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McMaster researchers create device to replicate conditions in blood vessels after grafts

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The authors conducted a population-based cohort study including 1,951,984 deliveries in Sweden and British Columbia, Canada, from 2004 to 2016, with data obtained from national and provincial birth registers. They assessed differences in caesarean delivery rates between countries and over time using the WHO-endorsed caesarean delivery classification. They compared these differences in caesarean delivery rates with and without accounting for population differences in maternal, fetal, and obstetric practice factors, such as maternal age, maternal body-mass-index, fetal weight and fetal position.

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Researchers at Canada's McMaster University have discovered a significant and previously unknown mechanism that many bacteria use to resist antibiotics.

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The McMaster-Queen’s research team pinpointed the bacterium Klebsiella aerogenes as the key histamine producer by studying germ-free mice colonized with gut microbiota from patients with IBS. They also colonized some mice with gut microbiota from healthy volunteers as a control group. The study found that the bacterium Klebsiella aerogenes converts dietary histidine, an essential amino acid present in animal and plant protein, into histamine, a known mediator of pain.

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Moderna vaccines are better than Pfizer in protecting residents of long-term care (LTC) homes from COVID-19 Omicron infections, say McMaster University researchers.

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People with mild or moderate eczema may gain some relief from their condition by adjusting their diets, but there are important downsides that make diets for eczema not a choice to take lightly, says McMaster University researcher Derek Chu.

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Iodine deficiency, a public health concern resolved decades ago, may be making a comeback due to changing eating habits, according to new findings by McMaster University researchers.

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A COVID CommUNITY – South Asian study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open has found that South Asian communities living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) suffered disproportionately from COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic.

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Researchers at McMaster University have unlocked an evolutionary mystery of a deadly pathogen responsible for fueling the superbug crisis: it can reproduce by having sex.

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New drugs and technologies covered by insurance plans can be much more profitable than those not covered, which may lead to bias in CEAs funded by pharmaceutical or other medical industry firms. The research team gleaned its data by analysing the results of more than 8,000 CEAs published between 1976 and March 2021. Nearly 30 per cent of these CEAs were sponsored by industry.

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An international team led by researchers at McMaster University, working in collaboration with the University of Paris Cité, has identified and reconstructed the first ancient genome of E. coli, using fragments extracted from the gallstone of a 16th century mummy.

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Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new form of rapid test to detect infections in farm animals, responding to the rising threat of dangerous outbreaks.

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McMaster University scientists who compared respiratory vaccine-delivery systems have confirmed that inhaled aerosol vaccines provide far better protection and stronger immunity than nasal sprays.

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Older adults with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at significantly higher risk of both muscle weakening and cardiovascular complications, say McMaster University researchers

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McMaster University researchers behind a new form of rapid, accurate and portable diagnostic test are moving their work toward the marketplace.

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McMaster researchers tracked 501 patients with luminal A breast cancer for five years post-surgery and found the recurrence of cancer in the breast was just 2.3 per cent without radiotherapy. This was roughly comparable with a 1.9 per cent risk this patient sample had of developing a new breast cancer in their other untreated breast.

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, prone positioning was believed to be a potentially useful intervention – one that warranted further investigation. While some studies suggested awake prone positioning was safe, there was insufficient evidence to recommend using this strategy in clinical guidelines. COVI-PRONE, designed to provide robust evidence, included 21 hospitals in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United States. Researchers aimed to use prone positioning in hypoxemic COVID-19 patients for 8 to 10 hours per day, with 2 to 3 breaks, as needed. Participants in the control group were not proned and were asked not to position themselves in the prone position.

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McMaster University researchers have discovered that Type I interferon (IFN) plays a key role in helping the immune system effectively target viruses, while stopping white blood cells from ‘going rogue’ and attacking the body’s own organs.

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McMaster University researchers who study the dynamics of infectious disease transmission have investigated the population-level consequences of a potentially significant––and unobvious––benefit of wearing masks.

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A study has demonstrated that a new type of cardiac defibrillator called a subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) reduced patient complications by more than 90 percent, compared to the TV-ICD. The study involved 544 eligible patients (one-quarter females) with average age of 49, at 14 clinical centres in Canada

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The researchers of McMaster’s Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research performed MRI scans to measure BAT activity in 26 boys between the ages of eight and 10. They studied the BAT tissue in the neck before and after one hour of exposure to a cold suit set at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. The patient sample included 13 boys with a normal BMI and the same number again with obesity, in the first study of its kind in children.

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Cycling for 35 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks led to a 32 per cent increase in overall fitness in people with MD. Patients who took part in the study also saw a 1.6-kilogram increase in their muscle mass and a two per cent reduction of body fat. They were also able to walk an extra 47 metres in six minutes, when tested by researchers at the end of the 12-week trial. Eleven patients took part in the study.

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The drug tested, tranexamic acid (TXA), was given to patients at risk of bleeding or vascular complications. The study found that TXA did not increase deep vein clotting known as VTE, heart attack, non-hemorrhagic stroke, or other major vascular complication in the 30 days after surgery. In the study, half of 9,535 patients in 22 countries were randomly assigned TXA, half placebo. Patients were 45 years or older (average age 69 years); 44% of them were female.

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McMaster researchers have been able to re-engineer red blood cells and use them as a promising new vehicle for vaccine delivery.

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This study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, assessed patients having heart surgery, measured troponin before and daily for the first few days after surgery, and assessed death and the incidence of major vascular complications – such as heart attack, stroke or life-threatening blood clot – after heart surgery. The study involved 15,984 adult patients with an average age just over 63 years undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients were from 12 countries, with more than a third of the countries being outside of North America and Europe.

