news 2018

Clinical and research teams at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, using infection prevention and control best practice, whole genome sequencing and electronic patient data, have halted an outbreak of a potentially deadly fungal pathogen after detecting that multi-use patient equipment was responsible.

Tissues grown in the lab from stem cells may fail to live up their therapeutic promise because the cells choose their own fate. For the last 20 years, scientists have worked to engineer tissues for use in a range of conditions, such as osteoarthritis or heart failure. They do this by placing stem cells - those that can become any kind of cell - in biodegradable 3D structures, or 'scaffolds', in the laboratory.

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and published in The Lancet shows that treatment with albiglutide (a type of drug called a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist) results in fewer cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes and existing cardiovascular disease than treatment with placebo.

Improving the knowledge of a genetic condition which causes cholesterol levels to soar could lead to fewer people dying from heart disease. The findings come from the largest report to date on the global status of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a hidden killer which can affect otherwise healthy individuals irrespective of their lifestyle.

PA 195/18 A team of eye specialists at the University of Nottingham has made another novel discovery that could help to improve the success of corneal transplants for patients whose sight has been affected by disease. The research, published in the October edition of the American Journal of Ophthalmology , has shed light on a characteristic of a thin membrane called the Descemets membrane which can cause difficulties for surgeons performing the intricate Descemets membrane transplant procedure.

New research has shown that support cells in the brain can be utilised to heal and protect neurones, paving the way for the development of new medicine to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Tackling neurodegeneration remains one of the great challenges for modern medicine. Most of the major neuro-psychiatric conditions (such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases) involve a gradual decline of neuronal populations as neurones in the affected areas die.

Researchers at MRC HIU examined the large intestine using sophisticated single cell technology, in work that paves the way for better treatments for IBD. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with limited treatment options. The two main forms of the disease, Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis, affect more than 300,000 people in the UK.

A unique source of stem cells in blood helps to build blood vessels according to new UCL-led research with mouse embryos. The findings change scientific understanding of how blood vessels are made and bring scientists one step closer to using stem cells to grow new blood vessels and repair damaged ones.

Replacing food with a diet of soups, shakes and bars starting at 810 calories per day alongside regular sessions with a counsellor is a safe and clinically effective way to treat obesity in primary care, finds a study from Oxford University researchers. Total diet replacement programmes are not generally funded by the NHS in England but the authors of this study, published in the BMJ , suggest that there is now enough evidence for these programmes to be one of the treatments recommended for people who are obese.

Imperial scientists have helped unravel the genetic code of tuberculosis (TB), enabling doctors to tailor treatments to each individual patient. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , may herald a quicker, more tailored treatment for the millions of people around the world living with tuberculosis.

A diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, plant-based food and fish, typical of a traditional Mediterranean diet, could help lower depression risk, according to new research from UCL. The study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry , is a comprehensive, systematic overview of the current evidence regarding a link between the quality of people's diets and the risk of depression.

Researchers at UCL Cancer Institute have shown for the first time that immune cells found within the urine mirror those found in cancerous bladder tumours. This discovery could potentially help doctors to track patient responses to bladder cancer treatment in the future, in a quick and easy way with a urine test.

Research led by scientists at the University of Birmingham shows more precisely how G protein-coupled receptors, which are the key target of a large number of drugs, work. The human genome encodes hundreds of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These form the largest group of receptors through which hormones and neurotransmitters exert their functions on our cells, and are of highest importance as drug targets.

Regular use of aspirin could help in the treatment of some cancers, finds a new review of 71 medical studies. The systematic review, which looked at the survival of 120,000 patients with cancer who took aspirin, compared with 400,000 patients who did not, showed that at any time following the diagnosis of some cancers the proportion of patients who were still alive was 20-30% greater in those taking the drug.

There is an increasing need to prevent obesity because of the consequences for mental as well as physical health, new research by academics at the University of Bristol has found. The study, published today [Wednesday 26 September] in the BMJ , explored the impact of aspects of physical health, such as body weight, heart health and blood pressure, to see whether a wide age range of individuals with poorer physical health went on to be less happy and less satisfied with their lives.

New tests can diagnose 'hidden' heart diseases caused by problems with the small blood vessels supplying the heart, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference today in San Diego. The new tests are not yet standard in the NHS because, before now, there has not been enough evidence gathered about whether they would benefit patients.

Scientists hope that a new approach to vaccine development, combined with improved surveillance of potential future threats of outbreak, could help to massively reduce the impact of deadly diseases such as Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever. "This has the potential to have an enormous positive impact on global public health" Jonathan Heeney Researchers from the University of Cambridge will shortly begin clinical trials of a new vaccine that builds on almost two decades of research to protect against diseases caused by RNA viruses.

New research from an international team led by Oxford University's Department of Zoology and the National-Kapodistrian University of Athens shows that an ancient retrovirus - HK2 - is more frequently found in drug addicts and thus is significantly associated with addiction. The human genome is "littered" with remnants of ancient retrovirus infections that invaded the germline of our primate ancestors.

Researchers have developed a new way to target the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells in Alzheimer's disease. This is the first time that a systematic method to go after the pathogens - the cause of Alzheimer's disease - has been proposed. Michele Vendruscolo Academics at the University of Cambridge and at Lund University in Sweden have devised the first strategy to 'go after' the cause of the devastating disease, which could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to treat dementia.

Researchers have developed a genome-editing tool for the potential treatment of mitochondrial diseases: serious and often fatal conditions which affect 1 in 5,000 people. Mitochondrial replacement therapy is a promising approach to prevent transmission of mitochondrial diseases, however, as the vast majority of mitochondrial diseases have no family history, this approach might not actually reduce the proportion of mitochondrial disease in the population.