Europe's Forgotten Citizens:
Defending Roma Rights in the Eu
There are between ten and twelve million
Roma living in the European Union today -- roughly equal to the population of a
medium-sized EU Member State, like Belgium or Greece. Yet despite the fact that the Roma
have played an integral part in European history and culture for over seven centuries,
most of us still know very little about them. And what we think we do know is more often
than not based on ignorance, prejudice and stereotypes. This has led to a situation where
millions of Roma in the EU today face extreme levels of social deprivation. Unemployment
in many Roma communities is rife. Basic education is often lacking and when it comes to
health care, life expectancy is well below the EU average. This report, filmed in Hungary
and Spain tries to look at the reasons why anti-Roma feeling has been so ingrained in so
many European countries for so long and also looks at efforts being made to remedy the
problem.
-Elektronisch patiënten dossier vergeet de
patiënt. Een voorzichtige schatting wijst uit dat er jaarlijks zo'n 1700 mensen
overlijden door medicatiefouten. Een landelijk Electronisch Patiënten Dossier (EPD), moet
dit voorkomen. Een dossier waarmee artsen, verpleegkundigen en apothekers hun gegevens
kunnen uitwisselen. Toch is er inmiddels veel verzet vanuit diezelfde artsen. Het EPD zou
overbodig, verouderd en kostbaar zijn, maar de belangrijkste kritiek is dat de patiënt
buitenspel wordt gezet. Amerika zet de toon door goedkopere alternatieven, zoals Google
Health, met als belangrijkste voordeel dat daar de patiënt zelf zijn gegevens online kan
inkijken. In EénVandaag een reportage over de online patiënt van morgen, die zijn eigen
dossier beheert.
Ademloos. Het verhaal van Kim Moelands.
Drie jaar geleden overleed haar man Ron, nog maar 33 jaar oud, aan Cystic Fibrosis,
oftewel taaislijmziekte. Nieuwe longen kwamen voor hem te laat. Om zijn dood te verwerken,
schreef Kim het boek Ademloos. Maar ook om te pleiten voor een beter
donorregistratiesysteem. Omdat haar waarschijnlijk hetzelfde lot staat te wachten. Kim
lijdt ook aan Cystic Fibrosis. En is dus ook afhankelijk van nieuwe longen. De Tweede
Kamer discussieert komende woensdag over het al dan niet invoeren van een nieuw
donorregistratiesysteem.
Banenplan: zo eenvoudig kan het. Volgens de
laatste cijfers telt Nederland op dit moment ruim 420.000 werkzoekenden, maar volgens de
Twentse ondernemer Hennie van der Most kan iedereen die dat wil aan het werk. Van der
Most, eigenaar van vijftien bedrijven, ontwikkelde samen met andere ondernemers een
banenplan. Hij denkt dat hij zeker duizend Twentse werklozen in korte tijd aan werk kan
helpen. Volgens Van der Most werkt zijn plan veel effectiever dan welk integratiebureau
dan ook.
Energiedrankjes. Energiedrankjes zoals Red
Bull en Slammers zijn ontzettend populair. Jongeren drinken soms wel vijf of zes blikjes
per dag. Maar is het eigenlijk wel gezond om energiedrankjes te drinken? En waarom weten
we zo weinig over de veiligheid van de ingrediënten? Radar zoekt het uit en komt tot
opzienbarende conclusies.
De snelheid waarmee mannen een zaadlozing
krijgen, is erfelijk bepaald. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van de Universiteit Utrecht.
Neuropsychiater dr. Marcel Waldinger en farmacologisch onderzoeker drs. Paddy Janssen
onderzochten 89 Nederlandse mannen en publiceren de resultaten deze week in het
gerenommeerde wetenschappelijke Internationale tijdschrift Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Aan het onderzoek van Waldinger en Janssen
werkten 89 Nederlandse mannen mee die lijden aan de primaire vorm van vroegtijdige
zaadlozing, dat wil zeggen dat ze er altijd al last van hebben gehad. Daarnaast werd er
een controlegroep onderzocht van 92 mannen. De vrouwelijke partners stelden thuis, met
behulp van een stopwatch, gedurende een maand de tijd tot de zaadlozing vast bij elke
coïtus. “Dit onderzoek geldt voor mannen die al vanaf het eerste seksuele contact
steeds te vroeg klaarkomen, en niet voor mannen die daar later last van krijgen”,
benadrukt Waldinger.
Gebrek aan serotonine
Bij mannen met vroegtijdige zaadlozing blijkt de stof serotonine minder actief te zijn
tussen de zenuwen in het deel van de hersenen dat de zaadlozing regelt. Deze stof is onder
andere betrokken bij seksuele activiteit en eetlust. Het is een stof die een signaal
overbrengt van de ene zenuwcel op de andere. Door de lage activiteit van serotonine
verloopt deze signaaloverdracht bij mannen met de primaire vorm van vroegtijdige
zaadlozing niet goed.
Gen verantwoordelijk
Een al eerder ontdekt gen, 5-HTTLPR, blijkt verantwoordelijk voor de hoeveelheid en
activiteit van serotonine en regelt daarmee de snelheid van de zaadlozing. Het gen komt in
drie vormen voor: LL, SL en SS. De LL-vorm veroorzaakt een snellere zaadlozing. Mannen met
LL ejaculeren gemiddeld twee keer zo snel als mannen met SS en ook bijna twee keer zo snel
als mannen met SL. De onderzoekers zijn momenteel ook op zoek naar andere genen die bij de
zaadlozing betrokken zijn.
Niet psychisch
Onderzoeker Marcel Waldinger voorspelde al in 1998 dat zowel de snelheid waarmee een man
tot een zaadlozing komt als de primaire vorm van vroegtijdige zaadlozing genetisch bepaald
zijn. “Deze theorie staat haaks op de al jaren gangbare gedachte dat de primaire vorm
van vroegtijdige zaadlozing een psychische aandoening is”, legt Waldinger uit.
“De resultaten van ons onderzoek bevestigen de genetische theorie en kunnen bijdragen
aan een eventuele gentherapie tegen vroegtijdige zaadlozing.”
Medicijngebruik in het verkeer
opsporen met speekseltest
Een aanzienlijk aantal verkeersongelukken
wordt veroorzaakt doordat weggebruikers onder invloed zijn
van medicijnen. Grote boosdoeners zijn de zogenaamde benzodiazepinen, een groep medicijnen
die als
slaap- en kalmeringsmiddelen voorgeschreven worden. Beitske Smink, toxicologe van het
Nederlands
Forensisch Instituut (NFI), onderzocht wat de risico’s zijn van benzodiazepinegebruik
in het verkeer en
welke methode het beste is om vast te stellen of iemand benzodiazepinen gebruikt. Ze
stelde vast dat de
speekseltest potentie heeft. Smink promoveert op dit onderzoek aan de Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen op 17
oktober 2008.
