News

Researchers at the ECRC have successfully used RNA molecules to treat a dangerous pregnancy disorder called preeclampsia. They were able to alleviate common symptoms of the disorder, like maternal high blood pressure and fetal undernutrition, with virtually no side effects.

Those who need to change their eating habits to normalise their blood pressure should start with a fast. In the journal “Nature Communications”, MDC and ECRC scientists explain why patients can use it as a tool to improve their health in the long term.

The heart can get weak in different ways. One form of the disease, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), continues to be extremely difficult to treat. MDC researchers are involved in a new Collaborative Research Center, where they aim to change this and develop therapeutic approaches.

A Berlin-based team led by ECRC researcher Dominik N. Müller is analyzing how inflammation of the intestinal mucosa affects blood vessels. They are still looking for study participants – especially people with inflammatory bowel diseases, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure and diabetes.

People with hypertension are at the greatest risk of developing serious cardiovascular diseases. A team of researchers at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center are now investigating whether probiotics in food supplements can support drug therapies or even delay the need to start them.

Antibody-mediated rejection is thought to account for around one third of all rejections following kidney transplantation.

Small changes of sodium in the blood reduce the amount of energy produced in the mitochondria – the power plants of our cells. This has consequences for immune cells. An international research team has discovered the mechanism behind this phenomenon and published their findings in the journal "Circulation".

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an altered gut microbiome composition and produce less of a certain fatty acid. This was reported by a team of researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, the MDC and the ECRC in Cell. Their findings show that propionic acid might be relevant for MS immunotherapy.

Common salt reduces the number of certain lactic acid bacteria in the gut of mice and humans according to a study published in Nature by Berlin’s Max Delbrück Center and Charité. This has an impact on immune cells which are partly responsible for autoimmune diseases and hypertension. Probiotics ameliorate the symptoms of disease in mice.

For a long time doctors have warned that a high-salt diet drives blood pressure upwards, increasing...