News - Week 49 - 2008
The Health Dangers of
Fluoride
Bipolar disorder genes, pathways
identified by Indiana University neuroscientists
Neuroscientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have created the first
comprehensive map of genes likely to be involved in bipolar disorder, according to
research published online Nov. 21 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. The
researchers combined data from the latest large-scale international gene hunting studies
for bipolar disorder with information from their own studies and have identified the best
candidate genes for the illness. The methodology developed at the IU Institute of
Psychiatric Research enabled Alexander B. Niculescu III, M.D., Ph.D., and his team to mine
the data from the genome-wide association studies and other study results on the levels of
gene activity in human blood samples and in animal models. Genes with the highest levels
of prominence were determined to be the most active in contributing to the disorder. The
researchers also were able to analyze how these genes work together and created a
comprehensive biological model of bipolar disorder.
View
full article here
Identifying blood biomarkers for
mood disorders using convergent functional genomics
There are to date no clinical laboratory blood tests for mood disorders. We propose, and
provide proof of principle for, a translational convergent approach to help identify and
prioritize blood biomarkers of moodstate. Our preliminary studies suggest that blood
biomarkers have the potential to offer an unexpectedly informative window into brain
functioning and disease state. Panels of such biomarkers may serve as a basis for
objective clinical laboratory tests, a longstanding Holy Grail for psychiatry.
Biomarker-based tests may help with early intervention and prevention efforts, as well as
monitoring response to various treatments.
View full article here
Med school discovery could lead to
better cancer diagnosis, drugs
A Florida State University College of Medicine research team led by Yanchang Wang has
discovered an important new layer of regulation in the cell division cycle, which could
lead to a greater understanding of the way cancer begins. Wang, an assistant professor of
biomedical sciences at the College of Medicine, said the findings will lead to an improved
ability to diagnose cancer and could lead to the design of new drugs that kill cancer
cells by inhibiting cell reproduction. His paper on the discovery has been published in
the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The correct timing of
chromosome segregation during cell division is necessary to ensure normal, healthy
growth," Wang said. "Now we have discovered a previously undetected layer of
regulation in how the chromosomes separate, which helps to ensure the correct timing and
decreases the potential for the formation of cancerous growth." The cell division
cycle is a collection of tightly regulated events that lead to cell duplication. The most
important events are the doubling of the hereditary information encoded within a set of
chromosomes, and the division of that duplicated information into two daughter cells that
are genetically identical to each other and the mother cell. The correct order of
cell-cycle events is essential for successful cell division. Wang's article addresses the
role of a particular protein enzyme, Cdc14, in ensuring that cell division events occur in
exactly the right order. Defects in the regulation of the order of events can lead to cell
death or the alteration of genetic information, which contributes to the formation of
cancerous cells.
View
full article here
Scripps research scientists
identify blood component that turns bacteria virulent
Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that
signals Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal. This
finding opens up new avenues of exploration for the development of treatments for
bacterial infections. The study was published in the November 21 edition of the journal
PLoS Pathogens. The Scripps Research scientists identified bicarbonate, a chemical found
in all body fluids and organs that plays a major role in maintaining pH balance in cells,
as providing the signal for Bacillus anthracis to unleash virulence factors. Without the
presence of the bicarbonate transporter in the bloodstream, the scientists found, the
bacteria do not become virulent. Scientists have known for some time that bicarbonate is
implicated in many diseases, but controversy has existed about whether bicarbonate, carbon
dioxide, or some combination of these two molecules are responsible for triggering
bacterial pathogenesis. This study confirms, for the first time, that it is indeed
bicarbonate, rather than carbon dioxide, that signals the gram-positive B. anthracis to
become virulent. This finding also is significant because other pathogenic bacteria such
as Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Vibrio cholera have
bicarbonate transport pathways similar to B. anthracis and thus are likely to have similar
virulence triggering mechanisms. Gram-positive bacteria are the major culprits driving the
increase of community and hospital acquired bacterial infections. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 10 percent of all patients, or about 2
million people, contract hospital acquired infections each year. These bacteria are often
resistant to multiple antibiotics, making the problem a growing public health concern and
the need for new antibacterial treatment more urgent. Now, the bicarbonate transporter
pathway may be investigated as a potential new target for drug intervention. "How a
bacterium recognizes signals in the host that trigger pathogenesis mechanisms, and the
nature of the mechanisms necessary to develop pathogenesis, remain poorly
understood," said Scripps Research Associate Professor Marta Perego, Ph.D., who
conducted the study with Scripps Research postdoctoral fellow Adam Wilson, Ph.D., and
colleagues. "We have identified an essential component for the induction of virulence
gene expression in response to host bicarbonate levels and have used this finding to learn
more about the extracellular and intracellular signals controlling virulence."
View full article here
Ability to quit smoking may depend
on ADHD symptoms, Columbia researchers find
Tobacco use is more prevalent and smoking cessation less likely among persons with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) In a study of smokers with attention
deficit and hyperactivity symptoms, those who exhibited elevated hyperactivity and
impulsivity, with or without inattention, showed lower quit rates after 8 weeks than those
with inattention symptoms alone or those without the A.D.H.D. symptoms. The study, now
available online in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, could help smokers and physicians to
better tailor cessation treatment for individuals with A.D.H.D. "Greater
understanding of the divergent associations that exist between the different kinds of
A.D.H.D. have important public health consequences for smoking cessation and decreased
tobacco-related mortality in this population," said the study's lead author Lirio
Covey, Ph.D., professor of clinical psychology (in psychiatry) at Columbia University
Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. "The effect of A.D.H.D.
by itself on smoking cessation has rarely been examined; the effects of the individual
A.D.H.D. symptoms on smoking cessation, even less so. To our knowledge, the effects of
inattention or hyperactivity at baseline as separate domains of A.D.H.D. on cessation
treatment outcome have never been examined," Dr. Covey reported. During the initial,
eight-week phase of a maintenance treatment study, 583 adult smokers, 43 of whom were
identified with clinically significant A.D.H.D. symptom subtypes using the A.D.H.D.
Current Symptom Scale, were treated with the medication buproprion (brand name Zyban®),
the nicotine patch and regular cessation counseling. Compared to smokers without A.D.H.D.,
smokers of both A.D.H.D. subtypes combined showed lower abstinence rates throughout the
study.
View
full article here
Risk Factors and Event Rates in
Patients With Atherothrombotic Disease in Germany
The traditional risk factors are common in patients with coronary heart disease,
cerebrovascular disease (stroke and/or transient ischemic attack), or peripheral arterial
occlusive disease. Many patients with these conditions or associated risk factors are not
treated according to current guidelines. This may explain, at least in part, the high
rates of cardiovascular events observed after one year.
View full article
here
Hairspray is linked to common
genital birth defect, says study
Women who are exposed to hairspray in the workplace during pregnancy have more than double
the risk of having a son with the genital birth defect hypospadias, according to a new
study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.The study is the
first to show a significant link between hairspray and hypospadias, one of the most common
birth defects of the male genitalia, where the urinary opening is displaced to the
underside of the penis. The causes of the condition are poorly understood.
View
full article here
Mechanisms of cardiovascular
disease and cancer give clues to new therapies
Cardiovascular conditions leading to heart attacks and strokes are treated quite
separately from common cancers of the prostate, breast or lung, but now turn out to
involve some of the same critical mechanisms at the molecular level. This in turn provides
clues to more effective therapies for both cancer and cardiovascular diseases, but
requires researchers in these distinct fields to come together. The seeds were sown for
closer cooperation between these two groups at a recent workshop organised by the European
Science Foundation (ESF), which also highlighted the striking progress already made in
understanding key common mechanisms underlying both disease categories.