Benzodiazepinen zijn een van de meest
gebruikte medicijnen in Nederland. Ze worden niet alleen heel veel
voorgeschreven, maar ook vaak te lang. Smink: ‘Ze hebben een slaapverwekkende en
spierverslappende
werking. Dat zijn effecten die je niet in het verkeer kan gebruiken. Bij ongelukken zien
we ze daarom vaak
terug.’ Het is verboden om te rijden onder invloed van stoffen die de rijvaardigheid
kunnen beïnvloeden,
maar toch houden veel gebruikers zich hier niet aan. ‘Je ziet wel dat mensen die niet
kunnen slapen, midden
in de nacht een tablet slikken. Vervolgens stappen ze ’s ochtends in de auto, terwijl
het middel nog niet
uitgewerkt is.’
Snelle indicatie
Als mensen staande worden gehouden door de
politie (bijvoorbeeld vanwege afwijkend rijgedrag) en er
geen alcohol in het spel is, wordt er bloed afgenomen en doorgestuurd naar het NFI. Daar
wordt het bloed
gecontroleerd op onder andere benzodiazepinen. Het afnemen van bloed is echter vrij
omslachtig, en bij
controles is het wenselijk dat zo weinig mogelijk mensen ten onrechte deze procedure
moeten doorlopen.
Het zou dus handig zijn als de politie na het staande houden van een bestuurder een snelle
indicatie kan
krijgen of er benzodiazepinen gebruikt zijn. ‘Een blaastest, zoals bij alcohol, werkt
niet, omdat
benzodiazepinen niet in de adem terechtkomen.’
Speeksel versus urine
Smink heeft daarom gekeken of speeksel of
urine bruikbaar is om vast te stellen in welke mate iemand onder
invloed is van benzodiazepinen. Hiervoor gebruikte ze diverse laboratoriumtests. Deze
tests moeten aan
veel eisen voldoen. Smink: ‘Er zijn heel veel verschillende soorten benzodiazepinen.
Een test moet dus wel
twintig soorten stoffen kunnen opsporen.’
Om de aanwezigheid in speeksel en urine te
vergelijken met bloed liet Smink acht vrijwilligers het
kalmeringsmiddel oxazepam slikken. Vervolgens werden de uitslagen van de speeksel- en
urinetests
vergeleken met de concentratie van het middel in hun bloed. Hieruit bleek dat de
concentratie
benzodiazepinen in speeksel veel lager is dan in urine. Speeksel lijkt daarom minder
geschikt als
testmateriaal, maar de concentratie in speeksel is wel een betere afspiegeling van de
concentratie in het
bloed dan die in urine. Speekseltests zijn dus een betere indicator voor recent gebruik.
Daarbij komt nog dat
het gemakkelijker is om speeksel af te nemen dan urine.
Voorlichting
Speekseltests zullen de bloedtests niet
gaan vervangen.Smink: ‘Het is echt een voorselectie; want alleen
bloed kan op dit moment als wettig bewijsmateriaal worden gebruikt.’ Volgens Smink is
het nog niet
bekend wanneer de politie speekseltests gaat gebruiken als controlemiddel. ‘Het is
aan de politiek om te
beslissen of dit ingevoerd moet worden. Daarna moet de politie ermee leren werken en
zullen de tests verder
onderzocht moeten worden.’ Speekseltests maken de controle op benzodiazepinen
makkelijker, maar
daarnaast moet ook de voorlichting door zorgverleners naar gebruikers verbeterd worden,
benadrukt Smink.
Dit najaar wordt daarom een speciale publiekscampagne over dit onderwerp gelanceerd.
Grenswaarde
Smink heeft ook onderzocht wat het verband
is tussen benzodiazepinen in het bloed en verkeersongevallen.
Bij alcohol is dit al goed vastgesteld, maar bij benzodiazepinen nog niet. Als dit verband
wel bekend zou
zijn, is het gemakkelijker om – net zoals bij alcohol - een strafbare grenswaarde
vast te stellen. Nu moet, bij
vervolging, het per geval aannemelijk gemaakt worden of het rijgedrag beïnvloed is door
het geneesmiddel.
Voor dit deel van het onderzoek bestudeerde
Smink een groot aantal dossiers van aangehouden
bestuurders waarin hun uiterlijke verschijnselen worden omschreven en de concentratie van
benzodiazepinen in het bloed. Hieruit bleek dat er een duidelijk verband is, alhoewel het
moeilijk is om op
basis van deze resultaten een grenswaarde vast te stellen. Smink: ‘Daarvoor is meer
onderzoek nodig.
Bovendien is het aan de politiek om te besluiten waar je die grens wilt leggen.’
Het gebruik van vitamine B6,
magnesium in de behandeling van autistische kinderen en volwassenen door Bernard Rimland
Ph.D
Alle 18 studies die mij bekend zijn waarin
vitamine B6 werd geëvalueerd als behandeling van autisme hebben positieve resultaten
gegeven en er zijn geen belangrijke bijverschijnselen gerapporteerd in enige van de
studies. Dit is een tamelijk bijzonder record voor doeltreffendheid en veiligheid, omdat
veel medicijnen die voor de behandeling van autisme zijn onderzocht zeer onregelmatige
resultaten te zien gaven en alle medicijnen dragen het risico van serieuze
bijverschijnselen. Als een medicijn positieve resultaten oplevert in ongeveer de helft van
de beoordelende studies, wordt dit als succesvol beschouwd en wordt de medicijn bepleit
voor gebruik met autistische patiënten. Echter, ondanks de opmerkelijke consistente
bevindingen in het onderzoek naar het gebruik van vitamine B6 in de behandeling van
autisme, en ondanks zijn veel grotere veiligheid dan enige van de medicijnen, die voor
autistische kinderen worden gebruikt, zijn er op dit moment weinig geneesheren die het
gebruik ervan bepleiten in de behandeling van autisme voor kinderen.
Stress en vet eten tijdens
zwangerschap verhoogt risico op overgewicht bij rattenjongen
Stress en vet eten tijdens de zwangerschap
verhogen bij ratten het risico op overgewicht en diabetes bij de
nakomelingen. Dit lijkt vooral samen te hangen met een lagere gevoeligheid voor insuline.
