HIV infects immune cells, mainly CD4+ T cells. But they are not the only ones. It also settles in the genome of myeloid cells, monocytes or macrophages. According to a study from Johns Hopkins University, the viral DNA inserted into myeloid cells is functional. The virus also reactivated from the monocyte-derived macrophage reservoir. New cure strategies need to take these cells into account to eradicate the virus from the body.
In animal models, the experimental compound IkT-148009, an inhibitor of Abelson’s tyrosine kinase (c-Abl), prevented the accumulation of the misfolded protein α-synuclein, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Treatment with the inhibitor prevented neurodegeneration.
Information technology (IT) has been promising for decades, largely since the advent of electronic medical records (EMR), to improve and streamline health care as it has multiplied productivity in countless other industries. In addition to the long-standing problems with EMRs, more recently there have been early disappointments with the latest iteration of IT focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), as big players like IBM Watson and Google have tended to over-promise and under-deliver with algorithms that are poorly matched to the data or the patient need.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a machine learning program that could score the risk of pancreatic cysts and recommend one of three treatment strategies – surgery, watchful waiting or discharge without follow-up – more accurately than current methods. The program could potentially reduce the number of unnecessary surgeries performed on pancreatic cysts with little to no potential of turning cancerous.
