- - European weblog on food, health and environment
News - Week 47 - 2008
Austrian Government Study
Confirms Genetically Modified (GM) Crops Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety
Advocates Call for Immediate Ban of
All GM Foods and GM Crops
A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food
Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried
out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously
affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this
infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods
and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the
world.
Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto
Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by
the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek
said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that
mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.
In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20
weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810),
or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant
litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the
GM-fed mice, compared to the control group.
The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as
genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.
Stem Cells with Potential to
Regenerate Injured Liver Tissue Identified by Penn Researchers
A novel protein marker has been found that identifies rare adult liver stem cells, whose
ability to regenerate injured liver tissue has the potential for cell-replacement therapy.
For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine led
by Linda Greenbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of
Gastroenterology, have demonstrated that cells expressing the marker can differentiate
into both liver cells and cells that line the bile duct. In the future, this marker will
allow for the isolation and expansion of these stem cells, which could then be used to
help patients whose livers can no longer repair their own tissue. About 17,000 Americans
are currently on a waiting list for a liver transplant, according to the American Liver
Foundation. The findings appear online this month in the journal Hepatology. “In a
healthy liver, proliferation of mature liver and bile-duct lining cells is sufficient to
maintain the necessary size and function of the organ,” explains Greenbaum.
“This even works when the liver is confronted with mild and acute injury, but the
situation changes when injury to the liver is chronic and severe.”
Mandatory HPV Vaccination Is
Unwarranted and Unwise
The HPV vaccine, sold as Gardasil in the U.S., is intended to prevent four strains of the
human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. The
vaccine also prevents against cervical cancer. While the vaccine represents a significant
public health advance, a new article in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics suggests
that it is premature for states to currently mandate the HPV vaccine as a condition for
school attendance. Gail Javitt, J.D., M.P.H., Deena Berkowitz, M.D., M.P.H., and Lawrence
O. Gostin, J.D., LL.D., review the scientific evidence supporting Gardasil’s approval
and the legislative actions in the states that followed and raise several concerns about
state mandates for HPV vaccination.
In the war against diseases, nerve
cells need their armor
In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill
University, and the Université de Montréal have discovered an essential mechanism for
the maintenance of the normal structure of myelin, the protective covering that insulates
and supports nerve cells (neurons). Up until now, very little was known about myelin
maintenance. This new information provides vital insight into diseases such as Multiple
Sclerosis (MS) and other progressive demyelinating diseases in which myelin is destroyed,
causing irreversible damage and disrupting the nerve cells' ability to transmit messages.
The research, published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience, is the first to identify
a role for the protein netrin-1, previously characterized only in the developing nervous
system, with this critical function in the adult nervous system. This research was funded
by the MS Society of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Netrin-1, a
protein deriving its name from the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, word for 'one who
guides,' is known to guide and direct nerve cell axons to their targets. In the molecular
biological studies conducted by the team, they found that blocking the function of
netrin-1 and one of its receptors in adult neural tissue causes the disruption of myelin.
"We've known for just over 10 years that netrin is essential for normal development
of the nervous system, and we also knew that netrin was present in the adult brain, but we
didn't know why. It is fascinating that netrin-1 has such a vital role in maintaining the
structure of myelin in the adult nervous system," says Dr. Tim Kennedy, a
neuroscientist at the MNI and the senior investigator of this study, "continuing to
pursue the implications of that are incredibly exciting." "Our mission is to
find a cure as quickly as possible and enhance quality of life," says Karen Lee,
assistant vice-president of research programs for the MS Society of Canada. "We are
pleased to be involved in funding work that supports our mission and feel that this
research takes us closer to understanding the players and processes that could aid in
remyelination."
Regulation of Tobacco Products
Favors Big Tobacco, Makes U.S. Farms Less Stable
In an attempt to reinvent itself as a “responsible corporate citizen,” tobacco
company Philip Morris supports regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. A new study in American Ethnologist reveals that proposed FDA regulation
fails to address the suffering of migrant tobacco workers, the prevalence of smoking, and
the redistribution of leaf production to the developing world, and it may actually favor
the tobacco industry by reducing its liability for tobacco-related death and disease, by
sustaining its operations around the world, and by strengthening its control over the
terms of its contracts with U.S. tobacco growers.
Hormones and brain activity -
Kinsey Institute study sheds light on facial preferences
Scientists have long known that women's preferences for masculine men change throughout
their menstrual cycles. A new study from Indiana University's Kinsey Institute is the
first to demonstrate differences in brain activity as women considered masculinized and
feminized male faces and whether the person was a potential sexual partner. The
researchers identified regions of the brain that responded more strongly to masculine
faces and demonstrated that differences between masculinized and feminized faces appeared
strongest when the women were closer to ovulating. The study, published in an online
edition of the journal "Evolution and Human Behavior," sheds light on the link
between women's hormone levels and their brain responses to masculinized versus feminized
male faces, potentially offering insights into female mate preferences. The current study
points towards enhancements of both sensory discrimination and risk processing around
ovulation in response to masculine faces as possible mediators of women's mate
preferences. "One area of the brain in which we observed a difference in activation
in response to masculinized versus feminized faces -- specifically during the follicular
phase -- was the anterior cingulate cortex, which is a region involved in decision-making
and the evaluation of potential reward and risk," said neuroscientist Heather Rupp,
research fellow at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at
Indiana University. "Activation in this region has been previously reported to
correlate with 'high risk' nonsocial choices, specifically monetary risk, so it is
interesting that it is observed to be more active in response to masculinized male faces,
who may be both riskier but more rewarding to women."
David Icke - Big Brother, the Big
Picture (Final Edit)
David Icke speaks about the impending global 'Big Brother' state. This is an updated
version of the 6th July public meeting, with improved sound, and additional images etc.
(Full Official Version). A downloadable DVD version will be available shortly please visit
www.edgemediatv.com or www.davidicke.com for details
Researchers present new theory that
may lead to effective heart failure treatments
A team of Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers and cardiologists are
presenting a number of studies at the American Heart Association conference that point
toward new treatments for heart failure patients. According to the American Heart
Association, more than 5 million Americans are living with heart failure, and 550,000 new
cases are diagnosed each year. It is a chronic disease that has no cure and typically
worsens rapidly. Dr. Francis G. Spinale and several other researchers from MUSC have put
together scientific clues resulting in more than a dozen research studies on patients and
mice that strongly suggest that a family of proteins called matrix metalloprotienase (MMP)
play a crucial role in why the supporting tissue surrounding the heart, called the
myocardium, goes through significant and deleterious effects in heart failure patients.
The conclusions reached by the team have already led to the development of a blood test
for these MMPs. But more significantly, according to MUSC cardiac specialist Francis G.
Spinale, MD, PhD, this research may demonstrate why current treatments for heart failure
are failing and point to novel treatment methods for heart failure patients, reduce the
number of people on the heart transplant list and help prioritize those heart failure
patients currently on the list.
Hormone shows promise in reversing
Alzheimer's disease and stroke
Saint Louis University researchers have identified a novel way of getting a potential
treatment for Alzheimer's disease and stroke into the brain where it can do its work.
"We found a unique approach for delivering drugs to the brain," says William A.
