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For the first time, researchers have linked high levels of inhaled particulate matter by first responders at Ground Zero to kidney damage. Researchers from the WTC-CHEST Program, a subset of the World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center for Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, presented their new findings at the 2013 American Society of Nephrology meeting on Nov. 9 during National Kidney Week.

Baltimore, MD – November 9, 2013 – New research provides direct evidence that genetic variations in some African Americans with chronic kidney disease contribute to a more rapid decline in kidney function compared with white Americans. The research, led by investigators from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University, may help explain, in part, why even after accounting for differences in socioeconomic background, end-stage kidney disease is twice as prevalent among blacks as whites.

Genetic factors in African Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) put them at a greater risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to white Americans, according to a new study released today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland contributed data from two separate studies: the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC).

A gene variant common in African-Americans predicts that people with that gene who also have chronic kidney disease (CKD) are twice as likely to progress to kidney failure as African-Americans without the high-risk gene and white people with CKD. People with the high-risk gene also tend to lose kidney function at twice the rate of those without the gene, according to the research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

A word like 'Huh?' —used when one has not caught what someone just said—appears to be universal: it is found to have very similar form and function in languages across the globe. This is one of the findings of a major cross-linguistic study by researchers Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira and Nick Enfield, at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have identified a novel therapeutic approach for the most frequent genetic cause of ALS, a disorder of the regions of the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement, and frontal temporal degeneration, the second most frequent dementia.

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Scientists have long believed that microorganisms that produce methane swim toward the hydrogen gas they need to stay alive, but it has been too hard to prove in the lab.

Montana State University researchers have now overcome those challenges, allowing them to verify it for the first time, said Matthew Fields, an associate professor in MSU's Department of Microbiology and co-author of a new paper describing the find.

A drug approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis may also turn out to be the first targeted therapy for one of the most common forms of kidney disease, a condition that almost inevitably leads to kidney failure. A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers is reporting that treatment with abatacept (Orencia) appeared to halt the course of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in five patients, preventing four from losing transplanted kidneys and achieving disease remission in the fifth.

The kidney is responsible for retaining essential proteins and removing waste products from the blood stream. Injury to the kidney results in loss of kidney filter function, which if not treated promptly, can induce kidney failure.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Current therapies that target cellular kinases have been effective for some patients: however, many individuals with NSCLS do not respond. Recent studies of other cancers indicate that the global changes in DNA methylation patterns may drive tumor formation.

Viral infections are the primary cause of liver inflammation or hepatitis, affecting hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and they represent a public health problem worldwide. The acute condition can cause irreversible damage to the liver, and if not cured can become chronic, leading to serious diseases such as cirrhosis or cancer.

For years, scientists have observed that tumor cells from certain breast cancer patients with aggressive forms of the disease contained low levels of mitochondrial DNA. But, until recently, no one was able to explain how this characteristic influenced disease progression.

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University and University of North Carolina School of Medicine scientists have completed a study on the effect of diet complexity and estrogen hormone receptors on intestinal microbiota.

To date, research has shown that promoting the growth of certain beneficial intestinal microorganisms can help to improve overall health. The study was to determine the effectof certain factors on intestinal microbiota.

Scientists discover and describe a new species of scorpion, Euscorpius lycius, coming from the area of ancient Lycia, nowadays the regions of the Muğla and Antalya Provinces in Southwestern Turkey. With the new discovery, the scorpions from this genus found in the country go up to a total of five known species. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Women with chronic autoimmune diseases who take immunosuppressive medications during their first trimester of pregnancy are not putting their babies at significantly increased risk of adverse outcomes, according to a Vanderbilt study released online by the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.