News by Subject Medicine & Health

Researchers from Kanazawa University have found that propionic acid-class nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ibuprofen, form "conjugates" with coenzyme A (CoA) by one of the acyl-CoA synthetases, ACSL1, in liver. These conjugates have the covalent binding ability to cellular proteins that may lead to liver injury, a rare severe side effect of NSAID treatment. This knowledge could help pharmaceutical companies to generate pain control options with fewer risks of severe side effects.

Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could be significant genetic transfer between bacteria in our ecosystems and to humans. This work has also led to new tools for resistance researchers.

Polymer and radionuclide chemists report major advance in microcapsule drug delivery systems. Their microcapsules -- labeled with radioactive zirconium-89 -- are the first example of hollow polymer capsules capable of long-term, multiday positron emission tomography imaging in vivo. In previous work, the researchers showed that the hollow capsules could be filled with a potent dose of the cancer drug doxorubicin, which could then be released by therapeutic ultrasound that ruptures the microcapsules.

In an article published in Nature Communications, Brazilian researchers show for the first time that in severe cases of scorpion envenomation it is the neuroimmune reaction triggered by the venom that leads to death.

This is a non-coding section of the RNA, which means that it is not translated into a protein, but it is likely key to the virus's replication.