Banks, M.D., professor of geriatrics and pharmacological and physiological science at
Saint Louis University. "We're turning off the guardian that's keeping the drugs out
of the brain." The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a
gate-keeping system of cells that lets in nutrients and keeps out foreign substances. The
blood-brain barrier passes no judgment on which foreign substances are trying to get into
the brain to treat diseases and which are trying to do harm, so it blocks them without
discrimination. "The problem in treating a lot of diseases of the central nervous
system – such as Alzheimer's disease, HIV and stroke – is that we can't get
drugs past the blood-brain barrier and into the brain," says Banks, who also is a
staff physician at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Louis. "Our new research
shows a way of getting a promising treatment for these types of devastating diseases to
where they need to be to work." The therapy – known as PACAP27 -- is a hormone
produced by the body that is a general neuro-protectant. PACAP stands for pituitary
adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide. "It is a general protector of the brain
against many types of insult and injury," Banks says. He compares a specific guarding
mechanism in the BBB -- efflux pumps – to bouncers at exclusive nightclubs. While
they welcome those on the approved guest list, they look for trouble-makers trying to
crash the party, refuse to let them in and evict them if they do get in.
Blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by fat cells, can independently predict an
individual's risk of heart failure, cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine
have found. "This is one of the strongest predictors of new-onset heart failure we've
been able to find, and it holds up even when you control for other biomarkers and risk
factors including high blood pressure and diabetes," says Javed Butler, MD, MPH,
associate professor of medicine and director of heart failure research at Emory University
School of Medicine. The finding comes out of the Health ABC (Aging and Body Composition)
study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health.
The Health ABC study followed 3000 elderly people in the Pittsburgh and Memphis areas over
seven years starting in 1998.
Interview with Ricardo Semler, Chairman of Brazilian Company Semco, a democratic
workplace. Aired on Australian ABC television.
Daily Rhythms in Blood Vessels May
Explain Morning Peak in Heart Attacks
It’s not just the stress of going to work. Daily rhythms in the activity of cells
that line blood vessels may help explain why heart attacks and strokes occur most often in
early morning hours, researchers from Emory University School of Medicine have found.
Endothelial cells serve as the interface between the blood and the arteries, controlling
arterial tone and helping to prevent clots that lead to strokes and heart attacks, says
Ibhar Al Mheid, MD, a postdoctoral cardiology researcher at Emory. He presented his
results in a poster session Monday, Nov. 10 at the American Heart Association Scientific
Sessions in New Orleans. “One of the important ways the lining of our blood vessels
is maintained is by progenitor cells that come from the bone marrow,” Al Mheid says.
“These are essentially stem cells that help replace endothelial cells at sites of
injury and build new vessels at sites deprived of adequate blood supply. The aim of our
research was to look at the circadian pattern of both endothelial function – the
ability of blood vessels to relax – and the abundance of the progenitor cells.”
Brain implants may help stroke
patients overcome partial paralysis
Scientists have shown for the first time that neuroprosthetic brain implants may be able
to help stroke patients with partial paralysis. Researchers found that implants known as
brain-computer interfaces (BCI) may be able to detect activity on one side of the brain
that is linked to hand and arm movements on the same side of the body. They hope to use
these signals to guide motorized assistance mechanisms that restore mobility in partially
paralyzed limbs. Partial paralysis on one side of the body results from stroke damage to
the opposite side of the brain. This fits with the conventional model of how the brain
controls movement, which says signals in one half of the brain control the opposite half
of the body. That model led scientists to assume that stroke damage would make it
impossible for BCIs to pick up any useful movement control signals from the brain and
restore function in the body's paralyzed half. "In recent years, though, we've come
to realize that there's actually some ipsilateral, or same-sided control signals involved
in movement," says senior author Eric C. Leuthardt, M.D., assistant professor of
neurological surgery, of neurobiology and of biomedical engineering at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
"Now we've shown these signals can be detected and are separable from signals that
control the opposite side of the body, which means we may be able to use a BCI to restore
function."
Pitt research finds that low
concentrations of pesticides can become toxic mixture
Ten of the world's most popular pesticides can decimate amphibian populations when mixed
together even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits
considered safe, according to University of Pittsburgh research published Nov. 11 in the
online edition of Oecologia. Such "cocktails of contaminants" are frequently
detected in nature, the paper notes, and the Pitt findings offer the first illustration of
how a large mixture of pesticides can adversely affect the environment.
Evolution's new wrinkle - Proteins
with cruise control provide new perspective
A team of Princeton University scientists has discovered that chains of proteins found in
most living organisms act like adaptive machines, possessing the ability to control their
own evolution. The research, which appears to offer evidence of a hidden mechanism guiding
the way biological organisms respond to the forces of natural selection, provides a new
perspective on evolution, the scientists said.
The miseries of allergies just may
help prevent some cancers, study finds
There may be a silver -- and healthy -- lining to the miserable cloud of allergy symptoms:
Sneezing, coughing, tearing and itching just may help prevent cancer -- particularly
colon, skin, bladder, mouth, throat, uterus and cervix, lung and gastrointestinal tract
cancer, according to a new Cornell study. These cancers, interestingly, involve organs
that "interface directly with the external environment," said Paul Sherman,
Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior, who led the study. He and colleagues
analyzed 646 studies on allergies and cancers published over the past 50 years, putting
together "the most comprehensive database yet available" on allergies and
cancers. The study revealed "a strong relationship" between allergies and cancer
in environmentally exposed tissues, Sherman said. This relationship seldom exists, he
noted, between allergies and cancers of tissues that are not directly exposed to the
environment, such as cancers of the breast and prostate, as well as myelocytic leukemia
and myeloma.
Stem Cells from Monkey Teeth Can
Stimulate Growth and Generation of Brain Cells
Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have
discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of
neural cells. Findings from this study, available in the October issue of the journal Stem
Cells, suggest dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy and
regenerative medicine, particularly therapies associated with the central nervous system.
Dental stem cells are adult stem cells, one of the two major divisions of stem cell
research. Adult stem cells have the ability to regenerate many different types of cells,
promising great therapeutic potential, especially for diseases such as Huntington’s
and Parkinson’s. Already, dental pulp stem cells have been used for regeneration of
dental and craniofacial cells.
Protein can nurture or devastate
brain cells, depending on its 'friends,' researchers find
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered new insights into the
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” nature of a protein that stimulates stem-cell
maturation in the brain but, paradoxically, can also lead to nerve-cell damage. In two
separate studies in mice scheduled to appear online this week and in an upcoming issue of
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UT Southwestern research teams
studied the protein Cdk5 and discovered both helpful and detrimental mechanisms it elicits
in nerve cells. Dr. Amelia Eisch, assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern,
and her colleagues uncovered a beneficial mechanism of the helpful “Dr. Jekyll”
side of the Cdk5 protein, which is also thought to kill brain cells and contribute to
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. In the current study, Dr. Eisch found
that Cdk5, together with its activating partner molecule p35, helps immature nerve cells
become fully functional.
Damage inflicted during cardiac
attacks more widespread than previously thought, MSU researchers find
Cholesterol crystals released in the bloodstream during a cardiac attack or stroke can
damage artery linings much further away from the site of the attack, leaving survivors at
greater risk than previously thought. George Abela, a physician in Michigan State
University’s College of Human Medicine and chief of the Department of Medicine’s
cardiology section, is leading innovative research into the role that the crystallization
and expansion of cholesterol play in heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular
events in humans. He presented his latest research this week at the American Heart
Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting in New Orleans. In recent medical trials,
Abela and his team of researchers tested carotid arteries in a laboratory by injecting
cholesterol crystals into them.
