Patients with drug-resistant malaria cured by plant therapy.

Patients with drug-resistant malaria cured by plant therapy.Tablets made from dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant cured 18 critically ill patients in a Congo clinic. The results suggest a new and inexpensive treatment option for the mosquito-borne disease that affects 212 million people worldwide. #malaria The 18 patients, ranging in age from 14 months to 60 years, did not respond to the standard ACT treatment, and all lapsed into severe malaria, defined by symptoms that can include loss of consciousness, respiratory distress, convulsions, and pulmonary edema. One patient, a five-year-old child, became comatose. All were then treated with intravenously administered artesunate, the frontline medication for severe malaria, but again they showed no improvement. #malaria When the standard malaria medications failed to help 18 critically ill patients, the attending physician in a Congo clinic acted under the 'compassionate use' doctrine and prescribed a not-yet-approved malaria therapy made only from the dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant. In just five days, all 18 people fully recovered. Artemesia annua is also known as sweet wormwood is an alternative to conventional antimalarial drugs. #malaria

Metabolism directly impacts the odds of developing malaria.

A study has shown that metabolism directly impacts the odds of developing malaria.Researchers have found that the host's susceptibility to develop malaria depends on his or her metabolic state, which can be easily manipulated through external stimuli such as dietary patterns. The progression and development of an infectious disease is directly dependent not only on the characteristics of the causing infectious agent but also on the genetic characteristics of the host, which also dictate the efficiency of the infection. During the last years scientific discoveries have suggested that external factors independent of the host-parasite dichotomy, such as eating habits, can impact in the establishment, progression and endpoint of infections. The team manipulated the diet fed to lab mice for very short periods of time and evaluated the level of infection caused by the malaria parasite.The results, now published in the journal Nature Microbiology, show that an increase in the levels of pro-oxidants caused by dietary shifts leads to a 90% reduction in parasite load during the hepatic phase of the infection and consequently lowers the severity of the disease.

Making artificial blood for transfusions.

Making artificial blood for transfusions.Blood transfusions can save the lives of patients who have suffered major blood loss, but hospitals don't always have enough or the right type on hand. In search of a solution, researchers have developed a promising substitute using blood's oxygen-carrying component, hemoglobin. This in vitro study found that the modified hemoglobin was an effective oxygen carrier and also scavenged for potentially damaging free radicals. The researchers developed a one-step method for wrapping hemoglobin in polydopamine, or PDA, which has been widely studied for biomedical applications.

Malaria drug protects fetuses from Zika infection.

Malaria drug protects fetuses from Zika infection. A new study shows that treatment prevents virus from crossing placenta to infect fetus. Zika virus infects the fetus by manipulating the body's normal barrier to infection, according to a new study of pregnant mice. Moreover, the study showed that a drug that interferes with this process protects the fetus from viral infection. That drug is already approved for use in pregnant women for other medical purposes

Piglets possess social learning skills and have an astonishingly good memory.

Piglets possess social learning skills and have an astonishingly good memory.Pigs are socially competent and capable of learning.Pigs are not normally thought to be especially intelligent. New research, however, has shown them to be very capable of learning and making decisions. In combination with their pronounced social competence, it can therefore be assumed that the animals may also possess social learning abilities. A new study conducted by cognitive researchers from the Messerli Research Institute of Vetmeduni Vienna has now shown that pigs do in fact possess highly developed learning abilities. The researchers demonstrated that free-ranging piglets of the New Zealand breed Kune Kune attentively observed and replicated tasks demonstrated by their mother or an aunt.The objective of the study was to demonstrate social learning through the "vertical transmission of information," i.e. the passing on of knowledge to the next generation

Household environment, not genetics, shapes salivary microbes.

Household environment, not genetics, shapes salivary microbes.The mix of microorganisms that inhabit a person's saliva are largely determined by the human host's household, new research shows. The study shows that early environmental influences play a far larger role than human genetics in shaping the salivary microbiome--the group of organisms that play a crucial role in oral and overall health. Researchers in the United Kingdom have discovered that the mix of microorganisms that inhabit a person's saliva are largely determined by the human host's household. The research team wanted to know how the salivary microbiome gets established and which factors are most responsible for the mix of bacteria found there. This study shows that environments shared during upbringing play a major role in determining what community of bacteria gets established.

Sun's role in mitigating fungal disease of mango fruit.

Sun's role in mitigating fungal disease of mango fruit.Mango fruits play host to some economically damaging fungal diseases, especially during ripening and storage; but mango growers and suppliers have a new ray of hope...in the form of sunlight. The occurrence of stem end rot (SER) during storage means major losses for mango fruit growers and suppliers. A new research explores sunlight's role in cultivating a beneficial mix of microorganisms that help mitigate SER. The new research explores the role of sunlight in boosting the levels of beneficial microorganisms in mango fruits to combat stem end rot. The researchers showed that high sunlight exposure in an orchard has the effect of turning the mango's skin red. Mango fruits with less sunlight exposure remain green. Using a novel deep sequencing technique, they studied the dynamics in the microbial and fungal community inside the stem end tissues of both red and green mango fruits during storage. They found that both fungal and bacterial community changes were dependent on fruit peel color, storage duration, and storage temperature.