Het wordt niet
veroorzaakt door een verminderde kwaliteit van de moederzorg tijdens de zoogperiode: deze
was juist
verhoogd in gestresste moeders en moeders met een vet dieet. Overgewicht tijdens de
zwangerschap heeft
geen invloed op insulinegevoeligheid, maar verhoogt wel het lichaamsgewicht van de
nakomelingen. Dit
blijkt uit het promotieonderzoek van Angelique Heinsbroek.
Lever- en darmcellen bevatten gespecialiseerde transporteiwitten die meehelpen bij de
spijsvertering en het
verwijderen van afvalproducten uit het lichaam. Als de hoeveelheden waarin deze eiwitten
worden
aangemaakt veranderen, kunnen ziektes optreden. Maar het mechanisme kan ook helpen om
juist ziektes te
voorkomen.
Promovendus Hans Blokzijl onderzocht de rol van transporteiwitten bij aandoeningen van het
maag-darmkanaal en de lever. De inzichten die dit onderzoek oplevert, brengen nieuwe
medicijnen tegen
aandoeningen van het maag-darmkanaal en de lever een stap dichterbij.
De Amerikaanse krediet crisis is
veroorzaakt door de Amerikaanse overheid en niemand anders. Ondertussen wordt uiteraard de
schuld weer op de vrije markt gegooid. De regering wrijft in zijn handen, en kan nu
ongestoord het Amerikaanse bankwezen gaan nationaliseren. Als Vadertje Stalin dat nog eens
had mogen meemaken! Alle macht aan de staat in the home of the free! Hij zou een gat in de
lucht zijn gesprongen.
De toestand van een patiënt van het
Rotterdamse Havenziekenhuis die ziek werd na een bacterie in een narcosemiddel, is nog
steeds zorgelijk. „Maar er is een voorzichtige vooruitgang”, zei een
woordvoerder van het ziekenhuis maandag. Het ziekenhuis riep in totaal dertig personen
terug die de twee dagen ervoor waren geopereerd. Dat gebeurde na klachten van mensen die
kort na de operatie ernstig ziek waren geworden. In het verdovingsmiddel zat de bacterie
klebsiella pneumoniae, die zich snel had vermeerderd. De narcose was met een injectie in
de aderen toegediend. De omgevingsbacterie komt voor in de mond, darmen en op de huid. Nu
wordt onderzocht hoe het organisme in het middel is terechtgekomen.
Deze bacterie komt veelvuldig in grote hoeveelheden voor in het lichaam van ME patienten.
De vraag: waarom worden deze mensen WEL serieus genomen en het beestje als bij ME
patienten weggewuifd door de Nederlandse maatschappij?
Zie:
Increased serum IgA and IgM against LPS of enterobacteria in chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS): Indication for the involvement of gram-negative enterobacteria in the etiology of
CFS and for the presence of an increased gut–intestinal permeability
Burnham Researchers Turn Cancer
Friend into Cancer Foe
Burnham Institute for Medical Research
today announced that scientists have created a peptide that binds to Bcl-2, a protein that
protects cancer cells from programmed cell death, and converts it into a cancer cell
killer. The research, which was published as the featured article in the October 7 edition
of Cancer Cell, may lead to new cancer treatments. The Bcl-2 protein has long been
implicated in protecting cancer cells from apoptosis (programmed cell death), the process
that usually keeps cancer cells in check. This peptide (called NuBCP-9) and its enantiomer
(mirror-image molecule) work on Bcl-2 like a molecular switch, converting it into a
pro-apoptotic protein, and inducing cell death in cancer cells.
Study provides insight on a common
heart rhythm disorder
University of Iowa researchers and
colleagues in France have identified a gene variant that causes a potentially fatal human
heart rhythm disorder called sinus node disease. Also known as "sick sinus
syndrome," the disease affects approximately one in 600 heart patients older than 65
and is responsible for 50 percent or more of the permanent pacemaker placements in the
United States. While the newly discovered gene variant is rare, the study provides insight
into cellular mechanisms that regulate sinus node function and identifies an unanticipated
new pathway for developing future therapies to regulate more common forms of sinus node
disease. The findings, which also have research implications beyond heart disease, were
published online Oct. 1 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team
first analyzed data from two families in France: a family of 74 individuals, 26 of whom
had sinus node dysfunction, and a family of 44 individuals, 13 of whom had the disease.
Many of the affected individuals carried the same gene variant, and many experienced
variable heart rate and bradycardia (dangerously low heart rate). The investigators found
that variants in a gene called ankyrin 2, or ANK2, resulted in dysfunction in the protein
ankyrin-B in the members of these two different families, said the study's senior author
Peter Mohler, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine in the University of Iowa
Carver College of Medicine. "While a small number of the patients displayed heart
disease symptoms, including ventricular arrhythmias, the prevalence of sinus node
dysfunction in these patients was extremely high. In fact, most required the implantation
of cardiac pacemakers," said Mohler, who also is a Pew Scholar. "We predict that
there are likely additional unidentified ankyrin variants in the larger general population
that predispose humans to a combination of heart disease symptoms, including sinus node
dysfunction, atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias.
UI study finds genetic variant
plays role in cleft lip
University of Iowa researchers and
collaborators have found, in a previously identified gene, a variation that likely
contributes to one in five cases of isolated cleft lip. It is the first time a genetic
variant has been associated with cleft lip alone, rather than both cleft lip and palate.
The study provides insight on a previously unknown genetic mechanism and could eventually
help with diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cleft lip, which affects more than five
million people worldwide. The findings appeared Oct. 5 in the journal Nature Genetics. In
2004, a worldwide team involving the UI identified the gene IRF6 as a contributor to about
12 percent of cases of the common form of cleft lip and palate. The new finding pinpoints
a regulatory part of the IRF6 gene that binds to a protein called AP2. This regulatory
part controls how much and when the critical IRF6 protein is made.
Genetic finding implicates innate
immune system in major cause of blindness
Scientists have identified one of the genes
implicated in age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in
developed countries. The research, published online today in the Lancet, adds to the
growing understanding of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which the
researchers believe should ultimately lead to novel treatments for the disease. Almost
two-thirds of people aged 80 years or older are affected by AMD to some degree, with more
than one in ten left blind by the disease. In the UK, the annual economic burden from the
disease has been estimated to be as high as £80 million, a figure set to increase as our
ageing population expands. The total yearly costs of health-care usage are seven times
higher for patients with AMD than for those unaffected. Researchers have previously
identified a number of other genes or genetic loci (regions of the genome) which affect a
person's susceptibility to the disease. Now, in research part-funded by the Wellcome
Trust, researchers at the University of Southampton have shown that a particular variant
of the gene SERPING1, carried by just under a quarter of the population, appears to offer
protection against the disease.
