They will study mother-to-child HIV transmission in Malawi, malaria prevention in Ghana.

Danielle Wickman, UC Riverside

Three first-year students in the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, are headed to Africa next month to gain first-hand experience in working with patients with HIV and malaria. After spending a month there, the students — all women — will return to the United States, where they hope to apply the knowledge gained from working in African clinics to medically underserved areas, such as inland Southern California.

Danielle Wickman and Virginia Tancioco have been selected to participate in the UCLA Global Health Program in Malawi. They leave on June 4 and return on July 13. Judy Gbadebo was selected to participate in the UCLA Global Health Program in Ghana. She leaves on June 19 and returns on July 22.

Wickman, 23, was part of the University Honors program at UCR. She has not been to Africa before, and expects her trip to Malawi will increase her passion for working in women’s health issues. Along with Tancioco, she will work on a project that focuses on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Specifically, they will study, along with Dr. Risa Hoffman, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, the effectiveness of antiretrovirals that are part of a World Health Organization treatment plan to prevent HIV transmission.

“HIV-positive pregnant women in Malawi are using — or are expected to be using — these medications,” said Wickman, a first generation college student, who plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. “But a large number of them stop using them for reasons we would like to study. We want to understand the effectiveness of these medications, and look into how many women are able to follow up and take all the medication after the initial visit to the clinic.

“We will be working in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, with Partners in Hope, while using as our home base the main hospital in Nkhoma, where we will work with patients at the hospital and in outpatient clinics, in addition to conducting home visits in villages to evaluate access to care,” Wickman added. “We will also investigate male partner involvement, meaning how many male partners are involved in the treatment process. A good number of men in Malawi feel powerless when they find out their partners have contracted HIV and find it easier to simply walk away.”

Virginia Tancioco, UC Riverside

Tancioco, 30, a student also of the five-year dual degree UCLA PRIME Medical School Program, said Malawi appealed to her because of her interest in public health.

“Malawi offers me an opportunity to work with an underserved population — another of my interests,” said Tancioco, who is considering a career in emergency medicine. “Many pregnant women in Malawi are not taking the medication that prevents transmission of HIV to their unborn children. Is this cultural? Is it a mistrust of doctors? A fear of them? Are the clinics too far and inaccessible? Are the drugs unaffordable? We would like to find out.”

She expects the trip also will help her appreciate things she takes for granted in the United States.

“Here, you switch on a light, and there it is,” she said. “In Malawi, some villages lack electricity. I expect this trip will be an invaluable learning experience for me in that sense as well.”

Hoffman, who co-directs the Global Health Education Program at UCLA, said Wickman and Tancioco were chosen for their passion for serving underprivileged populations, as well as their maturity, cultural competency and enthusiasm for global health.

“Over the summer in Malawi, Danielle and Virginia will be collecting important information to help improve access and adherence to care for women of reproductive age living with HIV,” she said. “They will have the opportunity to learn about HIV care in Malawi, a country ranked among the poorest in the world, and will be making important contributions to our knowledge of specific issues related to treatment of HIV-positive women in rural Malawian communities. I hope this experience will further strengthen their desire to work in global health and that they will return to Southern California better able to serve the diverse UCLA-UCR community because of their unique opportunity.”

Judy Gbadebo, UC Riverside

Gbadebo, 26, is no stranger to global health. She spent six months in South Africa in 2009, working directly with TB and HIV patients while examining patient care in underserved populations.

In Ghana she will focus on malaria prevention efforts for children and families in the village of Sorano. In collaboration with the Ghana Health and Education Initiative, she will examine the usage rates of insecticide treated nets and facilitate community education to reduce the transmission of infection.

“Although I enjoyed working with patients one-on-one in South Africa, I returned from the experience wanting to help patients on a larger scale and create sustainable change,” Gbadebo said. “Malaria is a devastating problem in Ghana, but through widespread education and standardized preventative solutions, it is quite solvable. I hope my research there will make an impact on the community that will generate long-lasting results. I expect my work abroad will improve my understanding of how to implement patient education and awareness as an avenue of preventative medicine.”

Dr. Emma Simmons, the associate dean for student affairs at the UCR School of Medicine, believes Gbadebo is perfect for the internship in Ghana.

