Pharmacology News and Research

Latest Pharmacology News and Research

Central nervous system can sometimes send out signals that invite hostile immune system attacks

It may sound like a case of blame the victim, but researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that cells in the central nervous system can sometimes send out signals that invite hostile immune system attacks.

18 Jun 2006

Sonic hedgehog may help overcome problems associated with FGF2 and VEGF therapy

The newest concept for treating coronary artery disease is to induce hearts to grow their own new blood vessels to bypass damaged tissue or clogged arteries.

18 Jun 2006

Low-dose exposure to arsenic in drinking water increases risk for skin lesions

Mailman School of Public Health study provides evidence that a population exposed to well water with arsenic concentrations of as little as 50 ug/l is at risk for skin lesions.

14 Jun 2006

Prozac saves thousands of lives

A new study should help alleviate any concern over a link between the use of certain antidepressants and suicide.

13 Jun 2006

Protein called Elk-1appears to play role in neurodegeneration and schizophrenia

Pprotein called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, the energy storehouse of a cell, suggesting that this protein - typically active in the nucleus - could play a role in cell death and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia.

9 Jun 2006

Discovery of new defect in artery growth

From the beginning, arteries and veins are different in the way they branch into vascular networks, say Dartmouth heart researchers.

9 Jun 2006

Black women have fewer breast cancers than white women, but their mortality is worse

For decades, researchers have tried to understand why breast cancer in younger black women is such a significant public health problem.

7 Jun 2006

New compound shows unique potency against cancer cell proliferation

By determining how a class of compounds blocks signaling in cells, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have identified what is perhaps the most potent drug candidate yet against a highly lethal kind of brain tumor.

16 May 2006

Access to emergency hormonal contraception from community pharmacists and family planning clinics

Pharmacies who provide fast and convenient access to the morning-after pill could be helping to prevent 10 per cent more unwanted pregnancies, according to a study in the latest British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

16 May 2006

Majority of sexual assaults drug facilitated

Almost 62 percent of sexual assaults were found to be drug facilitated, and almost 5 percent of the victims were given classic 'date-rape' drugs, according to a new study at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

11 May 2006

Advancing nanoparticle-based imaging and therapy of brain cancer

Brain cancer is one of the most difficult malignancies to detect and treat, in large part because of the difficulty in getting imaging and therapeutic agents past the so-called blood-brain barrier and into the brain.

9 May 2006

DARPA grant supports research toward realizing tissue regeneration

While U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are surviving injuries that in previous conflicts likely would have been fatal, the number of wounded with major tissue loss has never before been so high.

3 May 2006

Etanercept and chemo might reduce fatigue in cancer patients

Researchers here have found evidence that combining a drug typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis with chemotherapy might help reduce fatigue and muscle wasting that often afflicts cancer patients.

3 May 2006

Tumour specific drugs may render therapies based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete

The results of a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis could eventually have oncologists removing their specialties from their shingles by making therapy based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete.

28 Apr 2006

Study indicates how drug efficacy can be increased by manipulating the signalling mechanism

Researchers believe they have found a way to change the action of 60 percent of currently available medications, in some cases making them many times more effective, according to an article published in the April 21 edition of the journal Science. The discovery has the potential to improve treatments for diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression and arthritis. The study describes a new way to manipulate perhaps the most important signaling mechanism in human cells: G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).

28 Apr 2006

Research into toxins points to development of better medicines

Researchers have combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy with special protein synthesis procedures to uncover how potassium channels and toxins combine and change in structure. This work could make it possible to develop medications for high blood pressure and many other diseases connected to potassium channel failure .

23 Apr 2006

Antibiotics for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often experience short term worsening and aggravation of their symptoms.

18 Apr 2006

First gene therapy human trial in the United States for a form of muscular dystrophy under way

The clinical trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tests the safety and effectiveness of a therapy that was developed over two decades by scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh.

16 Apr 2006