A new observational study finds patients in the hospital for COVID-19 have high levels of soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR), an immune-derived pathogenic protein that is strongly predictive of kidney injury. «We don’t known exactly why patients with severe COVID-19 have a high rate of kidney injury,» says Salim Hayek, M.D., a cardiologist at the Michigan…

Chronic exposure to second-hand smoke results in lower body weight and cognitive impairments that more profoundly affects males, according to new research in mice. The research examined daily exposure of 62 mice over a period of 10 months. Researchers used a specially designed ‘smoking robot’ that went through a pack of cigarettes a day in…

Blood can typically be stored for only six weeks after donation, but a potential solution attempts to dry blood by using a sugar-based preservative. New work in ultrasound technology looks to provide a path to inserting these sugars into human red blood cells, allowing the molecule trehalose to enter the cells and prevent their degradation…

Marking a major milestone on the path to meeting the objectives of the NIH BRAIN initiative, researchers advance high-density electroencephalography (EEG) as the future paradigm for dynamic functional neuroimaging. The NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative motivates researchers to «produce a revolutionary new dynamic picture of the brain that, for the first…

Collagen, the main component of the skin’s extracellular matrix, can cause a pathological condition if it is in excess. Applying an electric field to the skin affects collagen pathways, temporarily reducing collagen production and increasing its degradation. These results open new therapeutic perspectives for the topical treatment of skin fibrosis characterized by excessive collagen deposition.…

Children who take oral steroids to treat asthma or autoimmune diseases have an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and blood clots, according to new researchers. The study is the first to quantify these complications of oral steroids in a nationwide population of children. The study, which was published in the American Journal of…

A new study has shown that people with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases are at a greater risk of dying at a younger age during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study, published in the British Society for Rheumatology’s journal, Rheumatology, was the work of a team of doctors and researchers from RECORDER (Registration of…

Some young adults who were bullied as a child could have a greater risk of ongoing depression due to a mix of genetic and environmental factors. Researchers wanted to find out what factors influenced depression in young adults between the ages of 10 and 24 and why some people responded differently to risk factors such…

Researchers have found that blocking the action of a protein called interleukin 6 (IL-6), part of the immune system, could resolve the delirium that often accompanies urinary tract infection (UTI) in elderly patients. Their study could pave the way for clinical trials of IL-6 inhibitors as a treatment for UTI-associated delirium in humans. Older women…

Rare genetic diseases can sometimes be recognized through facial features, such as characteristically shaped brows, nose or cheeks. Researchers have now trained software that uses portrait photos to better diagnose such diseases. The improved version «GestaltMatcher» can now also detect diseases that are not yet known to it. It also manages to diagnose known diseases…