“Judy is passionate about global medicine and helping the underserved,” she said. “She is also not naïve to the challenges that she will face during this internship. She has already had some insights into the politics and gravity of health care delivery in developing countries and she is determined to continue to do her part, at every level of her training in medicine, to make a sustainable impact. Her focus and commitment to study the behavioral and societal factors that influence the spread of infectious diseases, specifically malaria, in Ghana is a testament to that.”

Finding their passion

Wickman, who attended Murrieta Valley High School, is grateful that UCR gave her opportunities to find her passion.

“It was in a class I took at UCR on global health and agriculture development in developing countries that I found myself reading up on women’s health issues,” she said. “It got me interested in empowering women to create change in their communities and be invested in health and well being.”

UCR gave Tancioco the opportunity to get to know professors in a smaller and more intimate program.

“To my surprise, I was able to directly approach my professors for letters of recommendation,” said Tancioco, who attended James Logan High School in Union City. “I had expected hurdles to jump over and very limited access.”

The UCR School of Medicine’s mission of serving an underserved population appeals strongly to Gbadebo, who attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton.

“A health care disparities course through the Medical Scholars Program at UCR exposed me to a variety of issues in health disparities,” said Gbadebo, who will be joined in Ghana by a student at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.  “It is here that my passion for global health and forming parallels in my own local community flourished.”

Medical center recognized by American Alliance of Healthcare Providers.

Ann Madden Rice, UC Davis

UC Davis Medical Center has received a Hospital of Choice Award from the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers (AAHCP), signifying it as one of America’s 100 most customer-friendly hospitals.

“This award is a direct reflection of the dedication, caring and hard work our employees and students display every day,” said Ann Madden Rice, CEO of UC Davis Medical Center. “It also shows our commitment as an institution to provide safe, high-quality and compassionate care to our patients.”

Every year, the AAHCP evaluates about 400 hospitals for consideration of the Hospital of Choice Award, and selects about 100 of them to receive it. The award is designed to find America’s most customer-friendly hospitals, based either on an extensive application process or by a secret review of a facility’s public communication and staff interaction with customers.

The application process requires a review of six principal areas of consideration:

• Standards of conduct
• Performance management and improvement
• Staff development and training
• Systems of communication
• Good citizenship
• Educational and promotional material for consumers

A sampling of news media stories involving UC Health:

For hospitals and insurers, new fervor to cut costs, The New York Times

This article reports on the UCLA Health System’s efforts to reduce costs for patient care, in part by introducing innovative programs that emphasize healthy lifestyles, reduced ER visits and coordinated care for chronically ill patients. Dr. David Feinberg, president and CEO of the UCLA Health System, is quoted.

Inexpensive arthritis drug may treat dysentery, giardiasis, Los Angeles Times

An inexpensive arthritis drug called auranofin has been shown in lab and animal tests to kill the parasites that cause amoebic dysentery and giardiasis, and human trials are expected to start soon. A team headed  by Dr. James McKerrow, a pathologist at UC San Diego, and parasitologist Anjan Debnath of UC San Francisco, developed an anaerobic screening process to test potential drugs against the amoeba in the laboratory.

For medical students, dual degrees gain popularity, San Francisco Chronicle

Nationwide, dual programs in medicine and academic research, medicine and law, and medicine and business have seen their combined enrollment increase 36 percent, from 3,921 in 2002 to 5,349 in 2011, according to data released this spring by the Association of American Medical Colleges. That trend extends to the Bay Area. Over the past decade, the number of medical students at Stanford who earned dual degrees went from nine to 22 annually, out of classes of fewer than 90. UCSF has also seen a slight increase in students enrolled in joint-degree programs. UC Berkeley and UC Hastings also are mentioned.

Special: Health Care Heroes 2012, Sacramento Business Journal

The Sacramento Business Journal includes six UC Davis faculty members for its special publication Health Care Heroes 2012: Thomas Balsbaugh, Irva Hertz-picciotto, Thomas Nesbitt, Ralph deVere White, Garen Wintemute andHeather Young.

UCLA study finds cycling might affect male reproductive health, CBS Los Angeles

A new study says male cyclists may experience hormonal imbalances that could affect their reproductive health. A study from the UCLA School of Nursing found that serious male cyclists had elevated levels of estradiol, which is associated with conditions like loss of male pubic hair and enlarged breast tissue.

