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Inhaling wildfire smoke's microbial content can increase risk of infection

Wildfire smoke contains microbes, a fact that's often ignored, but one that may have important health repercussions.

From The University of California, Davis 21 Dec 2020

Researchers discover protein that may trigger lung scarring

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease associated with inflammation and fibrosis, or scarring, that affects organs including the skin, heart, kidney and lungs.

18 Dec 2020

Researchers discover genetic variants of host proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Like all viruses, the novel coronavirus is dependent on help from the human host cell. Proteins are the functional units of the cell and enable the virus to enter the host cell or help the virus to replicate.

17 Dec 2020

Microplastics found in drinking water

Now, a new study has shown that there are high levels of microplastics in the human diet and that drinking water is a significant source.

17 Dec 2020

Gene expression database sheds light on pneumococcal infection

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine published one of the most comprehensive analyses of how genes get expressed during infection (known as a transcriptome).

16 Dec 2020

Researchers identify new therapeutic target to fight COVID-19 disease

In COVID-19 patients with severe lung disease, targeting the endothelial cells—that is, cells comprising the blood vessel wall, which control oxygen exchange between the bloodstream and airways—may be an innovative strategy to restore normal function of the lungs.

15 Dec 2020

Molecular markers in the blood can predict severe COVID-19 outcomes

Molecular markers in the blood shown to be predictive of severe COVID-19 outcomes resulting from SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection have been identified in a study by a Chinese research team.

15 Dec 2020

New antibiotic can help treat drug-resistant pathogens

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine have designed a potential new antibiotic for a pathogen that is highly resistant to drugs and is often lethal to individuals suffering from lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis.

11 Dec 2020

Study provides new insight on how lung bacteria protect against invading pathogens

New insight on how bacteria in the lungs protect against invading pathogens has been published today in the open-access eLife journal.

9 Dec 2020

Researchers determine role of NLRP1 protein in detecting the common cold virus

The role of a protein in detecting the common cold virus and kickstarting an immune response to fight infection has been uncovered by a team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National University of Singapore.

From Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) 3 Dec 2020

Cooking with wood may increase risk of developing lung damage

Advanced imaging with CT shows that people who cook with biomass fuels like wood are at risk of suffering considerable damage to their lungs from breathing in dangerous concentrations of pollutants and bacterial toxins.

26 Nov 2020

Adipose tissue plays key role in the aggravation of COVID-19

There is growing evidence that adipose tissue plays a key role in the aggravation of COVID-19. One of the theories under investigation is that fat cells (adipocytes) act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and increase viral load in obese or overweight individuals.

23 Nov 2020

Research sheds light on T cell abnormality in critically ill COVID-19 patients

There is an idea within the coronavirus research field that there is some kind of T cell abnormality in critically ill COVID-19 patients, but specific details have not yet been clarified. To shed light on the problem, a research collaboration based in Kumamoto University (Japan) has performed a genetic analysis of T cells from lung tissue of COVID-19 patients.

23 Nov 2020