The membranes surrounding our brains are in a never-ending battle against deadly infections, as germs constantly try to elude watchful immune cells and sneak past a special protective barrier called the meninges. In a study involving mice and human autopsy tissue, researchers at NIH and Cambridge University have shown that some of these immune cells are trained to fight these infections by first spending time in the gut.

NIH researchers have discovered a gene in mice that controls the craving for fatty and sugary foods and the desire to exercise. The gene, Prkar2a, is highly expressed in the habenula, a tiny brain region involved in responses to pain, stress, anxiety, sleep and reward.

Covid-19 treatments for people with early infection are needed urgently, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article by NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci and colleagues. Treating people early in the course of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, would speed their recovery, reduce the likelihood that they develop severe outcomes and reduce demand on the health care system, they write.

Researchers at NIH have discovered a biological pathway that the novel coronavirus appears to use to hijack and exit cells as it spreads through the body.

Researchers from NIH have discovered a new inflammatory disorder called vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory and somatic syndrome (VEXAS), which is caused by mutations in the UBA1 gene.

An NIH study of 5,000 women has found that approximately 1 in 4 experienced high levels of depressive symptoms at some point in the 3 years after giving birth.

Differences in the microstructure of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a region in the brain that plays an important role in processing food and other reward stimuli, predict increases in indicators of obesity in children, according to a study funded by NIDA and nine other institutes.

An NIH study in mice suggests that parents have an innate capacity to respond to an infant’s cries for help; this capacity may serve as a foundation from which a parent learns to adjust to an infant’s changing needs.

NIAID recently launched a study designed to determine whether certain approved therapies or investigational drugs in late-stage clinical development show promise against Covid-19. The ACTIV-5 Big Effect Trial will soon enroll adult volunteers hospitalized with Covid-19 at as many as 40 U.S sites.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) does not appear to lower the risk of infection for obese women after cesarean delivery, suggests a study funded by NIH.