What you can and cannot do to ward off dementia, San Diego Union-Tribune

Every 70 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurological affliction that, some experts suggest, will eventually swamp the health-care system if effective treatments are not found. Last week, the Obama administration announced a national plan to find solutions by 2025, among them expanded research and clinical trials. Toward that end, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have just launched three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and a related disorder called Mild Cognitive Impairment. A Q&A with Dilip Jeste, director of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging and a professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at UC San Diego.

Rady to offer pediatric heart transplants, San Diego Union-Tribune

Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego intends to raise its national profile by launching a heart transplant program this year after completing a nationwide search for a surgeon to oversee the effort and raising $1.5 million to cover startup costs. With the recruitment of Dr. Eric J. Devaney from the University of Michigan, Rady Children’s is poised to become the fifth California hospital and one of about 40 nationwide that perform pediatric heart transplants. Originally, Rady Children’s approached Sharp Memorial Hospital about partnering in pediatric transplantation because Sharp was handling all adult heart transplants in the county at the time. Since then, UC San Diego has resumed its smaller transplantation program, and both Sharp and UC San Diego said pediatrics doesn’t fit with their programs. The article mentions that UCLA performed the most pediatric heart transplants in California last year (17).

New growth industry: Bay Area biotech incubators, San Francisco Business Times

The number of biotech incubators in the Bay Area has doubled in the last two years. One of the most prominent — UC’s California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, or QB3 — has four sites in San Francisco and Berkeley, fielding up to four inquiries from new companies each day.

Two booze studies serve up sobering news, LA Weekly

We’re reminded that booze and artificially sweetened mixers sometimes can be a problematic combo. The study that figured this out has been around for a while, but it’s being given fresh attention thanks to the June edition of the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, which offers news and expert advice from the School of Public Health.

UC Davis professor receives grant to study gratitude, The Sacramento Bee

UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons has received a $5.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to advance the science of gratitude.

Are PSA screenings for prostate cancer bad for your health?, The Daily Beast

A government-selected panel of experts suggested that widespread PSA screening too easily leads to aggressive and unnecessary interventions by turning up false-positive results or alerting patients to non-life-threatening tumors. Dr. Paul Knoepfler, cancer biologist at UC Davis and survivor of prostate cancer, says he understands both sides of the argument. “PSA is best used if it is evaluated relative to a man’s age,” he said.

Fevers during pregnancy linked to autism, but medication helps, Los Angeles Times

Researchers at UC Davis’ MIND Institute have found that women who reported having a fever during pregnancy were more likely to give birth to a baby who would later be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or a development delay. But babies of women who treated their fevers with medication fared no worse than babies whose mothers reported no fevers at all.

More than half of autistic kids prescribed mood medicines, Bloomberg

The National Institute of Mental Health has just released the results of a survey that found 56 percent of autistic children age 6 to 17 were on one or more drugs normally given for disorders such as anxiety, depression, psychosis or hyperactivity. “This is very good that physicians are recognizing these additional problems that kids with autism can have,” said Randi Hagerman, medical director of UC Davis’ MIND Institute. Hagerman said these medicines can make other behavioral treatments more effective.

Can sugar make you stupid? ‘High concern’ in wake of rat study, National Geographic News

This article reports on a UCLA study showing that a steady high-fructose diet can slow the brain and hamper memory and learning in rats — and how omega-3 fatty acids can minimize the damage.

The curse of a diagnosis (video), The Wall Street Journal

Dr. John Ringman, UCLA associate professor of neurology and a member of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, is featured in this article about his use of a spinal tap to detect increases in the amyloid protein long associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The test can detect the existence of such plaques years before symptoms appear.

Strength training for your brain?, The Orange County Register

A Q&A with Dr. Gary Small, Parlow–Solomon Professor on Aging, professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and director of the UCLA Longevity Center, about his book “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program.”  The book offers tips for keeping your memory sharp during the aging process.

UC Merced bone health research promising, Merced Sun Star

Osteoporosis patients are among those who could benefit from the findings of a new UC Merced study on bone health. UC Merced immunology professor Jennifer Manilay and her research team have discovered a new way bone health could affect a person’s immune system.