MSU researcher studies ties between
cholesterol drugs, muscle problems
A Michigan State University researcher is studying whether the most popular class of
cholesterol-lowering drugs may cause muscle problems in users. There is accumulating
evidence that the effect statins can have on skeletal muscle-- including muscle weakness,
fatigue and deterioration-- is underestimated, said Jill Slade, assistant professor of
radiology and osteopathic manipulative medicine at MSU.
A chance discovery by a team of scientists using optical probes means that changes in
cells in the human body could now be seen in a completely different light. Prof David
Parker from Durham University's Chemistry Department was working with experts from Glasgow
University, and a team of international researchers, when they discovered dramatic changes
in the way that light was emitted by optical probes during a series of experiments. Light
has energy and carries information and the researchers used the optical probes to measure
the behaviour of light and its interaction with proteins abundant in human blood. The
fortuitous discovery has led to the creation of a new type of probe for examining protein
interactions that could be used for cellular imaging. By tracking the way in which
proteins bind, the experiments will aid understanding of the function of the most abundant
protein in the body, serum albumin. In the future the technique could help to understand
how drugs used in medicine interact with the major protein found in blood.
New technology could revolutionize
breast cancer screening
The world's first radar breast imaging system developed at Bristol University that could
revolutionise the way women are scanned for breast cancer, is being trialled at North
Bristol NHS Trust (NBT). Professor Alan Preece and Dr Ian Craddock from the University of
Bristol have been working for a number of years to develop a breast-imaging device which
uses radio waves and therefore has no radiation risk unlike conventional mammograms. The
team began developing and researching a prototype around five years ago and have received
funding from organisations including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research
Council (EPSRC), the trustees of the United Bristol Hospitals and the University of
Bristol spin-out company, Micrima Ltd. Dr Ian Craddock from the University's Department of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: "This new imaging technique works by
transmitting radio waves of a very low energy and detecting reflected signals, it then
uses these signals to make a 3D image of the breast. This is basically the same as any
radar system, such as the radars used for air traffic control at our airports." Mike
Shere, Associate Specialist Breast Clinician at NBT, added: "Currently women are
diagnosed in three ways: firstly by a clinician then by using imaging such as mammography
and ultrasound and lastly by a needle biopsy. "The radar breast imaging system came
to Frenchay in September this year and so far around 60 women have been examined using it.
"It takes less time to operate than a mammogram approximately six minutes for both
breasts compared with 30-45 minutes for an MRI, and like an MRI it provides a very
detailed 3D digital image. "Women love it as they compare it to a mammogram and find
the whole experience much more comfortable."
Scientists map steps to block key
enzyme action in heart failure
Taking a cue from the way drugs like Viagra put the biological brakes on a key enzyme
involved in heart failure, scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out a key chemical step
involved in blocking the enzyme. The Johns Hopkins team reports how the enzyme,
phosphodiesterase 5, or PDE5A, slows down the breakdown of another, more vital compound in
the body, cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cyclic GMP) which influences a variety of
biological activities, including cell growth and muscle contraction. A buildup of cyclic
GMP limits stress and overgrowth of heart tissue. PDE5A is the same enzyme that earlier
Johns Hopkins work in mice showed is slowed down by the drug sildenafil (Viagra), leading
to a reverse of tissue damage from heart enlargement, or hypertrophy, and potentially
heart failure. What the scientists are seeing more broadly in this new work is most likely
the same braking mechanism, but through a natural chemical reaction in the cell instead of
through a synthetic chemical. In the latest study, to be presented Nov. 11 at the American
Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, the Johns Hopkins team of
protein biochemists confirmed precisely where a sulfur- and nitrogen-containing molecule,
or S-nitrosyl group, chemically alters the enzyme's amino-acid building blocks. And they
showed that so-called S-nitrosylation of amino acid cysteine 181 results in a 25 percent
decrease in PDE5A activity, pinpointing how the enzyme's action is suppressed.
Low risk for heart attack? Could an
ultrasound hold the answer?
By adding the results of an imaging technique to the traditional risk factors for coronary
heart disease, doctors at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found they were able to
improve prediction of heart attacks in people previously considered low risk. The findings
are being presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in New
Orleans. Researchers used ultrasound imaging to view the carotid intima media thickness
(C-IMT), or thickness of the artery walls. "The ultrasound added another dimension to
the risk factor score and showed us that those with thick arteries in the higher end of
low risk group actually are at intermediate risk for coronary heart disease," said
Dr. Vijay Nambi, assistant professor of medicine - atherosclerosis and vascular medicine
at BCM and lead author of the study. Risk prediction is traditionally divided into three
groups: low, intermediate and high risk. Low risk is defined as having a less than a 10
percent chance of having coronary heart disease in the next 10 years. Intermediate is a 10
percent to 20 percent chance of a coronary event, and high risk is anything greater than
20 percent. This percentage is calculated by doctors using a score based on traditional
risk factors which include age, gender, HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), total
cholesterol, hypertension and smoking.
Fatty diet during pregnancy makes
new cells in fetal brain that cause early onset obesity
A study in rats shows that exposure to a high-fat diet during pregnancy produces permanent
changes in the offspring's brain that lead to overeating and obesity early in life. This
surprising finding provides a key step toward understanding mechanisms of fetal
programming involving the production of new brain cells that may help explain the
increased prevalence of childhood obesity during the last 30 years.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful, inflammatory type of arthritis that occurs when the
body's immune system attacks itself. A new paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS
Biology, reports a breakthrough in the understanding of how autoimmune responses can be
controlled, offering a promising new strategy for therapy development for rheumatoid
arthritis. Normally, immune cells develop to recognise foreign material – antigens;
including bacteria - so that they can activate a response against them. Immune cells that
would respond to 'self' and therefore attack the body's own cells are usually destroyed
during development. If any persist, they are held in check by special regulatory cells
that provide a sort of autoimmune checkpoint. A key player in these regulatory cells is a
molecule called Foxp3. People who lack or have mutated versions of the Foxp3 gene lack or
have dysfunctional immune regulation, which causes dramatic autoimmune disease. Scientists
at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, and funded
by the Arthritis Research Campaign, have genetically engineered a drug-inducible form of
Foxp3. Using this, scientists can 'switch' developing immune cells into regulatory cells
that are then capable of suppressing the immune response.
Obese kids’ artery plaque
similar to middle-aged adults
The neck arteries of obese children and teens look more like those of 45-year-olds,
according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific
Sessions 2008. “There’s a saying that ‘you’re as old as your
arteries,’ meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual
age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,” said Geetha Raghuveer, M.D.,
M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri Kansas City School
of Medicine and cardiologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital. “We found that the
state of the arteries in these children is more typical of a 45-year-old than of someone
their own age.” Researchers used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the inner
walls of the neck (carotid) arteries that supply blood to the brain. Increasing carotid
artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) indicates the fatty buildup of plaque within arteries
feeding the heart muscle and the brain, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.
Battling bacteria in the blood -
Researchers tackle deadly infections
It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a
major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost
work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it.
"It" is bacterial infection in the blood, also called bacteremia, and it's a
major part of the very serious illness called sepsis. It's an infection that will turn
deadly in some people, especially cancer patients and others with weak immune systems
— while being easily treated in others. It doesn't get much public attention,
although it affects ten times more Americans than breast cancer. Hospitals struggle
mightily, but often futilely, to prevent and treat it every day. Now, new research by a
University of Michigan team and their colleagues is tackling the problem at its most basic
level, in hopes of finding new and more effective ways to treat bacteremia and sepsis. In
a research paper published in the November issue of the journal Shock, and recent papers
in the journals Bulletin of Mathematical Biology and Academic Emergency Medicine, the team
describes new computer-based models of bloodstream infection that may help guide the
development of new treatments. The models use complex mathematical techniques, but have
been validated by laboratory experiments in mice and in engineered bloodstream models.
