Medicine & Health

A foodborne fungus that is harmless to most people exacerbates gastrointestinal symptoms in people with Crohn’s disease by preventing intestinal ulcers from healing, according to a new study from the School of Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic.

A study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that a toxin produced by E. coli changes intestinal cells to benefit itself, an ability that could provide a clue to why the bacteria have been linked to nutritional problems such as malnutrition and stunted growth.

An international team of researchers led by scientists at the School of Medicine has identified two regions in our DNA — one newly identified and a second that replicates a past finding — that appear to contribute to one’s risk of becoming dependent on marijuana.

Studying college women with eating disorders, a team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that a phone-based app that delivers a form of cognitive behavioral therapy was an effective means of intervention in addressing specific disorders.

Gastric bypass surgery is the most effective therapy to treat or reverse type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients. New research from Washington University School of Medicine indicates that weight loss after surgery, rather than the surgery itself, drives metabolic improvements.

A new School of Medicine study has shown that specific bacteria living in the upper small intestines of malnourished children play a causal role in stunted growth and other damaging side effects of malnutrition. The knowledge could lead to better therapies.

Trish Kohl and Lora Iannotti, associate professors at Washington University’s Brown School, have received a five-year $3.2 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health to study stunted growth and development in children in Haiti.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found that gene therapy in mice helped build strength and significant muscle mass quickly, while reducing the severity of osteoarthritis. The gene therapy also prevented obesity, even when the mice were fed a high-fat diet.

Disabling a gene in specific mouse cells, School of Medicine researchers have prevented mice from becoming obese, even after the animals had been fed a high-fat diet. The researchers blocked the activity of a gene in immune cells called macrophages, key inflammatory cells.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have transformed stem cells into insulin-producing cells. They used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to correct a defect that caused a form of diabetes, and implanted the cells into mice to reverse diabetes in the animals.