Metabolites News and Research

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More than a billion may suffer from vitamin D deficiency

More than a billion may suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Consequences may be more severe than thought. Prominent clinician calls for action.

6 Apr 2006

Inflammation cuts both ways

Inflammation cuts both ways. When invaded by an infectious agent, for example, the body calls on the forces of inflammation to fight and defeat the intruder.

6 Apr 2006

Smoking interferes with the brain's ability to recover from the effects of chronic alcohol abuse

"This study suggests that for better brain recovery, it may be beneficial for alcoholics in early abstinence to stop smoking as well," concludes Dieter Meyerhoff, Dr.rer.nat., a radiology researcher at SFVAMC and the senior author of the study. Meyerhoff is also a professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

19 Mar 2006

Effects of prenatal exposure to pesticides

Children in Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides while pregnant had increased blood pressure and diminished ability to copy geometric figures as compared to a control group, according to an epidemiological study in the March issue of Pediatrics.

9 Mar 2006

Racial and ethnic differences in nicotine metabolism exist among adolescent smokers

New research by scientists with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, suggests that some of the racial and ethnic differences underlying how adults' bodies metabolize nicotine also are at work during adolescence.

23 Jan 2006

New method to find new metabolites

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported Jan. 20 in the Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

23 Jan 2006

University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism

As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.

29 Dec 2005

Tryptophan metabolites play an important role in the immune system

Tryptophan is the source of Thanksgiving legend and grist for a "Seinfeld" episode, but it's not the chemical that you'd expect to find in Lawrence Steinman's lab.

7 Nov 2005

Flavanols help smokers repair blood vessel function

Phytochemicals known as flavanols, which are found in chocolate, fruits and vegetables, can boost the levels of nitric oxide in the blood of smokers and reverse some of their smoking-related impairment in blood vessel function, according to a new study in the Oct. 4, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

28 Sep 2005

Substance found in cotton plant could help treat psoriasis

A substance found in the cotton plant could help treat the common skin disease psoriasis, according to new research from the Pharmacy School at Sunderland University launched at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.

28 Sep 2005

Phytoestrogens linked with a lower lung cancer risk

A diet higher in plant-derived compounds known as phytoestrogens is linked with a lower lung cancer risk, according to a study in the current issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

27 Sep 2005

Fine-tuning fertility testing with take-home technology

A take-home fertility-testing kit under development in a Massey University laboratory will give women and couples further control over pregnancy planning.

6 Sep 2005

Potatoes found to help reduce blood pressure and other diseases

UK scientists have identified bioactive plant chemicals in the most practical of staple foods, the potato. These natural chemicals have been associated with reduced blood pressure and they selectively affect a chemotherapeutic target for trypanosomes and similar diseases such as sleeping sickness.

30 Jun 2005

New research raises the possibility that the risk of developing arsenic-related disease is not the same for everybody

Children with a particular variation in the CYT19 gene metabolize arsenic differently than adults with the same genetic variant, according to a new research report. The findings have important implications for the safety of drinking water worldwide and the use of arsenic as a cancer drug.

27 Jun 2005

Pregnant women's exposure to phthalates has adverse effects on genital development in their male children

For the first time, researchers have identified an association between pregnant women’s exposure to a nearly ubiquitous class of chemicals known as phthalates and adverse effects on genital development in their male children.

30 May 2005

Researchers determine mechanism of action of chemotherapy drug motexafin gadolinium

The chemotherapy drug motexafin gadolinium (brand name: Xcytrin, manufactured by Pharmacyclics, Inc.) works to thwart cancer cells by disrupting key enzymes involved in cellular metabolism, according to a team of researchers led by Joseph Hacia, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

1 May 2005

Low levels of oral cannabis induces psychosis

Recreational cannabis use has previously been associated with psychotic reactions even in clinical situations where cannabis is administered orally at low doses, now Swiss researcher Dr. Bernard Favrat and colleagues at Institut Universitaire de Medicine Legale in Lausanne have confirmed this in the first such report, in closely monitored subjects participating in a clinical trial.

4 Apr 2005

Cannabis-based medicines given in a highly-controlled clinical environment unexpectedly lead to strong psychotic effects

Volunteers taking cannabis-based therapeutic drugs as part of a controlled trial, which had been approved by an ethics board as safe for the subjects, experienced psychotic effects just as strong as if they had smoked cannabis. These findings, highly unexpected in such a controlled environment, are published today in the peer-reviewed, Open Access journal BMC Psychiatry.

3 Apr 2005

Green alga closes wounds by means of enzymatic activation of a cross-linking protein

A small wound is painful, but is normally not a problem. Like all multicellular organisms, our bodies form new tissue around the damaged cells. Single-celled organisms cannot do this. In order to survive an injury, they have to quickly repair the cell itself. Large single-celled organisms, such as the green alga Caulerpa taxifolia, which can be several meters long, are especially at risk for injuries.

22 Mar 2005

Sudden emotional stress can result in severe but reversible heart muscle weakness

Shocking news, such as learning of the unexpected death of a loved one, has been known to cause catastrophic events, such as a heart attack.

10 Feb 2005