Endocrine disruptors can potentially become more harmful if mixed. Following on from research published in 2015, scientists continue to decipher the molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon known as the "cocktail effect".
So-called "persistent" bacterial infections constitute a major public health problem and are linked to significant failures of antibiotic treatments. Researchers from Inserm and Université de Rennes 1, in collaboration with a team based in Switzerland, have identified a new mechanism to explain the persistence of Staphylococcus aureus.
A study by Inserm and Dijon University Hospital based on French nationwide data on around 130,000 patients hospitalized for either COVID-19 or seasonal influenza shows that the mortality rate among those admitted for COVID is three times higher than that of seasonal influenza.
A commonly used treatment in some forms of breast cancer, tamoxifen acts on the cancer cells by blocking the estrogen receptor (ER)a and thereby inhibiting their proliferation. However, the action of this drug appears to be more complex than that, with the addition of protective effects on the arteries that could reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Teams from the Pitié-Salpêtrière AP-HP hospital, Sorbonne University, Inserm and the Pasteur Institute have carried out work to study the role that IgA-type antibodies play in the protection of body against Covid-19 in the mucous membranes, in particular respiratory.
Back at the start of the pandemic, Inserm, through its REACTing consortium, set up Discovery: a European clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of four antiviral drugs repurposed for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and interferon beta-1a). In parallel, the World Health Organization (WHO) set up Solidarity, a major consortium of clinical trials also aimed at testing the efficacy of these four treatments. Discovery...
An imbalanced diet has been linked to a disruption of the gut microbiota, which promotes metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Researchers have shown, in a large European cohort, that changes in the composition of the gut microbiota lead to increased blood levels of the molecule imidazole propionate. A molecule known to render the body's cells resistant to insulin, thereby increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A procedure that may help personalise anticancer therapies has just been developed by the CNRS, Inserm, and Aix-Marseille University scientists at the Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, in association with colleagues from the University of California San Francisco and the Marseille Public University Hospital System (AP-HM), with support from Canceropôle Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur.
Are our emotions innate or are they the product of our culture and environment? This question has long been the subject of debate in the field of neuroscience. Researchers provide robust clinical data in favor of the second hypothesis. Their work suggests that our ability to know and recognize emotions is built up gradually and depends on our knowledge of language.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential, necessarily supplied by the diet and indispensable to brain development. Scientists have focused in particular on the impact of the maternal diet during gestation and lactation on the brain development of their offspring. They have thus shown for the first time in mice how an insufficient intake of omega-3 in the mother can alter the development of neuronal networks in the offspring, causing memory...