An antioxidant transporter of the trace mineral selenium that protects against inflammatory bowel disease has the opposite effect in colorectal cancer, where it promotes tumor growth, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reported.

New research shows that about half of pediatric patients who died of sepsis over the past 20 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center had evidence of an inflammatory state called persistent inflammation, immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome.

Ayaka Sugiura, PhD, and Camille Wang, aspiring physician-scientists in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Vanderbilt, are among this year’s recipients of highly competitive P.E.O. Scholar Awards.

A case study of a rare disorder uncovers roles for the protein dysbindin in the adaptive immune response and suggests that mutations may underlie some cases of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease.

Dietary magnesium depletion in a mouse model activated inflammatory pathways and molecules that promote hypertension, suggesting that increased magnesium consumption may be beneficial for reducing the prevalence of hypertension.

Hepatic stellate cells maintain liver mass and function; the signaling factors they use could be exploited therapeutically to promote liver regeneration and inhibit cancerous proliferation, Vanderbilt researchers suggest.

Genetic mosaicism — when the body’s cells do not all have the same genetic makeup — could generate variants previously thought to be spontaneous in genetic disease, and detecting parental mosaicism could clarify recurrence risk for future children.