View
full article here
Household Exposure to Toxic
Chemicals Lurks Unrecognized, Researchers Find
Although Americans are becoming increasingly aware of toxic chemical exposure from
everyday household products like bisphenol A in some baby bottles and lead in some toys,
women do not readily connect typical household products with personal chemical exposure
and related adverse health effects, according to research from the December issue of the
Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Brown University sociologist Phil Brown is a
co-author of the study. “People more readily equate pollution with large-scale
contamination and environmental disasters, yet the products and activities that form the
backdrop to our everyday lives — electronics, cleaners, beauty products, food
packaging — are a significant source of daily personal chemical exposure that
accumulates over time,” said sociologist Rebecca Gasior Altman, lead author of the
study, “Pollution Comes Home and Gets Personal - Women’s Experience of Household
Chemical Exposure.” Altman received a Ph.D. from Brown in 2008.
View full article
here
Red, red wine - How it fights
Alzheimer's
Scientists call it the "French paradox" — a society that, despite consuming
food high in cholesterol and saturated fats, has long had low death rates from heart
disease. Research has suggested it is the red wine consumed with all that fatty food that
may be beneficial — and not only for cardiovascular health but in warding off certain
tumors and even Alzheimer's disease. Now, Alzheimer's researchers at UCLA, in
collaboration with Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, have discovered how red wine
may reduce the incidence of the disease. Reporting in the Nov. 21 issue of the Journal of
Biological Chemistry, David Teplow, a UCLA professor of neurology, and colleagues show how
naturally occurring compounds in red wine called polyphenols block the formation of
proteins that build the toxic plaques thought to destroy brain cells, and further, how
they reduce the toxicity of existing plaques, thus reducing cognitive deterioration.
Polyphenols comprise a chemical class with more than 8,000 members, many of which are
found in high concentrations in wine, tea, nuts, berries, cocoa and various plants. Past
research has suggested that such polyphenols may inhibit or prevent the buildup of toxic
fibers composed primarily of two proteins — Aß40 and Aß42 — that deposit in
the brain and form the plaques which have long been associated with Alzheimer's. Until
now, however, no one understood the mechanics of how polyphenols worked.
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full article here
Scientists have invented a machine
that sorts pomegranate seeds
A team of investigators from Valencia has developed a machine that separates automatically
the seeds from the rind and pith of the pomegranate. The mechanism uses a computer vision
system to distinguish and sort the different parts of this fruit, according to a study
published on-line by the Journal of Food Engineering.The difficulty in peeling
pomegranates and separating out the seeds disheartens many consumers when they eat the
fruit of the pomegranate (Punica granatum). Now a Spanish invention enables this food to
be de-seeded automatically. “This involves a machine that discards the non edible
parts and sorts the seeds according to their quality”, José Blasco explains to SINC
and who is from the Institute of Agrarian Research in Valencia (Instituto Valenciano de
Investigaciones Agrarias [IVIA]), where they have carried out research. The results of the
research have been published recently in the Journal of Food Engineering, and the patent
has already been requested.
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full article here
Does hormone treatment predispose
patients to breast cancer?
Breast cancer, the leading cause of death among women in France, is the most commonly
occurring cancer in women. Sporadic breast cancer, which is non-hereditary, turns out to
be the most widespread, representing 85 to 90% of all cases, but remains the least
well-known. Researchers at CNRS and CEA (1), working with a team from Hôpital Saint-Louis
(2), have just discovered the cause of 50% of sporadic breast cancers. The results should
also explain epidemiological studies which suggest that hormone treatment predisposes
patients to breast cancer. The work is published in 'Cancer Research'.More than four out
of five breast cancers are not related to hereditary factors. These cancers, which are
called sporadic, are due to causes which were until recently considered complex and poorly
understood. On the other hand, hereditary forms of cancer, which represent only 10 to 15%
of breast cancers, have for years been the subjects of studies, work which has resulted in
the identification of ten genes whose mutation increases the risk of cancer in an
individual. Among these genes, nine are involved in the DNA damage response system, which
is the collection of cell mechanisms that optimize the repair of DNA. The tenth gene codes
for a protein which inhibits the action of the AKT1 enzyme. And among these ten genes, two
are responsible for 50% of hereditary breast cancers: BRCA1 and BRCA2. Researchers from
the "Radiobiologie moléculaire et cellulaire" (CNRS / CEA) lab took these data
on hereditary cancers as the starting point for their research into non-hereditary forms.
View
full article here
Pregnancy study finds strong
association between two antidepressants and heart anomalies
Women who took the antidepressant fluoxetine during the first three months of pregnancy
gave birth to four times as many babies with heart problems as women who did not and the
levels were three times higher in women taking paroxetine. Although some of the conditions
were serious, others were not severe and resolved themselves without the need for medical
intervention, according to a three-country study in the November issue of the British
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Researchers have advised women taking the drugs to
continue unless they are advised to stop by their doctor or consultant. But they are being
urged to give up smoking, as the study also found that more than ten cigarettes a day was
associated with a five-fold increase in babies with major heart problems. The team has
also suggested that women on fluoxetine should be given a foetal echocardiogram in their
second trimester to diagnose possible heart anomalies. International researchers from
Israel, Italy and Germany followed the pregnancies of 2,191 women - 410 who had taken
paroxetine during pregnancy, 314 who had taken fluoxetine and 1,467 controls who hadn't
taken either of the drugs. "After we excluded genetic and cytogenic anomalies, we
found a higher rate of major heart anomalies in the women who had been taking the
antidepressants" says lead author Professor Asher Ornoy from the Israeli Teratology
Information Service in Jerusalem, Israel. "Further analysis showed a strong
association between major heart anomalies and taking fluoxetine in the first trimester.
Women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day also had more babies with heart
anomalies."
View full
article here
Mineral oil contamination in humans
- A health problem?
From a quantitative standpoint, mineral oil is probably the largest contaminant of our
body. That this contaminant can be tolerated without health concerns in humans has not
been proven convincingly. The current Editorial of the European Journal of Lipid Science
and Technology reflects on this and concludes that this proof either has to be provided or
we have to take measures to reduce our exposure – from all sources, including
cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the environmental contamination. In the Ukraine recently
around 100,000 tonnes of sunflower oil were contaminated with mineral oil at
concentrations often above 1000 mg/kg. Much of the contaminated oil was withdrawn, but
there are products on the market which were produced before this contamination was
detected; and this autumn there are still several 10,000 tonnes of contaminated oil in the
Ukraine and other parts of the world. To protect consumers, a broad analytical campaign
was initiated throughout Europe. The European Commission decided to apply a legal limit of
50 mg/kg to the mineral paraffins in Ukrainian sunflower oil and in September 2008 it
organized a workshop together with the Official Food Control Authority of Zurich,
Switzerland, to promote this campaign.
