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Pre-eclampsia kidney disease link

Pre-eclampsia is a complication in pregnancy occurring in approximately eight percent of all pregnancies. It is characterised by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. It generally develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

7 Mar 2006

Potential new treatment for Huntington and Parkinson patients

A potential new treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, which seems to be able to reduce the toxic protein aggregates characteristic of many of these diseases, is published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

7 Mar 2006

Validation of cardiovascular risk scores in a liver transplant population

Two methods of assessing a patient's risk of cardiovascular events - SCORE and PROCAM - proved more valuable for liver transplant recipients than an alternative method, according to a new study.

7 Mar 2006

Study looks at how two forms of vitamin E affect the health of animal cells

One of the most powerful antioxidants is truly a double-edged sword, say researchers at Ohio State University who studied how two forms of vitamin E act once they are inside animal cells.

7 Mar 2006

Chocolate milk could be key to longer life

The popular saying goes that 70 is the new 60 and 60 is the new 50, unfortunately for much of New Zealand's ageing population declining muscle function means it simply isn't true.

7 Mar 2006

Johns Hopkins scientists identify protein fragment which may lead to a simple test for multiple sclerosis

Johns Hopkins scientists report the discovery of a protein found only in cerebrospinal fluid that they say might be useful in identifying a subgroup of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or identifying those at risk for the debilitating autoimmune disorder.

7 Mar 2006

Mutant genes trigger AMD but may lighten the way to new treatments

According to new research in the U.S., the most common form of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), can be attributed to just two genes which trigger the condition.

7 Mar 2006

Interferon-producing killer dendritic cell speeds up immune reactions and fights cancer

A mouse immune cell that plays dual roles as both assassin and messenger, normally the job of two separate cells, has been discovered by an international team of researchers from the United States and France.

7 Mar 2006

A regulatory role for the C5a anaphylatoxin in type 2 immunity in asthma

Asthma rates are rapidly increasing, particularly in children. Although asthma is mediated in part by activation of special immune cells called Th2 cells, the precise causes are unclear.

7 Mar 2006

Factor B and H genes found to play role in the development of age-related macular degeneration

A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, pinpoints the role that two genes - Factor H and Factor B - play in the development of nearly three out of four cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a devastating eye disease that affects more than 10 million people in the United States.

7 Mar 2006

Genetic background to ravages of obesity

Why do some overweight people stay healthy (apart from possible musculo-skeletal disorders) while obesity in other individuals leads to complications like diabetes and cardiovascular disease?

6 Mar 2006

New test from Biomarker Technologies assists in early detection for Breast Cancer

Phoenix-based Biomarker Technologies announced the launch of a clinical study for its revolutionary blood test that detects breast cancer. Previous clinical studies have shown the test to significantly exceed the accuracy of mammograms.

6 Mar 2006

C-reactive protein helps identify progressive precancerous lesions in the lung

C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker for inflammation in the blood, can help to identify individuals whose abnormal precancerous lesions will advance closer to invasive lung cancer.

1 Mar 2006

Bone marrow stem cells do not improve cardiac function in heart attack patients

There has been increasing evidence that stem cells contribute to regeneration of cardiac tissue and the development of new blood vessels following a heart attack, thus opening up new prospects for stem-cell based therapies.

1 Mar 2006

Ancient DNA helps unearth potential hemophilia therapy

A cut can be life-threatening for people with hemophilia, whose bodies don't produce enough of a protein that prevents prolonged bleeding.

1 Mar 2006

Night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease

"This is a new observation, a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease," said Levin, head of the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Levin and colleagues report their findings in the March 2006, issue of the FASEB Journal.

1 Mar 2006

Analysis of protein interactions dispels old notions of what's important about them

Discoveries made during the first large-scale analysis of interactions between proteins in our cells hold promise for identifying new genes involved in genetic diseases, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins and the Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB) in Bangalore.

27 Feb 2006

Ginkgo biloba reduces aggressive cancer risk in animal experiments

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say they now have a clearer picture of how an extract from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree reduces the risk of aggressive cancer in animal experiments.

27 Feb 2006

Why people of African descent are more vulnerable to tuberculosis infection

A team of scientists has identified a cellular mechanism that may help explain the puzzle of why people of African descent are more susceptible to tuberculosis infection and why, once infected, they develop more severe states of the disease than whites.

27 Feb 2006

New generation gold-based drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis

Gold compounds have been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases for more than 75 years, but until now, how the metals work has been a mystery.

27 Feb 2006