Herbal Menopause Therapy a Good Fit
for Breast Cancer Patients?
When it comes to understanding the
effectiveness and safety of using herbal therapies with other drugs, much is unknown. Now,
a University of Missouri researcher will study how black cohosh - an herbal supplement
often used to relieve hot flashes in menopausal women - interacts with tamoxifen, a common
drug used to treat breast cancer. As women age and reach menopause, their risk of
developing breast cancer increases. Many women who have, or are at risk, for breast cancer
take tamoxifen. The drug prevents approximately 50 percent of breast cancers in women who
have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. However, when women take tamoxifen,
they cannot take hormone replacement therapies to relieve menopausal symptoms. Their
options are limited to taking antidepressants that can have complications, enduring
uncomfortable menopausal symptoms, or trying the black cohosh. “Hopefully, this study
will provide evidence that black cohosh is safe to use for breast cancer patients,”
said Rachel Ruhlen, a postdoctoral researcher in the MU School of Medicine.
“Currently, there is little reliable information guiding women in how they can use
foods and botanical supplements to enhance their treatment or improve their quality of
life.”
Even occasional cigarette smoking can
impair the functioning of your arteries, according to a new University of Georgia study
that used ultrasound to measure how the arteries of young, healthy adults respond to
changes in blood flow. “Most people know that if they have a cigarette or two over
the weekend that it’s not good for their arteries,” said study co-author Kevin
McCully, a professor of kinesiology in the UGA College of Education, “but what they
may not be aware of—and what our study shows—is that the decrease in function
persists into the next week, if not longer.” Previous studies have shown reductions
in the arterial health of people who smoke regularly, McCully said, but what’s
surprising about his finding is that the study subjects were occasional smokers (less than
a pack a week) who had not smoked for at least two days before their ultrasound. The
study, which appears in the early online edition of the journal Ultrasound in Medicine and
Biology, found that the arteries of occasional smokers were 36 percent less responsive to
changes in blood flow than non-smokers. McCully explained that the healthier an artery is,
the more responsive it is to changes in blood flow. A reduction in responsiveness, known
as impaired flow-mediated dilation, is an early sign of arterial damage that often
foreshadows cardiovascular disease. The researchers recruited 18 college students for
their study, half of whom were non-smokers. The other half smoked less than a pack a week
and had not smoked for at least two days before undergoing testing. The researchers
measured the responsiveness of the participants’ arteries by inflating a blood
pressure cuff around their non-dominant arm to reduce blood flow to the forearm for
various durations up to 10 minutes. The researchers then rapidly deflated the cuff and
measured how well the main artery in the forearm responded to the sudden increase in blood
flow.
What is the influence of tumor
removal on the serum level of carbohydrate's antibody?
Cancer immune surveillance is considered to
be important in the anti-tumor protection of the host. The growing tumor escapes the
immune control under the immunosuppressive conditions. The surgical removal of the tumor
may reverse the immunosuppression. The TF antigen and Tn belong to tumor-associated
carbohydrate antigens (TACA). TF antigen is implicated in the metastatic spread due to the
adhesion of cancer cells to the endothelium. However, the dynamic changes of the level of
TF and Tn-antibodies in the serum of patients with cancer and its association with
survival have been insufficiently studied. A research article to be published on July 21,
2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team
led by Dr. Kurtenkov from National Institute for Health Development (Tallinn, Estonia)
have undertaken a long-term follow-up of cancer patients to determine changes in the
postoperative level of TF- and Tn antibodies, as well as to elucidate the association of
this level with the progression of cancer, and survival. The level of antibodies in serum
was determined by the ELISA using synthetic polyacrylamide (PAA) glycoconjugates. Their
result indicated that the surgical operation raises the level of anti-carbohydrate IgG in
most patients, especially in those with the G3 tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. The
stage and morphology-dependent immuneosuppression affects the TF-antibody response and may
be one of the reasons for unresponsiveness to the immunization with TF-antigens.
New light on link between snoring
and cognitive deficits in children
About two-thirds of children with
sleep-disordered breathing (SDB)— snoring or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)— have
some degree of cognitive deficit, but the severity of the cognitive deficit has been
notoriously difficult to correlate to the severity of the SDB, suggesting that other
important issues may be at play, or that the right factors were simply not being measured.
A new study that will be published in the first issue for November of the American
Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine opens the
door to understanding the complex relationship between sleep, breathing and brain function
in a whole new way. "A history of snoring is a predictor for cognitive deficit in
children with SDB," said principle investigator Raouf Amin, M.D., professor of
pediatrics and the director of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital Medical Center. "However, the frequency of apnea events during sleep does
not predict cognitive deficit and does not correlate with the degree of cognitive deficit.
Such a paradox raised the question of whether there are some variables that we do not
traditionally measure in the sleep laboratory that might modify the effect of SDB on
cognition." Dr. Amin and colleagues measured a new parameter to determine whether it
could explain the variability in cognitive dysfunction better than the severity of SDB:
the degree to which the brain's blood remains oxygenated during sleep. Using a technology
called near infrared spectroscopy, which is able to penetrate the skull with high-powered
light beams to assess oxygen saturation, they measured the "regional cerebral oxygen
concentration" (SrO2) in children 7 to 13 years old with SDB to varying degrees. They
also measured blood pressure (BP) during sleep. As expected, they found that children with
snoring had lower regional cerebral oxygen concentration than healthy children. But,
paradoxically, they found that children with sleep apnea, which is usually considered a
more severe degree of sleep-disordered breathing, have higher regional cerebral oxygen
concentration than children with just snoring.
Moderate consumption of red wine may
decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, according to a report in the October issue of
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; a journal of the American Association
for Cancer Research. "An antioxidant component in red wine may be protective of lung
cancer, particularly among smokers," said Chun Chao, Ph.D., a research scientist at
Kaiser Permanente Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, California. Chao
analyzed data collected through the California Men's Health Study, which linked clinical
data from California's health system with self-reported data from 84,170 men aged 45 to 69
years. Researchers obtained demographics and lifestyle data from surveys computed between
2000 and 2003, and identified 210 cases of lung cancer.Researchers measured the effect of
beer, red wine, white wine and liquor consumption on the risk of lung cancer. Adjustments
were made for age, race/ethnicity, education, income, body mass index, history of chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema, and smoking history.
Post-term pregnancies risk
infant’s life and health, UCSF studies show
Infants born more than one week past their
due dates have a higher risk of both impaired health and death, according to two new
studies by authors from the University of California’s San Francisco and Berkeley
campuses. The studies compared more than 2.5 million normal-weight births from healthy
pregnancies of 37 to 42 weeks gestation, the range that is considered to be full-term.
