‘Icarus’ film to be screened Nov. 7
“Icarus,” a 2017 documentary film exploring doping in sports, will be screened from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. A panel discussion will follow.
New clues in mice link cholesterol to fertility
Whether made by the body or ingested through diet, cholesterol plays a vital role in cells. Cholesterol also is a building block of steroids and hormones, including those that trigger puberty and support pregnancy. A new study, led by Daniel Ory, MD, implicates a surprising regulator of cholesterol in cells’ ability to make these hormones, especially in tissues associated with fertility, such as the ovaries.
Children’s study to determine if asthma medications can reduce need for steroids
Children between the ages of 6 and 17 years old with moderate-to-severe asthma may be eligible for a study at the School of Medicine to evaluate whether two medications can reduce the amount of inhaled steroids needed to control asthma.
Safer steroids
Glucocorticoid receptors on steroids.Doctors have used steroids for decades to control autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease, but their potentially serious side effects — including bone loss, obesity, diabetes and growth impairment — have made it difficult to keep patients on the drugs for prolonged periods of time. Endocrinologist Louis Muglia, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of molecular biology and pharmacology and of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues have recently identified a key component of steroids’ effects on the immune system, a possible first step toward developing new drugs that can offer the same benefits as steroids without the many potentially serious side effects.