View full
article here
Smoking, teens and their parents -
New research
A new study found that adolescents were at the greatest risk of smoking when their parents
began smoking at an early age and the parents' smoking quickly reached high levels and
persisted over time. The study, published in the November issue of Health Psychology,
draws from the long-running Indiana University Smoking Survey and builds on previous
research that suggests smoking behavior is influenced by both genetics and the
environment. "This particular study focuses more on the genetic influence in the
specific case of a parent's smoking behavior impacting a teenage son or daughter's
smoking," said Jon Macy, project director of the IU Smoking Survey in the Department
of Psychological and Brain Sciences. "The study findings suggest that the
characteristics of early onset and high levels of long-term smoking are great candidates
for behavioral and molecular genetic studies of the causes of smoking and how smoking
behavior is passed from one generation to the next. "Of course, environmental
influences on adolescents such as parenting practices, availability of cigarettes in the
home, and parents' attitudes about smoking are equally as important and can be addressed
with effective public health interventions including family-based smoking prevention
programs." Previous studies, many of which relied on parents' current smoking status
only, offered mixed results about whether parental smoking is predictive of adolescent
smoking. The current study, however, used longitudinal data to identify more detailed
information about parental smoking behaviors such as amount of smoking, speed of
escalation, peak of use and persistence over time.
View full article here
Stomach ulcer bug causes bad breath
Bacteria that cause stomach ulcers and cancer could also be giving us bad breath,
according to research published in the December issue of the Journal of Medical
Microbiology. For the first time, scientists have found Helicobacter pylori living in the
mouths of people who are not showing signs of stomach disease. The mouth is home to over
600 different species of bacteria, some of which can cause disease. Helicobacter pylori
has recently been shown to cause stomach ulcers and is also responsible for a large
proportion of gastric cancers. Scientists estimate that between 20 and 80 % of people in
the developed world and over 90 % of people in the developing world carry the bacterium.
"Recently, scientists discovered that H. pylori can live in the mouth," said Dr
Nao Suzuki from Fukuoka Dental College in Fukuoka, Japan. "We wanted to determine
whether the bacteria can cause bad breath, so we tested patients complaining of halitosis
for the presence of H. pylori." The researchers found the bacteria in the mouths of
21 out of 326 Japanese people with halitosis (6.4%). In these people, the concentration of
a bad breath gas and the level of oral disease was significantly higher. In patients with
periodontal (gum) disease, 16 of 102 people (15.7%) had H. pylori in their mouths.
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full article here
Scientists discover 21st century
plague
Bacteria that can cause serious heart disease in humans are being spread by rat fleas,
sparking concern that the infections could become a bigger problem in humans. Research
published in the December issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology suggests that brown
rats, the biggest and most common rats in Europe, may now be carrying the bacteria. Since
the early 1990s, more than 20 species of Bartonella bacteria have been discovered. They
are considered to be emerging zoonotic pathogens, because they can cause serious illness
in humans worldwide from heart disease to infection of the spleen and nervous system.
"A new species called Bartonella rochalimae was recently discovered in a patient with
an enlarged spleen who had travelled to South America," said Professor Chao-Chin
Chang from the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan. "This event raised concern
that it could be a newly emerged zoonotic pathogen. Therefore, we decided to investigate
further to understand if rodents living close to human environment could carry this
bacteria." Scientists have found that rodents carry several pathogenic species of
Bartonella, such as B. elizabethae, which can cause endocarditis and B. grahamii, which
was found to cause neuroretinitis in humans. Although scientists are unsure about the main
route of transmission, these infections are most likely to be spread by fleas.
Ctenophthalmus nobilis, a flea that lives on bank voles, was shown to transmit different
species of Bartonella bacteria. These pathogens have also been found in fleas that live on
gerbils, cotton rats and brown rats.
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full article here
New research helps explain genetics
of Parkinson's disease
A new study by Narendra et al. suggests that Parkin, the product of the Parkinson's
disease-related gene Park2, prompts neuronal survival by clearing the cell of its damaged
mitochondria. "[This is] an exciting new discovery that links the fields of
mitochondrial quality control and the genetics of Parkinson's disease (PD)," writes
Heidi McBride of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. "…This work
significantly increases our understanding of PD and provides a new framework for the
development of therapeutic interventions." The study, as well as McBride's
commentary, will appear in the December 1, 2008 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology
(JCB). Both articles will be published online Monday, November 24 (www.jcb.org).
Loss-of-function mutations in the gene Park2, which encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase
(Parkin), are implicated in half the cases of recessive familial early-onset Parkinson's
disease. Several lines of evidence suggest that Parkin loss is associated with
mitochondrial dysfunction, but exactly how was unknown. To learn more about Parkin's role
in cells, Narendra et al. examined the protein's subcellular location. They found that
Parkin was present in the cytoplasm of most cells, but translocated to mitochondria in
cells that had undergone mitochondrial damage such as membrane depolarization.
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full article here
Ultrasound waves aid in rapid
treatment of DVT
The use of ultrasound waves for deep vein thrombosis may help dissolve blood clots in less
time than using clot-busting drugs alone, according to researchers at Emory University.
The study will be presented Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008 at the annual VEITHsymposium in New York
City.
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full article here
Scripps research team defines new
painkilling chemical pathway
Marijuana can be an effective painkiller, but social issues and unhealthy smoke inhalation
complicate its use. As a result, researchers have focused great attention on understanding
the biochemical system involved so they might manipulate it by other means. Toward that
end, a Scripps Research Institute group has definitively identified a chemical pathway
that, in mice, imitates marijuana's painkilling effect. The work could enable the
development of new pain treatments.
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full article here
Scientists Discover New Cause of
Fatal Brain Injury from Acute Viral Meningitis
What was once thought to be the culprit responsible for fatal brain damage in acute viral
meningitis has now been found to be only an accomplice, say researchers at The Scripps
Research Institute. In a November 16 advance, online publication of the journal Nature,
the researchers say their discovery revamps common beliefs about how such potentially
lethal infections may be ravaging the brain and suggests the possibility of new
treatments."This is a paradigm shift in how we think about some forms of meningitis
and possibly other infections," says the study's lead investigator, Dorian B.
McGavern, an associate professor in the Department of Immunology at Scripps Research.
"What we thought were the killers are actually immune cells that recruit other
accessory cells that then drive the disease. If we can find ways to block recruitment of
the cells that actually do the damage into the brain, we may be able to limit the impact
of the virus."Meningitis occurs when the membrane (the meninges) that covers and
protects the spinal cord and brain become inflamed, usually due to a bacterial or viral
infection. The condition is considered a medical emergency because it can lead to an
inflammatory response that results in brain swelling, seizures, blood clotting, epilepsy,
or other complications, sometimes resulting in death. Many viruses can cause meningitis.
View full
article here
'Wiring' in the Brain Influences
Personality
Connections between the nerves is one factor determining whether a person welcomes a
change or tends to avoid anything new Some people are constantly seeking a new kick; some
prefer to stick to tried and tested things. Which group you belong to seems to be
connected, inter alia, with the 'wiring' of specific centres of the brain. This was
discovered by scientists at the University of Bonn using a new method. Even how much
acceptance people seek is apparently also determined by nerve fibres in the brain. The
study will appear in the next issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience (doi:
10.1038/nn.2228).
