Animal Model News and Research

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New hereditary spastic paraplegia research

In work reported this week, researchers have taken our understanding of HSP to a new level with the development of an animal model for the disease.

13 Jul 2004

By altering a single gene you could live longer and be thinner

Imagine that by altering the function of a single gene, you could live longer, be thinner and have lower cholesterol and fat levels in your blood.

30 Jun 2004

U-M scientists say Wnt protein prevents obesity by inhibiting fat cell development

Genetically engineered mice, created at the University of Michigan Medical School, are living every dieter's dream.

29 Jun 2004

Animal vaccine shows potential for the development of human SARS immunisation

The current issue of the LANCET provides evidence for the effectiveness of experimental SARS immunisation in animal studies. The preliminary results show the potential for the development of human SARS immunisation.

24 Jun 2004

Anabolic steroids may improve surgical repair of shoulder tears

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates that treatment with anabolic steroids may improve surgical repair of massive or recurrent tears of the shoulder's rotator cuff tendons.

24 Jun 2004

Zebrafish research may help determine what causes certain birth defects

Description of dozens of mutations that will help determine the earliest steps in vertebrate development, which take the spherical embryo to a complex creature

24 Jun 2004

Key signal in mice that tells stem cells to commit to becoming fat cells

The Hopkins team discovered that adding a single protein, dubbed BMP4, induced mouse stem cells to become fat cells. A very similar signal is likely to be involved in humans, too, say the scientists.

21 Jun 2004

Drug for multiple sclerosis prevented disease development when tested on animal models

Scientists from the Neurological Sciences Institute at Oregon Health & Science University have shown that an investigative drug for multiple sclerosis and related diseases prevented disease development when tested on animal models.

20 Jun 2004

Postnatal exposure to a mercury preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines can lead to the development of autism-like damage

A new study published online June 8 in the Nature publication, Molecular Psychiatry, indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible mice

11 Jun 2004

Drug commonly used for diabetes might be effective in treating multiple sclerosis

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are launching a clinical trial to determine whether a drug commonly used for diabetes might be effective in treating multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects 350,000 Americans.

10 Jun 2004

Research may help treat muscular dystrophies and other muscle diseases caused by glycosylation defects

Expressing high levels of a sugar-adding protein known as LARGE in mice that lack the protein can prevent muscular dystrophy in these animals, according to studies by researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

7 Jun 2004

Vitamin C can increase the severity of spontaneous knee osteoarthritis

High doses of vitamin C increase the severity of spontaneous knee osteoarthritis in an animal model of the disease, according to a new study by Duke University Medical Center researchers.

5 Jun 2004

Adrenaline packs a powerful punch in the use of antidepressants

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that norepinephrine (adrenaline) plays an important role in animals in determining behavioral effects in some of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, regardless of which biochemical pathway the drug uses to alleviate symptoms of depression.

3 Jun 2004

Stent methodologies for treating occluded arteries

Branch points in the arteries are a common area of atherosclerotic disease, resulting in the occlusion of both branches. These branch points can generally be defined as a main branch and a side branch, and, in treating the disease, the question of what is the optimal course of action, opening the main branch, the side branch, or both, remains uncertain.

2 Jun 2004

A new guideline evaluates the treatment of infantile spasms

A new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society evaluates the treatment of infantile spasms. The guideline is published in the May 25 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 May 2004

Combination therapy may be useful in humans with spinal cord injury

A combination therapy using transplanted cells plus two experimental drugs significantly improves function in paralyzed rats, a new study shows. The results suggest that a similar therapy may be useful in humans with spinal cord injury.

23 May 2004

New study of tumor genetics may help to treat patients with head and neck cancer

Head and neck tumors account for more than 40,000 new cancers annually in the United States. The most common of these is squamous cell carcinoma. Prognosis is based largely on location and size of the tumor, and if the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to lymph nodes and distant sites in the body.

19 May 2004

Genetically engineered viruses may create new class of cancer therapies

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

15 May 2004

Embryonic stem cells may hold the key to regenerating damaged heart muscle

Embryonic stem cells may hold the key to regenerating damaged heart muscle, when transplanted within a 3-dimensional scaffold into the infracted heart, according to a new study coming out in June in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

14 May 2004

Time bomb in heart leads to heart failure in some congenital heart disease patients

However, surgical correction of certain forms of congenital heart disease may not fix the underlying molecular trigger that drives progressive heart failure and sudden death later in life, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

29 Apr 2004