Medical Science News

RSS

Betulin in birch bark appears to provide metabolic benefits

An ingredient found in abundance in birch bark appears to have an array of metabolic benefits, according to new studies in animals that are reported in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication.

5 Jan 2011

ReproCELL to enter collaborative iPS cell-derived hepatocytes R&D agreement with NIBIO

ReproCELL, Inc. (CEO: Chikafumi Yokoyama PhD) announces today that the company will enter a collaborative R&D agreement with the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NIBIO; Director General: Koichi Yamanishi; Osaka, Japan), which could offer new hepatocyte derived from human iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells used for an effective in-vitro drug screening for hepatic toxicity and liver metabolism.

5 Jan 2011

Safe vaccine protects mice against effects of cocaine

Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.

5 Jan 2011

Study on aberrant cellular localization in the brain

Normally, cortical nerve cells or neurons reside in the brain's gray matter with only a few scattered neurons in the white matter, but some people with schizophrenia have a higher number of neurons in the white matter. Neuronal migration errors may arise in schizophrenia as a consequence of both genetic and environmental factors.

5 Jan 2011

Anaphylatoxin C5a may be responsible for devastating effects of atherosclerosis

For decades, doctors have looked at fitness levels, weight, and overall health risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Now, they may soon add a new risk factor to the list: activation of the complement system. The complement system is usually implicated in immune responses, but now there's a role for it in cardiovascular disease.

5 Jan 2011

Critical tuning dial for controlling whole body energy

Researchers have found what appears to be a critical tuning dial for controlling whole body energy, according to a new report in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. When energy levels within cells drop, it sets off a series of events designed to increase the amount of calorie-rich dietary fat that the body will absorb.

5 Jan 2011

New mouse model with deficiency of lipoprotein lipase in neurons

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have created a new and exciting mouse model to study how lipid sensing and metabolism in the brain relate to the regulation of energy balance and body weight. The research team, led by Hong Wang, PhD, created mice with a deficiency of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in neurons, and observed two important reactions.

5 Jan 2011

Researchers create model that predicts drug effects on fetal development

When pregnant women need medications, there is often concern about possible effects on the fetus. Although some drugs are clearly recognized to cause birth defects, and others are generally recognized as safe, surprisingly little is known about most drugs' level of risk. Researchers in the Children's Hospital Boston Informatics Program have created a preclinical model for predicting a drug's teratogenicity based on characterizing the genes that it targets.

5 Jan 2011

Blocking activation of delta-PKC enzyme could protect lungs from neutrophil-mediated damage

All of us may be able to breathe a little easier now that scientists from Pennsylvania have found a new therapeutic target for controlling dangerous inflammation in the lungs. A new research report in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org) suggests that blocking the activation of an enzyme called delta-protein kinase C (delta-PKC) could protect the lungs from neutrophil-mediated damage, which can result in out of control inflammation.

5 Jan 2011

Fruit fly faeces provides answers to pregnant women's bloating and constipation

Clues about how the human gut helps regulate our appetite have come from a most unusual source - fruit fly faeces. Scientists at the University of Cambridge are using the fruit fly to help understand aspects of human metabolism, including why pregnant women suffer from bloating and constipation, and even the link between a low calorie diet and longevity.

5 Jan 2011

Low-radiocarbon nutrition permanently reduces genetic damage to brain cells

A new method of child and maternal nutrition could prevent a specific type of genetic damage that would otherwise occur in up to 160 million brain cells in each person over their lifetime. Preventing this genetic damage could have significant implications related to aging and cancer.

5 Jan 2011

Removal of ZIP proteins from hippocampus cell protects them from injury

Researchers in the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory in the department of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that zinc enters cells through specialized protein gates known as ZIP transporters, and removing these ZIP proteins from cells in the hippocampus significantly protects them from injury.

5 Jan 2011

Metabolic cost of missing one night of sleep equivalent to walking two miles

In the first-ever quantification of energy expended by humans during sleep, a University of Colorado team has found that the metabolic cost of an adult missing one night of sleep is the equivalent of walking slightly less than two miles.

5 Jan 2011

Researchers develop unique vaccine that produces long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice

Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Cornell University have produced a long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a unique vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.

5 Jan 2011

Study suggests new experimental drug is better than standard morphine

A little-known morphinelike drug is potentially more potent, longer lasting and less likely to cause constipation than standard morphine, a study led by a Loyola University Health System anesthesiologist has found.

5 Jan 2011

Santaris Pharma, Pfizer expand RNA-targeted medicine collaboration

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of mRNA and microRNA targeted therapies, and Pfizer Inc., today announced that the companies have expanded their collaboration directed to the development and commercialization of RNA-targeted medicines using Santaris Pharma A/S Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Drug Platform.

5 Jan 2011

Study reviews effects of supplements on mental energy

The Life Sciences Research Organization, Inc. (LSRO) has published a review article in the December 2010 issue of Nutrition Reviews entitled Do Specific Constituents and Supplements Affect Mental Energy? Review of the Evidence.

5 Jan 2011

Study: Stem cells play an unexpected role in male pattern balding

Given the amount of angst over male pattern balding, surprisingly little is known about its cause at the cellular level. In a new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a team led by George Cotsarelis, MD, chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has found that stem cells play an unexpected role in explaining what happens in bald scalp.

5 Jan 2011

Dutch scientists provide new insights into intestinal cancer through plant study

Dutch scientists have gained important new insights into intestinal cancer from studying a plant. The disease is called Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome, a hereditary disorder where people develop intestinal polyps that turn into malignant tumors.

5 Jan 2011

TRPM2 in pancreatic beta-cells may control insulin secretion levels

The research group led by professor Makoto Tominaga and Dr. Kunitoshi Uchida, National institute for Physiological Sciences, found TRPM2 ion channel in pancreatic beta-cells is important for insulin secretion stimulated by glucose and gastrointestinal hormone secreted after food intake. Their finding was reported in Diabetes.

4 Jan 2011