Biomed Radio - Washington University School Of Medicine In St. Louis

A newly discovered link between bacteria and immune cells may be a significant contributor to inflammatory bowel disease, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. SCIENTISTS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HAVE FOUND A NEW WAY THAT BACTERIA CAN INTERACT WITH A HOST’S IMMUNE CELLS. AND THE NEWLY DISCOVERED CONNECTION MAY BE A KEY FACTOR IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… THE STUDY, IN MICE THAT DEVELOP A CONDITION SIMILAR TO VERY EARLY ONSET INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE, OR IBD, HIGHLIGHTS A PROTEIN THAT COULD BE A POTENTIAL TARGET FOR NEW IBD TREATMENTS. THE RESEARCHERS KNEW THAT A SPECIFIC BACTERIUM, CALLED B THETA, WAS VERY GOOD AT TRIGGERING THE INFLAMMATION. BUT THE STUDY’S FIRST AUTHOR, CHRISTINA AHN-HICKEY, SAYS THEY DIDN’T KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THE B THETA SETTLED TO CAUSE THE PROBLEMS. SO FINDING THAT ANSWER WAS THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS. (act) :16 o/c that question The broad idea

Patients with HIV are not in immediate danger of death anymore. Instead, thanks to antiretroviral therapy, most relatively live normal lives for many years. However, the combination of HIV and the drugs used to treat it leads many HIV-positive patients to develop lipid problems, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. The search for treatments to fight those complications has led researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to a drug that improves insulin sensitivity and lowers inflammation in people with HIV. The researchers believe long-term use of the drug, called sitagliptin, may help combat the metabolic problems that affect people with the virus. RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS HAVE FOUND THAT A DIABETES DRUG APPEARS TO LOWER CARDIOVASCULAR RISK AND MORE EFFECTIVELY TREAT GLUCOSE PROBLEMS IN PEOPLE WITH HIV. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… ALTHOUGH HIV IS NO LONGER RAPIDLY FATAL, PEOPLE INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS WHO TAKE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY HAV

Smokers with a specific genetic variation are more likely to keep smoking longer than those who don’t have the gene variant. They’re also more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer at a younger age, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. SMOKERS WITH A SPECIFIC GENE VARIANT ARE LIKELY TO KEEP SMOKING LONGER THAN THOSE WHO DON’T HAVE THE GENE. RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS LED A STUDY THAT ALSO FOUND THAT THOSE WHO HAVE THE GENE VARIANT AND SMOKE ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER AT A YOUNGER AGE. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… THE RESEARCH TEAM, LED BY GENETICS AND ADDICTION RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS, ANALYZED DATA GATHERED FROM MORE THAN 29 THOUSAND SMOKERS OF EUROPEAN DESCENT WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN 24 STUDIES. THEY FOUND THAT WHEN SMOKERS HAD A PARTICULAR VARIATION IN A NICOTINE RECEPTOR GENE, THEY WERE LIKELY TO HAVE A HARDER TIME QUITTING. THE RESEARCHERS REACHED THAT

Antibiotic resistance is poised to spread rapidly around the globe among bacteria frequently implicated in respiratory and urinary infections, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A STUDY FROM RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS, BARNES-JEWISH HOSPITAL AND THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY IN PAKISTAN HAS FOUND EVIDENCE THAT TWO GENES FOR RESISTING POWERFUL ANTIBIOTICS CAN SPREAD EASILY AMONG COMMON TYPES OF BACTERIA AND COULD SOON RENDER THE DRUGS ALMOST USELESS IN SOME PATIENTS WITH INFECTIONS. JIM DRYDEN HAS MORE… THE RESEARCHERS FOCUSED ON A SPECIFIC GROUP OF ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BUGS THAT CAUSE INFECTIONS, ACCORDING TO WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER GAUTAM DANTAS. (act) :26 o/c hospital-acquired infections And these are the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. So carbapenems are one of these late-generation antibiotics, and the reason they’re important is they’re really, really potent drug

Evaluating military personnel with traumatic brain injuries, Washington University School of Medicine researchers have found that early symptoms of post-traumatic stress, such as anxiety, sadness and irritability are the strongest predictors of later disability. The results were surprising because mental health more closely correlated with disability than assessments typically made after concussions, such as tests of memory, balance, coordination, and severity of headaches. WHEN DOCTORS EVALUATE CONCUSSIONS, THEY LOOK AT A PERSON’S BALANCE, WHETHER THAT INDIVIDUAL IS HAVING HEADACHES AND OTHER PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS OF BRAIN INJURY. BUT A NEW STUDY FROM RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS, THE NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON IN SEATTLE, HAS FOUND THAT WHEN EVALUATING DISABILITY RISK IN MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO’VE SUFFERED CONCUSSSIONS ON THE BATTLEFIELD, IT’S IMPORTANT TO SCREEN FOR PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS, TOO. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… EVALUATING PEOPLE WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES S