View full article here
Melatonin may save eyesight in
inflammatory disease
Current research suggests that melatonin therapy may help treat uveitis, a common
inflammatory eye disease. The related report by Sande et al., "Therapeutic Effect of
Melatonin in Experimental Uveitis," appears in the December issue of The American
Journal of Pathology. People with uveitis develop sudden redness and pain in their eyes,
and their vision rapidly deteriorates. Untreated, uveitis can lead to permanent vision
loss, accounting for an estimated 10-15% of cases of blindness in the US. Uveitis has a
wide variety of causes, including eye injury, cancer, infection, and autoimmune diseases
such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. There is currently no optimal
treatment for uveitis. Corticoid steroid eye drops are often used; however, long-term
corticoid use has many negative side effects, including the possible development of
glaucoma. Researchers lead by Dr. Ruth Rosenstein of The University of Buenos Aires and
The National Research Council (CONICET) hypothesized that melatonin, which regulates
sleep/wake cycles and reduces jet lag, may be able to prevent the ocular inflammation in
uveitis. They found in an experimental model of uveitis that levels of two factors that
contribute to inflammation, TNF? and NF?B, were reduced with melatonin treatment.
Importantly, melatonin treatment also decreased the appearance of clinical symptoms of
uveitis such as inflammation, blood vessel expansion and cataract, and protected the
blood-ocular barrier integrity.
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full article here
Inherited genetic cause, possible
treatment found for complex lung disorder
A tale of two sisters has helped researchers solve a medical mystery and discover a
familial genetic mutation that causes an inherited form of the lung disease pulmonary
alveolar proteinosis. Reporting their results in the Nov. 24 Journal of Experimental
Medicine, a research team led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center also points
to the possibility of an inhaled therapy to overcome a chain of molecular events that lead
to PAP.
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full article here
Pain is in the eyes of the beholder
By manipulating the appearance of a chronically achy hand, researchers have found they
could increase or decrease the pain and swelling in patients moving their symptomatic
limbs. The findings -- reported in the Nov. 25 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press
publication -- reveal a profound top-down effect of body image on body tissues, according
to the researchers.
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full article here
Electronic health records may lower
malpractice settlements
Use of electronic health records (EHRs) may help reduce paid malpractice settlements for
physicians, according to a new study. The study, which appeared in the November 24 issue
of Archives of Internal Medicine, showed a trend toward lower paid malpractice claims for
physicians who are active users of EHR technology. This study was based at the Department
of Ambulatory Care and Prevention of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health
Care. Health care policymakers have touted the benefits of EHRs, which include preserving
and documenting patient health care data, reducing medication errors, improving efficiency
of care, and allowing surveillance and monitoring of care for research and quality
improvement."There is broad consensus that electronic health records are an essential
foundation for the delivery of high quality care. As electronic health record adoption
proceeds as a national health policy objective, some have wondered whether EHRs can help
to prevent medical malpractice claims," says Assistant Professor Steven Simon, senior
author on the paper. The study examined survey responses from 1140 practicing physicians
in Massachusetts during 2005 concerning their demographic characteristics and the length
and extent of their EHR use. The physicians' malpractice history was accessed using
publicly available data from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Board of Registration in
Medicine. The study team compared the presence or absence of malpractice claims among
physicians with and without EHRs, including only claims that had been settled and paid.
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full article here
Tiny protein provokes healthy
bonding between cells
In human relationships, a certain "spark" often governs whether we prefer one
person to another. Critical first impressions can occur within seconds. Researchers have
found that cell-to-cell "friendships" operate in much the same way and that
dysfunctional bonding is linked to the spread of cancer.
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full article here
Transporting Broiler Chickens Could
Spread Antibiotic-Resistant Organisms
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of
a novel pathway for potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from
intensively raised poultry—driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens
from farm to slaughterhouse. A study by the Hopkins researchers found increased levels of
pathogenic bacteria, both susceptible and drug-resistant, on surfaces and in the air
inside cars traveling behind trucks that carry broiler chickens. The study is the first to
look at exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from the transportation of poultry. The
findings are published in the first issue of the Journal of Infection and Public Health.
View
full article here
Carnegie Mellon Scientists Offer
Explanation for "Face Blindness;" New Research Provides Insight Into Intriguing
Disorder
For the first time, scientists have been able to map the disruption in neural circuitry of
people suffering from congenital prosopagnosia, sometimes known as face blindness, and
have been able to offer a biological explanation for this intriguing disorder. Currently
thought to affect roughly two percent of the population, congenital prosopagnosia
manifests as the lifelong failure to recognize faces in the absence of obvious
neurological damage, and in individuals with intact vision and intelligence. Studying
subjects aged 33 to 72 using diffusion tensor imaging and tractography, the team of
scientists from Carnegie Mellon University, Kings College in London and Ben-Gurion
University in Israel were able to show that, unlike that of normal brains, there was a
reduction in the integrity of the white matter tracts in the brains of individuals with
congenital prosopagnosic. Moreover, the extent of the reduced white matter circuitry was
related to the severity of the behavioral impairment.
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full article here
Understanding how oxidative stress
impairs endothelial progenitor cell function
Researchers from the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana
University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children report in the Nov. 2008
issue of the journal Antioxidants & Redox Signaling that a review of the scientific
literature reveals that how endothelial progenitor cells respond to oxidantive stress
appears to be a critical determinant in maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system.
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full article here
Proteins strangle cell during
division
A Swedish research group, partly financed by NWO, has discovered a new mechanism for cell
division in a microorganism found in extremely hot and acidic conditions. The results of
the research offer insights into evolution, but also into the functioning of the human
body. The research has been recently published in PNAS, the magazine of the American
National Academy of Sciences. Thijs Ettema, member of the research group, received a
Rubicon grant from NWO in 2006 to gain experience abroad.
View full article
here
Children's Hospital scientists
achieve repair of injured heart muscle in lab tests of stem cells
Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have been able to effectively
repair damaged heart muscle in an animal model using a novel population of stem cells they
discovered that is derived from human skeletal muscle tissue.
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full article here
Feed a cold, feed a fever -
Research shows calorie cut makes it harder to fight flu
Dieters or those who consume fewer calories during flu season could have a harder time
fighting off the flu virus, according to research by Michigan State University nutritional
immunology professor Elizabeth Gardner. In a study published in the Nov. issue of the
Journal of Nutrition, Gardner showed that mice with a calorie-restricted diet were more
likely to die during the first few days of infection than mice with a normal diet.
View full article here
Presence of gum disease may help
dentists and physicians identify risk for cardiovascular disease
Individuals reporting a history of periodontal disease were more likely to have increased
levels of inflammation, a risk factor for heart disease, compared to those who reported no
history of periodontal disease, according to an American Journal of Cardiology report
available online today. Led by investigators from Columbia University Medical Center and
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the findings suggest persons with increased levels of
inflammatory markers associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease might be
identified by asking about oral health history.
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Cancer cell 'bodyguard' turned into
killer
If you're a cancer cell, you want a protein called Bcl-2 on your side because it decides
if you live or die. It's usually a trusted bodyguard, protecting cancer cells from
programmed death and allowing them to grow and form tumors. But sometimes it turns into
their assassin. Scientists knew it happened, but they didn't know how to actually cause
such a betrayal. Now they do and it may lead to the development of new cancer-fighting
drugs.
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Scientists shed light on evolution
of gene regulation
Scientists at Penn State have shed light on some of the processes that regulate genes and
on the evolution of the DNA regions that regulate genes. The team focused on regulatory
regions that, when bound to a certain protein, are thought to turn on genes that play an
important role in the development of red blood cells. The research results could help in
the development of drugs to treat sickle-cell anemia and other blood disorders.
