Nanotherapy shows potential for treating severe Crohn s disease
Scientists from the Stanley Manne Children s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children s Hospital of Chicago demonstrated that a nanotherapy reduces intestinal inflammation and shrinks lesions in a rodent model of severe Crohn s disease. This approach could become an alternative to biologic antibody therapies that carry many side effects, including increased risk of certain cancers. It might also prevent the need for surgery in the future. Findings were published in the journal
Advanced Therapeutics.
Crohn s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, most often in the small intestine. It can lead to intestinal obstruction and perforation, bleeding, abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition leading to growth abnormalities in children.
A new study explores the role of common probiotics in managing the disease, which could prove to be of great value, given the emergence of new variants and the broad spectrum of clinical disease in COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 s resistance to remdesivir in vitro
With over 108 million reported infections from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) worldwide, and nearly 2.4 million deaths, the ongoing pandemic has jeopardized the physical, financial and emotional wellbeing of the global population over the past year. A new preprint research paper posted to the
bioRxiv server discusses the emergence of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, allowing it to escape the effects of the most commonly used antiviral drug, remdesivir.
In an effort to arrest the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, drug development and repurposing research has been proceeding at a rapid pace in multiple centers.
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Synthetic “mini” receptors block atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis, a lipid-triggered chronic inflammatory disease of our arteries, is the main cause of strokes and heart attacks. An international team of researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the LMU University Hospital has developed novel synthetic peptides that can help to prevent atherosclerosis in vitro, that is in the test tube, as well as in animal models.
Research over the last 20 years has shown that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the arterial blood vessel wall. Soluble mediators such as cytokines and chemokines are pivotal players in this disease, promoting vascular inflammation. However, the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutics directed against such mediators that could prevent atherosclerosis has proven difficult, despite promising clinical studies in the recent past.