OHSU finds association between
Epstein-Barr virus, inflammatory diseases of the mouth
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's School of Dentistry have found
that a significant percentage of dental patients with the inflammatory diseases
irreversible pulpitis and apical periodontitis also have the Epstein-Barr virus. The
Epstein-Barr virus is an important human pathogen found in more than 90 percent of the
world population. It is associated with many diseases, including infectious mononucleosis,
malignant lymphomas and naspharyngeal carcinoma.
Eye conditions linked with
obstructive sleep apnea
Numerous studies have shown a connection between sleep disorders and medical conditions
such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and metabolic disorders,
including the risk of obesity and diabetes mellitus.
Researchers describe how cells take
out the trash to prevent disease
Garbage collectors are important for removing trash; without them waste accumulates and
can quickly become a health hazard. Similarly, individual cells that make up such
biological organisms as humans also have sophisticated methods for managing waste. For
example, cells have developed complex systems for recycling, reusing and disposing of
damaged, nonfunctional waste proteins. When such systems malfunction and these proteins
accumulate, they can become toxic, resulting in many diseases, including Alzheimer's,
cystic fibrosis and developmental disorders. Scott Emr, director of the Weill Institute
for Cell and Molecular Biology at Cornell, and colleagues, describe in detail how cells
recycle protein waste in two recent papers appearing in the journals Cell and
Developmental Cell. "We are interested in understanding how cells deal with
garbage," said Emr. "It's really a very sophisticated recycling system."
Cells use enzymes known as proteases to break down proteins into their component amino
acids in the cytoplasm -- the fluid inside the cell's surface membrane. Those amino acids
are then reused to make new proteins. But water-insoluble proteins embedded in the cell's
membrane require a much more complicated recycling process.
AMA journal publishes by Cornell
Researchers study showing evidence of a major environmental trigger for autism
The American Medical Association journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
has published a new study by researchers at Cornell University indicating evidence of an
environmental trigger for autism among genetically vulnerable children. It is the first
peer-reviewed study to positively associate the prevalence of autism to a factor related
to the levels of precipitation in the areas in which children live. "This analysis is
an important first step towards identifying a specific environmental trigger, or triggers,
for autism," said lead author Michael Waldman of the Johnson Graduate School of
Management at Cornell. While many autism experts believe that the disorder is triggered by
the combination of an environmental trigger and a genetic predisposition (experts have
identified genes related to the condition but do not have a full understanding of the full
set of related genes), previous literature provides few clues concerning what the
important environmental triggers might be. "Our hope is that this study will spur
those in the medical community to investigate what the specific trigger might be that is
driving our findings, so that countless children can be spared an Autism Spectrum Disorder
diagnosis," said Waldman, a professor of management and economics.
Pittsburgh Compound B finds
Alzheimer’s-associated plaques in symptom-free older adults
In the largest study of its kind, Pittsburgh Compound B, an imaging agent that could
facilitate the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, has been used to identify amyloid
deposition in the brains of clinically older adults. The findings, published in this
month's issue of the Archives of Neurology, could not only shed more light on how the
illness progresses, but also open the door to the possibility of prevention strategies,
said senior investigator William E. Klunk, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and
neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He and study co-author
Chester A. Mathis, Ph.D., a Pitt professor of radiology and pharmaceutical sciences,
invented the imaging compound, dubbed PiB. It binds to certain forms of amyloid protein
plaques that are thought to destroy brain cells and have been found in the brains of
Alzheimer's disease patients. Before PiB, the deposits could only be identified during
autopsy to confirm the diagnosis in hindsight. Results of the study, which was led by
Howard J. Aizenstein, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and bioengineering at
Pitt, "show that we can detect amyloid deposits before patients develop symptoms of
Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Klunk said. "That means we might have a window of
opportunity to slow or stop the process."
Babies placed in incubators
decrease risk of depression as adults
Babies who receive incubator care after birth are two to three times less likely to suffer
depression as adults according to a new study published in the journal Pyschiatry
Research. The surprising discovery was made by scientists from the Université de
Montréal and Sainte Justine Hospital Research Center in collaboration with researchers
from McGill University, the Douglas Hospital Research Centre and the Institute of
Psychiatry at King's College in the U.K. "In mammals, separation between mother and
child after birth has always been considered a major stressor that can cause behavioural
problems well into adulthood," says coauthor Richard E. Tremblay a professor of
psychology, pediatrics and psychiatry at the Université de Montréal and director of the
Research Unit on Children's Psycho-Social Maladjustment at the Sainte Justine Hospital
Research Center. "Our hypothesis was that mother-baby separation resulting from
incubator care could heighten depression in adolescence or adulthood. Instead, we found
that incubator care could decrease the risk of depression two-to-threefold by the age of
21." For this study – the first to examine the impact of incubator care on adult
depression – the research team studied a subsample of 1212 children recruited from a
longitudinal study launched in 1986. Children were recruited from Quebec kindergartens and
facts on birth condition, obstetrical complications and incubator care were obtained
through hospital medical records. Participants received psychiatric assessments when they
were 15 and 21 years old.
Researchers aim to over-stress
already taxed mantle cell lymphoma cells
Cancer cells are already stressed by the fast pace they require to grow and spread and
scientists believe a little more stress just may kill them. "Think about an assembly
line in a factory that is working five times faster than normal," said Dr. Kapil
Bhalla, director of the Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center. "There is a lot of
stress but you need workers to keep going. Some of them fall out, some get bent out of
shape." His research team believes they can disrupt the over-stressed assembly line
of mantle cell lymphoma and possibly similar cancers such as pancreatic, liver and breast,
by taking away support needed for rapid protein turnover and by clogging up the mechanism
for eliminating poorly made ones.
The combination of vitamins A, C and E, plus magnesium, is given in pill form to patients
who are participating in the research. Developed at the U-M Kresge Hearing Research
Institute, the medication, called AuraQuell, is designed to be taken before a person is
exposed to loud noises. In earlier testing at U-M on guinea pigs, the combination of the
four micronutrients blocked about 80 percent of the noise-induced hearing impairment.Now,
AuraQuell is being tested in a set of fourmultinational human clinical trials - military
trials in Sweden and Spain, an industrial trial in Spain, and a trial involving students
at the University of Florida who listen to music at high volumes on their iPods and other
PDAs, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is the first NIH-funded
clinical trial involving the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.
SNPs affect folate metabolism in
study of Puerto Rican adults
Researchers at Tufts University have gained further understanding of the genomic basis for
altered folate metabolism and the content of uracil in blood DNA. In a study published in
October's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, senior author Jimmy Crott, PhD, and
colleagues studied nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in five genes involved in
folate uptake and retention: folate hydrolase (FOLH1), folate polyglutamate synthase
(FPGS), ?-glutamyl hyrdolase (GGH), proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT), and reduced
folate carrier (RFC1) in a cohort of 991 Puerto Rican adults residing in and around
Boston. In addition, four SNPs in two genes involved in folate metabolism previously
associated with altered blood folate and homocysteine concentrations were studied:
methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase (MTR). SNPs are
variations in the sequence of nucleotides, or building blocks, that make up genes. Humans
possess two copies of every gene. For each SNP, there are three possible genotypes
depending on the presence of "normal" and "variant" copies of the
gene; two normal copies, one normal and one variant or two variant copies. Diseases, such
as some cancers, have been associated with diminished blood folate concentrations and
abnormal folate metabolism. Crott, a scientist in the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis
Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, and
first author Lauren DeVos of Pennsylvania State University found that several SNPs affect
folate metabolism, as evidenced by altered concentrations of blood homocysteine, folate,
and DNA uracil.
