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

May ’68, Lived and Recounted by the French Scientific Community

Mai 1968 a mis la société française en ébullition. La communauté scientifique ne fait pas exception à la règle, cette dernière s’est mise à protester et à réinventer le monde de la science : les universités ont été bloquées, les hôpitaux se sont mis en grève et dans les laboratoires de recherche les vieilles pratiques ont été dénoncées. Découvrez “Mai 68, la science s’affiche”, une série de courts-métrages qui revient sur les évènements qui ont révolutionné le monde universitaire et hospitalier. Une série créée avec le soutien de l’Inserm, en coproduction avec CNRS Images et Schuch productions, en association avec Universcience et avec la participation du Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.

Air Pollution in France: a Cost to Fetal Health and Society

Des chercheurs Inserm de l’équipe d’épidémiologie des maladies allergiques et respiratoires (EPAR) ont analysé les données sur les risques de naissances d’enfants accusant un retard de croissance liés à la pollution atmosphérique. Cette étude révèle que l’impact de la pollution atmosphérique durant la grossesse ainsi que les répercussions sur l’enfant après la naissance coûtent cher. Le montant pour la société est ainsi estimé à 1.2 milliard d’euros. Ces résultats ont été publiés dans la revue Archives de Pédiatrie de mai 2018.

A new gelling molecule for growing neurons in 3D

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from CNRS, INSERM and Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier has developed a hydrogel that can grow, develop and differentiate neural stem cells. This biomaterial could provide new paths for the development of in vitro cellular models of brain tissue or of in vivo tissue reconstruction. This work is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on May 14, 2018.

The organization of the intestinal microbiota governed by antibodies

In a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine , Guy and his team Gorochov research center CIMI (Inserm / Université Sorbonne) and Immunology Department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, AP-HP, reveal that our IgA act as conductor of the intestinal microbiota. They effectively prevent intestinal colonization by the oral flora and promote the presence of certain bacteria, totally innocent of infectious standpoint, but playing a beneficial role.

Discovery of a first genetic cause of Whipple’s disease

A Franco-American team involving researchers from Inserm, Université Paris-Descartes and doctors grouped in the Institute Imagine the hospital Necker-Enfants Malades AP-HP and Rockefeller University New York discovered a genetic cause of Whipple’s disease, chronic intestinal pathology. By studying families with 4 members developed symptoms, the team found that the mutation of the gene causes IRF4 an impaired immune response to the bacteria Tropheryma whippleiAt the origin of the disease. This bacterium, common and experienced by many individuals, then causes in carriers of the mutation potentially fatal chronic infection without treatment. With this discovery, the first step towards a genetic explanation of the disease was done.

Cirrhosis: a predictor of mortality accurate prognosis

A trial sponsored by AP-HP and conducted by teams of Beaujon Hospital, AP-HP, Inserm and Université Paris Diderot was set up to establish an indicator that reflects the severity of liver disease in patients with cirrhosis. Coordinated by Professor Pierre-Emmanuel Rautou and Dr. Audrey Payancé the Hepatology Service of Beaujon Hospital, AP-HP, this study establishes that measurement microvesicles rate from liver and circulating in the blood greatly improves prediction of 6-month mortality of patients with cirrhosis.

This indicator would better choose treatments offer in patients with cirrhosis. These results, published in the journal Hepatology , also opening a reflection on the value of strategies to reduce the rates of these microvesicles in the blood of patients with cirrhosis.

World Asthma Day

Tuesday May 1 is World Asthma Day – a day to educate and raise public awareness to improve the diagnosis and treatment of asthma.

World Asthma Day

Tuesday May 1 is World Asthma Day – a day to educate and raise public awareness to improve the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. Asthma is a respiratory disease that can be brought on by pollution, various allergies or genetic predisposition. It affects 9% of children, and those under the age of 15 account for […]

Discovery of a future therapy for hemoglobinopathies

With the genome editing CRISPR-case.9 technique, researchers at INSERM, the hospital Necker Children-AP-HP, and Université Paris Descartes in the Institute Imagine managed to reactivate a gene that may improve the appearance of red blood cells of patients with hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia. The teams Annarita Miccio, Inserm researcher, Prof. Marina Cavazzana AP-HP and Isabelle André-Schmutz, Inserm researcher show this new avenue of research and treatment of β -hémoglobinopathies in the journal Blood .

Apparent age of the elderly : a diagnostic tool for primary care physicians?

To estimate the health of their elderly patients, healthcare professionals have various clinical tools at their disposal: geriatric assessment scales, health questionnaires and frailty scores. However, although these tests are appropriate to a medical context, they are more difficult for primary care physicians (PCPs) to implement because they require time and equipment that they do […]