Thursday, December 19, 2013

Packaging insulin into a pill-friendly form for diabetes treatment

Posted: 18 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST
Since insulin's crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine. Now scientists are reporting a new development toward a long-sought insulin pill that could save millions the pain of daily shots. Published in the ACS journal Biomacromolecules, the advance could someday not only eliminate the "ouch" factor, but also get needle-wary - and weary - patients to take their medicine when they should.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

New way to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Target human cells instead


Posted: 11 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST
As more reports appear of a grim "post-antibiotic era" ushered in by the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, a new strategy for fighting infection is emerging that targets a patient's cells rather than those of the invading pathogens. The technique interferes with the way that the pathogens take over a patient's cells to cause infection.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

New research shows obesity is an inflammatory disease


Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST
Scientists have moved a step closer to an "obesity drug" that may block the effects of diets high in sugar and fats. In a new research report published in the December 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists show that there is an abnormal amount of an inflammatory protein called PAR2 in the abdominal fat tissue of overweight and obese humans and rats. This protein is also increased on the surfaces of human immune cells by common fatty acids in the diet.