Latest Clinical & Research News
Increased immune system activity at the brain’s surface, or meningeal inflammation, is believed to be important for understanding how relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) — the most common early form of the disease — progresses to more advanced clinical stages. But the most commonly available MRI technology, 3 Tesla (3T), offers a limited view of meningeal inflammation.
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It’s not uncommon for people who have neurological disorders to experience behavioral and emotional symptoms. The field of neuropsychiatry is dedicated to addressing this issue and bringing a neurobiological understanding to the field of psychiatry.
An intranasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is expected to begin its first human trial in 2020, culminating nearly 25 years of research led by Howard L. Weiner, MD, co-director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Could understanding a patient’s personal network of friends and family provide important clues to health and illness, and even guide care? Neurologist Amar Dhand, MD, DPhil, of the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is investigating the relationship of personal networks and stroke, with some surprising findings.
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Andrea L. Roberts, PhD, Susan Malspeis, MS, Laura D. Kubzansky, PhD, Candace H. Feldman, MD, Shun-Chiao Chang, ScD, Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, Karen H. Costenbader, MD, MPH Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2017;69(11):2162-2169.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an enigmatic inflammatory autoimmune disease. A widely-accepted etiologic model for SLE is that environmental exposures “trigger” the disease in genetically-predisposed individuals. The epidemiology of SLE – 80-90% of cases occur in women, and disease severity is much greater in African-American and non-white populations – points to the obvious role of genetics, and genome-wide association studies have identified many genetic factors associated with SLE susceptibility. Meanwhile, there is a growing list of exposures which have also been associated with SLE risk in epidemiologic studies, which include current cigarette smoking, crystalline silica, pesticides, and oral contraceptives and postmenopausal hormones among women. Models for how these and other environmental exposures may contribute to autoimmune disease pathogenesis include elevating concentrations of systemic inflammatory cytokines, increasing oxidative stress, and impairing T-cell function.
Charles G. Jennings, PhD, has been appointed the executive director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases and the Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital developed a novel aortic stenosis polygenic risk score (PRS) that incorporates more than five million genetic variants. They verified it was associated with aortic stenosis in two independent, very large populations.
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Metabolite levels reflect an individual’s diet, environment, and gut microbiome, and researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently became the first to find associations between plasma metabolomic profiles and persistent tinnitus.
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Guo-Ping Shi, ScD, in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues review how allergic asthma affects the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have published a proof-of-principle study showing vascular smooth muscle cells themselves can be transformed into endothelial cells.
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