Body of knowledge

UC Davis researchers have found a link between traffic-related air pollution and an increased risk for age-related dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Their study, based on rodent models and published in Environmental Health Perspectives, corroborates previous epidemiological evidence showing this association. Researchers expect future studies will help identify which pollution component is predominately responsible.

A team of UC Davis researchers has discovered a special type of stem cell that can reduce the amount of the virus causing AIDS, boosting antiviral immunity and repairing and restoring the gut’s lymphoid follicles damaged by the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the equivalent of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in non-human primates. The study, published in JCI Insight, showed the mechanism through which mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) enhance the body’s immune response to the virus. It also provides a roadmap for developing multi-pronged HIV eradication strategies.

An international team of researchers led by UC Davis Health has developed a new therapeutic approach to treating psoriatic arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the joints. Using a novel chemical blocker targeting chemokine proteins, the researchers were able to significantly reduce skin and joint inflammation in a mouse model with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The study was published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology.

A study led by UC Davis Health researchers has found that a diet rich in sugar and fat leads to an imbalance in the gut’s microbial culture and may contribute to inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis. The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, suggests that switching to a more balanced diet restores the gut’s health and suppresses skin inflammation.

Although extreme risk protection orders, also known as gun violence restraining orders (GVROs) or “red flag” orders, have been available in California for five years, a new study found that two-thirds of Californians surveyed had never heard of them. The study from the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis Health appears in JAMA Health Forum.

A state-funded Rapid Precision Medicine program yielded life-changing outcomes for critically ill infants at five California hospitals while significantly reducing health care costs. UC Davis Children’s Hospital and the UC Davis MIND Institute were key participants in the research, which was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics and outlined the success of Project Baby Bear, a real-world quality improvement program designed to test the value of rapid Whole Genome Sequencing (rWGS®) to diagnose and guide treatment for unexplained rare disease.