Findings appear in the October, 2008 issue of the “American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology” and also can be found online at www.ajog.org.
Outlook for Crohn's disease
improves due to new therapies
A study led by Mayo Clinic has found that
infliximab (Remicade®)administered alone (monotherapy) or in combination with
azathioprine is a more effective treatment for patients with moderate to severe Crohn's
disease than azathioprine alone. These findings were presented today at the 2008 American
College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory
disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that affects an estimated 500,000 people in the
United States. Symptoms include abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and
diarrhea. Crohn's disease has no known medical cure. One common therapy used to manage the
disease is a series of intravenous infusions of infliximab, which blocks tumor necrosis
factor, an important cause of inflammation in Crohn's disease. Azathioprine is an
orally-administered, small molecule immunosuppressive which has a broad immunosuppressive
effect.
Large Mayo Clinic-Led Study Shows
Stool DNA Testing for Colorectal Cancer has Potential, but Challenges Remain
The first generation of a stool DNA test to
identify early colorectal cancer has limitations, according to a Mayo Clinic-led study
published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Results did not
corroborate findings of an earlier multicenter study that showed stool DNA testing was
more accurate than fecal blood testing for colorectal cancer detection. * "But the
concerns we identified with stool DNA testing are all solvable," says David Ahlquist,
M.D., lead researcher in the study that included 4,482 participants and 22 academic
medical centers. Researchers have hoped that stool DNA testing could be the user-friendly
and accurate screening tool that would increase screening numbers.
Mayo Researchers Explore Issues
Related to Multiple Myeloma Treatment
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma
cells that affects approximately 3 in 100,000 people each year. Although there is no cure
for this disease, researchers have developed treatments that help relieve pain, control
complications, and slow the progress of MM in many patients. Unfortunately, some of the
most effective therapies also have toxic side effects that can pose serious health risks
and reduce quality of life. In the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, two articles
authored by Mayo researchers address the issue of how to balance the risks and benefits
associated with MM treatments.
JDRF Funded Study Links
"Hygiene Hypothesis" to Diabetes Prevention
A research study funded by JDRF suggests
that a common intestinal bacteria may provide some protection from developing type 1
diabetes. The findings provide an important step towards understanding how and why type 1
diabetes develops in people, and may lead to potential cures. The study, reported this
week in Nature Magazine, lends further support to the "hygiene hypothesis," that
exposure to an appropriate amount and composition of bacteria may be important to living a
healthy life, and that susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders
may actually be caused by a lack of exposure to certain parasites and microbes. In the
study, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago found that exposure to
certain bacteria will trigger an immune system response in mice. That response is believed
to be what prevents autoimmune disorders -- conditions where the immune system attacks
healthy cells in the body. In people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the
beta cells in the pancreas, stopping a person's ability to detect glucose and produce
insulin. For the purposes of the study, the bacteria used were harmless microbes typically
found in the human intestine. The scientists suggest that safe, measured exposure to
certain bacteria may lower the risk of immune disorders.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers
have developed a new prenatal blood test that accurately detected Down syndrome and two
other serious chromosomal defects in a small study of 18 pregnant women. If confirmed in
larger trials, they say, the test would offer a safer and faster alternative to invasive
prenatal tests such as amniocentesis that pose a small risk of miscarriage. Researchers
have long known that a pregnant woman's blood contains small amounts of DNA from the
fetus. Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher Stephen R. Quake and colleagues at
Stanford University devised an ingenious way to the scan fetal DNA present in the mother's
blood to determine whether the fetus' cells contain extra chromosomes associated with
several types of severe birth detects.
MU Researchers Identify Proteins
that Play Important Role in Blood Vessel Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetes
According to the American Heart
Association, three-fourths of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or
blood-vessel disease. Previous studies have shown that cardiac function is compromised and
cardiovascular diseases are increased in people with type 2 diabetes. Before vascular
diseases develop in diabetics, blood-vessel cell dysfunction occurs. Using precise
microscopes, University of Missouri researchers are dissecting coronary microvessels and
testing which proteins are responsible for inflammation that causes blood-vessel
dysfunction. By identifying the proteins that play important roles in blood-vessel
dysfunction, they hope to develop new treatments for blood-vessel dysfunction in people
with type 2 diabetes. “We believe that understanding blood-vessel dysfunction in
diabetes is critical because the progression of vascular diseases may be significantly
reduced if dysfunction is corrected,” said Cuihua Zhang, an investigator in the
Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center and associate professor of internal medicine in the
MU School of Medicine. “The results of our studies may provide new approaches for the
treatment of blood-vessel diseases and disorders in type 2 diabetes, such as the possible
use of antibodies that work to stop the proteins responsible for inflammation.”
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Scientists Trace a Novel Way Cells are Modified in Cancer
A research team at Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory (CSHL) is clarifying a previously unappreciated way that cellular processes are
disrupted in cancer. Last year, scientists from the same CHSL team discovered that a
“splicing factor” called SF2/ASF--a protein that changes the instructions for
how other proteins are assembled--can induce tumors in cell cultures. The team’s
newly published results show that, in ways not yet fully understood, this same splicing
factor acts on a group of other molecules that has long been known to affect cancer.
Oral Vitamin D May Help Prevent
Some Skin Infections
A study led by researchers at the
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that use of oral Vitamin D
supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and
may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most
common form of eczema. The study – led by Richard Gallo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of
medicine and chief of the Division of Dermatology at the UCSD School of Medicine and the
Dermatology section of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, and Tissa R.
Hata, M.D., associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego – found that use of oral
vitamin D appeared to correct a defect in the immune systems in patients with this skin
disease. Their findings will be published in the October 3 edition of the Journal of
Allergy & Clinical Immunology
Early-stage gene transcription
creates access to DNA
A gene contained in laboratory yeast has
helped an international team of researchers uncover new findings about the process by
which protein molecules bind to control sequences in genes in order to initiate gene
expression, according to findings reported in the journal Nature. Previously thought to be
inert carriers of the genetic instructions from DNA, so-called non-coding RNAs turn out to
reveal a novel mechanism for creating access to DNA required by transcriptional activation
proteins for successful gene expression, according to Boston College Biology Prof. Charles
Hoffman, a co-author of the study with researchers from two Japanese universities.
