Inserm Newsroom - Press room of the French national institute of health and medical research

Brand new intervertebral discs for back pain

Throughout life, extremely heavy demands are made on the spinal column. Spinal wear very soon affects the quality of life, and back pain is often described as the illness of the century. 40% of back pain may be due to irreversible deterioration of the intervertebral discs (which act as “cushions” between the vertebrae), which can no longer play their role as shock absorbers. Researchers from Inserm led by Jérôme Guicheux (Inserm Unit 791, “Laboratory of Osteoarticular and Dental Tissue Engineering,” Nantes) have successfully transformed adipose stem cells into cells that might be able to replace damaged discs. This work is published in the journal Stem cells.

Seasonal epidemic diseases: surveillance continues

The Sentinelles network, developed by Inserm and Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC), is a national surveillance system made up of 1,300 general practitioners and about a hundred private paediatricians, which allows the creation of large databases for several diseases, for purposes of health monitoring and research. The Sentinelles physicians collect information from their patients […]

Seasonal epidemic diseases: surveillance continues

The Sentinelles network, developed by Inserm and Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC), is a national surveillance system made up of 1,300 general practitioners and about a hundred private paediatricians, which allows the creation of large databases for several diseases, for purposes of health monitoring and research. The Sentinelles physicians collect information from their patients […]

Inserm recruiting about 300 volunteers to test vaccine against the Ebola virus

Although the acute stage of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is behind us, the need for research to find preventative measures remains urgent. The global community shares the same goal: to prevent future epidemics as catastrophic as the one we have witnessed over the past two years.

To this end, Inserm is coordinating the Ebovac2 project, a collaborative effort, funded under a grant from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Ebola+ programme. The project was launched in response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak, to assess the safety and immunogenicity of a novel ‘prime-boost’ preventative vaccine regimen against Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). In France, clinical research centres specialised in vaccination are now recruiting approximately 300 healthy volunteers from 18 to 65 years old. The project is coordinated by Inserm under the scientific responsibility of Professor Rodolphe Thiébaut (Inserm Unit U897).

Individual susceptibility to liver toxicity of alcohol depends on the intestinal microbiota

Despite excessive alcohol consumption, some individuals remain in good health while others develop liver disease. This inequality regarding the toxicity of alcohol for the liver depends on the intestinal microbiota. This has just been demonstrated by scientists and physicians from Paris-Sud University, Inserm, AP-HP (Antoine-Béclère Hospital), INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), AgroParitech and Aix-Marseille University. These results are published online in the journal Gut.

Innate lymphoid cells: a backup system for fighting intestinal infections

Éric Vivier’s team at Marseille-Luminy Immunology Center (CIML), a CNRS, Inserm and Aix-Marseille University research centre, in collaboration with Gabrielle Belz’s team at Walter and Elisa Hall Institute (WEHI), Melbourne, sheds new light on the dynamics of the immune networks that protect our intestine. During episodes of bacterial diarrhoea, innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) “share the work” with memory T lymphocytes, but can also compensate for them in the event of failure.
The authors also show that ILCs protect the appendix from potential damage caused by infection, a finding that may confer a new status on this organ. These discoveries are presented this Monday, 30 November, in the scientific journal Nature Immunology.

Benzodiazepine use is associated with a risk of developing dementia

A link between benzodiazepine use and the occurrence of dementia has been observed in a study, the results of which are published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia, conducted by a team of Inserm researchers directed by Christophe Tzourio (Inserm Unit 897, “Epidemiology and Biostatistics Center,” Univ ersity of Bordeaux). More precisely, it is mainly the long half-life benzodiazepines (which disappear from the body in over 20 hours) that are associated with the risk of dementia. In this study, people taking long half-life benzodiazepines have a 60% increased risk of dementia.

Inserm rallies around COP21

La 21ème Conférence Internationale des parties de la Convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques (COP21/CMP11), s’est ouverte lundi 30 novembre, soulignant la volonté des gouvernements participants à lutter contre le changement climatique et ses conséquences. Dans ce contexte, l’Inserm souhaite sensibiliser professionnels et grand public aux impacts du changement climatique sur la santé et propose jusqu’au 11 décembre, des symposiums scientifiques, des conférences grand public et une exposition pédagogique.

Inserm rallies around COP21

The 21st International Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11) opened on Monday 30 November, underlining the willingness of participating governments to fight climate change and its consequences. In this context, Inserm wishes to raise awareness among professionals and the general public about the impacts of climate change on […]

Tuesday 1 December: World AIDS Day

World AIDS day, which will be held on 1 December next, is aimed at making the general public aware about prevention and management of the disease. Inserm researchers are involved in combating this infection on a year-round basis.