http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale In this prospective study, led by Dr Richard Moreau, INSERM Research Director (Mixed Research Unit 773 "Centre de Recherche biomédicale Bichat-Beaujon"; INSERM/Université Paris Diderot) who is also a practitioner attached to the Hepatology Department of the Beaujon Hospital (AP-HP), researchers studied a cohort of 1343 patients from 12 European countries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-liver-disease-enable-provision-treatment.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:26:21 EST news285499574 A research team of Inserm, CNRS and MDC lead by Michael Sieweke of the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille Luminy (CNRS, INSERM, Aix Marseille Université) and Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, today revealed an unexpected role for hematopoietic stem cells: they do not merely ensure the continuous renewal of our blood cells; in emergencies they are capable of producing white blood cells "on demand" that help the body deal with inflammation or infection. This property could be used to protect against infections in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants, while their immune system reconstitutes itself. The details of the research is published in Nature on April 10, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-ability-blood-stem-cells-emergencies.html Immunology Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:07:54 EST news284818052 Improving neurone production in elderly persons presenting with a decline in cognition is a major challenge facing an ageing society and the emergence of neuro-degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. INSERM and CEA researchers recently showed that the pharmacological blocking of the TGFβ molecule improves the production of new neurones in the mouse model. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-neurones-circumstances-mouse.html Medical research Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:08:56 EST news284728128 (Medical Xpress)—Heart and cerebro-vascular disorders represent the two leading causes of death throughout the world. They are sometimes combined in a single patient and their combination represents both a considerable risk to the patient and a therapeutic challenge. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-history-coronary-heart-diseasea-fatal.html Cardiology Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:20:05 EST news280494678 Despite progress in regenerative medicine, with age, the skin loses its properties in an irreversible manner. The ATIP-Avenir team "Epidermal homeostasis and tumorigenesis" directed by Chloé Féral, an Inserm researcher at the French Cancer and Aging Research Institute, has just defined the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in maintaining skin cells and skin healing in advanced years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-skin-aging.html Medical research Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:18:52 EST news278072326 Weak concentrations of bisphenol A are sufficient to produce a negative reaction on the human testicle. This has just been shown experimentally for the first time by René Habert and his colleagues (UMR Cellules souches et Radiations [UMR Stem Cells and Radiation], Inserm U 967 – CEA – Paris Diderot University) in an article that appeared in the journal entitled  Plos One. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-effects-bisphenol-experimentally.html Health Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:15:05 EST news278072085 Researchers from Inserm and the Université Lille/Université Lille Nord de France have recently used a neurodegeneration model of Alzheimer's disease to provide experimental evidence of the relationship between obesity and disorders linked to the tau protein. This research was conducted on mice and is published in the Diabetes Review. It corroborates the theory that metabolic anomalies contribute massively to the development of dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-detrimental-effect-obesity-lesions-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:30:41 EST news276784231 Physical inactivity is a major public health problem that has both social and neurobiological causes. According to the results of an Ipsos survey published on Monday 31 Dec., the French have put "taking up a sport" at the top of their list of good resolutions for 2013. However, Francis Chaouloff, research director at Inserm's NeuroCentre Magendie (Inserm Joint Research Unit 862, Université Bordeaux Ségalen), Sarah Dubreucq, a PhD student and François Georges, a CNRS research leader at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience (CNRS/Université Bordeaux Ségalen) have just discovered the key role played by a protein, the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, during physical exercise. In their mouse studies, the researchers demonstrated that the location of this receptor in a part of the brain associated with motivation and reward systems controls the time for which an individual will carry out voluntary physical exercise. These results were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-good-resolutions-physical-hard.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 04 Jan 2013 11:29:16 EST news276521336 Why would our immune system turn against our own cells? This is the question that the combined Inserm/CNRS/ Pierre and Marie Curie University/Association Institut de Myologie have strived to answer in their "Therapies for diseases of striated muscle", concentrating in particular on the auto-immune disease known as myasthenia gravis. Through the project known as FIGHT-MG (Fight Myasthenia Gravis), financed by the European Commission and coordinated by Inserm, Sonia Berrih-Aknin and Rozen Le Panse have contributed proof of the concept that a molecule imitating a virus may trigger an inappropriate immune response, causing muscular function to deteriorate. These results have been published in Annals of Neurology, accessible on line. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-auto-immune-disease-viral-route.html Neuroscience Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:32:44 EST news275149949 Julien Diana and Yannick Simoni of the "Immune Mechanisms in Type 1 Diabetes," Inserm/Université Paris Descartes, directed by Agnès Lehuen, have just published the results of their work on type 1 diabetes in the Nature Medicine journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-role-innate-immune-cells-diabetes.html Diabetes Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:42:08 EST news275139717 Although this therapy is not curative, it nevertheless reduced the autistic disorders' severity in three-quarters of the children. The researchers have filed a request for authorisation to perform a multi-centre European clinical trial in order to determine more precisely the population concerned by this therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-clinical-trial-severity-autistic-disorders.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:01:23 EST news274539599 An Inserm team in Dijon directed by François Ghiringhelli is to publish an article this week in the Nature Medicine review. The article suggests that two chemotherapy drugs frequently used to treat digestive and breast cancers may encourage the development of tumors by modulating the anti-tumoral immune response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-chemotherapy-effectiveness-immune.html Immunology Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:02:28 EST news273848532 Researchers from Inserm, CNRS and the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, in collaboration with Cambridge university, Strasbourg university and clinical practitioners from the Strasbourg University Hospital Centre, have analyzed data from 17 comatose patients using functional MRI data. Their research reveals that the brain networks of these patients have been restructured. The results, published in PNAS on Nov. 26, 2012, could help clinical practitioners diagnose comatose patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-radical-brain-networks-comatose-patients.html Neuroscience Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:46:54 EST news273847603 This study provided important data about the fertility window of women who had suffered from childhood cancer and information concerning the associated risk factors, but did not confirm the greater risk of premature menopause (before the age of 40) that was reported by the American studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-age-menopause-women-childhood-cancers.html Cancer Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:07:26 EST news273845222 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease with an occurrence rate in France similar to multiple sclerosis (two to three new cases per year for every 100,000 residents). It has a specific affect on neurons responsible for motor control, in particular motor neurones and central motor neurones. The former, located in the spinal cord, are directly linked to muscles and are used for muscle contraction and stretching. The latter, located in the brain, receive movement orders. As the disease develops, the neurons degenerate and the muscles are no longer stimulated and stop working. Movements, walking and speech become increasingly difficult and patients tend to pass away an average of two to five years after diagnosis, generally due to respiratory failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-relief-spasms-amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:30:05 EST news271430966