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New research by the inventors of a promising pathogen-repellent wrap has confirmed that it sheds not only bacteria, as previously proven, but also viruses, boosting its potential usefulness for interrupting the transmission of infections.

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Scientists have a new understanding of the protective effects of caffeine on the cardiovascular system. While its stimulant effects have long been characterized, a team of McMaster University researchers have discovered how caffeine interacts with key cellular factors to remove cholesterol from the bloodstream.

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Scientists at McMaster University who have developed an inhaled form of COVID vaccine have confirmed it can provide broad, long-lasting protection against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern. The research, recently published in the journal Cell, reveals the immune mechanisms and significant benefits of vaccines being delivered directly into the respiratory tract, rather than by traditional injection.

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Researchers at McMaster University have found that children who receive years of season-specific flu vaccines develop antibodies that also provide broader protection against new strains, including those capable of causing pandemics.

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A new study has found that greater body fat is a risk factor for reduced cognitive function, such as processing speed, in adults. Even when the researchers took cardiovascular risk factors (such as diabetes or high blood pressure) or vascular brain injury into account, the association between body fat and lower cognitive scores remained. This suggests other not yet confirmed pathways that linked excess body fat to reduced cognitive function.

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In the largest observational study to date investigating changes in sleep and biological rhythms during the peripartum period, researchers identified several variables that are linked to depression and anxiety. Most notably, changes in the circadian quotient (the strength of the circadian rhythms), the average amount of activity during nighttime rest, and the amount of fragmentation of nighttime rest were strongly linked to higher depressive and anxiety symptoms.Researchers recruited 100 women, 73 of whom they followed from the start of the third trimester to three months postpartum. They analyzed subjective and objective measures of sleep, biological rhythms, melatonin levels, and light exposure using a variety of tools, including questionnaires, actigraphs (wearable sleep monitors), laboratory assays, and other methods.

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Oxytocin may be an effective treatment for some forms of autism, say McMaster researchers who have shown that in mice the hormone can correct patterns of brain activity associated with reduced social interest.

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A new company spawned by McMaster University innovation in the arena of vaccine manufacturing has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Elarex Inc., based in Burlington, has been awarded a $1.2M Cdn grant from the non-profit humanitarian foundation to develop a new technology for keeping liquid mRNA vaccines safe and viable without the deep-freeze that is necessary today for storing and transporting such vaccines.

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New research finds megafaunal collapse occurred before major environmental shift, small pockets of mammoths and horse adapted to change.

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The study, called COVID CommUNITY- First Nations, will collect, analyze, and report data relating to COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and safety, as well as explore hesitancy in three First Nations communities in Canada: Six Nations of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario; Lac La Ronge Indian Band in Saskatchewan; and Wendake in Quebec.

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Human trials are set to begin for two next-generation COVID-19 vaccines developed by a team of scientists at McMaster University.

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Researchers have developed a test to reveal bacterial contamination in dairy products well before they have a chance to reach anyone’s lips. The concept is designed to be applied to any form of packaged food.

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Researchers used telephone and web survey data to examine how health-related factors and social determinants such as income and social participation, impacted the prevalence of depressive symptoms during the initial lockdown starting March 2020 and after re-opening following the first wave of COVID-19 in Canada. Caregiving responsibilities, separation from family, family conflict, and loneliness were associated with a greater likelihood of moderate or high levels of depressive symptoms that got worse over time.

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Using mouse models researchers found that stress hormones suppressed the innate immune system that normally protects the gut from invasive Enterobacteriaceae

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New research from McMaster University, aimed at understanding the immune response to COVID-19 vaccines, found some long-term care residents no longer had high antibody levels months after their second dose, directly supporting government decisions to provide third doses.

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Researchers compared milvexian with enoxaparin for prevention of blood clots in 1,242 patients from18 countries undergoing knee replacement surgery who were enrolled between June 2019 and February 2021.They found that at a total daily dose of 100 mg or more, milvexian resulted in better clot protection but no increase in bleeding compared with enoxaparin, the control drug. Milvexian was evaluated in daily doses ranging from 25 to 400 mg; there was no increase in bleeding over this wide range of doses.

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Researchers gleaned their results by analyzing blood and biopsy samples from two groups totalling 18 people with Crohn’s disease, comparing them to a matching number of people from two healthy control groups. A mouse model of IBD was also used. Khan said his study was the first demonstration of the interaction between serotonin, autophagy and gut microbiota in intestinal inflammation. The paper was published by Science Advances today. Sabah Haq, a PhD student who works with Khan, is first author.

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The study used information from Statistics Canada to compare 16 months of alcohol and cannabis sales before and after the pandemic began (November 2018 to February 2020 compared to March 2020 to June 2021). During the pandemic period, Canadians bought 1.86 billion dollars more alcohol than was predicted based on the pre-pandemic trend. Increases in cannabis sales were $811 million higher, nearly a billion dollars above the predicted amount.

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McMaster researcher Edward Mills and his team treated 739 randomly selected Brazilian COVID-19 patients with fluvoxamine, with another 733 receiving a placebo, between Jan. 15 to Aug. 6 of this year. Every patient who received fluvoxamine during the trial was tracked for 28 days to determine their health outcomes and if they still need hospital treatment. Researchers found about a 30 per cent reduction in hospitalizations among those receiving fluvoxamine compared to those receiving the placebo.