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Temporal hs-cTNT changes may predict future heart disease

Temporal increases in high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T are associated with a significantly increased risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure and death among people initially free from cardiovascular disease, US study data show.

9 Jun 2016

Maternal immune dysfunction linked to risk of autism with intellectual disability in children

Pregnant women with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, proteins that control communication between cells of the immune system, may be at significantly greater risk of having a child with autism combined with intellectual disability, researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute have found.

8 Jun 2016

HLA genetic risk burden extends to MS outcomes

Human leukocyte antigen alleles not only increase susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, but also influence the course of the disease, suggests research.

3 Jun 2016

Gene mutation linked to autism plays key role in formation, maturation of synapses

A new study from MIT neuroscientists reveals that a gene mutation associated with autism plays a critical role in the formation and maturation of synapses -- the connections that allow neurons to communicate with each other.

26 May 2016

Study links low- and high-birthweight babies to increased cardiovascular disease risk

For reasons that remain unclear at least in the smaller babies, both birthweight extremes appear to increase the likelihood of early development of dangerous fat around major organs in the abdomen that significantly increases these risks, said Dr. Brian Stansfield, neonatologist at the Children's Hospital of Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

24 May 2016

New experimental model may predict eventual cardiac phenotype in pediatric patients

An experimental model uses genetics-guided biomechanics and patient-derived stem cells to predict what type of inherited heart defect a child will develop, according to authors of a new study in the journal Cell.

21 May 2016

Four major phenotypes may help improve prediction, prevention of cardiometabolic risk in prediabetes

Prediabetes is associated with increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia and cancer. However, the disease risk considerably varies among subjects.

21 May 2016

AKR1C3 enzyme could be promising therapeutic target for managing CRPC, AML

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of mortality among American men with the highest incidence rate of all cancers reported in the U.S. Male sex hormones testosterone (T) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT) promote prostate cancer progression.

19 May 2016

Birmingham Women's Hospital leads the way in genomic diagnosis

Birmingham Women's Hospital (BWH) has adopted a radical new technology to make it easier to identify rare diseases by their genetic causes, leading to a faster and more accurate diagnosis for the patient. The technology being used to do this is called Sapientia™ and it is facilitating the reclassification of disease.

16 May 2016

New IsoPSA test identifies molecular structural changes in protein biomarkers to detect prostate cancer

A promising new test is detecting prostate cancer more precisely than current tests, by identifying molecular changes in the prostate specific antigen (PSA) protein, according to Cleveland Clinic research presented today at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

12 May 2016

lncRNA in placenta may help protect unborn baby from invading pathogens

The human placenta is an organ unlike any other. During the course of nine months it is formed by the embryo, sustains life and then is shed.

10 May 2016

Novel animal model helps understand mechanisms that lead to multiple myeloma

Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have developed an animal model that allows them to better understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of multiple myeloma, a hematologic cancer of plasma cells, and the amyloidosis that sometimes accompanies it. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

6 May 2016

Oral administration of Jakinibs reduces Parkinson's disease pathogenesis in rat model

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers report the first documentation that suppressing a key cell-signaling pathway in a rat model of Parkinson's disease reduces pathogenesis. Oral administration of AZD1480 — one of the JAK/STAT pathway inhibitors generally known as Jakinibs — lessened the destructive inflammation and nerve cell degradation in the area of the brain affected by Parkinson's.

4 May 2016

Researchers find new insights on disease stages for gastric cancer patients

Diagnosis of gastric cancer in the early stages is difficult because of the lack of simple and cheap methods of inspection and specific markers of gastric cancer while the symptoms of the disease are vague and tend to overlap with other common and benign conditions. Better tumor characterization and more individualized treatment planning can be expected only with the implementation of better diagnostic tools combined with advances in molecular and genetic analysis.

21 Apr 2016

New diagnostic approach may help physicians more efficiently screen for dementia

A tiered diagnostic approach that incorporates clinical, imaging and laboratory data may help physicians more efficiently screen for neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia, according to the consensus of a multi-disciplinary panel of experts.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Apr 2016

Study shows beneficial effect of hNSC transplantation for TBI

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, often causing lifelong disability for those who survive. Treatment is limited to supportive care, but stem cell therapy has received recent attention as a way to promote recovery for injuries to the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, researchers transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) into the brains of mice modeled with TBI to investigate whether the hosts' immune systems and the stem cells acting in concert would enhance repair.

20 Apr 2016

Removing immunomodulatory protein improves symptoms of muscular dystrophy in mice

Removing an immunomodulatory protein called osteopontin improves the symptoms of mice with muscular dystrophy by changing the type of macrophages acting on damaged muscle tissue, according to a paper published in The Journal of Cell Biology.

19 Apr 2016

Survivin inhibitor with chemotherapy provides therapeutic advantage for Rb cells, tumors

Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have demonstrated that targeting survivin - a protein that inhibits apoptosis or cell death - enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy in cells and mouse models of retinoblastoma (Rb), the most common malignant tumor of the eye in children.

18 Apr 2016

Advances in NMR metabolomics: an interview with Professor Tone F. Bathen

The main objective of our research is to improve and individualize cancer diagnostics and cancer treatment. We try to achieve this through the integrated use of MR technology and the development of data-driven tools to analyze tumors on both a functional and molecular level.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 11 Apr 2016

How can deep learning impact healthcare?

“Genomic medicine really needs deep learning,” these were the words of keynote speaker Brendan Frey, CEO Deep Genomics at RE-WORK’s Deep Learning in Healthcare Summit 2016.

8 Apr 2016