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here
Potassium loss from blood pressure
drugs may explain higher risk of adult diabetes
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a drop in blood potassium levels caused by
diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure could be the reason why people on
those drugs are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The drugs helpfully accelerate
loss of fluids, but also deplete important chemicals, including potassium, so that those
who take them are generally advised to eat bananas and other potassium-rich foods to
counteract the effect.
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Mammals can be stimulated to regrow
damaged inner retina nerve cells
For the first time the mammalian retina has now shown the capacity to regenerate new
neurons after damage. This research in mice shows that at least some types of retinal
damage can be repaired. The loss of neurons in the retina in people in conditions like
glaucoma or macular degeneration leads to visual loss and blindness. This new research
shows there might someday be a way to restore vision in people with these conditions.
View full article here
Adult brain neurons can remodel
connections
Overturning a century of prevailing thought, scientists are finding that neurons in the
adult brain can remodel their connections. In work reported in the Nov. 24 online edition
of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Elly Nedivi, associate
professor of neurobiology at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and colleagues
found that a type of neuron implicated in autism spectrum disorders remodels itself in a
strip of brain tissue only as thick as four sheets of tissue paper at the upper border of
cortical layer 2.
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article here
A scientific breakthrough on the
control of the bad cholesterol
A study performed by the team of Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, director of the Biochemical
Neuroendocrinology Research Unit at the IRCM, shows for the very first time that the
degradation by PCSK9 of the LDLR receptor, which is responsible for removing the bad
cholesterol from the bloodstream, may be inhibited by a third protein, annexin A2. This
major study was published on Nov. 14 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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article here
How safe is fructose for persons
with or without diabetes?
Fructose causes metabolic syndrome because of its unique metabolism that results in
intracellular ATP depletion, uric acid generation, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative
stress, and lipogenesis. An understanding of the mechanisms clarifies the variability of
responses reported in the literature. Rodent studies are often criticized, because they
typically use large supraphysiological doses (60%). However, rodents are resistant to
fructose because they synthesize vitamin C, have low uric acid concentrations, and have
good endothelial function. If uric acid concentrations are raised or if low doses are
prolonged , then insulin resistance is readily induced. The variability in human studies
can also be explained by a clarification of fructose metabolism. For example, fructose
uniquely up-regulates its own transporter (Glut5) and metabolism (fructokinase) and,
thereby, the more fructose one eats, the more sensitive one becomes to its effects. This
is a potential explanation for the fact that obese persons appear to be more sensitive to
the lipogenic effects of acute fructose ingestion than are nonobese persons.
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Selenium may slow march of AIDS
Increasing the production of naturally occurring proteins that contain selenium in human
blood cells slows down multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to biochemists.
"We have found that increasing the expression of proteins that contain selenium
negatively affects the replication of HIV," said K. Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State
assistant professor of immunology and molecular toxicology. "Our results suggest a
reduction in viral replication by at least 10-fold." Selenium is a micronutrient that
the body needs to maintain normal metabolism. Unlike other nutrients, which bind to
certain proteins and modulate the protein's activity, selenium gets incorporated into
proteins in the form of an amino acid called selenocysteine. These proteins –
selenoproteins – are especially important in reducing the stress caused by an
infection, thereby slowing its spread.
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St. Jude identifies genomic causes
of a certain type of leukemia relapse
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified distinctive genetic
changes in the cancer cells of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that cause
relapse. The finding offers a pathway to designing treatments for ALL relapse in children
and, ultimately, in adults. The most common childhood cancer, ALL affects thousands of
children annually in the United States. Although more than 80 percent of ALL cases are
cured, relapse is a significant problem, with only 30 percent of children with relapsed
ALL surviving. Previous studies had found some evidence for genetic differences between
the cancer cells of ALL patients at initial diagnosis and those who relapsed. That
information was limited, and there had never been a broad comparison of the entire genomes
of ALL at initial diagnosis and at subsequent relapse. In the study that appears in the
Nov. 28, 2008, issue of the journal Science, St. Jude researchers compared the genomes of
the cancer cells of 61 childhood ALL patients when they were initially diagnosed and after
they had relapsed. The investigators used millions of genetic markers—characteristic
genetic variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms—as guideposts to pinpoint
genetic changes characteristic of relapsed cells. Using these genetic markers, the
researchers analyzed all of the cells' chromosomes to look for genetic changes called copy
number abnormalities specific to relapsed cells. These changes are considered a major type
of damaging gene alterations in ALL. "In more than 90 percent of the cases, we found
differences in the genetic alterations present at the time of diagnosis and at the time of
relapse," said Charles Mullighan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant member in the St. Jude
Department of Pathology and the paper's first author. "Examining the new changes that
are arising at relapse tells us a lot about the individual genetic lesions that might
confer resistance to treatment and be responsible for relapse." According to the
researchers, the relapse-related genetic changes commonly disrupted the machinery by which
white blood cells called B cells mature and proliferate. Importantly, the relapse-related
genetic changes only infrequently involved genes directly regulating the responsiveness to
anti-cancer drugs. The analysis also indicated that in most cases, the cancer cells
responsible for relapse were related to those that originally gave rise to the cancer.
Those relapse cells were present at low levels at diagnosis, the scientists' analysis
indicated. However, in a few cases, the relapse cells evolved from genetically distinct
cells, indicating that the relapsed leukemia was actually an entirely new cancer.
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A novel target for therapeutics
against Staph infection
Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and
Technology, and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered how a bacterial pathogen
interacts with the blood coagulation protein fibrinogen to cause methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, a finding that could aid in developing
therapeutics against the potentially deadly disease. Their work appears November 28 in the
open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. Once occurring more commonly in healthcare facilities,
but now affecting segments of the general population, MRSA is a bacterial pathogen
responsible for a range of diseases from mild skin infection to life-threatening sepsis.
Even with antibiotics, these infections can still be fatal. Senior author Magnus Höök,
Ph.D. and his colleagues carried out biochemical and structural studies to determine the
binding mechanism of clumping factor A (ClfA), a surface protein that plays an important
role in the pathogenesis of S. aureus. The group found that ClfA binds to the
blood-clotting protein fibrinogen (Fg) at a site that is also responsible for inducing
platelet activation and thrombosis (clot inside a blood vessel). The results show
significant structural differences in how staphylococcal and platelet receptor proteins
recognize fibrinogen. By exploiting this difference in recognition, the researchers show
that agents could be designed that inhibit the ClfA–Fg interaction but do not
interfere with the interaction of Fg with the platelet integrin, therefore avoiding
unwanted side effects on the circulatory system.
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Experimental TB drug explodes
bacteria from the inside out
An international team of biochemists has discovered how an experimental drug unleashes its
destructive force inside the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The finding could help
scientists develop ways to treat dormant TB infections, and suggests a strategy for drug
development against other bacteria as well.
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Master gene plays key role in blood
sugar levels
When mice that lack steroid receptor-2, a master regulator gene called a coactivator, fast
for a day, their blood sugar levels plummet. If they go another day without food, they
will die. The severity of the hypoglycemia was unexpected, said Dr. Bert W. O'Malley,
chair of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine and senior author of
the report on the study that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.