Study improves recovery for mothers
with depression
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a therapy programme to treat
depression in women in developing countries. Although depression is a major health problem
world-wide, experts say its impact is greatest in developing countries where 80% of the
population live. Often there are no resources available to treat sufferers. Professor Atif
Rahman from the School of Population, Community and Behavioural Sciences developed a
therapy programme while working as a Wellcome Trust Career Fellow in Tropical Medicine in
Rawalpindi, Pakistan. "Depression is one of the leading causes of mental illness in
the world and when the condition affects mothers with newborn babies, it can lead to
serious consequences" he says. "The impacts include low birth-weight, poor
growth, frequent diarrhoea and the mother failing to ensure the child is properly
immunised. These conditions tend to remain untreated in countries like Pakistan where only
a fraction of the Government's budget is spent on health.
Researchers use chemical from
medicinal plants to fight HIV
ike other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a
part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell
division. As a result, the cell changes in many ways, and its disease fighting ability is
compromised. But a new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that a chemical from the
Astragalus root, frequently used in Chinese herbal therapy, can prevent or slow this
progressive telomere shortening, which could make it a key weapon in the fight against
HIV. "This has the potential to be either added to or possibly even replace the HAART
(highly active antiretroviral therapy), which is not tolerated well by some patients and
is also costly," said study co-author Rita Effros, a professor of pathology and
laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and member of the UCLA
AIDS Institute.
USC researchers identify key
mechanism that regulates the development of stem cells into neurons
Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel
mechanism in the regulation and differentiation of neural stem cells. Researchers found
that the protein receptor Ryk has a key role in the differentiation of neural stem cells,
and demonstrated a signaling mechanism that regulates neuronal differentiation as stem
cells begin to grow into neurons. The study will be published in the Nov. 11 issue of the
journal Developmental Cell, and is now available online. The findings could have important
implications for regenerative medicine and cancer therapies, says Wange Lu, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine
of USC, and the principal investigator on the study. "Neural stem cells can
potentially be used for cell-replacement therapy for neurodegenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, as well as spinal cord injury," Lu says.
"Knowledge gained from this study will potentially help to generate neurons for such
therapy. This knowledge can also be used to inhibit the growth of brain cancer stem
cells." During brain development, neural stem cells respond to the surrounding
environment by either proliferation or differentiation, but the molecular mechanisms
underlying the development of neural stem cells and neurons are unclear, Lu notes.
Getting little sleep may be
associated with risk of heart disease
Sleeping less than seven and a half hours per day may be associated with future risk of
heart disease, according to a report in the November 10 issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, a combination of little sleep
and overnight elevated blood pressure appears to be associated with an increased risk of
the disease. "Reflecting changing lifestyles, people are sleeping less in modern
societies," according to background information in the article. Getting adequate
sleep is essential to preventing health conditions such as obesity and diabetes as well as
several risk factors for cardiovascular disease including sleep-disordered breathing and
night-time hypertension (high blood pressure). Kazuo Eguchi, M.D., Ph.D., at Jichi Medical
University, Tochigi, Japan, and colleagues monitored the sleep of 1,255 individuals with
hypertension (average age 70.4) and followed them for an average of 50 months. Researchers
noted patients' sleep duration, daytime and nighttime blood pressure and cardiovascular
disease events such as stroke, heart attack and sudden cardiac death. During follow-up, 99
cardiovascular disease events occurred. Sleep duration of less than 7.5 hours was
associated with incident cardiovascular disease. "The incidence of cardiovascular
disease was 2.4 per 100 person-years in subjects with less than 7.5 hours of sleep and 1.8
per 100 person-years in subjects with longer sleep duration," the authors write.
Protein identified that turns off
HIV-fighting T cells
In HIV-infected patients the body's immune system is unable to fight off the virus. A new
study to be published online on November 10th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine
shows that T cells in HIV-infected individuals express a protein called TIM-3, which
inactivates their virus killing capacity. Blocking this protein, the study suggests, might
one day help patients to eliminate HIV as well as other chronic infections. Large numbers
of virus-fighting T cells can be found in the blood of most chronically infected HIV
patients. However these cells eventually become exhausted and cannot function. To identify
the cause of this exhaustion, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto, lead by
Mario Ostrowski, compared blood from healthy individuals and HIV patients. In the
patients, TIM-3 was found on a large number of HIV-specific T cells, and the number of
TIM-3-positive cells increased with the severity of infection. Under normal circumstances,
exposing T cells to bits of virus causes the cells to replicate and produce virus-killing
chemicals. Cells expressing TIM-3, however, were unreactive and TIM-3 was to blame;
disrupting its signals restored the cells' virus-fighting functions. TIM-3 normally gets
expressed on T cells after they carry out their normal function, perhaps as a way to turn
the cells off and thus prevent excessive inflammation. But during HIV infection,
persistent TIM-3 expression may help the virus avoid T cell attack.
Tumors Grow Faster Without
blood-Supply Promoting Molecule
Dense networks of blood vessels thought to spur cancer’s growth could actually hinder
rather than promote tumor progression, according to a new study at the University of
California, San Diego. The findings partly explain why drugs designed to treat cancer by
strangling its blood supply have been disappointing when used alone and why those
treatments are more effective when combined with traditional chemotherapy.
New findings on the role of
inflammation in prevention of coronary heart disease
New results from three studies being presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions in New
Orleans and published in scientific journals today provide the strongest evidence to date
that a simple blood test for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein is a useful marker for
cardiovascular disease. Together, these studies show great promise in helping clinicians
better identify and treat individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease -- potentially
saving millions more lives.
Mental health linked to stillbirth
and newborn deaths
Women with a history of serious mental illness are much more likely to have babies that
are stillborn or die within the first month of life, new research reveals. Researchers at
the Centre for Women's Mental Health at The University of Manchester studied almost 1.5
million births in Denmark between 1973 and 1998, including 7,021 stillbirths. The risk of
stillbirth and newborn deaths from any cause was at least twice as high for mothers
admitted with a serious psychiatric illness than for women with no such history. Lead
researcher Dr Kathryn Abel, working with Danish colleagues at Arhus University, said:
"We found that the chances of stillborn or newborn death from all causes were greater
for babies whose mothers had a serious mental-health illness. "The risk of stillbirth
for women with schizophrenia was twice as high than healthy mothers, while women with
affective disorders were also more than twice as likely to give birth to stillborn
babies."
Yale researchers unravel mystery of
brain aneurysms
Yale researchers have taken the first critical steps in unraveling the mysteries of brain
aneurysms, the often fatal rupturing of blood vessels that afflicts 500,000 people
worldwide each year and nearly killed Vice President-elect Joseph Biden two decades ago.
An international team — led by Murat Gunel, professor of neurosurgery and
neurobiology, and Richard Lifton, Sterling Professor and chair of genetics, and a Howard
Hughes Medical Institute investigator — scanned the genomes of more than 2,000
individuals suffering from intracranial aneurysms along with 8,000 healthy subjects. They
discovered three chromosome segments, or loci, where common genetic variations can create
significant risk for ruptured aneurysms, which in turn cause strokes. The subjects came
from hospitals in Finland, the Netherlands and Japan, and the results were similar in all
groups, indicating that these variations increase risk among diverse human populations.
