Why liver inflammation can damage the kidneys

04-Nov-2024 - The hepatitis E virus actually infects the liver. However, infected liver cells secrete a viral protein that reacts with antibodies in the blood - and as a complex can damage the filtering devices in the kidneys, as researchers at the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have ...

Signs of developing asthma are evident in the first year of life

A new way of looking at chronic illness

27-Sep-2024 - What factors lead to chronic respiratory disease? Researchers investigated this question using health data from about 780 infants. Their analysis shows that children's risk of developing asthma later in life can be more reliably predicted by observing the dynamic development of symptoms during ...

Is less sugar better for our brain?

"Our research findings suggest that lactose in particular can accelerate the neurodegeneration of our brain"

25-Sep-2024 - Elevated blood sugar levels can have a direct impact on our brain. If the blood vessels change due to sugar-related deposits, individual areas of the brain can be undersupplied, which can trigger strokes as well as dementia. Scientists at the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital ...

Andrea Ablasser, Glen Barber, and Zhijian J. Chen will be awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2025

Award recognizes the discovery of a fundamental signaling pathway of innate immunity

19-Sep-2024 - Physician Andrea Ablasser, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, virologist Glen Barber, Ohio State University, and biochemist Zhijian ‘James’ Chen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, will receive the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2025, the Scientific ...

"Sleep timer" for immune cells discovered

Hepatitis B: Liver cells switch off the immune response

15-Jul-2024 - In chronic hepatitis B, the liver contains immune cells that could destroy hepatitis B virus-infected cells but are inactive. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered that cells in blood vessels in the liver start a “sleep timer” that switches off immune cells. ...

Pathoblockers, a future alternative to antibiotics?

Researchers “defanging” bacteria, rendering them harmless

21-May-2024 - In most cases, antibiotics are a reliable form of protection against bacterial infections. They have saved billions of human lives since their introduction. This protection, however, is threatened by bacteria’s resistance to classical antibiotics and by their aggressive pathogenicity. Currently, ...

Common household chemicals pose new threat to brain health

Research shows chemicals in countless household items harm specialized cells in the brain

03-Apr-2024 - A team of researchers from theCase Western Reserve University School of Medicinehas provided fresh insight into the dangers some common household chemicals pose to brain health. They suggest that chemicals found in a wide range of items, from furniture to hair products, may be linked to ...

Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Discovery of Unexpected Proviral Effect of Guanylate-Binding Protein 1 (GBP1)

02-Apr-2024 - A research team from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has gained important insights into the role of the human guanylate-binding protein 1 (GBP1) in hepatitis C virus infection. Their results show that GBP1 performs a previously unknown function, that of a proviral factor, during the HCV life cycle. ...

World's first high-resolution brain developed by 3D printer

New model can advance research into neurodegenerative diseases

22-Mar-2024 - In a joint project between TU Wien and MedUni Vienna, the world's first 3D-printed "brain phantom" has been developed, which is modelled on the structure of brain fibres and can be imaged using a special variant of magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). As a scientific team led by TU Wien and MedUni ...

Possible tumour marker found for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Cancer cells leave an "imprint" on natural killer cells

19-Mar-2024 - A research team at the MHH is comparing changes in natural killer cells of the innate immune defence system in chronic hepatitis C sufferers as a risk factor for the later development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant liver tumour that develops from ...