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Topics: Medical research

  • New model can predict how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance

    Using theoretical models of bacterial metabolism and reproduction, scientists can predict the type of resistance that bacteria will develop when they are exposed to antibiotics. This has now been shown by an Uppsala University research team, in collaboration with colleagues in Cologne, Germany. The study is published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

  • Sound-frequency map for inner ear created with advanced X-ray technology

    Researchers at Uppsala University have created the first 3D map of the hearing nerve showing where the various sound frequencies are captured. Using what is known as synchrotron X-ray imaging, they were able to trace the fine nerve threads and the vibrating auditory organ, the cochlea, and find out exactly how the frequencies of incoming sound are distributed.

  • Beta blockers can repair malformed blood vessels in the brain

    Propranolol, a drug that is efficacious against infantile haemangiomas (“strawberry naevi”, resembling birthmarks), can also be used to treat cerebral cavernous malformations, a condition characterised by misshapen blood vessels in the brain and elsewhere. This has been shown by researchers at Uppsala University in a new study published in the scientific journal Stroke.

  • Innate immune system worsens the situation in severe COVID-19

    In patients with severe COVID-19, the innate immune system overreacts. This overreaction may underlie the formation of blood clots (thrombi) and deterioration in oxygen saturation that affect the patients. This is shown in an Uppsala University study published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

  • Metabolic response behind reduced cancer cell growth

    Researchers from Uppsala University show in a new study that inhibition of the protein EZH2 can reduce the growth of cancer cells in the blood cancer multiple myeloma. The reduction is caused by changes in the cancer cells’ metabolism. These changes can be used as markers to discriminate whether a patient would respond to treatment by EZH2 inhibition.

  • New improved dog reference genome will aid a new generation of investigation

    Researchers at Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have used new methods for DNA sequencing and annotation to build a new, and more complete, dog reference genome. This tool will serve as the foundation for a new era of research, helping scientists to better understand the link between DNA and disease, in dogs and in their human friends.

  • New clues to how SARS-CoV-2 infects cells

    The molecular details of how SARS-CoV-2 enters cells and infects them are still not clear. Researchers at Uppsala University have tested the bioinformatic predictions made by another research group and have identified receptors that could be important players in the process. The results are presented in the journal Science Signaling and at the AAAS Annual Meeting held this week.

  • ​Uppsala University Joins Wellcome Leap Global Network

    Uppsala University has joined the Leap Health Breakthrough Network, a global group of 21 leading academic and research institutions committed to solving the world’s most serious health challenges — such as cancer and infectious diseases — at record speed. Wellcome Leap is a US-based non-profit organisation founded by the Wellcome Trust to accelerate innovations that benefit global health.

  • Tough childhood damages life prospects

    An adverse upbringing often impairs people’s circumstances and health in their adult years, especially for couples who have both had similar experiences. This is shown by a new study, carried out by Uppsala University researchers, in which 818 mothers and their partners filled in a questionnaire one year after having a child together. The study is now published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

  • ​Disrupted immune cell navigation in lymph nodes of breast cancer patients

    In breast cancer, tumours of different types have divergent effects on the functioning of the lymph nodes. In patients with invasive breast cancer, the blood vessels and supporting tissue of the lymph nodes change, but this does not occur in patients with a non-invasive form of breast cancer. This is shown in a new study from Uppsala University, published online in the scientific journal Cancers.

  • Faulty metabolism of Parkinson’s medication in the brain linked to severe side effects

    Until now, the reason why the drug levodopa (L-Dopa), which reduces the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, declines in efficacy after a few years’ use has been unknown. A side effect that then often occur is involuntary movements. A Swedish–French collaboration, led from Uppsala University, has now been able to connect the problems with defective metabolism of L-Dopa in the brain.

  • Parents’ finances differently affected by having a child diagnosed with cancer

    Mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with cancer are affected financially in different ways. While mothers’ incomes fall in the short term and then rise, the adverse financial repercussions on fathers occur later. Researchers at Uppsala University have investigated the socioeconomic impact on parents of having a child diagnosed with cancer.

  • Oral contraceptive pills protect against ovarian and endometrial cancer

    A comprehensive study from Uppsala University, involving more than 250,000 women, shows that oral contraceptive use protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer. The protective effect remains for several decades after discontinuing the use. The study is published in the journal Cancer Research.

  • New analysis method for predicting the risks and effects of immunotherapy

    In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to show differences in how Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody drug, interacts with the blood of healthy individuals compared to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. This has awakened hopes that this analysis method could pave the way for important breakthroughs in immunotherapy research and treatment.

  • Diabetes in dogs may indicate elevated risk of type 2 diabetes in their owners

    Owners of a dog with diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than owners of a dog without diabetes. No shared risk of diabetes could be detected for cat owners and their cats. These novel findings, from a register-based study conducted at Uppsala University in collaboration with three other universities, have now been published in The BMJ.

  • Promising treatment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PMDD

    The mental symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder improve following treatment with a progesterone receptor modulator, as demonstrated by SciLifeLab researcher Erika Comasco and Professor Inger Sundström-Poromaa, Uppsala University. The mechanism of action of the study drug provides insights into the potential molecular mechanisms underlying this psychiatric disorder and its treatment.

  • Venous origin of brain blood-vessel malformations

    In the condition known as cavernoma, lesions arise in a cluster of blood vessels in the brain, spinal cord or retina. Researchers from Uppsala University can now show, at molecular level, that these changes originate in vein cells. This new knowledge of the condition creates potential for developing better therapies for patients. The study has been published in the journal eLife.

  • New method shows great potential for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

    In Alzheimer’s disease, a protein (peptide) forms clumps in the brain and causes sufferers to lose their memory. In a recently published article, a research group at Uppsala University described a new treatment method that increases the body’s own degradation of the building blocks that lead to these protein clumps.

  • AI methods of analysing social networks find new cell types in tissue

    In situ sequencing enables gene activity inside body tissues to be depicted in microscope images. To facilitate interpretation of the vast quantities of information generated, Uppsala University researchers have now developed an entirely new method of image analysis. Based on algorithms used in artificial intelligence, the method was originally devised to enhance understanding of social networks.

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