The findings, reported online in the journal Nature Genetics, could lead to new screening
tests to identify hundreds of thousands of people at risk for strokes caused by bleeding
and point to new therapies that might be able to strengthen blood vessels in the brain
before they burst. "Even though we have made significant strides in treating
unruptured aneurysms, until now we have not had an effective means of identifying the
majority of individuals at risk of developing this deadly problem. These genetic findings
provide a starting point for changing that equation," Gunel said.
Einstein Researchers Develop a New
Way to Study How Breast Cancer Spreads
In a breakthrough study appearing in advance online publication of Nature Methods,
researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University describe for the
first time a method of viewing individual breast cancer cells for several days at a time.
The study, by scientists in Einstein's Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center, provides detail
on how cancer cells invade surrounding tissue and reach blood vessels. These movements are
the first steps of the potentially deadly stage of cancer known as metastasis. The new
method of viewing cancer cells over several days in their natural environment is
considered significant because prior methods of study only allowed cells to be viewed
clearly for several hours at one time. Having a longer and clearer window into how cancer
cells move during the early stages of metastasis may help scientists develop more
effective cancer therapies. For 2007, the American Cancer Society reported that a woman
with metastatic breast cancer had an average survival rate of two years.
Tell your doctor if tumors run in
the family, says TAU researcher
Doctors know that you’re at a higher risk for breast, colon and prostate cancers if
they’ve been found in your family. Brain cancer can now be placed on that same list,
says a new study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Utah. Dr. Deborah
Blumenthal, co-director of Tel Aviv University’s Neuro-oncology Service at the
Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, says that a family history of brain cancer, like those
of other cancers, should be reported to the family doctor during a routine medical
checkup.
Common anesthetic induces
Alzheimer's-associated changes in mouse brains
For the first time researchers have shown that a commonly used anesthetic can produce
changes associated with Alzheimer's disease in the brains of living mammals, confirming
previous laboratory studies. In their Annals of Neurology report, which has received early
online release, a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators shows how
administration of the gas isoflurane can lead to generation of the toxic amyloid-beta
(A-beta) protein in the brains of mice. "These are the first in vivo results
indicating that isoflurane can set off a time-dependent cascade inducing apoptosis [cell
death] and enhanced levels of the Alzheimer's-associated proteins BACE and A-beta,"
says Zhongcong Xie, MD, PhD, of the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease
(MGH-MIND) and the MGH Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, the study's lead and
corresponding author. "This work needs to be confirmed in human studies, but it's
looking like isoflurane may not be the best anesthesia to use for patients who already
have higher A-beta levels, such as the elderly and Alzheimer's patients." Alzheimer's
disease is characterized by deposition of A-beta plaques within the brain. The A-beta
protein is formed when the larger amyloid precursor protein (APP) is clipped by two
enzymes – beta-secretase, also known as BACE, and gamma-secretase – to release
the A-beta fragment. Normal processing of APP by an enzyme called alpha-secretase produces
an alternative, non-toxic protein. Several studies have suggested that surgery and general
anesthesia may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and it is well known
that a small but significant number of surgical patients experience a transient form of
dementia in the postoperative period. Last year the MGH team showed that applying
isoflurane to cultured neural cells increased activation of the cell-death protein caspase
and raised levels of BACE and gamma-secretase as part of a pathway leading to the
generation of A-beta. The current study was designed to see if the same process takes
place in mice.
A University of Hawaii study finds that much of the nation's fast food comes from corn. A
new study in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds the
vast majority of the cows and chickens served at McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's were
raised on corn, and sizzling corn oil cooked many of the fries.
Big Pharma's New Mass-Drugging
Agenda Pushes Statin Drugs for Healthy People
Drug companies used to sell products for the treatment of disease. But it didn't take long
for Big Pharma to figure out that the number of diseased people is limited, and therefore
so are drug profits. To bypass this problem, they began inventing diseases and marketing
them to the public as a way to create new demand for high-profit pharmaceuticals. This is
how "bi-polar" came into existence, for example. Same story for ADHD, social
anxiety disorder and even high cholesterol (which isn't a disease in the first place).
UCLA study reveals smoking's effect
on nurses' health, death rates
A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of
smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November–December edition of the
journal Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death rates among U.S.
nurses and emphasize the importance of supporting smoking cessation programs in the
nursing field. "Nurses witness firsthand how smoking devastates the health of their
patients with cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases," said principal
investigator Linda Sarna, D.N.Sc, a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing. "Yet
nurses struggle with nicotine addiction like the rest of the 45 million smokers in
America. We are concerned that nurses who smoke may be less apt to support tobacco-control
programs or encourage their patients to quit." Sarna led a team of researchers who
analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study, a historic study on women's health. Launched
at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the mid-1970s, the study relied upon surveys completed
every two years by 237,648 female registered nurses about their health, including smoking
habits. "The Nurses' Health Study is the largest study of women's health in the
world," Sarna said. "From a workforce perspective, however, the findings also
hold a mirror up to the well-being of nurses, the largest group of health care
professionals in the country." The current UCLA research explored changes in smoking
trends and death rates among female nurses enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study between
1976 and 2003, a span of 27 years.
A new cross-Canada study has found that breast and prostate cancer treatment can foster
bone loss. In the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the scientists
explain how loss of bone mass might affect 46,000 people diagnosed with breast and
prostate cancer each year* and place them at increased risk for osteoporosis and
fractures. "Our study also looked at possible medications that can reverse or halt
bone loss," says Dr. Fred Saad, lead author and director of urologic oncology at the
Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine and the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université
de Montréal (CHUM), who completed the exhaustive study with colleagues from McMaster
University, the Université Laval, the University of Toronto and the University of British
Columbia. "Bone is a dynamic tissue which undergoes a cyclic process of breaking down
and rebuilding," adds Dr. Saad. "Medications called bisphosphonates help with
the rebuilding process and have been successfully used to combat osteoporosis, which is
good news for cancer patients."
High-normal phosphate levels linked
to early atherosclerosis
Healthy adults with higher levels of phosphate in the blood are more likely to have
increased levels of calcium in the coronary arteries—a key indicator of
atherosclerosis and future cardiovascular disease risk, reports a study in the February
2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "Phosphate
level may represent a previously unidentified and modifiable cardiovascular risk factor,
and could help identify people for whom modifiable risk factors could be screened and
managed," comments Robert N. Foley, MD, of University of Minnesota and the US Renal
Data System (USRDS), both in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Foley and colleagues studied the
relationship between phosphate levels and coronary artery calcium in 3,015 healthy young
adults from a long-term study of risk factors for coronary artery disease. At an average
age of 25 years, the subjects underwent measurement of their serum phosphate level. The
phosphate level reflects the mineral phosphorus, which plays an important role in bone
metabolism.A special computed tomography (CT) scan was used 15 years later to measure the
level of calcium in the coronary arteries. Coronary artery calcium is an early sign of
atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries."
