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Lonafarnib proves effective for children with progeria

Results of the first-ever clinical drug trial for children with Progeria, a rare, fatal "rapid-aging" disease, demonstrate the efficacy of a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), a drug originally developed to treat cancer. The clinical trial results, completed only six years after scientists identified the cause of Progeria, included significant improvements in weight gain, bone structure and, most importantly, the cardiovascular system, according to The Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) and Boston Children's Hospital.

25 Sep 2012

Age at onset influences juvenile dermatomyositis course

Children diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis at age 3 years or earlier have milder symptoms than patients with later onset, research suggests.

24 Sep 2012

Free bus pass increases physical activity in elderly

UK adults aged 60 years and over who take advantage of the 2002 introduction of a free bus pass undertake significantly more active travel than their peers who do not have a pass, indicate study results.

24 Sep 2012

Study to examine SYMPLICITY renal denervation system for treatment-resistant hypertension

The University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center will participate in a national clinical trial to treat the most challenging form of high blood pressure.

24 Sep 2012

Free bus passes for over-60’s could encourage physical activity

Free bus passes for over-60s may be encouraging older people to be more physically active, say the authors of a study published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

21 Sep 2012

New mouse models can help scientists study MCT8 deficiency

New mouse models can help scientists study MCT8 deficiency, an inherited genetic disorder affecting children, according to new data presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in Québec City, Québec, Canada.

21 Sep 2012

Glucocorticoids can thwart androgen receptor activity and regulate fat storage

In the body's ongoing effort to maintain a healthy weight, an arsenal of cellular proteins called androgen receptors is critical for blocking fat accumulation. Now researchers reporting in the September issue of the Cell Press Journal Chemistry & Biology have discovered that naturally occurring steroids called glucocorticoids can thwart the receptors' activity, ultimately encouraging fat buildup.

21 Sep 2012

Thyroid journal publishes new ATA guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) today announced that new clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism are published in the current issue of Thyroid.

21 Sep 2012

ChromaDex announces findings from pTeroPure Phase 2/3 trial on high blood pressure

ChromaDex Corporation announced today findings from a Phase 2/3 trial at the University of Mississippi Medical Center showing its patented nutritional ingredient pTeroPure (pterostilbene) significantly reduced blood pressure in adults.

21 Sep 2012

Iron transport may contribute to diabetes

Scientists have been trying to explain the causes of diabetes for many years. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Novo Nordisk A/S have now shown that the increased activity of one particular iron-transport protein destroys insulin-producing beta cells. In addition, the new research shows that mice without this iron transporter are protected against developing diabetes.

21 Sep 2012

Researchers develop cranial neural crest cell lines

Researchers have successfully developed a stable population of neural crest cells derived from mice that can be grown in large quantities in the laboratory and that demonstrates the potential to develop into many different cell types needed throughout the body.

21 Sep 2012

Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics' 2012 symposium be held from Oct. 16-17

The Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics' 7th Annual International Symposium (ITMAT) will be held October 16 and 17 at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

20 Sep 2012

Diet, lack of AgRP-neurons can lead to obesity and diabetes

The absence of a specific type of neuron in the brain can lead to obesity and diabetes in mice report researchers in The EMBO Journal. The outcome, however, depends on the type of diet that the animals are fed.

19 Sep 2012

Positive data from Nektar’s NKTR-192 Phase 1a study on acute pain

Nektar Therapeutics announced today that positive data from the first single-ascending dose Phase 1a clinical study of NKTR-192, the company's novel short-acting mu-opioid analgesic candidate, demonstrate that the drug candidate achieved its target pharmacokinetic profile.

19 Sep 2012

Biologists elucidate how muscle stem cells colonize special niches

Muscles have a pool of stem cells which provides a source for muscle growth and for regeneration of injured muscles. The stem cells must reside in special niches of the muscle for efficient growth and repair.

18 Sep 2012

UCSF-led research team targets physiological factors that lead to asthma attack

A new study that identifies ways to reduce the factors that lead to an asthma attack gives hope to asthma sufferers. A UCSF researcher and his colleagues believe they have found a way to help asthma sufferers by impeding the two most significant biological responses that lead to an asthma attack.

18 Sep 2012

NIH awards ASC grant to study ASC-101-treated amniotic fluid-derived stem cells in compartment syndrome

America Stem Cell, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded an Advanced Technology Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

17 Sep 2012

UK researchers team up to help improve training for elite athletes

Some of the UK's leading bioscience and sports researchers have teamed up to help improve training for elite athletes, thanks to special funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and UK Sport with additional money from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

17 Sep 2012

New stem cell differentiation study could help scientists better understand genetic basis of CVD

The fate of an embryonic stem cell, which has the potential to become any type of body cell, is determined by a complex interaction of genes, proteins that bind DNA, and molecules that modify those genes and proteins.

15 Sep 2012

Researchers hold new implications for pathogenesis of myotonic dystrophy

An important breakthrough could help in the fight against myotonic dystrophy. The discovery, recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell, results from an international collaboration between researchers at the IRCM, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Southern California and Illumina.

13 Sep 2012