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General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

The use of general anesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world, but the precise biological mechanisms that underlie anesthetic drugs' effects on the brain and the body are only beginning to be understood. A review article in the December 30 New England Journal of Medicine brings together for the first time information from a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine, to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive investigations of processes underlying general anesthesia.

30 Dec 2010

Low levels of microbe-killing molecules improve survival rate of people with CGD

Investigators at the National Institutes of Health have observed that the survival rate of people with a rare immunodeficiency disease called chronic granulomatous disease is greatly improved when even very low levels of microbe-killing molecules are present.

30 Dec 2010

Interaction of light with circadian systems

In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues have taken an important step in understanding the underlying molecular signals that influence a broad array of biological processes ranging from the sleep-wake cycle to cancer growth and development.

30 Dec 2010

Heart researchers find no evidence of toxicity in Longevinex

It was Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician who first said "the dose makes the poison." So, you can drink too much wine, or ingest too much resveratrol, but in an unprecedented study, heart researchers report they couldn't find a toxic dose for Longevinex-, a resveratrol-based dietary supplement.

30 Dec 2010

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

The brain under general anesthesia isn't "asleep" as surgery patients are often told -- it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, sleep and coma, in the Dec. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Dec 2010

CFTR protein regulates inflammation and cell death in emphysema, chronic lung diseases

A team of Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers has discovered that a protein involved in cystic fibrosis also regulates inflammation and cell death in emphysema and may be responsible for other chronic lung diseases.

29 Dec 2010

ISCO to conduct discussion on ethical and medical advantages of human parthenogenetic stem cells

International Stem Cell Corporation, will lead a free public discussion highlighting the ethical considerations and medical advantages surrounding the derivation of human stem cells from unfertilized human eggs using ISCO's patented technology known as parthenogenesis.

29 Dec 2010

Researchers develop breath-analysis technology for rapid detection of biomarkers

Researchers have overcome a fundamental obstacle in developing breath-analysis technology to rapidly diagnose patients by detecting chemical compounds called "biomarkers" in a person's respiration in real time.

29 Dec 2010

Molecular interaction between structural HCV protein and protein critical to viral replication identified

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a molecular interaction between a structural hepatitis C virus protein (HCV) and a protein critical to viral replication. This new finding strongly suggests a novel method of inhibiting the production of the virus and a potential new therapeutic target for hepatitis C drug development.

29 Dec 2010

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants alters cortisol level in blood

Karin E Zimmer's PhD research shows that persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as PCB and mixtures of different POPs, affect the way the adrenal cortex functions and thereby the synthesis of the stress hormone cortisol.

28 Dec 2010

Study reports ROP18 protein protects parasite in host cell

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science a step closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites.

28 Dec 2010

BIOMICs oversees SGIker DNA Bank to know genetic heritage of Basque lineage

The BIOMICs Group, based at the Lucio Lascaray building in the álava/Araba campus of the University of the Basque Country, is specially known for overseeing the SGIker DNA Bank, not only undertaking this task, but also feeding data into the gene research bank and making good use of it for their own lines of research.

28 Dec 2010

Met-FISC complex formation critical step in juvenile hormone signaling pathway

Just as raging hormones are part of the process of a child's maturation through the teen years to adulthood, juvenile hormones, a group of insect isoprenoids, play an important role as butterflies, fruit flies and mosquitoes transform their body structures as they molt from larva to pupa and then adults.

28 Dec 2010

International reference standards for use of bone turnover markers in clinical studies recommended

An expert working group of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) has released a new position paper which reviews the evidence of bone turnover markers (BTMs) in fracture risk prediction and monitoring of osteoporosis therapy. More importantly, it identifies research priorities and recommends that specific markers be used as reference analytes for BTMs in clinical and observational studies.

28 Dec 2010

Proellex vaginal delivery exhibits four times activity of oral dose in animal study

Repros Therapeutics Inc. today announced it has completed two animal model studies of the use of Proellex® in a vaginally administered formulation that demonstrated effects on progesterone sensitive tissues equivalent to the highest oral dose formerly in development by the Company.

28 Dec 2010

ACT, Roslin Cells collaborate to establish hESC line bank using single-ceblastomere technique

Advanced Cell Technology, a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Roslin Cells LTD of Scotland, in which the two companies contemplate a definitive collaboration agreement in the near future.

28 Dec 2010

Turns mortal heart attacks into non-mortal heart attacks -- NIH study

Three weeks of oral resveratrol or Longevinex- ingestion prior to an induced heart attack returned microRNA activity close to their pre-event levels in excised animal hearts. Among thousands of microRNA's studied, just six were attributed to exerting the majority of the gene-switching effects measured in the animal heart study - four microRNA optimally regulated by Longevinex- and two optimally by plain resveratrol.

28 Dec 2010

Biglycan protein offers potential therapy for muscular dystrophy

A novel potential therapy based on a natural human protein significantly slows muscle damage and improves function in mice who have the same genetic mutation as boys with the most common form of muscular dystrophy, according to a paper published online Dec. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

28 Dec 2010

Vitamin D levels of newborns appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections

The vitamin D levels of newborn babies appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections during infancy and the occurrence of wheezing during early childhood, but not the risk of developing asthma. Results of a study in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics support the theory that widespread vitamin D deficiency contributes to risk of infections.

27 Dec 2010

Medical Science News

General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

Low levels of microbe-killing molecules improve survival rate of people with CGD

Interaction of light with circadian systems

Heart researchers find no evidence of toxicity in Longevinex

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

CFTR protein regulates inflammation and cell death in emphysema, chronic lung diseases

ISCO to conduct discussion on ethical and medical advantages of human parthenogenetic stem cells

Researchers develop breath-analysis technology for rapid detection of biomarkers

Molecular interaction between structural HCV protein and protein critical to viral replication identified

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants alters cortisol level in blood

Study reports ROP18 protein protects parasite in host cell

BIOMICs oversees SGIker DNA Bank to know genetic heritage of Basque lineage

Met-FISC complex formation critical step in juvenile hormone signaling pathway

International reference standards for use of bone turnover markers in clinical studies recommended

Proellex vaginal delivery exhibits four times activity of oral dose in animal study

ACT, Roslin Cells collaborate to establish hESC line bank using single-ceblastomere technique

Turns mortal heart attacks into non-mortal heart attacks -- NIH study

Biglycan protein offers potential therapy for muscular dystrophy

Vitamin D levels of newborns appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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