Campus clinic to offer free dental services to students, families, Lemon Grove Patch

A 2010 Pew Center on the States report showed that one of every five children under the age of 18 in America live without dental care every year. The statistic is even higher in California, where one in four children under age 11 have never seen a dentist. But that is about to change for students in the Lemon Grove School District with a free oral health clinic operated by UCSD on the campus of the new Lemon Grove Academy for the Sciences and Humanities.

Breathing smog while pregnant may worsen asthma in offspring, HealthDay News

A study led by UC Berkeley public health postdoctoral fellow Amy Padula has found a link between prenatal exposure to air pollution and poor lung-function development in children with asthma.

Kristof: Are you safe on that sofa?, The New York Times

This column about the risks of flame retardants cites UC Berkeley visiting chemistry scholar Arlene Blum, whose research led to the removal of chlorinated Tris from children’s pajamas. The chemical is still used in couches and nursing pillows, though, and without warning labels. “For pregnant women, they [flame retardants] can alter brain development in the fetus,” she warns.

UCSF scientists aim to use embryonic stem cells for treatment.

Chronic pain, by definition, is difficult to manage, but a new study by UCSF scientists shows how a cell therapy might one day be used not only to quell some common types of persistent and difficult-to-treat pain, but also to cure the conditions that give rise to them.

The researchers, working with mice, focused on treating chronic pain that arises from nerve injury — so-called neuropathic pain.

In their study, published in the May 24, 2012 issue of “Neuron,” the scientists transplanted immature embryonic nerve cells that arise in the brain during development and used them to make up for a loss of function of specific neurons in the spinal cord that normally dampen pain signals.

A small fraction of the transplanted cells survived and matured into functioning neurons. The cells integrated into the nerve circuitry of the spinal cord, forming synapses and signaling pathways with neighboring neurons.

As a result, pain hypersensitivity associated with nerve injury was almost completely eliminated, the researchers found, without evidence of movement disturbances that are common side effects of the currently favored drug treatment.

“Now we are working toward the possibility of potential treatments that might eliminate the source of neuropathic pain, and that may be much more effective than drugs that aim only to treat symptomatically the pain that results from chronic, painful conditions,” said the senior author of the study, Allan Basbaum, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Anatomy at UCSF.

Although pain and hypersensitivity after injury usually resolve, in some cases they outlast the injury, creating the condition of chronic pain. Many types of chronic pain are induced by stimuli that are essentially harmless — such as light touch — but that are perceived as painful, according to Basbaum.

Chronic pain due to this type of hypersensitivity is often a debilitating medical condition. Many people suffer from chronic neuropathic pain after a bout of shingles, years or decades after the virus that causes chicken pox has been vanquished. Chronic pain is not merely prolonged acute pain, Basbaum said.

Those who suffer from chronic pain often get little relief, even from powerful narcotic painkillers, according to Basbaum. Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant first used to treat epilepsy, now is regarded as the most effective treatment for neuropathic pain. However, it is effective for only roughly 30 percent of patients, and even in those people it only provides about 30 percent relief of the pain, he said.

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Scripps-led analysis of tiny marine organisms indicates early promise in areas ranging from inflammation to skin conditions.

Darkly colored cyanobacteria overtake a Hawaiian coral reef.

A seaweed considered a threat to the healthy growth of coral reefs in Hawaii may possess the ability to produce substances that could one day treat human diseases, a new study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has revealed.

An analysis led by Hyukjae Choi, a postdoctoral researcher in William Gerwick’s laboratory at Scripps, has shown that the seaweed, a tiny photosynthetic organism known as a “cyanobacterium,” produces chemical compounds that exhibit promise as anti-inflammatory agents and in combatting bacterial infections. The study is published in the May 25 issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology.

“In different arenas these compounds could be helpful, such as treating chronic inflammatory conditions for which we currently don’t have really good medicines,” said Gerwick, a professor of oceanography and pharmaceutical sciences at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at Scripps and UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Scientists identified the “nuisance” organism in 2008 on the reefs directly adjacent to the National Park Pu‘uhonua o H’onaunau off the Kona coast of Hawaii. The cyanobacterium is believed to be native to Hawaii and is usually inconspicuous, said Jennifer Smith, a Scripps assistant professor in the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and a paper coauthor.