'The review gave no indication of which trials were analysed nor of the various vital
assumptions made about the data. This is not usual scientific practice. If we presume that
homeopathy works for some conditions but not others, or change the definition of a 'larger
trial', the conclusions change. This indicates a fundamental weakness in the conclusions -
they are NOT reliable", said George Lewith, Professor of Health Research at
Southampton University
Possible link between diabetes and
pelvic girdle syndrome
Diabetes appears to be linked with an increased risk of pelvic girdle syndrome. This is
shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Akershus University
Hospital. The study showed that five percent of women had had serious pelvic girdle
syndrome (pain in both iliosacral ligaments and symphysis pubis) during their last
pregnancy. Three percent of these women reported that they had diabetes, while diabetes
was seen in only 0.5 percent of women who had not had severe pelvic girdle syndrome. Women
with diabetes had therefore a seven times higher risk of severe pelvic girdle syndrome.
Even after we controlled for other factors such as obesity, age and number of previous
pregnancies, these numbers changed little, said Malin Eberhard-Gran, a doctor and
researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Nanoparticles that are one milliard of a metre in size are widely used, for example, in
cosmetics and food packaging materials. There are also significant amounts of
nanoparticles in exhaust emissions. However, very little is yet known of their health
effects, because only a very small portion of research into nanoparticles is focused on
their health and safety risks. Nanoparticles have even been dubbed the asbestos of the
2000s bys some researchers, and therefore a considerable threat to people's health. While
the use of nanoparticles in consumer products increases, their follow-up procedures and
legislation are lagging behind. The European Union chemicals directive REACH does not even
touch upon nanomaterials.The research teams of Professor Ilpo Vattulainen (Department of
Physics, Tampere University of Technology, Finland) and academy researcher Emppu Salonen
(Department of Applied Physics, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland) have together
with Professor Pu-Chun Ke's (Clemson University, SC, USA) team researched how carbon-based
nanoparticles interact with cells. The results provided strong biophysical evidence that
nanoparticles may alter cell structure and pose health risks.It emerged from the research
that certain cell cultures are not affected when exposed to fullerenes, i.e. nano-sized
molecules that consist of spherical, ellipsoid, or cylindrical arrangement of carbon
atoms. Cells are also not affected when exposed to gallic acid, an organic acid that is
found in almost all plants and, for instance, in tea. However, when fullerenes and gallic
acid are present in the cell culture at the same time, they interact to form structures
that bind to the cell surface and cause cell death.The research demonstrates how difficult
it is to map out the health effects of nanoparticles. Even if a certain nanoparticle does
not appear toxic, the interaction between this nanoparticle and other compounds in the
human body may cause serious problems to cell functions. Since the number of possible
combinations of nanoparticles and various biomolecules is immense, it is practically
impossible to research them systematically.
UM researchers ID molecule linked
to aggressive cancer growth, spread
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a genetic
marker that controls an enzyme present in aggressive and metastatic cancer. The study
suggests an absence of microRNA-101 is related to high expression of the protein EZH2,
which was previously shown to be active in metastatic cancers. MicroRNA's are molecules
that help regulate gene expression. miR-101 is one of few miRNA's shown to play such an
important role in the development of cancer. In this study, the researchers found miR-101
is significantly underexpressed in a variety of cancers, including prostate and breast
cancer. Essentially, the researchers believe that miR-101 suppresses the EZH2 protein.
When miR-101 is lost in cancer, EZH2 expression is uncontrolled, and that haywire in-gene
expression leads to more aggressive cancer growth.
By combining technologies,
researchers rapidly hunt down and find new genes that lead to cancer
Using a new approach that combines scientific technologies to hunt down genetic changes
involved in cancer, researchers have discovered 13 tumor suppressor genes that, when
mutated, can lead to liver cancers. Twelve of those genes had never been linked to cancer
before, according to the report published online in the journal Cell, a Cell Press
publication, on November 13th. " It's important to understand all the genetic
alterations that can give rise to cancer," said Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Investigator Scott Lowe of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "If we understand cancer,
we can treat it better by going after the molecular causes or by categorizing cancers to
better predict their behavior." One of the challenges in identifying those mutations
that are responsible for causing cancer is that, as Lowe puts it, cancers are often a
mess. In other words, a given cancer may contain many mutations, some that drive the
cancer and others that are just along for the ride. The challenge then is to sift through
all the changes found in cancer to identify those that are functionally relevant to the
disease. Recent efforts to catalogue the cancer genome—all the genes that can play a
role in cancer—have been stimulated by advances in genomics, Lowe said. But a genomic
approach on its own can only identify genes that are, statistically speaking, more often
altered, lost or amplified, in cancer than they are in non-cancer. It doesn't tell you
what those genes do. In the new study, the researchers first identified genes that were
recurrently deleted in 100 human liver cancers. The notion was that genes frequently lost
in cancer likely include tumor suppressors that normally keep cancer at bay. That effort
turned up 58 deletions, each including one to 46 genes, for a total of 362 genes.
The researchers said that for people with elevated CRP levels, the amount of CRP reduction
achieved by taking vitamin C supplements in this study is comparable to that in many other
studies of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. They noted that several larger
statin trials lowered CRP levels by about 0.2 milligrams per liter; in this latest study,
vitamin C lowered CRP by 0.25 milligrams per liter. "This finding of an effect of
vitamin C is important because it shows in a carefully conducted randomized, controlled
trial that for people with moderately elevated levels of inflammation, vitamin C may be
able to reduce CRP as much as statins have done in other studies," said Block.
Evidence of the link between elevated CRP levels and a greater risk of heart disease has
grown in recent years, but it had been unclear whether the beneficial effects of lowering
CRP were independent of the effects of lowering cholesterol.
'Cascading effect' of childhood
experiences may explain serious teen violence
Adverse experiences early in life can lead to minor childhood behavior problems, which can
grow into serious acts of teen violence, according to new research. This "cascading
effect" of repeated negative incidents and behaviors is the focus of an article in
the November/December edition of the journal Child Development. Using a novel approach
that went beyond simply identifying risk factors, a research team led by a Duke University
psychologist measured how violent behavior develops across the life span, from early
childhood through adolescence. The researchers tracked 754 children from preschool through
adulthood and documented that children who have social and academic problems in elementary
school are more likely to have parents who withdraw from them over time. That opens the
door for them to make friends with adolescents exhibiting deviant behaviors and,
ultimately, leads them to engage in serious and sometimes costly acts of violence. The
developmental path toward violent outcomes was largely the same for boys and girls, said
Kenneth A. Dodge, the lead author of the study and director of the Center for Child and
Family Policy at Duke University.
LSUHSC research identifies key
contributor to Alzheimer's disease process
Walter J. Lukiw, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at LSU Health
Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author of a paper identifying, for the first
time, a specific function of a fragment of ribonucleic acid (RNA), once thought to be no
more than a byproduct, in regulating inflammation and the development of Alzheimer's
disease. The paper, An NF-kB-sensitive micro RNA-146a-mediated inflammatory circuit in
Alzheimer's disease and in stressed human brain cells, will be published in the November
14, 2008 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Lukiw's lab at the LSU Health
Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence has shown that this tiny
piece of RNA, or microRNA, called miRNA-146a is found in increased amounts in stressed
human brain cells and in Alzheimer's disease, and that it plays a crucial role in the
regulation of inflammation and disease-related neuropathology thought to be integral to
the Alzheimer's disease process. Dr. Lukiw's research team, which also included LSUHSC's
Jian Guo Cui, MD, PhD and Yuhai Zhao, a post doctoral student in the lab, demonstrated in
human brain cells in primary culture that MiRNA-146a targets the messenger RNA of an
important anti-inflammatory regulator called complement factor H (CFH). Testing both
control cells and Alzheimer's disease-affected tissues, they found that miRNA-164a appears
to reduce the amount and bioavailability of CFH, promoting the inflammation of brain cells
and contributing to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Children distressed by family
fighting have higher stress hormones
Children who become very upset when their parents fight are more likely to develop
psychological problems. But little is known about what happens beyond these behavioral
reactions in terms of children's biological responses. A new study has found that children
who are very distressed when their parents fight also have higher levels of cortisol, a
stress hormone. The study, by researchers at the University of Rochester, the University
of Minnesota, and the University of Notre Dame, appears in the November/December 2008
issue of the journal Child Development. The researchers studied 208 primarily White
6-year-olds and their mothers to determine whether children who showed specific behavior
patterns of reacting to conflict also had changes in cortisol levels during simulated
telephone arguments between their parents. They measured children's distress, hostility,
and level of involvement in the arguments, and received reports from the mothers about how
their children responded when parents fought at home. Cortisol levels were measured by
taking saliva samples before and after the conflicts in the lab. Children who were very
distressed by the conflicts in the lab had higher levels of cortisol in response to their
parents fighting. Children's levels of hostility and their involvement during the
arguments weren't always related to their levels of cortisol, the study found. But
children who were very distressed and very involved in response to parental fighting had
especially high levels of cortisol.
Prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke can increase levels of the stress hormone
norepinephrine and enzymes in the heart that have the potential to reshape the left
ventricle, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In a study
using rats as as animal model, five weeks exposure to cigarette smoke was associated with
the activation of enzymes called mitogen-activated protein kinases that govern cell growth
and survival in heart muscle. Activation of these enzymes may be a key event in cigarette
smoke-induced heart injury, says Mariann Piano, professor of biobehavioral health science
in the UIC College of Nursing and lead researcher of the study. Heart disease probably
develops as a result of complex interactions among many elements in cigarette smoke, she
said. "Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 different chemicals, one of which is
nicotine," Piano said. "However, the effect of nicotine on the initiation and
progression of cigarette smoke-mediated cardiovascular events remains controversial."
Protecting neurons could halt
Alzheimer's, Parkinson's diseases
Researchers at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and The University of Texas at Dallas
(UTD) have identified a group of chemical compounds that slow the degeneration of neurons,
a condition behind old-age diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS). Their findings are featured in the November 2008 edition of Experimental
Biology and Medicine. SMU Chemistry Professor Edward R. Biehl and UTD Biology Professor
Santosh D'Mello teamed to test 45 chemical compounds. Four were found to be the most
potent protectors of neurons, the cells that are core components of the human brain,
spinal cord and peripheral nerves.The most common cause of neurodegenerative disease is
aging. Current medications only alleviate the symptoms but do not affect the underlying
cause – degeneration of neurons. The identification of compounds that inhibit
neuronal death is of urgent and critical importance.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Ajit
Varki, M.D., have shown a new mechanism for how human consumption of red meat and milk
products could contribute to the increased risk of cancerous tumors. Their findings, which
suggest that inflammation resulting from a molecule introduced through consumption of
these foods could promote tumor growth, are published online this week in advance of print
publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Varki, UC San
Diego School of Medicine distinguished professor of medicine and cellular and molecular
medicine, and co-director of the UCSD Glycobiology Research and Training Center, and
colleagues studied a non-human cellular molecule called N-glycolylneuraminic acid
(Neu5Gc). Neu5Gc is a type of glycan, or sugar molecule, that humans don't naturally
produce, but that can be incorporated into human tissues as a result of eating red meat.
The body then develops anti-Neu5Gc antibodies – an immune response that could
potentially lead to chronic inflammation, as first suggested in a 2003 PNAS paper by
Varki.
Antibodies to cockroach and mouse
proteins associated with asthma and allergies risk
A study released by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health
(CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health shows that developing
antibodies to cockroach and mouse proteins is associated with a greater risk for wheeze,
hay fever, and eczema in preschool urban children as young as three years of age. The
study, published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology, is the first to focus on the links between antibody responses to cockroach and
mouse proteins and respiratory and allergic symptoms in such a young age group.
"These findings increase our understanding of the relationship between immune
responses to indoor allergens and the development of asthma and allergies in very young
children," said lead author of the study, Kathleen Donohue, MD, fellow in Allergy and
Immunology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The study found
evidence that the likelihood of developing wheeze, hay fever, and eczema in preschool
urban children was significantly increased among the children who were exposed to
antibodies of both cockroach and mouse allergens. This study is part of a broader
multi-year research project launched in 1998 by CCCEH that examines the health effects of
exposure of pregnant women and babies to indoor and outdoor air pollutants, pesticides,
and allergens. The Center's prior research findings have shown that exposure to multiple
environmental pollutants is associated with an increase in risk for asthma symptoms among
children. These latest findings contribute to a further understanding of how the
environment impacts child health.
"Two-Headed" Antibody
Poses A Double Threat to Breast Cancer Cells, Say Fox Chase Researchers
A small, antibody-like molecule created by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center can
successfully attack two separate molecules on the surface of cancer cells at the same
time, halting the growth of breast cancer cells in laboratory tests, the researchers say.
The molecule, nickname "ALM," might be a means of slowing cancer spread or, as
the researchers believe, a guidance system for delivering more aggressive drugs directly
to cancer cells. Their findings appear in this month’s British Journal of Cancer.
Unlike naturally occurring antibodies, which only bind to one specific target at a time,
ALM is bispecific, meaning it attaches to two separate targets simultaneously. ALM's
targets are two signaling proteins, ErbB2 and ErbB3, which connect to form a
growth-promoting complex on the surface of many cancer cells, including head and neck
cancer and drug-resistant breast cancer.
Prescription drugs can deliver high
doses of phthalates
For millions of people, medicines are a little-known, major source of the compounds, which
are linked to reproductive abnormalities. Scientists warn “of the potential for high
delivered doses of phthalates to vulnerable segments of the population, particularly
pregnant women or young children.”
Genetically modified corn has been linked to a threat to fertility in an official study
that could deliver a hammer blow to controversial 'Frankenstein Food'. A long-term feeding
trial commissioned by the Austrian government found mice fed on GM corn or maize had fewer
offspring and lower birth rates.
We have a steady drumbeat of new scientific evidence of global warming's severity but
little in the way of real precautionary action. Why? Because "There is a profound and
fundamental misconception about climate." Even graduate students at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) don't get it.
To avoid vitamin D deficiency, Holick recommends that most adults take 800 to 1,000 IU of
vitamin D3 daily or 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 every two to four weeks. (Vitamin D2 is
metabolized more gradually than the D3 form of the nutrient, though both fulfill the
body's need for vitamin D.) Under certain circumstances—like pregnancy, obesity, or
particular forms of kidney or gastrointestinal disease—the ideal dose might double.
Speaking of enzymes, avocados are actually much higher in their enzyme content than most
other fruits or vegetables, making them a welcome raw addition to any meal. And compared
to any other fruit, avocados contain more protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K,
potassium or magnesium. Not to mention all the vitamin C, iron, calcium and phosphorous.
Advertising Passed Off As Research
Confuses the Public Again
Today’s front page headlines worldwide announced a simple test called “highly
sensitive C-reactive protein” (HS-CRP) and the most powerful cholesterol-lowering
statin currently on the market, Crestor (rosuvastatin), used together, could cut the risk
of heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease in half.1 For the casual
reader, Crestor appears to be a miracle treatment with few risks and reasonable costs.
Today’s publication adds to the belief of a growing number of experts that
“statins are so wonderful that they should be added to our drinking water” (like
fluoride).
