Researchers have identified a small RNA molecule called microRNA-21 as a potential avenue for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They believe development of new drugs that inhibit microRNA-21 may yield an entirely new therapeutic approach when it comes to COPD. Their findings may address the limited effectiveness of current therapies in controlling COPD or halting its progression.

Exercise makes a big difference when added to fasting. When study participants exercised, they reached ketosis on average three and a half hours earlier in the fast and produced 43% more BHB. The theory is that the initial exercise burns through a substantial amount of the body’s glucose, prompting a quicker transition to ketosis. Without exercise, the participants hit ketosis about 20 to 24 hours into the fast.

One in five U.S. adults will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, according to the National Alliance of Mental Health. But standard treatments can be slow to work and cause side effects. To find better solutions, a Virginia Tech researcher has joined a renaissance of research on a long-banned class of drugs that could combat several forms of mental illness and, in mice, have achieved long-lasting results from just one dose.

Six years ago, Michael Niederweis, Ph.D., described the first known toxin of the deadly pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an exotoxin that had gone undetected for 132 years. Now Niederweis and colleagues describe the mechanism of secretion and trafficking of that toxin, TNT, which is the major cytotoxicity factor for the pathogen that infects 9 million people a year and kills more than 1 million.