“When we first found the bloom during routine surveys with the University of Hawaii we were concerned as it was clearly smothering the corals at one of the most popular dive sites in Hawaii,” said Smith. “Observations in the field even suggested that the cyanobacteria may have been releasing some chemical that was causing the coral to bleach.”

When Smith and her colleagues found the seaweed blooming it was clear that it was overgrowing and negatively affecting the underlying corals. Samples were retrieved in 2009 and transferred to Scripps for analysis.

Choi, Gerwick and their colleagues conducted various laboratory experiments and discovered that the seaweed (the cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya crossbyana) generates natural products known as honaucins with potent anti-inflammation and bacteria-controlling properties.

Specifically, the substances hamper bacteria’s ability to “swarm” over surfaces. For example, when overtaking a new area, bacteria secrete small amounts of a substance known as a quorum sensing factor, which tests to see if the new surface is safe for colonization. Halting a quorum sensing factor could one day translate to a treatment for bacterial infections. For instance, this could be critical, Gerwick said, in the development of drugs to prevent infection in patients who require catheters to deliver vital nutrients to key areas such as arteries, as well the development of new treatments for acne and other skin conditions.

“I think this finding is a nice illustration of how we need to look more deeply in our environment because even nuisance pests, as it turns out, are not just pests,” said Gerwick. “It’s a long road to go from this early-stage discovery to application in the clinic but it’s the only road if we want new and more efficacious medicines.”

“These organisms have been on the planet for millions of years and so it is not surprising that they have evolved numerous strategies for competing with neighboring species, including chemical warfare,” said Smith. “Several species of cyanobacteria and algae are known to produce novel compounds, many that have promising use in drug development for human and other uses.”

Other co-authors of the paper include Samantha Mascuch, Francisco Villa, Tara Byrum and Lena Gerwick of Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Margaret Teasdale and David Rowley of the University of Rhode Island; and Linda Preskitt of the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

UC San Diego and the National Institutes of Health supported the research.

Inflammation can increase risk of autism or developmental delay in children.

Ousseny Zerbo

A team of UC Davis researchers has found that mothers who had a fever during pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have a child with autism or developmental delay than mothers who did not have a fever or who took medication to counter its effect.

“Our study provides strong evidence that controlling fevers while pregnant may be effective in modifying the risk of having a child with autism or developmental delay,” said Ousseny Zerbo, lead author of the study, who was a Ph.D. candidate with UC Davis when the study was conducted and is now a postdoctoral researcher with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. “We recommend that pregnant women who develop fever take anti-pyretic medications and seek medical attention if their fever persists.”

Published online in the “Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,” the study is believed to be the first to consider how fever from any cause, including the flu, and its treatment during pregnancy could affect the likelihood of having a child with autism or developmental delay.

The results are based on data from a large, case-control investigation known as the Childhood Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study led by the UC Davis MIND Institute. Another recent study based on CHARGE data found that mothers who were obese or diabetic had a higher likelihood of having children with autism.

Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of public health sciences at UC Davis and principal investigator of CHARGE, pointed out that fever is produced by acute inflammation — the short-term, natural immune system reaction to infection or injury — and that chronic inflammation, which no longer serves a beneficial purpose and can damage healthy tissue, may be present in mothers with metabolic abnormalities like diabetes and obesity.

“Since an inflammatory state in the body accompanies obesity and diabetes as well as fever,” said Hertz-Picciotto, “the natural question is: Could inflammatory factors play a role in autism?”

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Berkeley scientists help paint a more nuanced picture of the disease.

William Jagust, Berkeley Lab

For the past five years, volunteers from the City of Berkeley and surrounding areas have come to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to participate in an ongoing study that’s changing what scientists know about Alzheimer’s disease.

The volunteers, most over the age of 70, undergo what can best be described as a brain checkup. They’re asked to solve puzzles and memorize lists of words. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans image the structure of their brains in exquisite detail. Functional MRI scans allow scientists to watch portions of their brains light up as they form memories. And Positron emission tomography (PET) scans measure any accumulation of beta-amyloid, a destructive protein that’s a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

The goal of the Berkeley Aging Cohort Study is to reveal how our brains change as we age. The scientists also compare their findings with brain scans of Alzheimer’s patients.

