Toxin News and Research

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Star Scientific develops moist snuff tobacco product with low carcinogenic levels

Star Scientific, Inc. reports that it has successfully developed a moist snuff tobacco product that has extremely low levels of carcinogens -- much lower than any snuff products currently in the marketplace. This new product has levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) -- recognized by scientists worldwide as one of the most powerful cancer-causing agents in tobacco leaf and smoke -- below 20 parts per billion (nanograms-per-gram moist weight, as used) in initial testing.

4 Jan 2011

Mercury Policy Project welcomes WHO's support for 'phasing down' amalgam

While an FDA panel re-examines risks of amalgam over the next two days, the World Health Department is expected to release a key report soon recommending that amalgam use be "phased down" globally, consistent with its earlier recommendations.

14 Dec 2010

Intercell to stop further development of Travelers' Diarrhea Vaccine Patch

Intercell AG announced today preliminary clinical results on its investigational Travelers' Diarrhea (TD) Vaccine Patch program and the decision not to pursue further the development of this vaccine candidate. The decision was made following the receipt of results of its randomized and placebo-controlled Phase III study (ELT301) with 2036 travelers from Europe to Mexico and Guatemala as well as the pilot efficacy Phase II trial (ELT209) with 723 travelers from Europe to India.

13 Dec 2010

Origin of Haiti cholera epidemic traced to South Asia

The strain of cholera currently sweeping through post-earthquake Haiti originated in South Asia, conclude scientists who did a rapid genetic analysis of bacteria collected from Haitian patients. The finding supports the notion that the cholera bacteria fueling the outbreak arrived on the island via recent visitors.

13 Dec 2010

Silencing the TLR4 gene can prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients

Silencing the TLR4 gene can stop the process which may lead to cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Researchers demonstrated that TLR4 plays a critical role in hyperglycaemic cardiac apoptosis, and that silencing the gene using specific small interfering RNA can prevent it.

10 Dec 2010

Vibrio cholerae evolves two new mechanisms to cause similar disease

New clinical strains of cholera appear to have evolved a distinctly different mechanism to cause the same disease according to research published in the current issue of the online journal mBio-.

9 Dec 2010

Study raises questions about therapeutic use of botulinum toxin A

A new study by researchers at the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, is raising questions about the therapeutic use of botulinum toxin A.

3 Dec 2010

Biomagnetics identifies second biomarker for tuberculosis assay

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria detection, and other innovative technologies, today announced the identification of a second biomarker for development of a tuberculosis assay.

2 Dec 2010

Humanitarian benefits of rapid cholera vaccines deployment to at risk areas could be enormous

In the wake of devastating cholera outbreaks in refugee camps in earthquake-wracked Haiti, a group of leading experts from Harvard Medical School, George Washington University, and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have urged the United States to create an emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines for future humanitarian use.

25 Nov 2010

Ziconotide could promote suicidal tendencies in vulnerable patients: Research

24 Nov 2010

Researchers find link between acrolein and multiple sclerosis

Researchers have found evidence that an environmental pollutant may play an important role in causing multiple sclerosis and that a hypertension drug might be used to treat the disease.

24 Nov 2010

Ziconotide could promote suicidal tendencies: Study

The active agent ziconotide, the synthetic toxin of the cone snail (Conus magus), was acclaimed a safe alternative to morphine when it was introduced six years ago. Now it is increasingly suspected of causing patients to commit suicide. Researchers working under the auspices of Prof. Christoph Maier (Director of the Pain Clinic Bergmannsheil at the Ruhr University in Bochum) presume that ziconotide not only suppresses the transmission of pain stimuli, but also deteriorates the frame of mind and could simultaneously reduce anxiety and impulse control.

23 Nov 2010

Botox Cosmetics increase overall quality of life and self-esteem

Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon, Steven H. Dayan, MD, FACS, publishes a study in the November 2010 issue of Dermatologic Surgery, a prominent Dermatology journal, demonstrating that increases in overall quality of life and self-esteem were observed in participants treated with Botulinum Toxin Type A or Botox Cosmetic. In this double-blind randomized placebo-controlled survey, Dr. Dayan and DeNova research worked with one hundred participants who were treated with either Botox Cosmetic or a saline placebo for facial wrinkles.

23 Nov 2010

Soligenix receives U.S patent for modified immunogen in RiVax vaccine

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted patent #7,829,668, entitled Compositions and methods for modifying toxic effects of proteinaceous compounds.

22 Nov 2010

Glenn Foundation awards $60,000 grant to Scripps' scientist for biomedical research

While scientists depend on grants for their research, applying for them is a long and frequently frustrating process. For one Scripps Research Institute scientist, however, the process was shorter.

19 Nov 2010

Multiple sclerosis drug shows promise to counteract effects of botulinum neurotoxin

Scientists are reporting that variants of a drug already approved for treating multiple sclerosis show promise as a long sought treatment for victims of bioterrorist attack with botulinum neurotoxin which is 10,000 times deadlier than cyanide and the most poisonous substance known to man.

18 Nov 2010

Researchers reveal mechanism of early-stage anthrax infection

Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined a key mechanism by which Bacillus anthracis bacteria initiate anthrax infection despite being greatly outnumbered by immune system scavenger cells. The finding, made by studying genetically modified mice, adds new detail to the picture of early-stage anthrax infection and supports efforts to develop vaccines and drugs that would block this part of the cycle.

18 Nov 2010

Researchers develop new vaccine delivery system for rotavirus infection

Researchers have developed a promising new approach to vaccination for rotavirus, a common cause of severe diarrheal disease that is responsible for approximately 500,000 deaths among children in the developing world every year.

16 Nov 2010

Research on P450 compound I may help eliminate toxins

Chemical reactions are happening all over the place all the time on the sun, on the Earth and in our bodies. In many cases, enzymes help make these reactions occur. One family of enzymes, called cytochrome P450s (P450), is important because they help us eliminate toxins.

15 Nov 2010