A drug typically prescribed for arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition like epilepsy, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. If the drug proves viable for human patients, it would be the first to provide lasting relief from seizures even after they stopped taking it.

The pathogen C. diff — the most common cause of health care-associated infectious diarrhea — can use a compound that kills the human gut’s resident microbes to survive and grow, giving it a competitive advantage in the infected gut. 

A team led by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered how C. diff (Clostridioides difficile) converts the poisonous compound 4-thiouracil, which could come from foods like broccoli, into a usable nutrient. Their findings, published March 25 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, increase understanding of the molecular drivers of C. diff infection and point to novel therapeutic strategies.