Lactating mice pass along common antimicrobial to pups, initiating liver damage: Triclosan is used in everything from cleaners to pesticides to toys
In mouse studies, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that lactating mothers expose their feeding pups to triclosan, an antimicrobial commonly used in consumer products, resulting in early signs of liver damage that can eventually lead to more serious impairment and illness, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and […]
A novel COVID-19 vaccine using modified bacterial DNA: Experimental vaccine based on altered plasmid DNA produced antibody response in mice that effectively blocked cell infection across all variants of concern tested
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, describe a different way to build a COVID-19 vaccine, one that would, in theory, remain effective against new and emerging variants and could be taken as a pill, by inhalation or other delivery methods. Their findings publish in the July 21, 2022 […]
‘You are what you eat,’ and now researchers know exactly what you’re eating: Matching blood or stool samples to a reference database of foods reveals how much of our body chemistry is traceable to what we consume
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego, report a new method called untargeted metabolomics to identify the vast number of molecules derived from food that were previously unidentified, but that appear in our blood and our stool. The method, described in the July 7, 2022 issue of Nature […]
Osilodrostat Resolves Most Physical Signs of Cushing’s Disease
SAN DIEGO — Osilodrostat (Isturisa) improved many physical features associated with Cushing’s disease, according to additional findings from the phase III LINC-3 study. Among 137 adults with Cushing’s disease, a 39.5% improvement in central obesity scores was observed from baseline to week 72 with osilodrostat, reported Alberto Pedroncelli, MD, PhD, of Recordati AG in Basel, […]
Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and CKD Face Poor COVID Outcomes
SAN DIEGO — Certain factors were highly predictive of severe COVID illness in hospitalized patients who had type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), a researcher reported. In a single-center study of patients with T2D and CKD hospitalized with COVID-19 infection, having hyperglycemia upon admission was tied with more than a 10 times […]
Genetic diversity of C. difficile, a particularly problematic pathogen
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering, with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, have used a systems biology approach to parse the genetic diversity of Clostridioides difficile, a particularly problematic pathogen in health care settings. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the bacterium causes approximately […]
Can seven questions determine how wise you are? Seven-item Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index has high validity to measure wisdom and potential to improve overall well-being
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that an abbreviated, seven-item scale can help determine with high validity a person’s level of wisdom, a potentially modifiable personality trait that has been shown to have a strong association to well-being. The study’s researchers had previously developed the 28-item San Diego Wisdom Scale […]
New technology designed to genetically control disease-spreading mosquitoes: CRISPR-based system developed to safely restrain mosquito vectors via sterilization
Leveraging advancements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a new system that restrains populations of mosquitoes that infect millions each year with debilitating diseases. The new precision-guided sterile insect technique, or pgSIT, alters genes linked to male fertility — creating sterile offspring — and female flight in […]
3D ‘assembloid’ shows how SARS-CoV-2 infects brain cells
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine have produced a stem cell model that demonstrates a potential route of entry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the human brain. The findings are published in the July 9, 2021 online issue of Nature Medicine. […]
Common medication used to reduce cholesterol levels may reduce COVID-19 severity
In a new study from University of California San Diego School of Medicine, researchers have confirmed that patients taking statin medications had a 41 percent lower risk of in-hospital death from COVID-19. The findings were published July 15, 2021 in PLOS ONE and expand upon prior research conducted at UC San Diego Health in 2020. […]