Metabolism News and Research

Latest Metabolism News and Research

First study to explore differential gender effects of secondhand smoke exposure

The negative health effects of early-life exposure to secondhand smoke appear to impact girls more than boys-particularly those with early-life allergic sensitization, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine.

27 Mar 2012

EMA accepts Arena's lorcaserin MAA for weight control

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted the filing of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for lorcaserin, an investigational drug candidate intended for weight control, including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, in patients who are obese (BMI >30) or patients who are overweight (BMI >27) and have at least one weight-related co-morbid condition.

26 Mar 2012

Promising results from Esperion ETC-1002 Phase 2 clinical trial for dyslipidemia

Esperion Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company working to discover, develop and commercialize treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial for ETC-1002.

26 Mar 2012

Switch may release fuel and materials for rapid growth and formation of layers that later become organs

Shortly after a mouse embryo starts to form, some of its stem cells undergo a dramatic metabolic shift to enter the next stage of development, Seattle researchers report today. These stem cells start using and producing energy like cancer cells.

26 Mar 2012

ETC-1002 drug reduces LDL cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic patients

Early data suggest ETC-1002, a drug that regulates lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, had a significant impact on cholesterol levels and improved factors believed to contribute to cardio-metabolic diseases, say researchers from the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, the Baylor College of Medicine, and Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., who are presenting their work at the 2012 American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in Chicago.

26 Mar 2012

High-fat, low-carb foods linked with increased risk of heart attack in obese people

High-fat, low-carb foods are a popular choice for dieters, but new laboratory research by University of Alabama at Birmingham cardiologists indicates these may be detrimental to the health of people who have ischemic cardiovascular disease or a predisposition to heart attacks.

26 Mar 2012

Long daily sedentary periods cause a health risk despite physical activity

Good physical condition is a route to better health, and in order to improve it, exercising several days a week is recommended. Although it is possible to become healthier by exercising, long daily sedentary periods cause a health risk despite physical activity.

23 Mar 2012

UI receives three grants to hasten discovery of new TB therapeutics

Forty-five years. That's how long it's been since the last drug - rifampin - hit the market to treat tuberculosis, an infection that affects nearly one third of the world's population and causes 1.8 million deaths annually. The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy has received three new federally-funded grants to hasten the discovery of new therapeutic treatments.

23 Mar 2012

PFKFB4 gene leads to excessive growth of prostate cancer cells

Cancer cell metabolism may present a new target for therapy as scientists have uncovered a possible gene that leads to greater growth of prostate cancer cells.

23 Mar 2012

Hyperion acquires worldwide rights to Ucyclyd's Ravicti

Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to the investigational drug Ravicti from Ucyclyd Pharma, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation.

23 Mar 2012

WCI technique uses MRS to detect oncometabolites

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute have developed a technique for detecting an "oncometabolite", a chemical produced by some brain tumors' warped metabolism, via non-invasive imaging.

23 Mar 2012

Study shows gender gap in medication management

Women use more prescription drugs than men; yet they are not prescribed proper amounts. In a new study presented at Women's Health 2012: The 20th Annual Congress by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) women are prescribed more drugs than men, have poorer adherence rates to using the drugs than men, and, perhaps most surprisingly, lag behind men in receiving the appropriate drugs for their documented diseases.

22 Mar 2012

New method for in vivo study of unknown selenium metabolism

Spanish and Danish researchers have developed a method for the in vivo study of the unknown metabolism of selenium, an essential element for living beings. The technique can help clarify whether or not it possesses the anti-tumour properties that have been attributed to it and yet have not been verified through clinical trials.

22 Mar 2012

New perspective on why the immune system makes us worse while trying to make us well

A new article in The Quarterly Review of Biology helps explain why the immune system often makes us worse while trying to make us well.

21 Mar 2012

Circadian rhythms control production of metabolites

By analyzing the hundreds of metabolic products present in the liver, researchers with the UC Irvine Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism have discovered that circadian rhythms - our own body clock - greatly control the production of such key building blocks as amino acids, carbohydrates and lipids.

20 Mar 2012

Study identifies new hypervariable regions in human gut viruses

A growing body of evidence underscores the importance of human gut bacteria in modulating human health, metabolism, and disease. Yet bacteria are only part of the story. Viruses that infect those bacteria also shape who we are. Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that sequenced the DNA of viruses -- the virome -- present in the gut of healthy people.

20 Mar 2012

Soy-based S-equol lowers HbA1c, LDL cholesterol and improves vascular stiffness

A 12-week treatment of the fermented soy germ-based nutritional supplement containing S-equol significantly lowered hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), LDL cholesterol and improved vascular stiffness, all factors that occur as part of metabolic syndrome, according to a first-of-its-kind peer-reviewed study reported in a poster at the Women's Health 2012 annual meeting.

19 Mar 2012

FDA approves key testing phase for artificial pancreas

A University of Virginia-developed artificial pancreas that could potentially automate care for millions of Type 1 diabetes patients has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a key testing phase.

19 Mar 2012

Eating salmon benefits pregnant women and their babies

University of Granada researchers have proven that eating two servings of salmon reared at a fish farm (enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and only slightly contaminated) a week during pregnancy is beneficial both for the mother and child.

19 Mar 2012

Gender gap in medication management

There is a wide gender divide when it comes to how men and women are prescribed and adhere to their medications. According to a new study, while women use more prescription drugs than men, they are less likely to be prescribed drugs according to clinical guidelines and are not as good about adhering to the medications they are prescribed.

19 Mar 2012