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Poor intake of vitamins tends to have low bone density in children with celiac disease

Children with celiac disease need to include certain must-have vitamins in their diets to stave off weak bones and osteoporosis, say researchers at the University of Alberta. A study of 43 children and teens from three to 18 years of age diagnosed with celiac disease showed that they also tended to have low bone density, likely due to poor intake and absorption of vitamins and minerals. That means they should be getting more of bone-boosting vitamins such as K and D in their diets, says Diana Mager, a professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science at the U of A, and one of the researchers on the project.

23 Jul 2010

hBD-3 biomarker helps early stage detection of oral cancer

Detecting oral cancer in its earliest stages can save the lives of the nearly 40,500 people diagnosed annually. But early detection has been difficult. Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers discovered a biomarker, called human beta defensin-3 (hBD-3), which may serve as an early warning. The defensin is present in all oral cancers and associated with the early stages of oral cancer.

23 Jul 2010

Osteocalcin hormone can regulate glucose levels: Research

Researchers led by Columbia University Medical Center have discovered that the skeleton plays an important role in regulating blood sugar and have further illuminated how bone controls this process. The finding, published in Cell, is important because it may lead to more targeted drugs for type 2 diabetes.

23 Jul 2010

Gene expression profiling may provide molecular diagnostic tool to diagnose depression

Blood tests have been extremely important tools aiding doctors in making medical diagnoses and in guiding the treatment of many diseases. However, psychiatry is one area of medicine where there are few diagnostic blood tests.New scientific fields may someday generate blood tests that can be used for these purposes. Some of the areas under increasingly intensive study are genetics, the study of variations in the genes that can be extracted from blood cells, and genomics like proteomics, the measurement of the levels of specific proteins in the blood, and gene expression profiling, which measures the levels of RNA produced from DNA as an indication of the level of the "activity" of particular genes.

23 Jul 2010

African ancestry associated with triple-negative breast cancer: Study

A new study finds that African ancestry is linked to triple-negative breast cancer, a more aggressive type of cancer that has fewer treatment options.Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that, among women with breast cancer, 82 percent of African women were triple negative, 26 percent of African-Americans were and 16 percent of white Americans were.

23 Jul 2010

Protein parkin essential for hypothalamic neurons recovery in Parkinson's disease patients

A Michigan State University researcher is working to uncover how a protein known as parkin may help nerve cells fight off damage from Parkinson's disease, a strategy that could lead to new therapies for the degenerative ailment.

23 Jul 2010

Drugs that activate SIRT1 hold potential to combat Alzheimer's: Study

MIT biologists report that they have discovered the first link between the amyloid plaques that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and a gene previously implicated in the aging process, SIRT1.

23 Jul 2010

Researchers share nanotechnology knowledge

InForm, a AU$2.7 million EU-funded project involving world-leading research institutionsincluding the University of Sydney,hosted its first conference, 'NanoFormulation2010', in June at Stockholm University.

22 Jul 2010

BioTime announces 21 new stem cell products for sale

BioTime, Inc. announced today that on August 1, 2010 the Company will be offering for sale 21 new stem cell products for research use only. These products will include the novel stem cell lines: E120 expressing the gene LGR5 useful in colon cancer drug discovery, EN16, T43, RAD20.5, RA-SKEL8, SM22, and Z1, full properties of which will be disclosed on product launch, along with differentiation kits and media for the culture of each line.

22 Jul 2010

Brain scans could provide unique information in choosing career

General aptitude tests and specific mental ability tests are important tools for vocational guidance. Researchers are now asking whether performance on such tests is based on differences in brain structure, and if so, can brain scans be helpful in choosing a career? In a first step, researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Research Notes have investigated how well eight tests used in vocational guidance correlate to gray matter in areas throughout the brain.

22 Jul 2010

New understanding on insulin resistance, action of diabetes drugs may lead to safer medication

A new understanding of insulin resistance and the action of diabetes drugs such as Avandia and Actos could pave the way for improved medications that are more selective and safer, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Scripps Research Institute.Our findings strongly suggest that good and bad effects of these drugs can be separated by designing second-generation drugs that focus on the newly uncovered mechanism, said Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, of Dana-Farber, senior author on a report appearing in the July 22 issue of Nature.

