Medical News Observer

Keep updated with latest medical research news

Researchers study role of receptor endoglin in early development of heart and blood cells

New research from the University of Minnesota reveals endoglin as a critical factor in determining the fate of early undifferentiated cells during development. Endoglin, a receptor involved in cell signaling, has previously been known mostly for its function in blood vessels and angiogenesis. In a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers showed…
Ethosomes – ethanol based nanovesicles for effective transdermal drug delivary

Ethosomes are ethanolic nanovesicles that possess abundant amount of ethanol in its core which provides fluidity to the lipid bilayers and thus by this effect, improves the delivery of molecules into the deep skin layers. These vesicles are capable of enclosing both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. Various preclinical and clinical reports on drugs delivered via…
Current global health metrics

(Washington) Improvements in sanitation, immunizations, indoor air quality, and nutrition have enabled children in poor countries to live longer over the past 25 years, according to a new scientific analysis of more than 300 diseases and injuries in 195 countries and territories. However, such progress is threatened by increasing numbers of people suffering serious health…
Novel diagnostic test for malaria using holographic imaging and artificial intelligence using deep learning

Duke researchers have devised a computerized method to autonomously and quickly diagnose malaria with clinically relevant accuracy — a crucial step to successfully treating the disease and halting its spread. In 2015 alone, malaria infected 214 million people worldwide, killing an estimated 438,000. While Western medicine can spot malaria with near-perfect accuracy, it can be…
Scientists find more information about DNA repair mechanism involving Rad4 protein

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) have demonstrated how Rad4, a protein involved in DNA repair, scans the DNA in a unique pattern of movement called “constrained motion” to efficiently find structural faults in DNA. The findings, reported today in the journal Molecular Cell, could…
Clinical trials show oral bioavailability for nicotinamide riboside in humans and mice

In the first controlled clinical trial of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a newly discovered form of Vitamin B3, researchers have shown that the compound is safe for humans and increases levels of a cell metabolite that is critical for cellular energy production and protection against stress and DNA damage. Studies in mice have shown that boosting…
Researchers find protein involved in death of brain cells during stroke

One particular protein is the final executioner of events that result in the death of brain cells during stroke, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center and their collaborators report. This finding could ultimately lead to new ways to protect against brain damage. Researchers discovered that the protein, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), breaks the cell’s…
Researchers predict increase in obesity linked conditions in children

Researchers’ global estimates indicate that by 2025, some 268 million children aged 5 to 17 years may be overweight, including 91 million obese, assuming no policy interventions have proven effective at changing current trends. Timed to coincide with this year’s World Obesity Day, which is observed on October 11, investigators have also released data anticipating…
Research study shows merits of using Pembrolizumab as first line treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and high PD-L1 expression

Pembrolizumab is set to become a new option for first line treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer and high PD-L1 expression, according to the results of the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial presented at the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen1 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ”Pembrolizumab is a PD-1 antibody approved…
Chemotherapy and pembrolizumab combination significantly improves outcomes in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

The addition of PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab to standard first-line chemotherapy for treatment-naïve advanced non-small-cell lung cancer significantly improves response rates and progression-free survival, researchers reported at the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen today. Pembrolizumab is a class of immunotherapeutic anti-cancer drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which target the mechanism the tumor uses to shut down the…