>
<br>Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported a large gene study that found new clues on how the TB bacterium evades
<br>the immune system. In the journal Nature Genetics,
<br>researchers from the UK and Germany describe how they found variants in the gene ASAP1 on chromosome 8 appear to affect a person's susceptibility to TB.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-73027585978479220522015-07-28T14:17:00.001-07:002015-07-28T14:17:31.060-07:00European drugs regulators approve world's first malaria vaccine<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTyabF3hzSauDsEQYeJbD0SOMeBqmS3r1SumsKFxWKycM16Us7KYARHhCDBHTFwJuqJihT4XmICwkkI6Ue_yCqq52ItQ0-2syZ6xPoMUlbbgeU4erxVrwZOLkgBbeyLT1HNPavqbbeAw/s1600/syringe-on-an-african-map-751061.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTyabF3hzSauDsEQYeJbD0SOMeBqmS3r1SumsKFxWKycM16Us7KYARHhCDBHTFwJuqJihT4XmICwkkI6Ue_yCqq52ItQ0-2syZ6xPoMUlbbgeU4erxVrwZOLkgBbeyLT1HNPavqbbeAw/s320/syringe-on-an-african-map-751061.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6176670858778778178" /></a></p>European drugs regulators have voiced their approval for the
<br>world's first malaria vaccine, representing a major step toward prevention of a disease that kills more than half a million people worldwide every year - most of whom are children in Africa.
<br>
<br>After assessing the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine -called RTS,S (brand name Mosquirix) - the European
<br>Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products
<br>for Human Use (CHMP) conclude it should be used for immunization of children in Africa aged 6 weeks to 17 months, alongside other protective measures against malaria - such as
<br>insecticides and bed nets.
<br>
<br>The CHMP recommendation is the first step toward RTS'S becoming the first licensed vaccine for malaria.
<br>
<br>Later this year, independent advisory groups from the World Health Organization (WHO) will review evidence for the vaccine and decide whether to recommend its use.
<br>
<br>Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium
<br>parasites, transmitted to humans through the bite of Anopheles
<br>mosquitoes.
<br>
<br>The most deadly malaria parasite is Plasmodium falciparum, which the RTS,S vaccine targets. The vaccine works by inducing an immune response in the body when P. falciparum first enters the bloodstream, preventing the parasite from infecting and multiplying in the liver.
<br>
<br>There were an estimated 198 million cases of malaria around
<br>the globe in 2013 and around 584,000 deaths from the disease.
<br>Around 90% of these deaths occurred in Africa, mostly among
<br>children under the age of 5 years.
<br>
<br>At present, the only effective preventive measures against
<br>malaria in Africa are the use of artemisinin-based combination
<br>therapies (ACTs) - which need to be administered within 24 hours of fever onset - and insecticides and bed nets to prevent mosquito bites.
<br>
<br>If licensed, however, the RTS,S vaccine - manufactured by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) - would be used alongside existing malaria-prevention strategies; in clinical trials, the vaccine has not proved effective enough to
<br>be used alone.
<br>
<br>
<br>RTS'S would provide 'meaningful contribution' to controlling malaria burden
<br>
<br>Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on the results of a phase 3 clinical trial for RTS,S, which were published in
<br>The Lancet.
<br>
<br>The trial involved 15,459 infants and 6-12 weeks and children aged 5-17 months from 11 sites across seven sub-Saharan countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique.
<br>
<br>Initial trial results revealed that among participants aged 5-17 months who received three doses of RTS,S, a 46% drop in
<br>malaria cases was observed in the 18 months following, while
<br>infants aged 6-12 weeks saw a 27% reduction in malaria cases.
<br>
<br>The researchers then followed participants for a further 20-30
<br>months after administering a booster vaccine 18 months after
<br>the third dose.
<br>
<br>The 3-dose RTS,S regime plus the booster vaccine was found to reduce the number of malaria cases by 39% among children aged 5-17 months over a total of 4 years follow-up, while a 27% fall in malaria cases was found over 3 years of follow-up among infants aged 6-12 weeks.
<br>
<br>Importantly, the trial results show that without a booster
<br>vaccine, the effect of RTS,S wanes over time. In addition, the absence of a booster jab impairs the vaccine's ability to
<br>reduce cases of severe malaria.
<br>
<br>Because RTS,S does not offer complete protection against
<br>malaria, the CHMP say "It is important that established
<br>protective measures, for example, insecticide-treated bed nets, continue to be used in addition to the vaccine."
<br>
<br>Still, it is estimated that in areas of sub-Saharan Africa with the highest malaria burden, RTS,S could prevent more than 6,000 malaria cases for every 1,000 children vaccinated.
<br>
<br>Earlier this week, MNT reported on a study published in Science Translational Medicine, in which researchers reveal the discovery of a compound that could prevent and treat malaria by stopping P. falciparum from becoming drug
<br>resistant.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-44388042816831357822015-07-21T04:01:00.001-07:002015-07-21T04:01:18.355-07:00Peppermint oil and cinnamon could help treat and heal chronic woundsInfectious colonies of bacteria called biofilms that develop on
<br>chronic wounds and medical devices can cause serious health
<br>problems and are tough to treat. But now scientists have found
<br>a way to package antimicrobial compounds from peppermint and cinnamon in tiny capsules that can both kill biofilms and
<br>actively promote healing. The researchers say the new material, reported in the journal ACS Nano, could be used as a topical antibacterial treatment and disinfectant.
