Press releases

The HPV vaccine is most effective against high-grade cervical lesions if given before the age of 17, according to a new register-based study from Karolinska Institutet and the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The results, which are published in the International Journal of Cancer, show that the vaccine is effective at preventing high-grade lesions.

Long-term use of liraglutide, a substance that helps to lower blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, can have a deteriorating effect on insulin-producing beta cells, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels. This according to a study on mice implanted with human insulin-producing cells conducted by a team of scientists from Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Miami, USA.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have taken a step closer to understanding the mechanism that leads to the fusion of egg and sperm at fertilisation. Using the technique X-ray crystallography, they have determined the 3D structure of Juno, a mammalian egg protein essential for triggering gamete fusion. Their findings are not only interesting from an evolutionary perspective, but also reveal the shape of a possible target for future non-hormonal contraceptives.

Sterilised mosquito nets can replace costly surgical meshes in the repair of inguinal (groin) hernias without further risk to the patients. This makes mosquito nets a good alternative for close to 200 million people in low-income countries suffering from untreated groin hernias. These are the results of a Swedish-Ugandan study presented in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

In recent decades, much hope was based on the development of personalised drug treatments, in which genetic tests determine the choice and optimal dose of medication for each individual patient. However, the real breakthrough is still to be seen, and now researchers at Karolinska Institutet show in two separate scientific papers that many more gene variants affect how a person responds to medication than previously thought – and thus that today’s analytical tools are too coarse.

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that a new test for prostate cancer is better at detecting aggressive cancer than PSA. The new test, which has undergone trial in 58,818 men, discovers aggressive cancer earlier and reduces the number of false positive tests and unnecessary biopsies. The results are published in the scientific journal ‘The Lancet Oncology’.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden might be one step closer to finding an effective drug for alcohol dependence. In two separate studies, they show that the so-called dopamine stabilizer OSU6162 can reduce the craving for alcohol in alcohol dependent people and normalises the level of dopamine in the brain reward system of rats that have consumed alcohol over a long period of time. However, thorough clinical studies are needed to determine if the OSU6162 also can help alcohol dependent people drink less alcohol.

A study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet is the first to suggest that cells in the tumour blood vessels contribute to a local environment that protects the cancer cells from tumour-killing immune cells. The results, which are being published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, can contribute to the development of better immune-based cancer therapies.

Swollen lymph nodes are often the earliest sign of metastatic spread of cancer cells. Now cancer researchers and immunologists at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have discovered how cancer cells can infiltrate the lymphatic system by ‘disguising’ themselves as immune cells (white blood cells).

Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and the University of British Columbia, Canada, have identified a gene variant that influences whether Huntington’s disease breaks out earlier or later than expected. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, can contribute to improved diagnosis and disease-modifying therapies. A typical symptom of the inherited, progressive, […]