They’ve noticed something odd—and perhaps a little hopeful. Some volunteers have the same level of beta-amyloid deposition as an Alzheimer’s patient. Yet they show no signs of the disease.

PET brain images

Why is this? How can two people, the same age and with the same signs of the disease, take such different paths?

“It turns out that Alzheimer’s is more complicated than we thought,” says William Jagust, a faculty senior scientist in the Berkeley Lab’s’s Life Sciences Division who also has appointments at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.

Jagust heads a team that conducts the cohort study, which so far includes about 80 volunteers, with more to come. Their research has put them at the forefront of a more nuanced take on Alzheimer’s.

“Until recently, we thought the more amyloid accumulation in the brain, the greater the chance of developing the disease” says Jagust. “But we now believe that amyloid unleashes a chain of events that may or may not cause Alzheimer’s.”

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Boosts immune response when vitamin D levels are low.

Staphylococcus aureus, magnified 50,000 times.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules produced in the skin to fend off infection-causing microbes. Vitamin D has been credited with a role in their production and in the body’s overall immune response, but scientists at the UC San Diego School of Medicine say a hormone previously associated only with maintaining calcium homeostasis and bone health is also critical, boosting AMP expression when dietary vitamin D levels are inadequate.

The finding, published in Wednesday’s (May 23) online issue of Science Translational Medicine, more fully explains how the immune system functions in different situations and presents a new avenue for treating infections, perhaps as an alternative to current antibiotic therapies.

The immunological benefits of vitamin D are controversial. In cultured cell studies, the fat-soluble vitamin provides strong immunological benefits, but in repeated studies with humans and animal models, results have been inconsistent: People with low levels of dietary vitamin D do not suffer more infections. For reasons unknown, their immune response generally remains strong, undermining the touted immunological strength of vitamin D.

Working with a mouse model and cultured human cells, Gallo and colleagues discovered why: When levels of dietary vitamin D are low (it’s naturally present in very few foods), production of parathyroid hormone (PTH), which normally helps modulate calcium levels in blood, is ramped up. More PTH or a related peptide called PHTrP spurs increased expression of AMPs, such as  cathelicidin, which kill a broad spectrum of harmful bacteria, fungi and viruses.

“No one suspected a role for PTH or the PTH-related peptide in immunity,” said Richard L. Gallo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and chief of UCSD’s Division of Dermatology and the Dermatology section of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. “This may help resolve some of the controversy surrounding vitamin D. It fills in the blanks.”

For example, the findings relate to the ongoing debate over sun exposure. Sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin D have been claimed in some studies to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, but other studies have failed to confirm this. On the other hand, high levels of solar exposure that could increase vitamin D have been shown to increase the risk of skin cancer.

“Since sunlight is a carcinogen, it’s a bad idea to get too much of it,” said Gallo. “PTH goes up when levels of vitamin D from diet and sun exposure are low. PTH may be what permits us to have low D in the diet and not kill ourselves with too much UV radiation.”

Gallo said PTH’s newly revealed immunological role provides a new connection between the body’s endocrine system (a system of glands secreting different regulatory hormones into the bloodstream) and its ability to fight invasive, health-harming pathogens.

While much more work remains to be done, including human studies, it’s possible that PTH or PTHrP might eventually become an effective antibiotic treatment without the risk of antibiotic resistance in targeted microbes. One challenge would be how to specifically limit treatment to the targeted infection. “Maybe that could be done by developing the therapy as a cream,” Gallo said.

Co-authors of the study are Beda Muehleisen, Carolos Aguilera and George Sen, Division of Dermatology, UC San Diego; Daniel D. Bikle, Department of Medicine and Dermatology, UC San Francisco; Douglas W. Burton, Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System; Leonard J. Deftos, Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System and Department of Medicine, UC San Diego.

This research has been funded in whole or in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), under contract number HHSN272201000020C to the Atopic Dermatitis Research Network and grant numbers R01 AI052453 and R01 AI0833358; the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, NIH, under grant numbers R01 AR052728;  and the Veterans Administration Merit Award (ID:1145995). Additional funding was received from the State of California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (#18XT-0182) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (PBZHP3-125571 and PASMP3_140073).