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Plant flavonoid luteolin reduces inflammatory response in the brain

Researchers at the University of Illinois report this week that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain. The findings have implications for research on aging and diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

20 May 2008

NIAID to advance B-cell approach to HIV vaccines

To advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is launching a new program to foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV.

20 May 2008

Chip-based device measures drug resistance in tumor cells

Multiple drug resistance is a major cause of anticancer therapy failure. Most drug-resistance cancer cells develop this unfortunate characteristic due to a drug-pumping protein known as P-glycoprotein.

20 May 2008

Gene mutations in mice mimic human-like sleep disorder

Mutations in two genes that control electrical excitability in a portion of the brain involved in sleep create a human-like insomnia disorder in mice, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found. The findings may help scientists better understand the disorder and provide an animal model for developing treatments.

20 May 2008

Counting immune cells on a 'protein printboard'

In order to monitor how far an HIV infection has progressed, the number of immune cells - lymphocytes - must be counted. Researchers at the University of Twente have developed a method that neatly arranges the antibodies that bind to these immune cells on a 'molecular printboard'. The researchers are publishing this key step in the road towards antibody-based sensors in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

20 May 2008

Blood-free monitoring as good as blood tests in predicting the course of AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that monitoring treatment adherence to AIDS therapy is a simple blood-free way to monitor risk of disease progression. The international study was published in the May issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

20 May 2008

Monitoring whether patients take medicines can help anticipate HIV treatment failure in Africa

Information on how reliably people take their anti-HIV medicines can help identify those whose treatment will succeed or fail. Monitoring this information, which can be obtained directly from pharmacy records, works at least as well as performing blood tests that track the medicine's effect on the immune system, according to research published in PLoS Medicine by Gregory Bisson, Jean Nachega and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the University of Cape Town.

20 May 2008

Structure of receptor for hot chili pepper and pain revealed

You can now not only feel the spicy kick of a jalapeno pepper, you can also see it in full 3D, thanks to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

19 May 2008

Abnormal "editing" of gene messages may cause Lupus

Researchers at Wake Forest University have uncovered evidence that the abnormal "editing" of gene messages in a type of white blood cell may be behind the development of lupus. Scientists hope the finding will lead to earlier diagnosis, a way to monitor patients' response to therapy and possibly a new way to treat the disease.

19 May 2008

Minocycline may find new life as a stroke treatment

An old intravenous antibiotic may have new life as a stroke treatment, researchers say. Minocycline appears to reduce stroke damage in multiple ways - inhibiting white blood cells and enzymes that, at least acutely, can destroy brain tissue and blood vessels, respectively, says Dr. David Hess, chair of the Department of Neurology in the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.

19 May 2008

Radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment for dysplasia in people with Barrett's esophagus

Interim results from a nationwide clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher suggest that radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment for dysplasia in people with Barrett's esophagus, a condition that can lead to deadly gastrointestinal cancer.

19 May 2008

Mapping of prostate cancer genes opens the door to new treatments

Genetic changes during the initiation and progression of prostate cancer have eluded scientists to date. Now for the first time researchers have identified a specific gene expression profile of prostate cancer stem cells, with important implications for future treatments.

19 May 2008

An improved gene therapy agent from University of Florida

Replacing one amino acid on the surface of a virus that shepherds corrective genes into cells could be the breakthrough scientists have needed to make gene therapy a more viable option for treating genetic diseases such as hemophilia, University of Florida researchers say.

19 May 2008

Reliable genetic tests could predict lung cancer recurrence

The goal of developing reliable genetic tests to guide lung cancer treatment has taken a step forward. Researchers at Columbia University recently evaluated the ability of five high-risk genetic profiles, or signatures, to predict the likelihood that cancer would recur in patients whose non-small cell lung cancer was caught early and surgically removed.

19 May 2008

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals to present data on Ortataxel in breast cancer at major oncology meeting

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., will present Phase 2 data on ortataxel at the 44th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting being held May 30 to June 3, 2008 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois.

19 May 2008

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

The New York Times on Wednesday examined how as "medical advances have allowed patients who might have died as children to survive into adulthood, the patients are falling into a void in a health care system that has yet to develop institutions for the young and 'medically fragile.'"

19 May 2008

Nasal gel to fight superbug MRSA

British scientists are well on the way to developing a new drug to fight the 'superbug' Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

19 May 2008

Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca announce innovative deal for promising anti-cancer compound

Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology (CRT) - the charity's development and commercialisation arm - today announced an innovative new arrangement to progress into clinical development a potential anti-cancer compound from AstraZeneca.

19 May 2008

Researchers discover 'reservoir' that allows HIV to remain infectious despite treatment

Researchers at Brigham Young University and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered a human cell "reservoir," called follicular dendritic cells, that allows HIV to stay in an infectious state and not respond to antiretroviral drugs, the Deseret Morning News reports.

19 May 2008

deCODE discovers novel genetic links between pigmentation traits and risk of skin cancer

In two papers published today, deCODE scientists and academic colleagues from Europe and the U.S. expand upon the company's recent findings in the genetics of pigmentation traits in people of European descent, and demonstrate that certain of these common variants also confer risk of two types of skin cancer.

19 May 2008