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Molecular Partnership Controls
Daily Rhythms, Body Metabolism, According to Penn Study
A research team led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Diabetes,
Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has
discovered a key molecular partnership that coordinates body rhythms and metabolism. Lazar
and his colleagues, including the study’s first author, Penn Veterinary Medicine
doctoral student Theresa Alenghat, studied a protein called NCoR that modulates the
body’s responses to metabolic hormones. They engineered a mutation into mice that
prevents NCoR from working with an enzyme that is normally its partner, HDAC3. These
animals showed changes in the expression f clock and metabolic genes, and were leaner,
more sensitive to insulin, and on different sleep-wake cycles than controls. The role of
the NCoR-HDAC3 partnership in regulating the body’s internal clock was previously
unknown. HDAC3 is an enzyme that affects gene expression by binding to receptors in the
cell nucleus to affect genes' activity, but not by directly changing DNA. The findings
suggest that HDAC via NCoR controls the body’s internal clock, and therefore
metabolism, through this epigenetic change. Their findings are reported in this
week’s issue of Nature. “In the fight against the obesity and diabetes
epidemics, disruption of NCoR and its enzyme partner, might be a valuable new
weapon,” says Lazar.
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Eye Divergence in Children Triples
Risk of Mental Illness
Children whose eyes are misaligned and point outward are at significantly increased risk
of developing mental illness by early adulthood, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic
study published this month in a Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy
of Pediatrics. The retrospective study examined the medical records of 407 patients with
strabismus (misaligned eyes) and compared them with records of children matched for age
and sex but with normal eye alignment. Children with eyes that diverged (exotropia) were
three times more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder than were the control subjects,
while those with inward deviating eyes (esotropia) showed no increase in the incidence of
mental illnesses. Brian Mohney, M.D., the Mayo Clinic pediatric ophthalmologist who led
the study, says the results can help alert physicians to potential problems in their
pediatric patients. "Pediatricians and family practice physicians who see children
with strabismus should be aware of the increased risk of mental illness," says Dr.
Mohney. "They can hopefully be alert to the earliest signs of psychiatric problems in
patients with exotropia, so they can consider having them seen by a psychologist or
psychiatrist."
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Route to obesity passes through
tongue
Obesity gradually numbs the taste sensation of rats to sweet foods and drives them to
consume larger and ever-sweeter meals, according to neuroscientists. Findings from the
Penn State study could uncover a critical link between taste and body weight, and reveal
how flab hooks the brain on sugary food. "When you have a reduced sensitivity to
palatable foods, you tend to consume it in higher amounts," said Andras Hajnal,
associate professor of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State College of Medicine.
"It is a vicious circle." Previous studies have suggested that obese persons are
less sensitive to sweet taste and crave sweet foods more than lean people. However, little
is known about the specific differences between obese and lean individuals in their sense
of taste and the pleasure they derive from sweet foods. Hajnal and his Penn State
colleague Peter Kovacs, a post-doctoral fellow, investigated these differences by studying
the taste responses of two strains -- OLETF and LETO rats. Compared to the lean and
healthy LETO rats, the taste responses in OLETF rats mirror those in obese humans. These
rats have normal body weight at first, but they tend to chronically overeat due to a
missing satiety signal, become obese and develop diabetes. The obese rats also show an
increased preference for sweet foods and also are willing to work harder to obtain sweet
solutions as a reward for their learning. "When you have excess body weight, the
brain is supposed to tell you not to eat more, or not choose high caloric meals" said
Hajnal. "But this control apparently fails and thus the obesity epidemic is rising,
and we want to find out how the sense of taste drives up food intake."The researchers
implanted electrodes in the rodents' brains to record the firing of nerve cells when the
rats' tongues were exposed to various tastes -- salt, citric acid, plain water and six
different concentrations of sucrose.
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Vitamin K linked to insulin
resistance in older men
A Tufts University study of 355 non-diabetic elderly men and women found men who took a
vitamin K supplement had less progression of insulin resistance over a period of three
years compared to men not receiving vitamin K. Vitamin K did not appear to protect
supplemented women from age-related increases in insulin resistance.
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Nitric oxide can alter brain
function
Research from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit at the University of
Leicester shows that nitric oxide (NO) can change the computational ability of the brain.
This finding has implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as
Alzheimer’s Disease and our understanding of brain function more generally. The
research is led by Professor Ian Forsythe and is reported in the journal Neuron on 26th
November. Professor Forsythe, of the MRC Toxicology Unit, explains: “It is well known
that nerve cells communicate via the synapse – the site at which chemical messengers
(neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine or glutamate) are packaged and then released
under tight control to influence their neighbours.“Nitric oxide is a chemical
messenger which cannot be stored and can rapidly diffuse across cell membranes to act at
remote sites (in contrast to conventional neurotransmitters which cannot pass across cell
membranes). “It is broadly localized in the central nervous system, where it
influences synaptic transmission and contributes to learning and memory mechanisms.
However, because it is normally released in such minute quantities and is so labile, it is
very difficult to study. “We have exploited an in vitro preparation of a giant
synapse -called the calyx of Held, developed here at the University of Leicester in the
1990s- and its target in the auditory pathway to explore nitric oxide signalling in the
brain.
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CSHL scientists show how a protein
that determines cell polarity prevents breast cancer
A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has found that a protein called
Scribble, originally discovered as a cell-shape regulator in fruit flies and worms, is an
important regulator of breast cancer. They report that Scribble normally directs breast
epithelial cells to form the structures that give breast tissue its shape and thereby
resist cancer formation. When Scribble stops functioning, the tissue loses its shape and
cancers ensue.
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here
Scientists at CSHL uncover new RNA
processing mechanism and a class of previously unknown small RNAs
A very small fraction of our genetic material--about 2%-- performs the crucial task
scientists once thought was the sole purpose of the genome: to serve as a blueprint for
the production of proteins, the molecules that make cells work and sustain life. This 2%
of human DNA is converted into intermediary molecules called RNAs, which in turn carry
instructions within cells for protein manufacture.
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here
Baffling chronic pain linked to
rewiring of brain
Scientists peered at the brains of people with a baffling chronic pain condition and
discovered something surprising. Their brains looked like an inept cable guy had changed
the hookups, rewiring the areas related to emotion, pain perception and the temperature of
their skin. The new finding by scientists at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of
Medicine, begins to explain a mysterious condition that the medical community had doubted
was real. The people whose brains were examined have a chronic pain condition called
complex region pain syndrome (CRPS.) It's a pernicious and nasty condition that usually
begins with an injury causing significant damage to the hand or the foot. For the majority
of people, the pain from the injury disappears once the limb is healed. But for 5 percent
of the patients, the pain rages on long past the healing, sometimes for the rest of
people's lives. About 200,00 people in the U.S. have this condition. In a hand injury, for
example, the pain may radiate from the initial injury site and spread to the whole arm or
even the entire body. People also experience changes in skin color to blue or red as well
as skin temperature (hotter at first, then becoming colder as the condition turns
chronic.) Their immune system also shifts into overdrive, indicated by a hike in blood
immune markers.The changes in the brain take place in the network of tiny, white
"cables" that dispatch messages between the neurons. This is called the brain's
white matter. Several years ago, Northwestern researchers discovered chronic pain caused
the regions in the brain that contain the neurons -- called gray matter because of it
looks gray -- to atrophy.
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Molecule shuts down food intake and
turns on 'siesta mode'
Researchers have identified a molecule that tells your brain your stomach is full –
signaling that it's time to say no to a second piece of pumpkin pie and push back from the
Thanksgiving table. In studies with mice and rats, researchers have found that a chemical
messenger called NAPE is made in the small intestine after the animals ate a greasy meal.
