A disruptive element such as a change in diet, and the whole intestinal flora becomes disrupted, with possible repercussions for health. An international research study conducted by the Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis Unit (Institut Pasteur/Inserm), directed by Philippe Sansonetti, has just demonstrated, in mice, the direct influence of a diet too high in fat on the intestinal flora and its environment. In response to this new diet, the bacterial communities...
Inserm Unit U919, directed by Prof. Denis Vivien (“Serine Proteases and Physiopathology of the Neurovascular Unit”) has developed an antibody with potential therapeutic effects against multiple sclerosis. The study, directed by Fabian Docagne and published in Brain, paves the way for a new strategy to control the disease.
With nearly 3.2 billion people currently at risk of contracting malaria, scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS and Inserm have experimentally developed a live, genetically attenuated vaccine for Plasmodium, the parasite responsible for the disease. By identifying and deleting one of the parasite's genes, the scientists enabled it to induce an effective, long-lasting immune response in a mouse model. These findings were published in the Journal of Experimental...
Doctors should rethink how they treat patients who have suffered the deadliest form of stroke, a clinical trial suggests.The study recommends a change in guidelines for treating any patients who have had a stroke caused by bleeding into the brain – known as intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) – while regularly taking aspirin.
A small number of patients infected by HIV spontaneously control viral replication without antiretroviral therapy, and do not develop the disease. The ability of these rare patients, known as "HIV controllers", to suppress HIV replication appears to be down to a highly effective immune response. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm observed that CD4+ T immune cells in these patients, recruited from the ANRS CO21 CODEX cohort, were...
An international study, conducted by researchers from the Institute for Development Research (IRD), Inserm and Institut Pasteur and their Guinean partners (Donka University Hospital, Macenta Hospital, National Institute of Public Health, and University of Conakry, confirms that Ebola virus persists in the semen of survivors of the epidemic in Guinea, for up to 9 months after their recovery. These results, which recall the importance of monitoring survivors in order...
Nadine Dragin, a researcher from an Inserm/UPMC/CNRS/AIM team codirected by Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen le Panse at the Institute of Myology, based at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, AP-HP, has demonstrated the central role of AIRE, a key factor in immune tolerance, in the unequal impact of autoimmune diseases on men and women. This work, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation on 1 April 2016, was funded by AFM-Téléthon.
In the last two years, nearly 2 million people have been infected with the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the end of 2015, REACTing and members of the Aviesan alliance immediately became involved, particularly Inserm, Institut Pasteur, the Institute for Development Research (IRD), the French Blood Transfusion Service and the associated university hospitals. Initial contact was made with Brazilian researchers from Fiocruz in November 2015....
A study by researchers from Inserm, the Paris Public Hospitals (Bichat Hospital, AP-HP), Aix-Marseille University, and the National Reference Centre for Arboviruses confirms that the ZIKA virus can be transmitted sexually. Their analyses have shown 100% genetic correlation between the form of the virus present in a man who contracted the virus in Brazil and that of a woman who had never travelled in the epidemic area, but who...
A first case of acute myelitis following infection with Zika virus has been reported for the first time by a research team from Inserm Unit 1127 Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Sorbonne University) and neurologists at Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital and the University of the Antilles. A young patient in the acute phase of an infection by Zika virus presented motor deficiency in the 4 limbs, associated with very...