Pharmacology News and Research

Latest Pharmacology News and Research

Study: Many HIV infected African-Americans may not be receiving effective doses of maraviroc drug

Many African-Americans may not be getting effective doses of the HIV drug maraviroc, a new study from Johns Hopkins suggests. The initial dosing studies, completed before the drug was licensed in 2007, included mostly European-Americans, who generally lack a protein that is key to removing maraviroc from the body.

28 Aug 2014

Authors emphasize benefits of calcium and vitamin D supplements on bone health

Calcium and vitamin D are essential to keeping bones strong, dense and healthy as we age, as well as preventing bone loss, osteporosis, and skeletal fractures.

26 Aug 2014

UT Southwestern researchers discover crucial link between high insulin levels and obesity pathways

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a crucial link between high levels of insulin and pathways that lead to obesity, a finding that may have important implications when treating diabetes.

26 Aug 2014

New mouse model to open door to research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's

University of Utah scientists have developed a genetically engineered line of mice that is expected to open the door to new research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

22 Aug 2014

Understanding neuron development: an interview with Dr. Brock Grill, The Scripps Research Institute

There’s a big difference between understanding coordination and actually building connectivity. In terms of building connectivity, several molecules have been identified that control this process and a lot has been learned from both genetic and biochemical research in a variety of different systems, particularly studies in the nematode C. elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila and mice.

22 Aug 2014

Children and adolescents with autism have surplus of synapses in brain

Children and adolescents with autism have a surplus of synapses in the brain, and this excess is due to a slowdown in a normal brain "pruning" process during development, according to a study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

22 Aug 2014

Scientists discover predictive marker to classify breast cancer patients for effective treatment

Scientists have made it easier to predict both breast cancer relapses and responses to chemotherapy, through the identification of a unique gene. The newly found marker could help doctors classify each breast cancer patient and customise a treatment regimen that is more effective.

21 Aug 2014

VCU receives federal grant totaling $6.9 million to study genetics of alcohol abuse

Virginia Commonwealth University has received a federal grant totaling $6.9 million to study the genetics of alcohol abuse and alcoholism - work that may lead to further advances in its treatment, control and prevention.

20 Aug 2014

Researchers shed light on the dual action of aspirin

Hugely popular non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs like aspirin, naproxen (marketed as Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) all work by inhibiting or killing an enzyme called cyclooxygenase - a key catalyst in production of hormone-like lipid compounds called prostaglandins that are linked to a variety of ailments, from headaches and arthritis to menstrual cramps and wound sepsis.

19 Aug 2014

Research findings call for clinical testing of relevant drugs to prevent NASH

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common affliction, affecting almost 30 percent of Americans, with a significant number suffering from its most severe form, called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. In recent years, NASH has become the leading cause of liver transplantation.

19 Aug 2014

Research findings may lead to novel target for chemoresistant cancer cells

Dartmouth cancer researchers at Norris Cotton Cancer Center found a means of causing the elimination of a protein that maintains cancer cell viability; the results of the study appear in the August 8 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

17 Aug 2014

Hippo pathway identifies and prevents progression of abnormal cells into cancer

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine report that a tumor suppressor pathway, called the Hippo pathway, is responsible for sensing abnormal chromosome numbers in cells and triggering cell cycle arrest, thus preventing progression into cancer.

16 Aug 2014

Vitamin D deficiency linked to higher surgical risk

Patients with low blood levels of vitamin D are at increased risk of death and serious complications after noncardiac surgery, suggests a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.

16 Aug 2014

Finding suggests that aspirin could play role in reducing breast cancer mortality

Researchers have discovered that women who had been prescribed aspirin regularly before being diagnosed with breast cancer are less likely to have cancer that spread to the lymph-nodes than women who were not on prescription aspirin. These women are also less likely to die from their breast cancer.

15 Aug 2014

Clinical trial tests COXEN model in bladder cancer to find promising treatment

Imagine being able to match a cancer's genes to the best treatment. That's the promise of COXEN (CO eXpression ExtrapolatioN) - a computer program that looks at a panel of cancer genes in a patient's tumor to predict whether it will respond to chemotherapy.

14 Aug 2014

Researchers identify mechanism used by deadly MERS virus to transmit from bats to humans

Researchers have identified the mechanism used by the deadly MERS virus to transmit from bats to humans. Bats are a native reservoir for MERS and the finding could be critical for understanding the animal origins of the virus, as well as preventing and controlling the spread of MERS and related viruses in humans.

13 Aug 2014