Digestion News and Research

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Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be absorbed, for instance, into a blood stream. Digestion is a form of catabolism; a break-down of macro food molecules to smaller ones.

Researchers discover how LRRK2 mutations in familial Parkinson's damage brain cells

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), with collaborators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells.

6 Mar 2013

IFR, PBL to further develop Dynamic Gastric Model

The Dynamic Gastric Model, developed from years of research at the Institute of Food Research, has taken significant steps towards improving its commercial use by food and drug companies worldwide.

26 Feb 2013

Disruption in the body's circadian rhythm can increase risk of diabetes, heart disease

Disruption in the body's circadian rhythm can lead not only to obesity, but can also increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

22 Feb 2013

Parenteral nutrition safety: an interview with Dr. Phil Ayers, A.S.P.E.N PN Safety Task Force Chair and Dr. Peggi Guenter, Director of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.)

Parenteral nutrition is intravenous nutrition for patients who are unable to eat or be tube fed. It is used with more than 300,000 patients per year - a quarter of whom are children and newborns.

11 Feb 2013

Consuming protein blend after exercise can promote muscle protein synthesis

A new study published in The Journal of Nutrition demonstrates the benefits of consuming a protein blend for muscle protein synthesis after exercise. This study is a first-of-its-kind, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and utilizes the proteins from soy, whey and casein consumed after an acute bout of resistance exercise. These proteins have complementary amino acid profiles and different digestion rates (amino acid release profiles).

25 Jan 2013

Scientists compare neuronal network connections in 2 worm species

Researchers in the group of Ralf Sommer at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tuebingen, Germany, have for the first time been able to identify neuronal correlates of behaviour by comparing maps of synaptic connectivity, or "connectomes", between two species with different behaviour.

19 Jan 2013

Protein in human blood platelets points to a new weapon against malaria

One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe.

28 Dec 2012

Mayo Clinic to receive Biomarkers of Gut Function grant

Mayo Clinic announced today that it will receive funding through the Biomarkers of Gut Function and Health program within the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative. This initiative was launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to overcome persistent bottlenecks preventing the creation of new and better health solutions for the developing world. William Faubion, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, will continue to pursue a research project titled "Gut Permeability in Environmental Enteropathy."

21 Dec 2012

Two UT Southwestern researchers to receive 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST) announced that two UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are among the four chosen for the 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Awards.

12 Dec 2012

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center introduces CeliacNow website

It's estimated that one in 100 people in the United States are living with celiac disease, but there are only a handful of celiac centers throughout the country. In response to a growing need for educational materials, clinicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Celiac Center have launched CeliacNow, a nutritional management website designed to maximize the health and wellbeing of people living with celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders.

10 Dec 2012

Study shows how anaplasma phagocytophilum subverts natural processes

Bacteria that cause the tick-borne disease anaplasmosis in humans create their own food supply by hijacking a process in host cells that normally should help kill the pathogenic bugs, scientists have found.

30 Nov 2012

FDA clears Avaxia’s AVX-470 IND for treatment of ulcerative colitis

Avaxia Biologics, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company developing oral antibody drugs that act locally within the digestive tract, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AVX-470 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

27 Nov 2012

Combination of Abraxane and gemcitabine improves survival of patients with pancreatic cancer

A new cancer drug combination demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival of late-stage pancreatic cancer patients compared to those receiving standard treatment, according to results of a Phase III clinical trial led by physicians from Scottsdale Healthcare's Virginia G. Cancer Center Clinical Trials, a partnership with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

17 Nov 2012

Two research groups present data on Pressure BioSciences' PCT Platform at HUPO 2012

Pressure BioSciences, Inc. today announced that scientists from two separate research groups presented data at the recent HUPO 11th Annual World Congress (Boston, MA) indicating that the incorporation of the Company's Pressure Cycling Technology Platform into their sample preparation processes resulted in a marked improvement in the quality and/or efficiency of test results.

3 Nov 2012

Novel therapy that uses human stool is safe and highly effective in treating C.diff infection

A novel therapy that uses donated human stool to treat the deadly and contagious C.diff infection is safe and highly effective, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

20 Oct 2012

Researchers identify molecular emergency brake in charge of regulating self-digestion

Almost everything that happens inside a cell, including autophagy, is tightly regulated on a biochemical level. Like that, the cell makes sure that processes only take place when they are needed and that they are shut off when the need has expired. "Inside the cell, there exists a network of molecules. Between them, information is constantly being exchanged," says Schmitz, head of the research group "Systems-oriented Immunology and Inflammation Research" at HZI, who also holds a chair at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg.

15 Oct 2012

Cardioviva can help fill the gap between diet, exercise and drugs

Over half (52 percent) of supplement users are concerned about their heart health and 73 percent express an interest in natural, clinically proven solutions for cholesterol reduction, according to market research conducted by Micropharma Limited, a pioneer in the development of innovative and effective probiotics.

12 Oct 2012

Self-harming and premature death: an interview with Prof Keith Hawton, University of Oxford Centre for Suicide Research

“Self-harm” is the term used in the UK, much of Europe and elsewhere, to describe intentional self-poisoning or self-injury. Thus it includes overdoses, attempted hanging, self-cutting etc.

2 Oct 2012

Rapamycin can alleviate frontotemporal lobar degeneration

A southern Taiwan-based National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) research team has discovered that rapamycin, a drug as a autophagy activator is a possible treatment to alleviating frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), one of the mainly causes of dementia, and so far no medication can be used.

29 Sep 2012

Friendly bacteria: do we really need to eat probiotic yogurts?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”.

19 Sep 2012