School of Medicine

School of Medicine researchers are developing a quick test for caffeine, a dipstick, that can be used to check for caffeine in a variety of drinks. More medical news

School of Medicine researchers will study the effects of an antibiotic on asthma symptoms in those whose symptoms are not completely controlled by their medication.

School of Medicine researchers are taking a hard scientific look at how well the results delivered by artificial bone compare to fusions using bone from deceased donors.

Third-year medical student James Hudspeth will spend a year in South Africa researching HIV/AIDS and shadowing physicians caring for patients.

Histamine in the small intestine (shown in green) responding to the bacterium *Yersinia enterocolitica*Mice infected with a bacterium related to the plague sharply increase production of an enzyme that makes the inflammatory hormone histamine, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. The increased production, which occurs in the intestine, appears to be an important part of the mouse’s successful efforts to control the infection.

Red zones in this brain map suggest frontal parts of the brain are particularly sensitive to erotic content.A new study suggests the brain is quickly turned on and “tuned in” when a person views erotic images. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis measured brainwave activity in women as they viewed a series of slides that contained various scenes from water skiers to snarling dogs to partially-clad couples in sensual poses. When study volunteers viewed erotic pictures, their brains produced electrical responses that were stronger than those elicited by other material, no matter how pleasant or disturbing the other material may have been. This difference in brainwave response emerged very quickly, suggesting that different neural circuits may be involved in the processing of erotic images.

Eliminating a molecular signal can help protect a neuron (show here) from destructive immune system cells.It may sound like a case of blame the victim, but researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that cells in the central nervous system can sometimes send out signals that invite hostile immune system attacks. In mice the researchers studied, this invitation resulted in damage to the protective covering of nerves, causing a disease resembling multiple sclerosis. The researchers found that they could prevent destructive immune cells from entering nervous system tissue by eliminating a molecular switch that sends “come here” messages to immune cells.

Charles Huddleston performs a pediatric lung transplant.A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that using lobes of lungs from living donors improves the chances of short-term survival for children who require a second lung transplant. Researchers compared the outcomes of lung retransplants in 39 children, including 13 patients who had lung retransplants using lobes from living donors and 26 who received lung retransplants using whole lungs from deceased donors. Living-donor lung retransplantation involves removing a lower lobe, or about one-third of a lung, from each of two healthy adult donors and then transplanting the lobes as replacement lungs into a child.

Susan Dutcher, Ph.D., professor of genetics and of cell biology and physiology, has been named interim head of the James S. McDonnell Department of Genetics at the School of Medicine effective July 1.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoKaren L. Wooley and lab members examine polymer samples.A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a remarkable nanostructured material that can repel pests, sweeten the air, and some day might even be used as a timed drug delivery system — as a nasal spray, for instance. Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, has taken the same materials that she developed more than four years ago as marine “antifouling” coatings that inhibit marine organisms such as barnacles from attaching to the hull of ships to now capture fragrance molecules and release them at room temperature. More…