After eating, NAPE – N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine, a mouthful in itself -- enters
the blood and travels to the brain, where it quashes hunger signals. Rats treated with
extra NAPE for five days ate less and lost weight, hinting that studying NAPE could help
researchers design better appetite suppressants or obesity drugs. Howard Hughes Medical
Institute investigator Gerald Shulman at Yale School of Medicine led the research team,
which reported its findings in the November 26, 2008, issue of the journal Cell. Shulman's
research group is well known for its work on understanding how insulin resistance develops
and leads to diabetes. In the course of that research, his team developed a sensitive
system to identify and measure lipids in tissue samples. After seeing the power of that
system in his diabetes research, Shulman was eager to see if it might also be applied to
understanding obesity. Some 300 million adults worldwide are severely overweight and at
risk for life-threatening illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
But obesity is difficult to treat. "We do not have good medical therapies for
obesity," Shulman says, noting that the small number of diet drugs on the market now
come with intolerable side effects and have only modest impacts on weight. "It's very
important to find other targets that might affect food intake." Despite many years
studying the physiology of appetite and hunger, researchers still do not have a clear
picture of how the brain keeps tabs on fat consumption. Fat is effective at satisfying
hunger, so Shulman and his colleagues at Yale and the University of Cincinnati decided to
see if they could find out whether the brain senses lipid intake directly. If they could
learn how that happens, they suspected, their findings might point toward a new treatment
for obesity. The team used Shulman's lipid analysis system to investigate what happens to
fat that enters the blood after ingesting a high-fat meal. The scientists reasoned that
the fat derivatives that enter the bloodstream might themselves serve as messengers to
signal the brain that the body has been fed. They used this approach to compare the lipids
present in blood plasma from rats that had fasted or eaten, and they zeroed in on
NAPE.They found only low levels of NAPE in the blood of rats that had fasted for 12 hours.
The level of NAPE shot up 40 to 50 percent in animals that had dined on high-fat chow.
Furthermore, NAPE didn't increase in rodents that ate only protein or carbohydrate,
suggesting that NAPE levels reflect the amount of fat eaten in a meal.
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Muscular Dystrophy - Misplaced
Enzyme Is to Blame for Quick Fatigue After Mild Exercise
Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have uncovered a molecular explanation for the
profound fatigue brought on by mild exercise in some people with muscular dystrophy. In
studies with genetically engineered mice that showed this form of fatigue after mild
exercise, the researchers found that an enzyme called neuronal nitric oxide synthase
(nNOS) is not present at its normal location in the membrane surrounding muscle cells.
This means the blood vessels that supply active muscles do not relax normally and the
animals experience fatigue after very mild exercise. Howard Hughes Medical Institute
researcher Kevin P. Campbell led a research team from the University of Iowa that reported
its findings in the November 27, 2008, issue of the journal Nature. In identifying the
mechanism for this specific form of fatigue, the researchers found that the fatigue can be
alleviated pharmacologically. When the scientists administered Viagra-like drugs to the
mice with muscular dystrophy, they noticed an increase in their ability to move, as well
as a dramatic increase in their activity after mild exercise. The treated mice were two to
four times more active than untreated mice with muscular dystrophy. Prior to treatment,
the same mice would become virtually inert after a short burst of low-intensity activity.
Nitric oxide signaling stimulates the generation of cGMP, a phosphodiester, which leads to
a cascade of effects that culminates in the dilation of blood vessels.
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Stanford/Packard study shows no
benefit from drug widely used to prevent premature births
When a pregnant woman goes into early labor, her obstetrician may give her drugs to quiet
the woman's uterus and prevent premature birth. New research shows, however, that one
popular drug works no better than a placebo at maintaining pregnancy after the initial
bout of preterm labor is halted.
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article here
Yale researchers enlist a new
recruit in battle of the bulge
In the battle against obesity, Yale University researchers may have discovered a new
weapon — a naturally occurring molecule secreted by the gut that makes rats and mice
less hungry after fatty meals. The findings are published in the Nov. 26 issue of the
journal Cell. The report suggests the molecule may help regulate how much animals and
people eat, according to the team headed by Gerald I. Shulman, Yale professor of medicine
and cellular & molecular physiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
investigator. Shulman's team studied a family of lipids called
N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines, or NAPEs, which are synthesized and secreted into the
blood by the small intestine after fatty foods are eaten. The team found that mice and
rats injected regularly with NAPEs ate less food and lost weight. In addition, treatment
with NAPEs appeared to reduce the activity of "hunger" neurons in the brain
while stimulating activity in neurons that are believed to play a role in reducing
appetite. In the last two decades, scientists have made great inroads toward understanding
how the body communicates with the brain to control food intake. So far, hormones such as
leptin that act as regulators of this complex system have proved disappointing when tested
as potential weight-loss treatments in humans. The researchers are now planning to
investigate how the findings in the Cell paper apply to humans. They will first study
non-human primates to determine if NAPE concentrations increase in a similar fashion after
fat ingestion. Then, says Shulman, "If chronic NAPE treatment is well tolerated and
can cause weight loss by a reduction of food intake, we would have strong impetus to move
forward with human NAPE trials."
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Study supports value of advanced CT
scans to check for clogged arteries
In a development that researchers say is likely to quell concerns about the value of
costly computed tomography scans to diagnose coronary artery blockages, an international
team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins reports solid evidence that the newer, more
powerful 64-CT scans can easily and correctly identify people with major blood vessel
disease and is nearly as accurate as invasive coronary angiography.
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Inhaled Corticosteroids Raise
Pneumonia Risk for Lung Disease Sufferers
Lung disease experts at Johns Hopkins are calling for physicians to show much greater
caution in prescribing inhaled corticosteroid drugs for people with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease after finding evidence that the widely used anti-inflammatory
medications increase the risk of pneumonia by a full third. More than 11 million
Americans, the vast majority former or current smokers, are living with so-called COPD,
marked by the potentially fatal, lung-diminishing conditions of emphysema and chronic
bronchitis. The inhalers in question greatly relieve such symptoms as shortness of breath,
wheezing, phlegm and physical exhaustion from light exercise. The call for caution is
based on the Johns Hopkins team's review and analysis of adverse events recorded in 11
clinical studies that in total involved more than 14,000 men and women with COPD. The
team's review, believed to be the largest and most comprehensive performed in the last
decade among COPD sufferers, compared adverse events among those who took inhaled
corticosteroids and others who did not.
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Research reveals mechanism linking
serotonin with regulation of food intake
Genetic mouse models have provided surprising insight into mechanisms linking
serotoninergic compounds with the regulation of feeding behavior and body weight. The
research, published by Cell Press in the Nov. 26 issue of the journal Neuron, pinpoints a
specific group of brain cells that mediate energy balance and may lead to the development
of antiobesity drugs with fewer side effects.
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Where does the gene activity of
youth go? New findings may hold the key
New evidence may explain why it is that we lose not only our youthful looks, but also our
youthful pattern of gene activity with age. A report in the Nov. 26 issue of the journal
Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveals that a protein perhaps best known for its role in
the life-extending benefits of a low-calorie diet also maintains the stability of the
mammalian genome -- the complete set of genetic instructions "written" in DNA.
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Bone formation goes with the gut,
study finds
When it comes to remodeling our bones -- an ongoing process of break down and renewal that
goes on throughout adulthood -- researchers have new evidence that our guts play a
surprisingly important role. The findings point toward novel methods for increasing bone
mass in patients with diseases characterized by impaired bone formation, including
postmenopausal osteoporosis, according to the report in the Nov/ 26 issue of the journal
Cell, a Cell Press publication.