An investigational drug appears to cut the risk of severe asthma attacks in half for patients who have difficulty controlling the disorder with standard medications. That's according to a pair of multicenter clinical trials, headed by asthma researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. BY DEFINITION, PATIENTS WITH HARD-TO-CONTROL ASTHMA ARE AT GREATER RISK FOR ASTHMA ATTACKS, THE TYPES OF PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE THEM TO CONTACT THEIR PHYSICIAN, OR EVEN TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM. BUT STUDYING ALMOST 1000 PEOPLE WITH HARD-TO-CONTROL ASTHMA AT MORE THAN 200 CENTERS ON 6 CONTINENTS, A RESEARCH TEAM, LED BY ASTHMA SPECIALISTS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS, HAS FOUND THAT IN SOME PATIENTS AN INVESTIGATIONAL DRUG CAN CUT THE RISK FOR SEVERE ASTHMA ATTACKS IN HALF. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… THE INVESTIGATIONAL DRUG IS CALLED RESLIZUMAB, AND IT INTERFERES WITH THE ACTIVITY OF AN INFLAMMATORY SUBSTANCE IN THE BODY CALLED INTERLEUKIN-5. A PAST STUDY OF A SIMILAR DRUG HAD F

The DNA of bacteria that live in the body can pass a trait to offspring in a way similar to the parents’ own DNA, a new mouse study suggests. According to the study’s authors, the discovery means scientists need to consider a significant new factor – microbial DNA– in their efforts to understand how genes influence illness and health. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED THAT GENES AREN’T THE ONLY THINGS THAT CAN PASS ALONG TRAITS TO OFFSPRING. IN STUDIES OF MICE, THEY’VE LEARNED THAT THE BACTERIA IN THE GUT ALSO IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING TRAITS FROM MOTHER TO BABY. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… IT’S BECOME CLEAR IN RECENT YEARS THAT MUCH OF WHAT MAKES US “US” ISN’T HUMAN TISSUE. MICROBES THAT COLONIZE OUR BODIES ACTUALLY PERFORM SEVERAL FUNCTIONS THAT OUR OWN CELLS DON’T. AND, IT TURNS OUT THAT, AT LEAST IN MICE, THE BACTERIA FROM THE GUT ALSO HAS THE CAPACITY TO PASS TRAITS FROM MOTHERS TO THEIR OFFSPRING. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS SKIP VIRGIN AND THADDEUS STAPPENBECK WERE STUDYING MICE, IN EXPER

Building on the work of the Human Connectome Project, which is identifying the neural pathways that underlie brain function and behavior, a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is aiming to identify how those pathways are different in people with psychiatric illnesses. Researchers are using high-resolution imaging tools to identify structural and functional connectivity patterns in the brains of patients with psychiatric disorders and then comparing those scans to others taken of the brains of people who don’t have the disorders. The idea is to see whether, and how, connectivity patterns change in the brains of people with those illnesses. A NEW STUDY AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS IS AIMING TO USE BRAIN IMAGING TO IDENTIFY NETWORKS AND PATHWAYS THAT UNDERLIE BRAIN FUNCTION IN PEOPLE WITH PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… THE STUDY IS ONE OF VERY FEW BEING FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF MENTAL HEALTH’S “BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AWARD FOR

Enzymes linked to diabetes and obesity appear to play key roles in arthritis and leukemia, potentially opening up new avenues for treating these diverse diseases, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A STRUCTURE IN CELLS THAT MAKES KEY ENZYMES PREVIOUSLY LINKED TO DIABETES AND OBESITY, ALSO APPEARS TO BE IMPORTANT IN SEEMINGLY UNRELATED DISORDERS, SUCH AS ARTHRITIS AND LEUKEMIA. AND ENDOCRINOLOGY RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS SAY THE DISCOVERY COULD LEAD TO MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR THOSE PROBLEMS. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… THE RESEARCHERS WERE WORKING WITH GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MICE THAT DIDN’T MAKE CERTAIN ENZYMES, SUCH AS FATTY ACID SYNTHASE. AND THEY FOUND THAT WITHOUT THAT ENZYME, A PART OF THE CELL CALLED THE PEROXISOME WASN’T ABLE TO MAKE A SPECIAL TYPE OF LIPID, CALLED AN ETHER LIPID. FIRST AUTHOR IRFAN LODHI IS A WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ENDOCRINOLOGY RESEARCHER. (act) :19 o/c in neutrophils Our study suggest

A study in which more than 43,000 children were evaluated for head trauma offers an unprecedented picture of how children most frequently suffer head injuries, report physicians at Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. IN A STUDY OF CHILDREN EVALUATED AT HOSPITALS FOR HEAD TRAUMA, PHYSICIANS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, AND ELSEWHERE FOUND THAT THE CAUSES OF MANY HEAD INJURIES ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN THOUGHT AND THAT AGE IS A PRETTY GOOD PREDICTOR OF WHAT TYPE OF INJURY A CHILD IS AT RISK FOR. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS… HOW A HEAD INJURY OCCURS DEPENDS TO A GREAT EXTENT ON HOW OLD A CHILD HAPPENS TO BE, ACCORDING TO THE STUDY’S FIRST AUTHOR, KIMBERYLY QUAYLE, A WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY PEDIATRICIAN AND THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY SERVICES AT ST. LOUIS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. (act) :21 o/c an object The most common causes of head injuries in chi