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Mice have different neural subsystem associated with instinctually important smells

A new study finds that mice have a distinct neural subsystem that links the nose to the brain and is associated with instinctually important smells such as those emitted by predators. That insight, published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, prompts the question whether mice and other mammals have specially hardwired neural circuitry to trigger instinctive behavior in response to certain smells.

25 Jul 2012

Biokine receives FDA Orphan Drug designation for BKT140 to treat hematological cancers

Biokine Therapeutics Ltd. announced today that it has received Orphan Drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow into peripheral blood for collection and subsequent transplantation in patients with hematological cancers.

24 Jul 2012

VEGF inhibitor fails to improve nonsquamous NSCLC overall survival

Adding motesanib to carboplatin–paclitaxel does not boost overall survival in patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer, including those with adenocarcinoma, say MONET1 investigators.

24 Jul 2012

Anti-IL-3 monoclonal antibodies to treat early stage Rheumatoid Arthritis in development

SuppreMol GmbH, an autoimmune disease specialist, today announced a licensing agreement with the University Hospital of Regensburg to develop SM401, a humanized anti-IL-3 monoclonal antibody for early diagnosis and treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). SuppreMol will advance preclinical development of SM401 for treatment of RA. Simultaneously, the Company will further validate a highly sensitive human IL-3 diagnostic assay for patient stratification.

24 Jul 2012

Neural precursor cells suppress aggressive tumors

Neural precursor cells (NPC) in the young brain suppress certain brain tumors such as high-grade gliomas, especially glioblastoma (GBM), which are among the most common and most aggressive tumors.

23 Jul 2012

Experts examine host recognition of Staphylococcus and E.coli bacteria

We are surrounded by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The fact that we nevertheless do not fall prey to infections is thanks to certain cellular sensor molecules such as toll-like receptors (TLR), which recognize the molecular structure of pathogens and intercede by ensuring an often completely unnoticeable elimination of the invaders. Their immune-activating abilities were only detected in 1998, a discovery which was awarded with the Nobel Prize

21 Jul 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Afinitor to treat HER2-negative breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Afinitor (everolimus) for use in combination with Aromasin (exemestane) to treat certain postmenopausal women with advanced hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

21 Jul 2012

Unsuccessful fertility treatment reduces young-onset breast cancer risk

Women who are treated unsuccessfully with fertility drugs have a significantly reduced risk for developing young-onset breast cancer, compared with nonusers of such drugs, show the results of a sister-matched case-control study.

20 Jul 2012

VDR polymorphisms may predict vitiligo in Chinese individuals

Polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor gene may be involved in the etiology of vitiligo, suggest study findings from a population of Chinese individuals.

20 Jul 2012

Iron deficiency in women ‘may be under-recognized’

Iron deficiency may be an under-recognized cause of fatigue in women, say investigators who report that iron supplementation reduced symptoms of fatigue in women who were not anemic but had low ferritin levels.

19 Jul 2012

Researchers discover potential drug targets that might reduce ventilator-induced lung inflammation

When hospital patients need assistance breathing and are placed on a mechanical ventilator for days at a time, their lungs react to the pressure generated by the ventilator with an out-of-control immune response that can lead to excessive inflammation, new research suggests.

19 Jul 2012

EMA accepts Pfizer’s bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens MAA for review

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens (BZA/CE), a potential new medicine for postmenopausal women with a uterus for the treatment of estrogen deficiency symptoms and treatment of osteoporosis in women at risk of fracture.

19 Jul 2012

Abscisic acid has anti-inflammatory effects in the lungs and gut

Building on previous work with the botanical abscisic acida, researchers in the Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory (NIMML) have discovered that abscisic acid has anti-inflammatory effects in the lungs as well as in the gut.

19 Jul 2012

Estrogen may mediate low incidence of HCC in women

Study findings suggest that estrogen may have a suppressive effect on hepatocellular carcinoma, potentially explaining its lower incidence in women.

18 Jul 2012

Targeted regulation of microRNA-125b may lead to effective prostate cancer therapies

A small, naturally occurring nucleic acid sequence, called a microRNA, known to regulate a number of different cancers, appears to alter the activity of the androgen receptor, which plays a critical role in prostate cancer.

18 Jul 2012

c-Kit receptor plays critical role in development and function of insulin-producing beta cells

Scientists from Western University in London, Canada and the Children's Health Research Institute, an Institute within the Lawson Health Research Institute, have identified the critical role of a receptor called c-Kit in the development and function of insulin-producing beta cells, making it an exciting therapeutic target for the management of diabetes.

18 Jul 2012

Memantine boosts memory function in people with Down syndrome

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found a drug that boosts memory function in those with Down syndrome, a major milestone in the treatment of this genetic disorder that could significantly improve quality of life.

18 Jul 2012

BJP publishes data from ESTEVE's E-52862 preclinical studies on pain

ESTEVE announces the recent publication in the British Journal of Pharmacology of important preclinical data that furthers understanding of its highly potent and selective, once-daily, S1R antagonist E-52862, developed by the ESTEVE Research and Development (R&D) team.

18 Jul 2012

Tips to help minimize risks associated with acid reflux disease

While the overall death rates from several cancers such as breast and lung have gone down, there has been a meteoric rise in cases of esophageal cancer. Studies have shown that from 1975 to 2001, the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma rose approximately sixfold in the United States (from four to 23 cases per million), a relative increase greater than that for melanoma, breast, or prostate cancer.

17 Jul 2012

Why is the incidence of gout increasing?

Gout has been described by the Daily Mail as something, “usually associated with port-swilling, over-fed elderly men of the 19th century”. (1) Recent research carried out at the Boston University School of Medicine, however, has found that the incidence of gout in the US is on the rise. (2) Thus, the condition is clearly not something that only affects this stereotype.

17 Jul 2012