Discovery of receptor’s
function could halt blinding diseases, stop tumour growth, preserve neurons
An international team of researchers has
discovered what promises to be the on-off switch behind several major diseases. In the
advance online edition of today’s Nature Medicine, scientists from Sainte-Justine
Hospital Research Center, the Université de Montréal and the Institut national de la
santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) in France report how the GPR91 receptor
contributes to activate unchecked vascular growth that causes vision loss in common
blinding diseases. These findings could also have wide-ranging and positive implications
for brain tissue regeneration.
University professor stresses links
between US Navy sonar and whale strandings
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court
agreed to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy's use of sonar in
submarine detection training exercises off the coast of Southern California. The court is
due to hear the case after its term begins again this month. For many years, professor
Chris Parsons has been tracking the patterns of mass whale strandings around the world. In
his most recent paper, "Navy Sonar and Cetaceans: Just how much does the gun need to
smoke before we act?" Parsons and his co-authors bring together all of the major
whale and dolphin strandings in the past eight years and discuss the different kinds of
species that have been affected worldwide. They also strongly argue for stricter
environmental policies related to this issue. "We are increasingly finding if there
is a beaked whale mass stranding, there is a military exercise in the area," says
Parsons. "Sonar is killing more whales than we know about." Parsons is a
national delegate for the International Whaling Commission’s scientific and
conservation committees, and on the board of directors of the marine section of the
Society for Conservation Biology. He has been involved in whale and dolphin research for
more than a decade and has conducted projects in South Africa, India, China and the
Caribbean as well as the United Kingdom. Though Parsons believes that there is a
good chance the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Navy, he thinks there is a
chance for a win-win situation on both sides.
Pediatric Study Finds Alternatives
for Radiation of Low-Grade Brain Tumors
A multi-institutional study led by
researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found that using
chemotherapy alone and delaying or avoiding cranial radiation altogether can be effective
in treating pediatric patients with unresectable or progressive low-grade glioma. The
study was presented Sunday at the 40th annual International Society of Pediatric Oncology
Meeting in Berlin, Germany.
Low-grade glioma is the most common brain tumor in children. If eligible for surgery,
overall survival rate for these children is 95 percent. However, for patients with tumors
in locations that prevent surgical removal or whose tumor is progressive after surgery,
prognosis is worse. A majority of pediatric oncologists use cranial radiation to treat
patients with unresectable or progressive brain tumors. Although radiation is often
effective, the long-term effects such as mental impairment, hormonal deficiencies and
increased rate of stroke late in life can be detrimental to young patients - causing some
physicians and families to decide against treatment.
U of T Researchers demonstrate that
Epstein-BarrVirus protein contributes to cancer
Researchers at the University of Toronto
have discovered that the EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) disrupts structures in
the nucleus of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, thereby interfering with cellular
processes that normally prevent cancer development. The study findings are published in
the Oct. 3 edition of the journal PLoS Pathogens and describes a novel mechanism by which
viral proteins contribute to carcinogenesis. EBV is a common herpes virus whose latent
infection is strongly associated with several types of cancer including NPC, a tumor that
is endemic in several parts of the world. With NPC only a few EBV proteins are expressed,
including EBNA1. EBNA1 is required for the persistence of the EBV genomes; however,
whether or not EBNA1 directly contributes to the development of tumours has not been
clear, until now.
Research shows Brazilian acai berry
antioxidants absorbed by human body
A Brazilian palm berry sweeping the globe
as a popular health food - though little research has been done on it – now may have
its purported benefits better understood. In the first research involving people, the acai
(ah-sigh-EE) berry has proven its ability to be absorbed in the human body when consumed
both as juice and pulp. That finding, by a team of Texas AgriLife Research scientists, was
published in a recent issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Vitamin D deficiency common in
patients with IBD, chronic liver disease
New research presented at the 73rd Annual
Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando found patients
with inflammatory bowel disease or chronic liver disease were at increased risk of
developing vitamin D deficiencies. Two separate studies highlight the importance of
regular vitamin D checkups in the evaluation of patients with certain digestive diseases.
Could there be a link between high levels
of air pollution and the risk of appendicitis? New research presented at the 73rd Annual
Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando, suggests a
novel connection. "Adult onset appendicitis is a common condition whose cause is
unclear and almost universally requires surgery," explained Dr. Gilaad G. Kaplan of
the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaplan and his colleagues identified more than 5,000 adults
who were hospitalized for appendicitis in Calgary between 1999 and 2006. The team used
data from Environment Canada's National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) monitors that
collect hourly levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and
particulate matter of varying sizes. Regression analysis was used to evaluate whether
short-term daily changes in air pollution levels were related to the development of
appendicitis.
Neurotransmitter defect may trigger
autoimmune disease
A potentially blinding neurological
disorder, often confused with multiple sclerosis (MS), has now become a little less
mysterious. A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, may
have uncovered the cause of Devic's disease. Their new study, which will appear online on
October 6th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, could result in new treatment options
for this devastating disease.
Devic's disease, also known as neuromyelitis optica (NMO), results in MS-like
demyelinating lesions along the optic nerves and spine. Affected individuals often
experience rapid visual loss, paralysis, and loss of leg, bladder, and bowel sensation.
Some lose their sight permanently. Unlike MS, Devic's disease can be diagnosed by the
presence of a specific self-attacking immune protein—an autoantibody referred to as
NMO-IgG—in the blood. Until now, however, clinicians didn't know how that protein
damaged nerves and contributed to disease symptoms. The Mayo team, lead by Dr. Vanda
Lennon, now show that NMO-IgG sets off a chain of events that leads to a toxic build-up of
a neurotransmitter called glutamate. NMO-IgG binds to a protein that normally sops up
excess glutamate from the space between brain cells. When NMO-IgG is around, this
sponge-like action is blocked, allowing glutamate to accumulate. And too much glutamate
can kill the cells that produce myelin—the protein that coats and protects neurons.
The authors suggest that glutamate-induced damage to nerve cells and their insulating
myelin coats might account for the neurological symptoms associated with Devic's disease.
If the groups' results—generated using nerve cell cultures—are confirmed in
vivo, drug development could be very straightforward. Therapeutic trials for glutamate
blockers, created to treat other neurodegenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig's disease (or
ALS), are already underway.
