image credit: medicalnewstoday.com Plasmas are created from gas that is pumped with energy. Today, plasmas are already used against multi-resistant pathogens in clinical applications, for example to treat chronic wounds.  "Plasmas provide a complex cocktail of components, many of which act as disinfectants in their own right," explains Professor Julia Bandow, head of the RUB research group Applied Microbiology. UV radiation, electric fields, atomic oxygen, superoxide, nitric oxides, ozone, and excited oxygen or nitrogen affect the pathogens simultaneously, generating considerable stress. Typically, the pathogens survive merely several seconds or minutes. In order to find out if bacteria, may develop resistance against the effects of plasmas, like they do against antibiotics, the researchers analysed the entire genome of the model bacterium Escherichia coli, short E. coli, to identify existing protective mechanisms. "Resistance means that a genetic change causes...

image credit: medicalrecruitment.com.au  Αρθρίτιδα: Ποιά η Σχέση της με την Κατάθλιψη; Αλληλοεξαρτώμενη έχει αποδειχθεί ότι είναι η σχέση μεταξύ οποιασδήποτε μορφής αρθρίτιδας και κατάθλιψης. Μελέτες δείχνουν ότι η ρευματοειδής, η ψωριασική και η ουρική αρθρίτιδα, η οστεοαρθρίτιδα και τόσες άλλες μορφές της προκαλούν κατάθλιψη και άγχος στους πάσχοντες. Η σχέση, ωστόσο, λειτουργεί και αντίστροφα, καθώς τα προβλήματα ψυχικής υγείας μπορούν να επιδεινώσουν την πάθηση. «Η αρθρίτιδα είναι μια πολύ συχνή, χρόνια και δαπανηρή νόσος που μπορεί να οδηγήσει τους ηλικιωμένους σε αναπηρία. Σύμφωνα με έρευνα, η συχνότητα εμφάνισής της αυξάνεται από 24,3% στους ενήλικες ηλικίας άνω των 45 ετών, σε 47,4% στους ενήλικες ηλικίας άνω των 65 ετών.  Παραμένει μια σημαντική αιτία λειτουργικής αδυναμίας, με τα ποσοστά περιορισμού της δραστηριότητας που οφείλονται σ’ αυτήν να είναι υψηλά και να αυξάνονται με την πάροδο του χρόνου. 

Mutations in the gene that codes for SLIT2, a protein expressed in fetal cells in placentas and involved in directing the growth of the fetal nervous system, may contribute to premature births, possibly by activating the mother's immune system. Mika Rämet of the University of Oulu and colleagues report these findings in a new study published 13th June in PLOS Genetics. More than 10 percent of babies worldwide are born prematurely, which is the leading cause of newborn death and a source of lifelong complications. Preterm birth can run in families, suggesting that there are underlying genetic factors in the mother and the fetus that contribute to the problem. 

A finding from University of Alberta researchers is shining new light on the role fibrinogen has in regulating a natural defence mechanism in the body. The discovery is hoped to contribute to improved diagnosis and treatments for patients in a variety of diseases ranging from inflammation, to heart failure, to cancer. Fibrinogen is a well-known protein that is essential for wound healing and blood clotting in the body. But a study published in Scientific Reports shows it is also a natural inhibitor of an enzyme named MMP2 that is important for normal organ development and repair. MMP2 is typically found in increased levels in the blood in disease conditions. The researchers believe a vital function of fibrinogen is to allow or disallow the enzyme to carry out its normal functions. However, high levels of fibrinogen may excessively inhibit MMP2, which could result in arthritic and cardiac disorders similar to those seen in patients with MMP2 gene deficiency.

People with autism often suffer from gut problems, but nobody has known why. Researchers have now discovered the same gene mutations -- found both in the brain and the gut -- could be the cause. The discovery confirms a gut-brain nervous system link in autism, opening a new direction in the search for potential treatments that could ease behavioural issues associated with autism by targeting the gut. Chief Investigator Associate Professor Elisa Hill-Yardin, RMIT University, said scientists trying to understand autism have long been looking in the brain, but the links with the gut nervous system have only been recently explored.