Preclinical and early clinical research conducted by teams at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and in Australia suggests that patients with rheumatoid arthritis could lower their risk of cardiovascular disease through cholesterol-lowering therapies.
Researchers describe changes in hippocampal neurons early after pathogenic alpha-synuclein aggregates begin to appear. This understanding could point to novel therapeutic treatments to prevent or reverse neuronal defects and halt development of dementia.
Chronic inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and lupus have their highest U.S. concentrations in the Southeast. Yet, says Fran Lund, the majority of clinical trials to test possible new treatments for these diseases occur outside of the Southeast.
UAB Medicine has a new app to help patients and visitors navigate its large campus. The app offers turn by turn wayfinding to clinics, hospital units, nearby restaurants and much more.
• This study was the first to test a form of intermittent fasting, known as early time-restricted feeding, in humans.
• The study shows for the first time in humans that the benefits of intermittent fasting are not due solely to eating less.
• Practicing intermittent fasting has intrinsic benefits regardless of what you eat.
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with end-stage heart failure seeking OHT and LVAD implantation will be drastically affected if the proposed cuts are implemented, according to UAB research.
An alternative treatment option to the glucocorticoid-induced bone loss that can cause fractures now appears promising, according to an international study. Researchers compared the monoclonal antibody denosumab against a standard bisphosphonate treatment.
Constraint Induced Therapy, a rehabilitation technique originally developed for stroke, has now been shown to be effective for improving function for people with multiple sclerosis, according to findings from UAB in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.
A $2 million investment from a Denver angel investor group is the latest step forward for the biomedical startup CNine Biosolutions. Two entrepreneurs are using technology they developed at UAB to create a rapid and simple test to distinguish bacterial meningitis from viral meningitis.
• Megan Gagliardi was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at 18 years old.
• Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased because the left ventricle — the heart’s main pumping chamber — is enlarged and weakened.
• Gagliardi received a heart transplant on her 19th birthday and is doing well six years later.
Steven Eaise was 47 years old when he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2015. Today, a unique part of him lives on thanks to a music therapy project. Music therapists at UAB recorded Steven’s heartbeat, then incorporated it into a song, using his heartbeat in place of the drums. The Eaises were given a recording of the song after he passed away.
The Smart Bracelet, designed by UAB researchers, automatically detects signs of physical assault and alerts emergency personnel of the user’s location.
Researchers have found a key role in tooth development for the transcription factor Specificity protein 7, or Sp7 — lack of Sp7 interrupts the maturation of two types of specialized cells that help create teeth. Such basic knowledge about development aids understanding of craniofacial abnormalities.
Gary Warner, cybersecurity expert and director of Research in Computer Forensics at UAB, offers tips on which Facebook settings to pay close attention to.
• The CDC reports that about 3,200 cases of oropharyngeal cancers were found in women last year and about 13,000 in men in the United States.
• Cancers of the throat can masquerade as many things, such as ear pain, sore throat, hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, coughing up blood or loose teeth.
A 21-year NSF-funded program that brings undergraduate students to UAB for a summer of materials research has been renewed with a grant from the NSF Division of Materials Research. The students come from underrepresented groups and from schools where research opportunities are limited.
Two UAB graduate students — and just 10 other predoctorates from underrepresented backgrounds across the United States — won inaugural neuroscience awards last year from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or NINDS. The students are part of UAB Neuroscience Roadmap Scholars.
Preterm neonates who are exposed to caffeine within the first seven days after birth have reduced incidence and severity of acute kidney injuries than neonates who did not, according to findings from the Neonatal Kidney Collaborative’s Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Injury Epidemiology in Neonates study, published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Ketogenic, Whole30 and paleo diets aren’t convenience diets — they can cause challenges for eating out and cause a strain on your wallet — but they do provide whole food solutions.
Tobacco-related disease is especially prevalent among African-American men. This grant provides more multidisciplinary opportunities for UAB faculty to provide solutions for tobacco cessation. Preliminary data shows that 39.9 percent of African-American men between 19 and 30 years of age in rural Alabama counties smoke cigarettes.
Researchers have identified a therapeutic target to prevent or delay heart failure from pressure overload of the heart, and a potential biomarker for the same. They say their animal studies carry clinical and translational potential.
Older patients with colorectal cancer are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure, according to a study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study also finds that morbidities such as diabetes and hypertension negatively interact with chemotherapy designated for colorectal cancer, which adds to the patient’s increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity.
A perspective in PLOS Medicine suggests that people with HIV who achieve viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy can avoid sexual transmission of HIV without using condoms, a significant study that lends hope that the “treatment as prevention” method can stop the spread of the HIV infection.
Using a mouse model, researchers have found mechanistic links between older stored red blood cell transfusions and subsequent bacterial pneumonia. This may reveal new approaches to improve safety of stored red blood cell transfusions. The key player is free heme, released from broken blood cells.
Researchers report discovery of a strong predictive biomarker for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and they show a role for the biomarker in the pathogenesis of this neonatal lung disease. These results open the path to possible future therapies to prevent or lessen BPD.
The American College of Rheumatology has published a new white paper, “The Science Behind Biosimilars — Entering a New Era of Biologic Therapy,” which shares the organization’s stance that it is reasonable for physicians to begin integrating the prescription of biosimilars as another option of medication in patient treatment, where appropriate. S. Louis Bridges Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, served as the lead author on the paper.
In a collaborative, multi-institutional study published by JAMA Oncology, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Chicago, and National Cancer Institute determined that MRI-based prediction models can help reduce unnecessary biopsies in suspected prostate cancer patients and help improve personalized risk stratification.
A study of mouse healing after severe heart attacks focused on the heart and spleen, measuring types and numbers of immune cells; types and amounts of lipid signaling compounds; expression of enzymes that produce those signaling compounds; and which enzymes are key to resolution of inflammation.
A UAB study shows that a gene therapy approach can help neurons remove lipofuscin, or cellular debris, in mouse models for frontotemporal dementia. The study added a gene that encodes for the missing protein progranulin.
Lingering inflammation after heart attack can lead heart failure. It can also claim another victim — the kidneys. New research shows that a bioactive compound called resolvin D-1, injected as a therapeutic dose, is able to limit this collateral damage in the kidneys, as tested in an animal model.
Allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation recipients are at a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment in the years post-transplantation, according to a study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. Published by Noha Sharafeldin, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., instructor in UAB’s Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and Division of Hematology and Oncology, this study helps add a missing piece to a long-unsolved puzzle about post-transplant effects on recipients, specifically that vulnerable subpopulations of similar transplants can benefit from targeted interventions in the years after they receive their lifesaving treatment.
Imaging of biomolecules is taking a leap forward at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. UAB installed a $600,000 direct electron detector on its cryo-electron microscope in January, and validation tests to fine-tune the resolution are underway.