<br>
<br>Many bacteria clump together in sticky plaques in a way that
<br>makes them difficult to eliminate with traditional antibiotics.
<br>
<br>Doctors sometimes recommend cutting out infected tissues.
<br>This approach is costly, however, and because it's invasive, many patients opt out of treatment altogether. Essential oils and other natural compounds have emerged recently as alternative substances that can get rid of pathogenic bacteria, but researchers have had a hard time translating their antibacterial activity into treatments. Vincent M. Rotello and colleagues wanted to address this challenge.
<br>
<br>The researchers packaged peppermint oil and cinnamaldehyde, the compound in cinnamon responsible for its flavor and aroma, into silica nanoparticles. The microcapsule treatment was effective against four different types of bacteria, including one antibiotic-resistant strain. It also promoted the growth of
<br>fibroblasts, a cell type that is important in wound healing.
<br>
<br>Peppermint and cinnamon have been associated with many other health benefits and we examine those in our collection of
<br>articles about the health benefits of popular foods. Find out about the health benefits of peppermint and cinnamon.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-80830233796323443412015-07-21T03:53:00.001-07:002015-07-21T03:53:53.787-07:00Study identifies prescription practices as major player in antibiotic overuse<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXA55_DxLLjebmRfkzsDQqtSNMmtCuUIh28ET7CtNdRDNTbOzIXx_lzcsRQguZ1VB3dP-QDhlCszKJdabrRD69Gs7Uredi7UA2POZOKJ1p11rdJt6E49Joow98y5mbez21ECD4gs694/s1600/doctor-and-patient-733787.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXA55_DxLLjebmRfkzsDQqtSNMmtCuUIh28ET7CtNdRDNTbOzIXx_lzcsRQguZ1VB3dP-QDhlCszKJdabrRD69Gs7Uredi7UA2POZOKJ1p11rdJt6E49Joow98y5mbez21ECD4gs694/s320/doctor-and-patient-733787.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6173912556979722898" /></a></p>Overuse of antibiotics is a widespread concern, cited as a
<br>major contributor to antibiotic resistance. Now, a new study claims health care providers are largely responsible for this problem, revealing that 10% of them write an antibiotic prescription for at least 95% of patients who visit them with an acute respiratory infection.
<br>
<br>Study author Dr. Barbara Jones, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Utah and clinician at the VA (Veteran Affairs) Salt Lake City Health Care System, UT, and colleagues publish their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
<br>
<br>Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections - such as strep throat - but they do not treat infections caused by viruses, such as cold, flu and bronchitis. When an antibiotic is taken for a viral infection, it attacks harmless or healthy bacteria, which can promote antibiotic resistance.
<br>
<br>Still, as this latest study demonstrates, antibiotics continue to be prescribed by health care providers for viral infections.
<br>
<br>According to the Mayo Clinic, there are a number of reasons
<br>why doctors do so. They may prescribe antibiotics before
<br>receiving test results showing an infection is viral rather than bacterial, for example. Also, some patients may pressure
<br>doctors for antibiotic prescriptions due to the desire for quick relief, despite the fact their infection may be viral.
<br>
<br>For their study, Dr. Jones and colleagues set out to gain a better understanding of antibiotic-prescribing practices among health care providers in the US.
<br>
<br>The team analyzed the VA electronic health record, involving 1,044,523 patient visits for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) across 990 emergency departments or clinics at 130 VA Medical Centers over the US between 2005 and 2012.
<br>
<br>
<br>Analysis identifies large variations in prescribing practices
<br>
<br>The researchers found that antibiotics were prescribed in 68% of all patients visits for ARIs, with antibiotic prescriptions increasing by 2% during the 8-year period.
<br>
<br>The team also identified a 10% increase in the number of
<br>macrolides - broad-spectrum antibiotics - prescribed, despite current guidelines recommending against the use of these antibiotics as a primary treatment for the majority of respiratory infections.
<br>
<br>What is more, the analysis revealed a significant variation
<br>in prescription practices among health care providers. For
<br>example, the team found that 10% of health care providers penned an antibiotic prescription in at least 95% of patient visits for ARIs, while 10% wrote an
<br>antibiotic prescription for 40% or fewer patient visits for
<br>ARIs.
<br>
<br>The team conducted an additional analysis of 480,575 patient
<br>visits for ARIs among 2,594 health care providers, with the
<br>aim of determining the reasons behind the variation in antibiotic prescribing practices.
<br>
<br>They found that prescribing habits accounted for 59% of the
<br>variation, while 28% of the variation was associated with
<br>differences in prescribing practices among clinics, and 13% of the variation was attributed to differences in prescribing
<br>practices among hospital centers.
<br>
<br>The team says their findings regarding the variation in
<br>prescribing practices remained even after accounting for patient characteristics, such as age, sex and presence of other medical conditions.
