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

International Rare Disease Day: The patients’ voice

On the 9th International Rare Disease Day, which will be held on 29 February next, many events will be organised in over 80 countries to raise awareness among the general public, health professionals and politicians about the characteristics of these diseases, their impacts and the means to manage and treat them.

International Rare Disease Day: The patients’ voice

On the 9th International Rare Disease Day, which will be held on 29 February next, many events will be organised in over 80 countries to raise awareness among the general public, health professionals and politicians about the characteristics of these diseases, their impacts and the means to manage and treat them.   This year, the […]

Cancer metastasis: it all depends on the patient’s immune response

The researchers from Unit 1138, “Integrative Cancer Immunology,” (Inserm, Pierre and Marie Curie and Paris Descartes Universities) have analysed the tumours from 838 patients with colorectal cancer, in order to identify markers for their metastatic potential. The genomic characteristics of the cancer cells seem to have little relevance. Conversely, lymphatic vascularisation around the tumour and the intensity of the patient’s immune response appear to be crucial, and might be used as markers to predict the progression of the disease.
The article detailing these findings is published in Science Translational Medicine on 24 February 2016.

Action on Zika virus: In partnership with Brazil and the French Departments in the Americas, French research teams are taking action

Yves Lévy, President of Aviesan, the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health, met with his partners on 18 February 2016, at the headquarters of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), to deal with the research issues raised by the emergence and spread of the Zika virus. The French Ministries of Research, Health and Foreign Affairs were represented, together with ANSM (French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety), InVS (French Institute for Public Health Surveillance) and EFS (French National Blood Service).

The intestinal microbiota: a new ally for optimum growth

The intestinal microbiota is necessary to ensure optimum postnatal growth and contributes to determining the size of adult individuals, notably in the event of undernutrition. The key element in this relationship is Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), whose production and activity are in part controlled by the microbiota. This has recently been demonstrated in mice by scientists at the Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon (CNRS/ENS Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), the Laboratoire CarMeN (INSERM/INRA/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1/Insa Lyon)[1], and Unit BF2I (INRA/INSA Lyon)[2]. These findings, published on 19 February 2016 in Science, and obtained in collaboration with researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences, also show that some strains of intestinal bacteria belonging to the Lactobacillus plantarum species may favor the postnatal growth of animals, thus offering a new opportunity to combat the harmful effects of chronic infantile undernutrition.

Calpains, key cellular enzymes for fighting influenza

Why not fight the influenza virus by blocking the cellular machinery it uses for replication? Researchers from Inserm (Unit 1100, “Respiratory Pathologies: Proteolysis and Aerosoltherapy”), Institut Pasteur and the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole in Hong Kong tested this hypothesis by specifically targeting the calpains, proteases involved in inflammatory mechanisms. Their results, obtained in animals, show that inhibiting these enzymes can not only reduce the symptoms of the disease, but also prevent infection by seasonal or pandemic influenza viruses.

A study reveals a new target in the treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel disease: the fungal microbiota

A team of researchers (AP-HP, AVENIR-ATIP–Inserm team[1], INRA[2], UPMC[3]) led by Dr Harry Sokol, from the Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Saint Antoine Hospital, AP-HP, used a high-throughput sequencing method to show an imbalance in the fungal microbiota of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with variations according to the type of disease and topography of lesions. The fungal component (made up of moulds and yeasts) of the microbiota has still received only very little attention, despite the existence of considerable evidence implicating it in the occurrence of this type of disease.

This work was published online in the journal Gut on 4 February 2016.

New study reveals incidence of dementia may be declining

Despite the concern of an explosion of dementia cases in an aging population over the next few decades, a new study, based on data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), suggests that the rate of new cases of dementia actually may be decreasing.

Forensic odorology scientifically validated

Odorology is a technique that uses specially-trained dogs to identify human scent. It is used in police investigations to establish that an individual has been at the scene of a crime. However, there is no international norm on how these dogs are trained. At the Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon (CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1/Inserm), researchers specializing in scents and their memorization have analyzed data, provided since 2003 by the Division of the Technical and Scientific Police (DTSP, Ecully) on dog performances in scent identification tasks. Their results show that, at the end of a 24-month training program, the dogs are able to recognize the smell of an individual in 80-90% of cases and never mistake it for that of another. These findings validate the procedures that are currently in use and should convince the international community of the reliability of this method. This work was published on 10 February 2016 in the journal PLOS ONE.

Sunday 14 February 2016: Heart Day

As the cause of 17.5 million deaths in 2012, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide.[1] In France they are the second leading cause of mortality in men, and the leading cause in women.