Research News

Tuberculosis infection results in approximately nine million new cases worldwide every year. TB - causing bacterium can remain dormant in human body for a long time, even for several decades before it becomes infectious. The bacterium remains ensconced within a type of white blood cells called macrophages, when it is in its latent form.

Diabetes - increase in blood glucose levels - is an emerging health problem especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation, India had 69 million diabetic individuals in 2015 and the number is projected to go up to 98 million by 2030. The problem is more serious for Asians as their genetic makeup puts them at a greater risk of diabetes at a younger age than their European counterparts.

Medicated stents are widely used to unblock heart arteries. While the drug prevents the growth of muscle cells around the stent, it however, retards endothelial cells necessary for healing the wound site and may result in the formation of clots. That’s why anti-clotting medications are given, which must be taken life-long; also, they come with adverse side effects.

Variants in the gene ARMC5 may be associated with high blood pressure among blacks, according to a National Institutes of Health study led by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The study team identified 17 variants in the ARMC5 gene that were associated with high blood pressure by analyzing genetic research databases that include those of African descent. The study is published in the July 3, 2019, issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

A team of scientists at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, have found that a combination of Vitamin A and Vitamin D3 could be used to treat kala azar.

The recent outbreak of Nipah virus in Kerala, which follows one that occurred in 2018, has brought the focus back on bats which are known to host the virus. Using machine learning - a form of artificial intelligence (AI) – an international group of scientists has identified bat species with the potential to host Nipah virus.

In a major collaborative effort, researchers at UNMC and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) have for the first time eliminated replication-competent HIV-1 DNA -- the virus responsible for AIDS -- from the genomes of living animals. The study, reported online July 2 in the journal Nature Communications, marks a critical step toward the development of a possible cure for human HIV infection.

New results of a 65-year follow-up study of nearly 7,000 Norwegian patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) suggest that patients may have a greater overall risk of developing cancer than the general population, with an especially high risk of cancer in respiratory organs, urinary organs and the central nervous system.

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Indore have found that piperine, a natural alkaloid present in black pepper, can be used as a therapeutic agent against neurodegenerative disorder, Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). 

Bioactive adhesive tissue patches are emerging as an alternative to suturing for deep cuts and wounds. Collagen-based adhesive gels are commonly used, but these patches are expensive and may cause an immune reaction as collagen is derived from animal sources.