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Repligen anticipates 30% increase in total revenues for 2011

Repligen Corporation today announced preliminary financial results for fiscal year 2011 which ended March 31, 2011. Total revenue for the year is expected to be $27.3 million compared to $21.0 million in the prior fiscal year, an increase of 30%.

21 Apr 2011

Scientists discover 'small molecule' substance that blocks cholesterol formation in the brain

A needle-in-the-haystack search through nearly 390,000 chemical compounds had led scientists to a substance that can sneak through the protective barrier surrounding the brain with effects promising for new drugs for Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. They report on the substance, which blocks formation of cholesterol in the brain, in the journal, ACS Chemical Biology.

21 Apr 2011

Blocking abnormal movement of mutated human FUS gene also blocks ALS process

In the first animal model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), developed by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Pandey's lab has found in fruit flies that blocking the abnormal movement of a protein made by a mutated gene called FUS also blocks the disease process.

20 Apr 2011

Hypothalamus plays a key role in obesity and type 2 diabetes

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20 Apr 2011

Rituxan receives FDA approval for treating two rare diseases

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Rituxan (rituximab), in combination with glucocorticoids (steroids), to treat patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), two rare disorders that cause blood vessel inflammation (vasculitis).

20 Apr 2011

Combination therapy restores skilled use of limb in rodent model

After the acute treatment window closes, the only effective treatment for stroke is physical/occupational therapy. Now scientists from Children's Hospital Boston report a two-pronged molecular therapy that leads to significant recovery of skilled motor function in a rat model of stroke.

20 Apr 2011

How peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome

University of Adelaide researchers have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

20 Apr 2011

First hand transplant in western United States

Ms Emily Fennell, a 26-year-old California woman became the first person in the western United States to receive a hand transplant.

19 Apr 2011

Effects of obesity on the brain: first evidence of sex-related differences

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19 Apr 2011

Gene mutation in Tibetian Terrier dogs causes hereditary form of Parkinson's disease in humans

University of Missouri researchers believe both man and animal will benefit from their discovery that the same gene mutation found in Tibetan Terrier dogs can also be found in a fatal human neurological disorder related to Parkinson's disease.

19 Apr 2011

National Institute on Aging/Alzheimer's Association update new dementia guidelines

For the first time in 27 years, clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease dementia have been revised, and research guidelines for earlier stages of the disease have been characterized to reflect a deeper understanding of the disorder.

19 Apr 2011

New study finds treatment-resistant epilepsy common in idiopathic autism

A new study found that treatment-resistant epilepsy (TRE) is common in idiopathic autism. Early age at the onset of seizures and delayed global development were associated with a higher frequency of resistance to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Full findings appear online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

19 Apr 2011

Nerve disorder expert Jack Griffin passes away

Jack Griffin, an internationally acclaimed and admired expert on diseases of the peripheral nervous system, founding director of the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute, and former director of Hopkins School of Medicine's Department of Neurology, died Saturday, April 16, after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 69.

18 Apr 2011

Intellectual disability may have genetic origin, but is not hereditary

Mutations in a group of genes associated with brain activity frequently cause intellectual disability, according to a study led by scientists affiliated with the University of Montreal and the research centre at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine. Intellectual disability is a severe handicap that affects between one and two percent of children worldwide. It can often be attributed to genetic causes, but the specific genes involved were mostly unknown.

18 Apr 2011

Proteins could lead to new therapeutic target for NF2: Wistar Institute researchers

The proteins that provide cells with a sense of personal space could lead to a therapeutic target for Neurofibromatosis Type 2, an inherited cancer disorder, according to researchers at The Wistar Institute. Their findings, which appear in the April 12 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, could have profound implications for NF2 and related cancers, such as mesothelioma.

16 Apr 2011

Study: CCSVI may result from multiple sclerosis progression

A just released study on the relationship between multiple sclerosis and chronic cerebral venous insufficiency, a narrowing of the extracranial veins that restricts the normal outflow of blood from the brain, found that CCSVI may be a result of MS, not a cause.

15 Apr 2011

Cytonet initiates clinical trial using liver cell infusion to treat urea cycle disorders in children

International biotechnology firm Cytonet recently launched the first ever clinical trial in the United States using an investigational liver cell infusion to treat urea cycle disorders (UCD) in children. The first patient in the Phase II trial, which will seek to enroll 20 patients in 12 medical centers, is a child with citrullinemia, which is a hereditary UCD. He received six liver cell infusions on six consecutive days at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

15 Apr 2011