Pharmacology News and Research

Latest Pharmacology News and Research

Inappropriate medication use linked to increased hospitalization risk in elderly people

Potentially inappropriate medication use was linked with a 16% increased risk of hospitalization in a population-based study of elderly individuals.

27 Jul 2017

Stem cells in the brain found to regulate aging

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that stem cells in the brain's hypothalamus govern how fast aging occurs in the body.

26 Jul 2017

Researchers discover potential chemical 'silver bullet' to reduce risk of colon cancer

In preclinical experiments, researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have uncovered a new way in which colon cancer develops, as well as a potential "silver bullet" for preventing and treating it.

26 Jul 2017

Combination therapy shows efficacy, safety in treating metastatic renal cell cancer

A new cooperative research study including Norris Cotton Cancer Center's Lionel Lewis, MB BCh, MD, finds that nivolumab plus ipilimumab therapy demonstrated manageable safety, notable antitumor activity, and durable responses with promising long term overall survival in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC).

26 Jul 2017

New compound takes positive step toward creating drug for melanoma

While past attempts to treat melanoma failed to meet expectations, an international team of researchers are hopeful that a compound they tested on both mice and on human cells in a petri dish takes a positive step toward creating a drug that can kill melanoma cancer cells without harming nearby healthy cells.

26 Jul 2017

Alzheimer’s drug may be promising treatment for traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and death globally, but medications have generally failed to benefit patients. A new study found that memantine, a drug that is used to treat dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease, may be a promising therapy.

21 Jul 2017

Engineered macrophages invade and engulf tumor cells in mouse models

One reason cancer is so difficult to treat is that it avoids detection by the body. Agents of the immune system are constantly checking the surfaces of cells for chemical signals that say they belong, but cancer cells express the same chemical signals as healthy ones.

19 Jul 2017

Two cell types partner to protect pancreatic tumors from immune attack

Two cell types work together to protect pancreatic tumors from destruction by the immune system. But, blocking this partnership may restore the system's ability to attack these same tumor cells.

19 Jul 2017

Scientists manage to permeate living cells with small antibodies

Scientists at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology have managed to introduce tiny antibodies into living cells. The researchers now report on the synthesis and applications for these nanobodies in "Nature Chemistry".

19 Jul 2017

Study finds inappropriate prescription of antiplatelet drugs in older patients

A study has found that antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin, are often inappropriately prescribed in acutely hospitalized older people.

19 Jul 2017

New study finds link between certain antibiotics during pregnancy and risk for birth defects

A new study has found links between certain antibiotics during pregnancy and major congenital malformations in newborns.

19 Jul 2017

New report proposes strategy to evaluate low-dose toxicity of endocrine disruptors

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine proposes a strategy that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should use to evaluate the evidence of adverse human health effects from low doses of exposure to chemicals that can disrupt the endocrine system.

18 Jul 2017

Developing software for cell and gene therapy supply chain tracking

The first thing is, to always remember that we're dealing with a living drug, cells, which are very sensitive to environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity etc. All of those things can impact on the viability of the drug and its effectiveness.

18 Jul 2017

Dietary shift from high-fat foods to low-fat diet causes withdrawal-like symptoms in mice

Researchers have found that mice fed a palatable high-fat diet experience stress responses that resemble drug withdrawal when their food is switched to a low-fat diet.

18 Jul 2017

Scientists find simple way to raise accuracy of diagnostic tests and common assays

Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered a simple way to raise the accuracy of diagnostic tests for medicine and common assays for laboratory research.

18 Jul 2017

LSTM awarded £11 million by NIHR to establish new research unit and groups

LSTM has been awarded £11 million by the National Institute for Health Research as part of their latest UK-wide call for funding into Global Health Research Units.

14 Jul 2017

Women and men with bipolar disorder may have different immune markers

Men and women react differently to compounds associated with immune system response to bipolar disorder, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

11 Jul 2017

UMMS scientists design human protein-based tumor-targeting MRI contrast agent

A team led by Gang Han, PhD, has designed a human protein-based, tumor-targeting Magnetic Resonance Imaging contrast that can be easily cleared by the body.

10 Jul 2017

New study looks at how old drugs can be repurposed to treat infectious diseases

A new article looks at how currently available drugs for various conditions might be repurposed alone or in combination with other drugs to treat infectious diseases.

7 Jul 2017

New single probe method provides PCR-free detection of microRNA linked to liver toxicity

Quanterix Corporation, a company digitizing biomarker analysis with the goal of advancing the science of precision health, and DestiNA Genomics Ltd, a manufacturer of patented reagents for nucleic acid detection, today announced that PLOS ONE has published a proof-of-concept single probe method for detecting microRNA biomarkers associated with liver toxicity.

6 Jul 2017