<br>
<br>The team says their study suggests improving and
<br>understanding how health care providers make decisions about
<br>antibiotic prescribing could help reduce antibiotic overuse
<br>going forward.
<br>
<br>"We'd like to use this research to start a conversation among
<br>providers and patients about antibiotic prescribing for ARIs,
<br>and share the approaches of providers who are prescribing
<br>antibiotics less frequently with those who may be prescribing too often," adds Dr. Jones.
<br>
<br>In September 2014, a Spotlight feature from Medical News Today investigated how antibiotic resistance has become a global threat to public health, with antibiotic overuse and misuse cited as a primary contributor to the problem "When antibiotics are needed to prevent or treat disease, they should always be used," Dr. Steve Solomon, director of the CDC's Office of Antimicrobial Resistance, told us. "But research has shown that as much as 50% of the time, antibiotics are prescribed when they are not needed or they are misused (for example, a patient is given the wrong dose). This
<br>inappropriate use of antibiotics unnecessarily promotes
<br>antibiotic resistance."Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2057306785799019585.post-42082933804361623962015-07-21T03:29:00.001-07:002015-07-21T03:29:06.180-07:00Neutralizing antibodies investigated for HIV vaccine<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehOVvpVHv-6CVdACVfLWWpz2chyphenhyphenkE8IkBrfplokdjX4fpLBzM444LftVgzvMDLw7zmox73WHmPhMKjZ_vpktBvnGKMM3B1KM8UHaLzwQpIVE2gaqDrlVgkBayaduOPpH6gX8YZ76Lr1A/s1600/illustration-of-cd4-activity-746180.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehOVvpVHv-6CVdACVfLWWpz2chyphenhyphenkE8IkBrfplokdjX4fpLBzM444LftVgzvMDLw7zmox73WHmPhMKjZ_vpktBvnGKMM3B1KM8UHaLzwQpIVE2gaqDrlVgkBayaduOPpH6gX8YZ76Lr1A/s320/illustration-of-cd4-activity-746180.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6173906168292994626" /></a></p>Two studies published in PLOS Pathogens this month shed further light on the effect of neutralizing antibodies in the
<br>steep challenge facing researchers to develop a vaccine
<br>against AIDS/HIV.
<br>
<br>The search for an effective vaccine for AIDS/HIV has long
<br>been a battle for scientists and researchers around the world.
<br>Although HIV incidence has remained stable in the US at
<br>50,000 new infections per year, the life-threatening disease
<br>continues to be a major global issue. According to the World
<br>Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 2.1 million people
<br>became newly infected with HIV globally in 2013, with an
<br>effective cure yet to be found.
<br>
<br>Neutralizing antibodies are immune proteins that can recognize, bind to, and trigger the elimination of a virus before it can establish a chronic infection. Nabs have previously been researched as a tool against HIV and AIDs. In a study last year, scientists discovered for the first time how to create Nabs in those already infected with HIV-1.
<br>
<br>Dr. Julia Overbaugh, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, and her team, focused on the role of Nabs in those "superinfected" with HIV, which is defined as those sequentially infected at least twice with HIV by different sexual partners.
<br>
<br>Results from 21 women who were tested suggest that Nabs mount a broad and potent response against diverse HIV subtypes. It is hoped that that this particular response can be mediated at least in part by polyclonal antibodies, which can then target different aspects of the virus.
<br>
<br>These findings follow on from the team's previous research
<br>into the superinfected. In that study, it was discovered that
<br>those infected twice had a more potent antibody response to the
<br>virus - which inhibited the virus from replicating -compared
<br>with women who have only been infected once.
<br>
<br>Dr. Overbaugh hopes further research can be done on those
<br>superinfected, stating further research may "provide insight to
<br>the development of a diverse Nab response with multiple epitope specificities."
<br>
<br>
<br>Direct cell to cell transmission more prone to mutation strains
<br>
<br>The second study published in PLOS Pathogens focused on Nabs effect on those infected with HIV/AIDS by cell-to-cell contact. Dr. Alexandra Trkola from the University of Zurich,
<br>Switzerland, and her colleagues, developed an assay that can
<br>specifically test the potency of Nabs to prevent direct cell-to-
<br>cell transmission of HIV.
<br>
<br>By establishing an assay system, the free virus infection is
<br>restricted, resulting in infections only occurring through cell-to-cell transmissions. Researchers were able to test whether a large selection of Nabs could prevent cell-to-cell transmission of different HIV strains.
<br>
<br>Although Nabs showed an overall decrease in activity, losses
<br>varied substantially depending on the antibody and virus strain
<br>examined. Scientists also discovered certain Nabs still retained activity during cell-to-cell transmission for individual viruses.
<br>
<br>However, this was generally not linked to a high potency of the
<br>free virus, but instead, displayed Nabs inhibiting prior to the binding of the virus to the CD4 receptor on T cells.
<br>
<br>Mathematical analysis showed that when the virus was
<br>transmitted via cell to cell transmission, it was substantially more prone to give rise to mutation strains that can escape immune control compared to free virus transmissions.Jamie Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17360711553372807084noreply@blogger.com0