- 2014
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Press releases - 30.07.2014
Antiphospholipid syndrome : discovery of a promising route to improving patient care
By combining fundamental research and monitoring a single cohort of kidney-transplant patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, the researchers have highlighted a beneficial effect of sirolimus, commonly used as an immunosuppressor in organ transplants, to prevent recurrence of vascular lesions on the transplanted kidney.
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News in brief - 30.07.2014
Tactile exploration decoded
Precisely how do we distinguish the texture of objects by touch? This is what has just been decoded by a study led by Clément Léna, research director at Inserm and Daniela Popa, a researcher at Inserm in Mixed Research Unit 1024: Biology Institute, École Normale Supérieure (Inserm, ENS, CNRS) and published in the journal Nature […]
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What's on? - 29.07.2014
The Ebola epidemic is spreading in West Africa
The Ebola epidemic is continuing to spread in West Africa. In March 2014, Guinea was reporting its first cases of the Ebola virus disease to the World Health Organization (WHO). The disease has since spread beyond Guinea’s borders to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Within the past several days, a first case has been reported […]
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Press releases - 28.07.2014
New resistance mechanisms to melanoma targeted therapies : contribution of the translation of RNAs into proteins
French investigators have discovered new resistance mechanisms to targeted therapies used for less than three years in the treatment of melanoma. This discovery enables us not only to better understand why these treatments become ineffective but also to reveal new avenues for the management of these aggressive tumours. These studies have been published in the review Nature and have the benefit of an early on-line publication.
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Press releases - 25.07.2014
HIV : male circumcision also benefits women
Having proven effective in reducing the number of new HIV infections in men, circumcision also appears to play a role in the reduction of HIV incidence in women. These findings are from the study ANRS 12126 coordinated by Professor Bertran Auvert (Inserm U1018, Université de Versailles-Saint Quentin, Hôpital Ambroise Paré) and conducted in the township of Orange Farm in South Africa. They will be presented as an oral communication by Kévin Jean (Inserm U1018) at the 20th International AIDS Conference organized by the International AIDS Society and held at Melbourne from 20 to 25 July 2014
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Press releases - 24.07.2014
Drug users : a new strategy to reduce infectious risk
The risk of transmission of HIV and of hepatitis C virus in intravenous drug users can be reduced significantly by means of support and educational sessions delivered by their peers.
This type of community intervention, which is easily transposable, has been evaluated in the framework of ANRS AERLI, a study conducted jointly by the nonprofit organizations AIDES, Médecins du Monde and by Inserm U912 (Marseille). The results were presented in an oral communication at the 20th International AIDS Conference organized by the International Aids Society and held in Melbourne (Australia) from 20 to 25 July 2014. -
Press releases - 23.07.2014
Repeated home-based HIV screening in South Africa : a strategy well accepted on a large scale
Launched in March 2012, the ANRS 12249 TasP (Treatment as Prevention) Trial is one of four international randomized trials designed to assess the efficacy of the TasP strategy in a large population. It is conducted the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, one of the highest prevalence areas in the world, and the highest in South Africa (16.9% in 2012 according to the latest national survey of the general population).
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What's on? - 23.07.2014
2014 World Hepatitis Day
28 July 2014 is World Hepatitis Day. Millions of people across the world are infected by one of the five known viruses (A, B, C, D, E). Nearly 1.4 million people die from it every year. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. It can have a viral or toxic origin (when alcohol abuse or […]
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Press releases - 21.07.2014
Radiotherapy ‘flashes’ to reduce side effects
Treating hard and fast seems to be a good way to limit the side effects of radiotherapy. This is the discovery made by researchers at the Curie Institute, Inserm and the Vaud University Hospital, published in Science Translational Medicine on 16 July.
Radiotherapy remains one of the benchmark local treatments for cancer patients: increasingly accurate, it consists of irradiating cancer cells to destroy them while preserving neighbouring healthy tissues and organs as much as possible. By increasing the intensity of the irradiation 1,000 times over a very short time, the researchers have shown that the efficacy remains the same, but healthy tissues are better protected. -
Press releases - 18.07.2014
Working toward improved management of cranial trauma
Under normal conditions and because it cannot store oxygen, the brain cannot withstand being deprived of oxygen for more than a few minutes without risking serious consequences. After an accident (cranial trauma or stroke), emergency teams therefore try to restore cerebral oxygenation as quickly as possible. The faster and more precisely physicians work, the greater the chances of recovery. A multi-disciplinary team at the Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience (GIN, Inserm/ Grenoble-Alps University/Grenoble teaching hospital) comprising physicists, biologists and physicians (neurologists and anaesthetists) has developed a new method for measuring cerebral oxygenation using MRI. Besides being non-invasive, this technique identifies the least oxygenated areas of the brain with precision. Ultimately, it could be used to guide therapeutic interventions and make them more precise, less risky and more effective.