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Kidney function discovery sheds
light on genetic complexity of disease
To find a cure for cancer, haemophilia and other diseases, researchers need to be looking
for complex, interacting genetic factors, according to the authors of a new study. A new
study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by researchers at the Centenary
Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and The Australian National University
(ANU), has exposed a greater level of genetic complexity for diseases than was originally
thought. The researchers looked at two disorders of kidney function - iminoglycinuria and
hyperglycinuria. These disorders, first described 50 years ago, are conditions where large
amounts of individual amino acids (the building blocks of proteins in our body) are wasted
by the kidney. Professor John Rasko, Head, Gene and Stem Cell Therapy program at Centenary
Institute and Cell and Molecular Therapies at RPA, says although up to one in every
thousand babies has this disorder at birth, it usually resolves in the first year of life.
For those individuals in whom it continues to occur, it is generally thought not to cause
medical problems but previous cases have been linked to high blood pressure, kidney
stones, deafness and problems in the brain. "Iminoglycinuria was observed to occur in
families and the pattern of inheritance suggested that the cause might be due to an
inherited abnormality of a specific pump on the surface of kidney cells," Professor
Rasko explains.
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'Deranged calcium signaling'
contributes to neurological disorder, UT Southwestern researchers find
Defective calcium metabolism in nerve cells may play a major role in a fatal genetic
neurological disorder that resembles Huntington's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern
Medical Center have found in a mouse study.
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Adiponectin is a metabolic link
between obesity and bone mineral density
Researchers at the University of Toronto, faculty of medicine, Toronto, Canada, have
discovered that adiponectin, a protein secreted from adipocytes, is a metabolic link that
can explain, in part, the known positive relationship between obesity and both bone
mineral density and reduced susceptibility to fractures.
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Estrogen therapy could be dangerous
for women with existing heart risk
Hormone therapy could accentuate certain pre-existing heart disease risk factors and a
heart health evaluation should become the norm when considering estrogen replacement, new
research suggests. The research also showed that in women without existing
atherosclerosis, hormone therapy use included some positive effects on lipids but also
some negative effects related to heart health, said MaryFran Sowers, lead researcher and
professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The U-M
study came about, Sowers said, in trying to explain what's behind the so-called timing
hypothesis. The timing hypothesis suggests that if a woman implements a hormone therapy
program within six years of her final menstrual period, this narrow window is enough to
deter heart disease from developing with the onset of menopause. But the U-M findings
suggest that explanation isn't quite so simple, Sowers said. Even within the six-year
window, there were negative aspects related to heart disease. While the positive outcomes
on HDL and LDL cholesterol levels were observed, Sowers said, researchers also saw
negative outcomes in terms of the inflammation process—which can be related to heart
disease.
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How Do Individuals React to
Metabolic Stress? - Genetic Variation in Metabolism Identified
Metabolic diseases – in particular the increasingly prevalent type 2 diabetes –
are caused by a complex interaction between genetic disposition and unfavorable lifestyle,
above all unbalanced diet and too little physical exercise. Researchers at the Helmholtz
Zentrum München have now for the first time been able to show a relationship between the
genetic make-up of an individual and differences in his/her metabolism. The team of
Professor Karsten Suhre of the Institute for Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at the
Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (LMU) and Dr.
Christian Gieger and Thomas Illig of the Institute for Epidemiology in cooperation with
the Innsbruck company Biocrates Life Sciences AG determined the blood test results of
several hundred metabolites synchronously with more than 100 000 DNA variants (SNPs) of
284 adult test subjects. Their research was based on blood samples of participants of the
population-based KORA study (Kooperative Gesundheitsforschung in der Region Augsburg
[Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg] which is headed by Professor
H.-Erich Wichmann).
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Exposure to organochlorate
pollutants and lead weakens animals bones, according to a study
A new methodology developed by a researcher of the University of Granada will permit to
determine the toxicological effects caused in animals which have been exposed to
organochlorate pollutants and lead analysing their bones. This work has studied the
effects of lead toxicity in the long term in wild birds populations, determining how this
heavy metal causes bone weakening and fracture, provoking therefore a fall in the
individual survival of the affected species. This work has been carried out by Pedro
Álvarez Lloret, of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology of the University of
Granada, in collaboration with the University of Georgia (USA), the Karolinska Institute
of Stockholm, the Research Institute for Hunting Resources (CSIC) and the Biological
Station of Doñana (CSIC). The research work has been supervised by Professor Alejandro
Rodríguez Navarro.
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Fast food a potential risk factor
for Alzheimer’s
Mice that were fed a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months developed a
preliminary stage of the morbid irregularities that form in the brains of Alzheimer’s
patients. The study results, published in a doctoral thesis from the Swedish medical
university Karolinska Institutet (KI), give some indications of how this difficult to
treat disease might one day be preventable.Alzheimer’s is the most common form of
dementia, there being roughly 90,000 patients with the disease in Sweden today. The
underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease are still something of a mystery, but there
are a number of known risk factors. The most common is a variant of a certain gene that
governs the production of apolipoprotein E, one of the functions of which is to transport
cholesterol. The gene variant is called apoE4 and is found in 15-20 per cent of the
population.For her doctoral thesis, Susanne Akterin studied mice that had been genetically
modified to mimic the effects of apoE4 in humans. The mice were then fed for nine months
on a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol, representing the nutritional content of most
fast food.“On examining the brains of these mice, we found a chemical change not
unlike that found in the Alzheimer brain,” says Ms Akterin, postgraduate at KI
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
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An emergency brake in the brain
Brain researchers at the University of Oslo in Norway have penetrated deeply into the
innermost secrets of the brain to find out how brain cells can survive a stroke. Strokes
are usually caused by occlusion of one of the blood vessels in the brain. When blood is
prevented from supplying vital oxygen and energy to the brain cells, their electrochemical
balance is upset, and they cause damage to themselves and to the surrounding brain cells
before they collapse and die. Often this affects the memory centre, the hippocampus, where
the cells are particularly vulnerable. There is hope, however. New research results
indicate that the brain cells are equipped with an ingenious mechanism that can save them
in extreme emergencies.
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Immune cells reveal fancy footwork
Our immune system plays an essential role in protecting us from diseases, but how does it
do this exactly? Dutch biologist Suzanne van Helden discovered that before dendritic cells
move to the lymph nodes they lose their sticky feet. This helps them to move much faster.
Immature dendritic cells patrol the tissues in search of antigens. After exposure to such
antigens they undergo a rigorous maturation process. During this maturation the dendritic
cells migrate to the lymph nodes to activate T cells. Suzanne van Helden studied the
adhesion and migration of both immature and mature dendritic cells. A dendritic cell can
be compared with a pocket-sized general. As an immature cell he is on patrol in the
bloodstream and in tissues in search of foreign bodies. The feet, or podosomes, help the
cell to move around at a slow pace. As soon as immature dendritic cells detect a problem
they must report back quickly to the T cells to warn them of impending danger. The
dendritic cells are then hindered by their adhesive feet. This is the reason why at this
point the cell undergoes modifications and loses its feet. In this way the mature
dendritic cell can wing its way to the T cells at full speed. Once alerted, the T cells
can intervene and tackle the problem in the body's infected tissues.
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