Research News

A new study shows that intense immunosuppression followed by a hematopoietic stem cell transplant may prevent disability associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) from getting worse in 71% of people with relapsing-remitting MS for up to 10 years after the treatment. The research is published in the January 20, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that in some people their disability improved over 10 years after treatment.

A new potential therapy for COVID-19 developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center has shown success in preventing the disease’s symptoms in mice.

UV-radiation can affect hormone levels of postmenopausal women negatively and this may contribute to several health issues.
The concentration of oestrogens in the blood affects a woman’s health in many ways. For example, oestrogens contribute to a strong bone structure and help wounds heal more quickly.

“When a woman reaches menopause, we see the levels of oestrogens decline and an increase of other hormones, called gonadotropins”, says Kai Triebner at the University of Bergen.

In a significant development, Bharat Biotech has sought Drug Controller General India's (DCGI) approval to conduct nasal COVID-19 vaccine trials in India. The company has developed a new single-dose nasal COVID-19 vaccine in a partnership with Washington University in St Louis, USA. There are no intra-nasal COVID-19 vaccines under trial in India at the moment.

One reason it’s so difficult to produce effective vaccines against some viruses, including influenza and HIV, is that these viruses mutate very rapidly. This allows them to evade the antibodies generated by a particular vaccine, through a process known as “viral escape.”

Scientists studying the body’s natural defenses against bacterial infection have identified a nutrient taurine that helps the gut recall prior infections and kill invading bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn). The finding, published in the journal Cell by scientists from five institutes of the National Institutes of Health, could aid efforts seeking alternatives to antibiotics.

Airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus is possible under certain conditions, cautions a study undertaken by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The research was conducted to determine the transmission pattern of the virus in various enclosures in hospitals to assess the risks posed to healthcare workers. Air samples were collected from hospitals in Hyderabad and Mohali for the study.

Wistar Institute scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that uniquely combine direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Researchers have taken an important step forward in developing a controlled human infection model to test leishmaniasis vaccines.

The University of York-led study identified and characterised a new strain of Leishmania parasite that will form the basis of a new controlled human infection model for the disease which is transmitted by the bite of sand flies. The team then produced the parasite to the standards required for use in human clinical studies.