Women require less tobacco exposure
than men to increase colon cancer risk
While smoking poses a health threat to both
men and women, women require less tobacco exposure than men to have a significant
increased risk for colorectal cancer, according to new research presented at the 73rd
Annual ACG Scientific Meeting in Orlando. In a separate analysis, researchers found
smoking may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions, particularly in
patients with a strong family history of the disease. While research has demonstrated that
smoking is associated with a two-fold risk for colorectal neoplasia, less is known about
the exposure quantity needed. Joseph C. Anderson, M.D., of the University of Connecticut
in Farmington and Zvi A. Alpern, M.D. of Stony Brook University in New York compared the
quantity of tobacco exposure to increased colorectal cancer risk in men and women. The
levels of tobacco exposure were measured by multiplying the packs of cigarettes smoked per
day by the number of years smoked ("pack years.") In a large
cross-sectional study, Drs. Anderson and Alpern analyzed data of 2,707 patients (average
age 57.3) who underwent colonoscopy between 1999 and 2006. Data collected included age,
height, weight, family history of colon cancer, medication use, surgery, exercise, diet
and smoking history. Patients were divided into three smoking groups: heavy exposure, low
exposure, and no exposure. The heavy exposure group was placed into two different groups:
those who smoked 30 pack years or less and those who smoked more than 30 pack years.
Women's Risk Higher for CRC with Fewer "Pack Years" After adjusting for
potentially confounding factors such as age, body mass index, and family history,
researchers found women who smoked less than 30 pack years were almost twice as likely to
develop significant colorectal neoplasia compared to women who were not exposed to
cigarette smoke. "While men and women shared a similar two-fold risk for developing
significant colorectal neoplasia, women required less tobacco exposure in pack years than
men to have an increase in colorectal cancer risk," said Dr. Anderson.
New studies examine the
effectiveness of probiotics in IBS
A systematic review of the efficacy of
probiotics in IBS that included 19 randomized controlled trials in 1,628 IBS patients
found that "probiotics are effective in IBS, but we do not have enough information to
be sure whether there is one probiotic that is particularly effective or whether
combinations of probiotics are required," according to Dr. Paul Moayyedi, the study's
lead researcher. Moayyedi and co-investigators at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL and
Rochester, MN; McMaster University in Ontario, Canada; University College in Cork, Ireland
and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, conducted this meta-analysis presented at
the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando.
In a large U.S. population-based study
presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of
Gastroenterology, metabolic syndrome patients had a 75 percent higher risk of colorectal
cancer compared to those without metabolic syndrome. Dr. Donald Garrow and Dr. Mark
Delegge of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston analyzed data of
patients who reported a history of metabolic syndrome and colorectal cancer from the
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a comprehensive nationally representative study
conducted each year by the National Center for Health Statistics. Metabolic syndrome was
defined as having a combination of three common chronic medical conditions: hypertension,
diabetes and elevated cholesterol. The risk of colorectal cancer among patients with
metabolic syndrome was determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis,
controlling for age, race, gender, obesity, smoking and alcohol use. "Since
individuals with the metabolic syndrome have a significantly higher lifetime risk of
colorectal cancer, they should closely adhere to published guidelines for colorectal
cancer screening," said Dr. Garrow.
Flu vaccine not associated with
reduced hospitalizations or outpatient visits among young children
Use of the influenza vaccine was not
associated with preventing hospitalizations or reducing physician visits for the flu in
children age 5 and younger during two recent seasons, perhaps because the strains of virus
in the vaccine did not match circulating strains, according to a report in the October
issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals. Influenza causes substantial illness among young children; therefore, the United
States and other countries have expanded their childhood vaccination requirements,
according to background information in the article. As of June 2006, U.S. health officials
recommend annual vaccinations for all children age 6 to 59 months. "An inherent
assumption of expanded vaccination recommendations is that the vaccine is efficacious in
preventing clinical influenza disease," the authors write.
New test could help catch serious
infections in babies
A simple blood test may help detect serious
bacterial infections (SBIs) like urinary tract infections and blood stream infections in
young infants who come to the emergency department (ED) with fevers that have no clear
cause. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, collaborating with investigators at
George Washington University, show that a new diagnostic marker called procalcitonin can
help identify infants at high risk for SBIs while potentially reducing unnecessary and
aggressive testing, medication and hospitalization in low risk infants. The study,
published in the October Pediatrics, is the first to examine procalcitonin as a tool for
evaluating infant fever in an emergency situation. The researchers used a novel
procalcitonin test, recently approved by the FDA, in 234 feverish babies under 3 months of
age, of whom 18 percent had definite or possible SBIs confirmed by independent clinical
criteria. The results showed that procalcitonin not only detected all cases of SBIs in
feverous infants but proved sensitive enough to establish a threshold value that would
identify infants at low risk for serious infections. Indeed, its overall performance as a
single clinical marker of infection approached that of current strategies that involve a
variety of laboratory tests and clinical evaluations.
More evidence on why we need
radical reform of science publishing
This phenomenon operates in science
publishing because the elite journals that accept only a fraction of papers submitted to
them go for the “best” and are thus likely to be publishing papers that are
suffering from the winner's curse — for example, in that they give dramatic results
that are a considerable distance from the “true” results. They are exciting
outliers — and so very attractive to the elite journals. The articles that the high
impact journals publish are bound to be atypical and will present a distorted view of
science, leading to false conclusions and "misallocation of resources."
People who occasionally forget an
appointment or a friend's name may have a loss of brain volume, even though they don't
have memory deficits on regular tests of memory or dementia, according to a study
published in the October 7, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the
American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 500 people age 50 to 85 with no dementia
who lived in the Netherlands. Participants were asked about occasional memory problems
such as having trouble thinking of the right word or forgetting things that happened in
the last day or two, or thinking problems such as having trouble concentrating or thinking
more slowly than they used to. Participant's brains were scanned to measure the size of
the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for memory and one of the first areas
damaged by Alzheimer's disease. Of the 500 people, 453 reported that they had occasional
memory or thinking problems, which are also called subjective memory problems, because
they would not show up on regular tests of memory and thinking skills.The study found that
in people with occasional subjective memory problems, the hippocampus was smaller than in
people who had no memory problems. On average, the hippocampus had a volume of 6.7
milliliters in those with occasional subjective memory problems, compared to 7.1
milliliters in people with no memory problems.
New Stanford diagnostic test for
rare leukemia appears to give faster results, study finds
A new twist on a well-known cell sorting
technique may allow physicians to diagnose rare leukemias in hours instead of weeks,
according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and
UC-San Francisco. The clinical promise of the Stanford-developed approach, which
eavesdrops on individual cells to decipher potentially dangerous molecular conversations,
is likely to extend to many other disorders in which cell-signaling pathways are
disrupted.
Form of Crohn's disease traced to
disabled gut cells
Scientists report in this week's Nature
that they have linked the health of specialized gut immune cells to a gene associated with
Crohn's disease, an often debilitating and increasingly prevalent inflammatory bowel
disorder. The link to immune cells intrigued researchers at Washington University School
of Medicine in St. Louis because they and others believe Crohn's disease is caused by
misdirected immune responses in the intestine that damage gut tissue. In addition, cells
in the mouse model scientists used for the study had altered genetic activity that could
lead to increased production of certain hormones. Those same hormones are elevated in some
Crohn's patients. "We now have a significant new piece of the puzzle that is Crohn's
disease, but not the solution just yet," says senior author Herbert W.
