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Study highlights role of cellular forces in progression of cardiovascular disease

Clogging of pipes leading to the heart is the planet's number one killer. Surgeons can act as medical plumbers to repair some blockages, but we don't fully understand how this living organ deteriorates or repairs itself over time.

27 Apr 2012

Researchers define structure of key part of human obesity receptor

Medical researchers at the University of Sheffield have defined the structure of a key part of the human obesity receptor- an essential factor in the regulation of body fat- which could help provide new treatments for the complications of obesity and anorexia.

27 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 27, 2012

Today's headlines include details of a new study finding that, as a result of the health law, consumers and businesses will receive an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates from insurance companies this year.

27 Apr 2012

Drug-resistant malaria might be spreading in Africa, study suggests

A strain of malaria that is resistant to artemether, the main ingredient in Coartem, a widely used drug to treat the disease, may be spreading in Africa, according to a study published Thursday in Malaria Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

27 Apr 2012

Nature outlook examines fight against malaria in Uganda

Nature Outlook examines the fight against malaria in Uganda. "Uganda's tragic failure to abate malaria has numerous political, geographic, economic and social factors -- and illustrates the reality that it takes more than scientific breakthroughs and cheap drugs to solve this persistent menace," according to the article. Nat

27 Apr 2012

Gas NO plays a fundamental regulatory role in controlling bacterial function

Bacteria provide a well-known playground for scientists and the evolution of these earliest life forms has shed important perspective on potential therapies for some of the most common, deadly diseases. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have now discovered that, the gas nitric oxide (NO), produced in all cells of the human body for natural purposes, plays a fundamental regulatory role in controlling bacterial function, via a signaling mechanism called S-nitrosylation (SNO), which binds NO to protein molecules.

27 Apr 2012

Kras gene triggers metabolic changes that fuel cancer cells

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that advanced pancreatic cancers in mice can't survive without continued expression of a mutant oncogene that "rewires" key metabolic pathways to fuel the cancer cells.

27 Apr 2012

Shutdown looms as committees, lawmakers spar over budget, spending cuts

The House Energy and Commerce Commitee, as well as other House panels, worked yesterday on various spending cuts and policy items with an eye on budget reconciliation. The GOP-led effort, which has very little chance of being taken up by the Senate, will likely lead to "a long summer of political skirmishing."

27 Apr 2012

Study describes structure and function of the stratum corneum

A research team at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has succeeded in describing the structure and function of the outermost layer of the skin - the stratum corneum - at a molecular level. This opens the way not only for the large-scale delivery of drugs via the skin, but also for a deeper understanding of skin diseases.

27 Apr 2012

State roundup: 'Green Houses' in Calif.; 'Accredtive Secret Sauce' gets scrutiny in Minn.

A new idea elbowed its way into the familiar pile of health care legislation in the Senate Committee on Health yesterday. A nursing home model -- the "Green House Project" -- bucks the cold, institutional feel of many long-term care facilities. ... The idea is to have a small facility laid out like a regular home, with living areas such as a dining room and kitchen, as well as a private room and bathroom for each patient.

27 Apr 2012

Combination of Velcade and Fasudil could treat NSCLC

A common cancer drug and a drug used for a rare condition affecting the heart could together treat an aggressive form of lung cancer called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study published in Cell today.

27 Apr 2012

FDA ODAC to review Onyx’s NDA for carfilzomib

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) will review the company's new drug application (NDA) for carfilzomib for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies. ODAC will review carfilzomib at its meeting on June 20, 2012.

27 Apr 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Afinitor to treat renal angiomyolipomas caused by TSC

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Afinitor (everolimus), the first drug approved specifically to treat non-cancerous kidney tumors (renal angiomyolipomas) not requiring immediate surgery in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

27 Apr 2012

UMKC School of Medicine receives $400,000 gift to establish Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Program

The University of Missouri-Kansas City has received a $400,000 gift to establish a pulmonary fibrosis research program at the UMKC School of Medicine. The gift comes from the estate of the late Mary K. Geldmacher, a retired St. Louis school teacher who suffered from pulmonary fibrosis and passed away in 2009. Pulmonary fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs, commonly described as “scarring of the lung.”

26 Apr 2012

Experimental drug for autism works effectively in laboratory mice: Study

A new experimental drug has shown promise in autism symptoms in mice. Researchers from the National Institutes of Mental Health and Pfizer reported Wednesday that an experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice bred to display autism-like behaviors.

26 Apr 2012

International Microbicides Conference 2012 concludes

The conclusion of the 2012 International Microbicides Conference, a gathering of researchers, advocates and funders in the HIV prevention field, wrapped up three days of discussion focused on access to prevention technologies, adherence in clinical trials, innovative financing, dual prevention technologies and new methods of preventing rectal transmission of HIV.

26 Apr 2012

Helpful roles of rank, toxic substances

Usually, we think of mold, feces, nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide and rat poison as rank, toxic or both. But scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health are learning more about the helpful roles these substances can play.

26 Apr 2012

U of A develops new technology that enables personalized medicine

You wouldn't know it from appearances, but a metal cube the size of a toaster, created at the University of Alberta, is capable of performing the same genetic tests as most fully equipped modern laboratories-and in a fraction of the time.

26 Apr 2012

IMPAKT 2012 breast cancer conference to focus on four major areas

"Basic science and clinical medicine move at different pace because they follow different paths. Both however aim at improving strategies to manage cancer patients. We need to efficiently translate the good things from basic science and efficiently implement them in the clinic."

26 Apr 2012

First-ever study to evaluate effects of interaction between metamphetamines and Ibudilast

John W. Tsuang, M.D., principal investigator at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), in conjunction with Steven J. Shoptaw, Ph.D., from the UCLA Department of Family Medicine, is spearheading a Phase I clinical safety trial that for the first time examines the effects of Ibudilast when administered with metamphetamine (MA), an addictive stimulant that is closely related to amphetamine.

26 Apr 2012