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Document de presse | 2007.05.02
The brain and chronic exposure to nicotine
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur associated with the CNRS, collaborating with scientists from the Karolinksa Institute (Stockholm) and the University of Bordeaux 1, have analysed the subtle balance between various types of nicotinic receptors in the brain during chronic exposure to nicotine. Their research, just published in 'PNAS', could make it possible to guide the development of...
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Document de presse | 2007.04.24
Cerebral malaria: towards a prognostic test?
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with clinicians in Gabon, recently conducted a study on cerebral malaria in Plasmodium falciparum infected children. Results from this research, published today in 'PLoS ONE', should allow a better understanding of this severe form of malaria affecting 20-40% of P. falciparum infected individuals developing a severe...
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Document de presse | 2007.04.17
Dipsticks for the rapid diagnosis of diarrhoeal diseases
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, including one associate team at Inserm, have recently developed a diagnostic test able to be used at a patient's bedside for the major forms of bacillary dysentery (or shigellosis), a disease responsible for a million deaths every year across the world. Their study, conducted in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur of Ho Chi Minh City,...
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Document de presse | 2007.03.11
BCG: should clinical trials be reconducted?
The various BCG strains used to vaccinate against tuberculosis throughout the world may not all have the same level of effectiveness. This was the conclusion of a study conducted by researchers from Institut Pasteur, published today in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA". Press release Paris, march 12, 2007 Over three billion individuals...
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Document de presse | 2007.02.14
The virulence of the plague bacillus: a "virus" involved...
During Middle Age, the plague decimated almost one third of the European population in less than 3 years. Why is the plague bacillus so pathogenic? Researchers from the Institut Pasteur have discovered that the infection of the ancestral form of the bacillus by a bacterial virus (phage) has been one of the steps that have led to the emergence of such a dreadful organism. For plague specialists,...
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Document de presse | 2007.02.05
New recommendations against a major opportunistic infection: cryptococcosis
Cryptococcosis ranks second among fatal opportunistic infections in patients infected by HIV and who are profoundly immunosuppressed. A multicentric prospective study, published today in PLoS Medicine, was conducted in France by researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS among patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis. The study uncovers parameters associated with more severe infections,...
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Document de presse | 2007.01.31
The search for a streptococcus B vaccine
Streptococcus B, one of the primary sources of infection in newborns, can cause pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis. Portuguese researchers and a team from the Institut Pasteur associated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) have identified a bacterial protein that modifies the host's immune system to facilitate bacterial colonization. The researchers, who have...
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Document de presse | 2006.12.19
Tuberculosis: the bacillus takes refuge in adipose cells
A team from the Institut Pasteur has recently shown that the tuberculosis bacillus hides from the immune system in its host's fat cells. This formidable pathogen is protected against even the most powerful antibiotics in these cells, in which it may remain dormant for years. This discovery, published in PLoS ONE, sheds new light on possible strategies for fighting tuberculosis. Attempts to...
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Document de presse | 2006.12.10
Inflammatory intestinal diseases: the lessons of Shigella
The bacterium Shigella flexneri, responsible for shigellosis, or bacillary dysentery, acts by invading intestinal cells. Researchers from the Institut Pasteur associated with Inserm have now shown how this bacterium modulates the inflammatory response at the cell level to ensure its survival. By deciphering the mechanisms at work, they are pointing out to possibly new therapeutic targets, opening...
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Document de presse | 2006.10.19
Identification of a gene responsible for auditory neuropathies: hope for children suffering from profound deafness
A gene in which mutations cause profound irreversible deafness in newborn children has been identified by the team led by Professor Christine Petit at the Pasteur Institute, in association with Inserm, the Pierre et Marie Curie University and the Collège de France. The discovery which has just been published in the journal Cell has led these researchers to uncover the role of its encoded protein...