"Skip" Virgin, M.D., Ph.D., the Edward Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the
Department of Pathology and Immunology. "As many as 30 different areas in human DNA
have potential links to Crohn's disease, and to develop new treatments it's going to be
essential to find out how each of them, as well as environmental factors, contribute to
the disorder."
Food for thought–regulating
energy supply to the brain during fast
If the current financial climate has taught
us anything, it's that a system where over-borrowing goes unchecked eventually ends in
disaster. It turns out this rule applies as much to our bodies as it does to economics.
Instead of cash, our body deals in energy borrowed from muscle and given to the brain.
Unlike freewheeling financial markets, the lending process in the body is under strict
regulation to ensure that more isn't lent than can be afforded. New research by scientists
at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reveals just how this process is implemented.
"We have all seen the sub-prime mortgage crisis," says Marc Montminy, M.D.,
Ph.D., a professor in the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology who led the
current study. "If you take out a loan, sooner or later you've got to pay your debt,
and the same is true in fasting metabolism." The Salk researchers' findings,
which are published ahead of print in the Oct. 5 edition of the journal Nature, may pave
the way for novel therapies for sufferers of metabolic diseases in whom such regulation
can spiral out of control.
To understand where fat comes from, you
have to start with a skinny mouse. By using such a creature and observing the growth of
fat after injections of different kinds of immature cells, Rockefeller
Fat chance. Using an animal strain called the leptin-luciferase mouse, Rockefeller
University researchers observed the formation of fat from precursor cells over 12 weeks. A
luminescent marker (red) switches on to indicate where mature fat cells have developed.
University scientists have discovered an important fat precursor cell that may in time
explain how changes in the numbers of fat cells might increase and lead to obesity. The
finding, published online in this week’s issue of the journal Cell, could also have
implications for understanding how fat cells affect conditions such as diabetes and
cardiovascular disease.
New Study on Effects of Disclosing
Financial Interests on Participation in Medical Research
Knowing how an investigator is paid for
running a research study surprisingly plays a small role in patients' willingness to take
part in clinical trials. However, according to a new Johns Hopkins University study more
participants are troubled when they are told that the investigator could profit or lose
money depending on the results. In an effort to learn more about the effects of disclosing
an investigator's financial interests on potential study participants, researchers from
the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Duke University Medical Center, and Wake
Forest University surveyed 470 patients from an outpatient cardiology clinic. Each of
these patients, who were diagnosed with coronary artery disease, agreed to go through a
consent process over the phone for a hypothetical clinical trial. The study, published in
the October issue of the American Heart Journal, found that simply revealing an
investigator's financial interest in a study does little to affect the patient's decisions
to enroll in a hypothetical clinical trial. What the study did find was that patients were
more concerned about certain types of financial interests, especially when the
investigator owned stock in the company financing the study.
Discovery of natural compounds that
could slow blood vessel growth
Using computer models and live cell
experiments, biomedical engineers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have
discovered more than 100 human protein fragments that can slow or stop the growth of cells
that make up new blood vessels. Reporting online last week in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, the researchers say the findings could lead to developing
treatments to fight diseases that depend on the growth of new blood vessels, including
cancer, macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis. "Before, there were only 40
known antiangiogenesis peptides," says Aleksander Popel, Ph.D., a professor of
biomedical engineering at Hopkins. "Now, using a whole-genome, computer-based
approach, we have identified more than 100 new ones, all of which can be further
researched for their ability to fight the more than 30 known diseases affected by
excessive blood vessel growth." To identify short protein fragments — peptides
— that can block blood vessel growth, the team started by looking at 40 known
peptides that have been studied and characterized by other experts in the field to stop
blood vessel growth in animal models of disease. Working under the assumption that the
antivessel activity of these peptides can be attributed to similar features that are
shared by a number of proteins, like the sequence of the peptide building blocks, the team
first categorized the 40 known peptides by where they are located and what they look like.
Having defined nine families, the researchers then used computer programs and compared the
peptide families to all of the proteins encoded by the genome. They found more than 120
peptides contained in 82 different proteins, many of which were not previously known to
have any activity on blood vessel development.
Inside a cell it is so crowded that a
certain protein from borrelia winds up being crunched. From having been like an oblong
rugby football, it gets bent and then collapses into a lump. At this point a previously
hidden part appears, known to trigger the formation of antibodies. This explains how
Borrelia can be diagnosed, a process that was previously unknown. Congestion in the cell
environment forces the protein V1sE, which exists in borrelia bacteria, to change shape.
Like a jack-in-the-box, an antigen- a substance alien to the body -then pops up, prompting
the body to start producing antibodies. It is precisely the prevalence of these antibodies
that physicians often use to diagnose borrelia. Until today, we have had no knowledge of
how these antibodies are produced, since the antigen is hidden in the original form of the
V1sE protein.
“We suspect that the changes in the shape of the protein are nature’s own
origami to control what functions the protein should have in specific circumstances. In
this way different parts can be exposed, roughly as in the jumping fleas made of folded
paper that children play with,” says Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, who was recently
named professor of biological chemistry at Umeå University in Sweden.
The birth of new neurons (neurogenesis)
does not end completely during development but continues throughout all life in two areas
of the adult nervous system, i.e. subventricular zone and hippocampus. Recent research has
shown that hippocampal neurogenesis is crucial for memory formation. These studies,
however, have not yet clarified how the newborn neurons are integrated in the existing
circuits and thus contribute to new memories formation and to the maintenance of old ones.
The team of researchers of CNR-LUMSA-EBRI at the European Centre for Brain Research,
organization established in Rome with the key contribution of the Santa Lucia Foundation,
has taken a step forward to understand the requirements of newborn neurons in the process
of learning and memory. The neuroscientists coordinated by dr. Felice Tirone of the
Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine (INMM) of CNR, in collaboration with
prof. Vincenzo Cestari of the Institute for Neuroscience of CNR and the LUMSA University
and with dr. Alberto Bacci of the European Brain Research Institute, have shown that a key
factor for neurogenesis is represented by the speed of differentiation of progenitors
(stem cells that give rise to neurons) in hippocampus. From such speed will in fact depend
the success of the whole process. “New neurons must maturate according to a correct
temporal sequence in order to become able to acquire new memories and retrieve the
existing ones”, explains Tirone.