22 Jul 2010

Predator-released chemicals function as warning signals for egg-laying mosquitoes

A scientific breakthrough might assist in the fight against mosquitoes. New research carried out at the University of Haifa in collaboration with researchers from other universities has chemically identified, for the first time, compounds released by mosquitoes' natural aquatic predators that function as warning signals for egg laying mosquitoes. Introducing these natural chemicals into mosquito breeding sites will cause the mosquitoes to sense risk of predation to their progeny and avoid laying their eggs there.

22 Jul 2010

Genomics researchers study role of protein in metabolic disorders, heart disease

Studying a protein already known to play an important role in type 2 diabetes and cancer, genomics researchers have discovered that it may have an even broader role in disease, particularly in other metabolic disorders and heart disease. In finding unsuspected links to other disease-related genes, the scientists may have identified future targets for drug treatments.

22 Jul 2010

Scientists uncover new mechanism that reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease

In a joint study, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University have uncovered a novel mechanism that dramatically increases insulin sensitivity and reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

22 Jul 2010

Researchers develop laser-induced thermal therapy to treat cancer

A group of researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is developing a way to treat cancer by using lasers to light up tiny nanoparticles and destroy tumors with the ensuing heat. Today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine in Philadelphia, they will describe the latest development for this technology: iron-containing Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes threads of hollow carbon that are 10 thousand times thinner than a human hair.

22 Jul 2010

Scientists discover world's first mass producible, low-cost organoclays for plastics

Scientists are reporting an in-depth validation of the discovery of the world's first mass producible, low-cost, organoclays for plastics. The powdered material, made from natural clay, would be a safer, more environmentally friendly replacement for the compound widely used to make plastics nanocomposites. A report on the research appears in ACS' Macromolecules, a bi-weekly journal.

22 Jul 2010

Researchers block stress responses in cancer surgery patients

Cancer surgery wreaks havoc on a body's immune system and stress hormones exacerbate the problem. As a result, about half of those who undergo surgery for tumor removal experience a recurrence of cancer in the same region or other parts of the body.

22 Jul 2010

New carbon nanomaterial fights disease causing bacteria

A new form of paper with the built-in ability to fight disease-causing bacteria could have applications that range from anti-bacterial bandages to food packaging that keeps food fresher longer to shoes that ward off foot odor. A report about the new material, which consists of the thinnest possible sheets of carbon, appears in ACS Nano, a monthly journal.

22 Jul 2010

Affymetrix launches QuantiGene ViewRNA Assay formats

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced the launch of QuantiGene® ViewRNA Assay formats, which enable a new era of "in situ multiplex gene expression analysis" by allowing drug screening of native cells and advancing the pace of biomarker disease research and stem cell studies. These in situ assays enable researchers to visualize gene expression in individual cells at an unprecedented level of sensitivity and speed.

22 Jul 2010

TCF7L2 protein may play important role in heart disease, other metabolic disorders: Researchers

22 Jul 2010

Medical Science News

Poor intake of vitamins tends to have low bone density in children with celiac disease

hBD-3 biomarker helps early stage detection of oral cancer

Osteocalcin hormone can regulate glucose levels: Research

Gene expression profiling may provide molecular diagnostic tool to diagnose depression

African ancestry associated with triple-negative breast cancer: Study

Protein parkin essential for hypothalamic neurons recovery in Parkinson's disease patients

Drugs that activate SIRT1 hold potential to combat Alzheimer's: Study

Researchers share nanotechnology knowledge

BioTime announces 21 new stem cell products for sale

Brain scans could provide unique information in choosing career

New understanding on insulin resistance, action of diabetes drugs may lead to safer medication

Predator-released chemicals function as warning signals for egg-laying mosquitoes

Genomics researchers study role of protein in metabolic disorders, heart disease

Scientists uncover new mechanism that reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease

Researchers develop laser-induced thermal therapy to treat cancer

Scientists discover world's first mass producible, low-cost organoclays for plastics

Researchers block stress responses in cancer surgery patients

New carbon nanomaterial fights disease causing bacteria

Affymetrix launches QuantiGene ViewRNA Assay formats

TCF7L2 protein may play important role in heart disease, other metabolic disorders: Researchers

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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