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Effects of prion disease could be reversed if caught early enough

The researchers said that their findings support developing early treatments that aim to reduce levels of prion protein in the brains of people with prion disease.

31 Jan 2007

Different treatments may be needed for chronic asthma, depending on whether it results from allergies or lung infections

Researchers have now identified a particular gene that influences how severe a M. pneumoniae infection may be, which in turn suggests that a different strategy might be needed for treating asthma resulting from this and similar lung infections rather than allergies.

31 Jan 2007

Natural fibre may help overweight achieve a healthy body weight

It sounds almost too good to be true, but Dr. Raylene Reimer, a researcher at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology, believes she may have found an important weapon in the war against obesity.

31 Jan 2007

Calpain-mediated mGluR1-alpha truncation

Tricking a key enzyme can soothe over-excited receptors in the brain, say neuroscientists, calling this a possible strategy against stroke, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

31 Jan 2007

Corn, oats, cherries and red wine's high melatonin content can help delay ageing

The Spanish Ageing Research Network (Red Nacional de Investigación del Envejecimiento), funded by Carlos III Health Institute and headed by professor Darío Acuna Castroviejo, from the University of Granada, is very near to achieving one of today's Science greatest goals: allowing humans to age in the best possible health conditions.

31 Jan 2007

Garlic offers hope in cystic fibrosis infection

Garlic has been hailed a wonder drug for centuries and has been used to prevent gangrene, treat high blood pressure, ward off common colds and is even believed by some to have cancer-fighting properties.

31 Jan 2007

New method of predicting rheumatoid arthritis offers early help to sufferers

Dutch researchers believe they may have come up with a new way of predicting whether patients with arthritic symptoms will progress to the autoimmune form of the disease, rheumatoid arthritis.

31 Jan 2007

Cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin

In the January issue of Clinical Biochemistry, scientists and physicians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) outline the method used to develop a cruelty-free ELISA for human insulin that uses monoclonal antibodies produced by cells cultured in an animal-serum-free medium.

30 Jan 2007

Stroke risk for sickle cell children with early complications

Children with sickle cell disease who experienced major complications such as pain and lung disease early in life are at no greater risk for stroke or death during later childhood, new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center shows.

30 Jan 2007

A prediction rule for disease outcome in patients with recent-onset undifferentiated arthritis

Marked by chronic inflammation of the joints and tissue, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful and potentially disabling autoimmune disease.

30 Jan 2007

New testing approach to predict outcome in patients with bladder cancer

A new testing approach has been shown to be effective in identifying patients at the highest risk of cancer relapse after surgery for bladder cancer, say researchers in the February issue of The Lancet Oncology.

29 Jan 2007

Probing proteins can lead to better understanding of anti-tumor agents

There are a number of naturally occurring chemicals that are used in phototherapy of skin diseases. Hypocrellin A (HA), which can be extracted from a parasitic fungus, has been taken orally as a folk medicine for several centuries in China.

29 Jan 2007

Scientists tackle huntingtin protein

McMaster scientists are very close to defining small molecule drugs that should be able to redirect the huntingtin protein from accumulating in the wrong place within brain cells, which could potentially translate to a therapy for Huntington's Disease (HD).

29 Jan 2007

Gene produces springy protein keeping nerve cells flexible

If you bend a knee or an elbow, the nerves in your limbs stretch but do not break. A University of Utah study suggests why: A gene produces a springy protein that keeps nerve cells flexible. When the gene was disabled in tiny nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke.

29 Jan 2007

Dll4 signalling through Notchi regulates formation of tip cells during angiogenesis

All tissues, sick and healthy alike, need a blood supply to survive and grow. The key to many medical problems, like preventing tumour development, is therefore to obstruct the spread of the blood vessels. Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered a heretofore unknown mechanism for how the body links together its blood vessels.

29 Jan 2007

New understanding of cholera pathogen

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered new details about how bacteria generate energy to live. In two recently published papers, the scientists add key specifics to the molecular mechanism behind the pathogen that causes cholera.

29 Jan 2007

New drug to treat kidney failure during septic shock

Research from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute and the Austin Hospital has resulted in a drug to treat kidney failure during septic shock, which will be trialled at the Austin Hospital from mid-2007.

29 Jan 2007

FoxOs shown to be potential new targets for cancer drugs

In an elegant, multiple-gene knockout experiment, a team of Boston scientists has discovered that a trio of molecules, called FoxOs, are fundamentally critical in preventing some cancers, maintaining blood vessel stability, and in keeping blood-forming stem cells healthy.

29 Jan 2007

Antibiotic doses could be reduced by up to 50 times using new approach

Steven Hagens, previously at the University of Vienna, told Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI, that certain bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, can boost the effectiveness of antibiotics gentamicin, gramacidin or tetracycline.

29 Jan 2007

SH2B1 protein plays a key role in controlling body weight, response to insulin and leptin

A single protein in brain cells may act as a linchpin in the body's weight-regulating system, playing a key role in the flurry of signals that govern fat storage, sugar use, energy balance and weight, University of Michigan Medical School researchers report.

29 Jan 2007