Metabolism News and Research

Latest Metabolism News and Research

Selcia's radiochemistry facility granted GMP certificate

Selcia Limited, a leading independent provider of Carbon-14 (C-14) radiolabelling services, is pleased to announce that its radiochemistry facility has been granted a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate for the preparationand C-14 labellingofActive Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)for clinical trials following a successful inspection by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

7 Dec 2010

Study: Mixing exenatide with insulin provides better blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes patients

A new study finds that combining the newer diabetes drug exenatide with insulin provides better blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes than insulin alone and helps promote weight loss.

7 Dec 2010

Roche introduces X-tremeGENE 9, X-tremeGENE HP reagents

Roche announced today the introduction of two new high-performance DNA transfection reagents for its innovative cellular analysis portfolio for life science research.

7 Dec 2010

Ketogenic diet may benefit patients with myoclonic-astatic epilepsy

Many children with certain forms of epilepsy achieve seizure control through a stringent medically supervised diet, either the ketogenic diet (KD) or a Modified Atkins Diet (MAD). When to use these diets and the mechanisms underlying their anticonvulsant effect are not well defined. Research presented here at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting provides new insight into when and how these diets work.

6 Dec 2010

Prostate cancer imaging shows real-time tumor metabolism

A UCSF research collaboration with GE Healthcare has produced the first results in humans of a new technology that promises to rapidly assess the presence and aggressiveness of prostate tumors in real time, by imaging the tumor's metabolism.

3 Dec 2010

Spherix announces results of D-tagatose Phase 3 trial for Type 2 diabetes

Spherix Incorporated, an innovator in biotechnology for therapy in diabetes, metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis; and providers of technical and regulatory consulting services to food, supplement, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, today announced results from its first Phase 3 trial post hoc analysis in which the higher body mass index (BMI) of the U.S. population relative to the Indian population was a likely key contributor to the more positive effects of D-tagatose in the lowering of HbA1c levels in the U.S. population. Initial results were announced on October 7.

2 Dec 2010

New clue in leukemia mystery

There is new hope for people with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Research led by Weill Cornell Medical College and published today in the online edition of the journal Cancer Cell reveals a surprising and unexpected cancer-causing mechanism. The investigators discovered that newly identified mutant enzymes in AML create a chemical poison to cause leukemia. Their findings should prove useful in treating patients by providing a molecular target against which to develop new drugs against one subset of AML as well as other cancers.

2 Dec 2010

Advinus collaborates with Corning to bring Epic technology to India

Advinus Therapeutics, the research-based pharmaceutical company promoted by the TATA Group, and Corning Incorporated today announced a collaboration to bring Corning Epic label-free detection technology to India.

2 Dec 2010

Longer life spans closer to reality

If you think life's too short, then you're not alone. A team of scientists from Texas set out to find what it would take to live a very long life and they made important discoveries that bring longer life spans much closer to reality. A new research report featured on the cover of The FASEB Journal, describes how scientists "activated" life extension in the worm, C. elegans, and in the process discovered a new metabolic state correlating with long life.

2 Dec 2010

Beta-carotene from food sources is insufficient in substantial part of population

The intake of preformed vitamin A from animal products is not sufficient in parts of the population in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The vitamin A precursor beta-carotene therefore has an important function in providing for an adequate supply of total vitamin A, international carotenoid experts state in a recently published consensus answer.

2 Dec 2010

Lipids react and change to bacterial stimulus, trigger cell's immune response

For the first time, scientists have described not only the identities and quantities of fat species in a living mammalian cell in this case, a mouse macrophage or white blood cell but they also report how these lipids react and change over time to a bacterial stimulus triggering the cell's immune response.

2 Dec 2010

Research may lead to new treatment strategies for Graves' disease

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified a compound that prevents overproduction of thyroid hormone, a finding that brings scientists one step closer to improving treatment for Graves' disease.

2 Dec 2010

Study identifies new genes responsible for early menarche

University of Minnesota School of Public Health researcher Ellen Demerath, Ph.D., is among an international group of researchers that has identified 30 new genes responsible for determining the age of sexual maturation in women. Many of these genes are also known to influence body fatness, obesity, and energy metabolism. Prior to the multi-institutional study, only four genes had been identified as contributing to the process.

1 Dec 2010

Penicillamine challenge ineffective for detecting Wilson's disease in asymptomatic children

An Italian research team confirmed that the scoring system for Wilson's disease (WD) provides good diagnostic accuracy with 93% positive and 92% negative predictive values, respectively in children with mild liver disease. In asymptomatic children, a urinary copper excretion above 40 μg/24 hours was suggestive of WD, however the penicillamine challenge test (PCT) did not provide an accurate diagnosis in this patient subset.

1 Dec 2010

New findings on folic acid supplementation reveal causes of low birth weight

Groundbreaking work by a team of UK scientists has identified, for the first time, a link between changes in the DNA of newborn babies, folic acid supplementation during pregnancy, and birth weight.

1 Dec 2010

Diabetes plays a vital role in regulating brain cholesterol: Research

The brain contains more cholesterol than any other organ in the body, has to produce its own cholesterol and won't function normally if it doesn't churn out enough. Defects in cholesterol metabolism have been linked with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that diabetes can affect how much cholesterol the brain can make.

1 Dec 2010

Fourteen research projects on population health intervention receive $2.8 million

Fourteen research projects on population health intervention research received $2.8 million in funding. The Vice-President of Research at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dr. Pierre Chartrand today announced these initiatives during the Population Health Intervention Research Symposium in Toronto.

1 Dec 2010

Research could lead to new drug treatment for metabolic diseases

A team of Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) scientists report finding a molecular "switch" that can "turn off" some cellular processes that are protective against aging and metabolic diseases. While more research is needed, the findings may open doors for new drug treatments to halt or slow development of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart disease. The research findings appear in the December 1, 2010 issue of Cell Metabolism.

1 Dec 2010

Vitamin D supplementation may reduce risk of diabetes, heart disease: Research

Researchers from the UC Davis Health System have found that compared with healthy controls, blood levels of vitamin D are significantly reduced in patients in the Sacramento area with metabolic syndrome, a constellation of disease risk factors that affects about one in three U.S. adults and predisposes them to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

1 Dec 2010

Angptl4 protein deficiency could promote inflammatory response in people who consume high saturated fat

A new report in the December Cell Metabolism identifies a protein without which diets high in saturated fat lead to a massive inflammatory response that can prove fatal. The studies in mice suggest that deficiencies in this protective pathway could promote inflammation in those who regularly consume high levels of saturated fat.

1 Dec 2010