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MitoQ antioxidant reverses MS-like disease in animal

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that an antioxidant designed more than a dozen years ago to fight damage within human cells significantly helps symptoms in mice that have a multiple sclerosis-like disease.

27 Dec 2013

New tools for neglected diseases: an interview with Dr. BT Slingsby, CEO, GHIT Fund

Nearly 3.3 billion people, a little less than half of our world’s population, are at risk of malaria, TB and what we call “neglected tropical diseases”—diseases caused by worms, parasites, viruses and bacteria like Chagas disease, river blindness, elephantiasis, sleeping sickness, etc.

24 Dec 2013

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School's David Perlin explains how fungal infections can become deadly

Ask someone what the term 'fungus' brings to mind, and chances are it will be an image of something that smells or looks disgusting. Ask David Perlin, executive director of the Public Health Research Institute at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and the response will be far more somber - because he knows how deadly fungi can be.

24 Dec 2013

Researchers identify potential therapy for meibomian gland dysfunction

Meibomian gland dysfunction is the leading cause of dry eye disease, which affects tens of millions of Americans. However, there is no FDA-approved treatment for MGD. Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute/Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School have just identified a potential therapy.

24 Dec 2013

ANP reports positive interim results from ATL1103 Phase II clinical trial for acromegaly

Antisense Therapeutics Limited is pleased to advise that positive results have been achieved from the interim analysis of a subset of available data from its Phase II clinical trial of ATL1103 in patients with the growth disorder, acromegaly.

23 Dec 2013

FibroGen starts patient enrollment in FG-3019 Phase 2 study for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment

FibroGen, Inc., announced today that patient enrollment has started in a new Phase 2 clinical study of FG-3019 in patients who suffer from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

20 Dec 2013

People with diabetes at risk of developing diabetic macular edema during their lifetime

Despite recent advances in prevention and treatment of most vision loss attributed to diabetes, a new study shows that fewer than half of Americans with damage to their eyes from diabetes are aware of the link between the disease and visual impairment, and only six in 10 had their eyes fully examined in the year leading up to the study.

20 Dec 2013

FDA accepts Regeneron's EYLEA Injection sBLA for standard review

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for standard review the Company's supplemental Biologics License Application for EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema.

18 Dec 2013

New treatment options for diabetic wound healing in cornea and skin

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), a metabolic disorder that affects nearly 170 million people worldwide, is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia that disrupts carbohydrate fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. DM can cause long-term damage, dysfunction and even failure of various organs.

13 Dec 2013

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Biochemical sleuthing by an Indiana University graduate student has ended a nearly 50-year-old search to find a megamolecule in bacterial cell walls commonly used as a target for antibiotics, but whose presence had never been identified in the bacterium responsible for the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States.

12 Dec 2013

Study resolves 50-year 'chlamydial anomaly' using novel method

Researchers studying Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, which cause the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia as well as infectious blindness, have confirmed that the bacteria contain-and, in fact, cannot function without-the common molecule peptidoglycan, a structural component found in the cell wall of many bacteria. This finding puts an end to years of uncertainty about whether Chlamydia bacteria, like almost all bacterial species, rely on peptidoglycan to reproduce and to maintain their shape and structure. In addition, the novel method the investigators used may be adapted to further examine the molecule's role in the structure and function of other bacteria.

12 Dec 2013

Beta-carotene: An important and safe precursor for vitamin A

A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine study in the November 22 issue of Journal of Biological Chemistry, explains how vitamin A is generated from beta carotene, its dietary precursors. The discovery sheds new light into how beta carotene’s enzymes are utilized differently contributing to the vitamin’s production. This insight will help guide solutions for vitamin A deficiency, a global public health problem affecting more than half of all countries, according to the World Health Organization.

11 Dec 2013

Researchers develop new drug-eluting contact lens for prolonged delivery of glaucoma medication

10 Dec 2013

Drugmaker pushes new drug over cheaper equivalent at Medicare's expense

The Washington Post explores the public impact of doctors' decisions to choose a more expensive drug to prevent blindness despite trials showing the drug is equivalent to a much cheaper product.

9 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 9, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about new sticker-shock concerns over costs for coverage purchased through the health law's new online insurance marketplaces.

9 Dec 2013

Researchers one step closer to development of drug-eluting contact lens for glaucoma treatment

For nearly half a century, contact lenses have been proposed as a means of ocular drug delivery that may someday replace eye drops, but achieving controlled drug release has been a significant challenge. Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are one step closer to an eye drop-free reality with the development of a drug-eluting contact lens designed for prolonged delivery of latanoprost, a common drug used for the treatment of glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.

9 Dec 2013

Penn researchers identify protein that could clear Alzheimer's plaques

The body is structured to ensure that any invading organisms have a tough time reaching the brain, an organ obviously critical to survival. Known as the blood-brain barrier, cells that line the brain and spinal cord are tightly packed, making it difficult for anything besides very small molecules to cross from the bloodstream into the central nervous system. While beneficial, this blockade also stands in the way of delivering drugs intended to treat neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's.

9 Dec 2013

Blindness News and Research

MitoQ antioxidant reverses MS-like disease in animal

New tools for neglected diseases: an interview with Dr. BT Slingsby, CEO, GHIT Fund

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School's David Perlin explains how fungal infections can become deadly

Researchers identify potential therapy for meibomian gland dysfunction

ANP reports positive interim results from ATL1103 Phase II clinical trial for acromegaly

FibroGen starts patient enrollment in FG-3019 Phase 2 study for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment

People with diabetes at risk of developing diabetic macular edema during their lifetime

FDA accepts Regeneron's EYLEA Injection sBLA for standard review

New treatment options for diabetic wound healing in cornea and skin

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Study resolves 50-year 'chlamydial anomaly' using novel method

Beta-carotene: An important and safe precursor for vitamin A

Researchers develop new drug-eluting contact lens for prolonged delivery of glaucoma medication

Drugmaker pushes new drug over cheaper equivalent at Medicare's expense

First Edition: December 9, 2013

Researchers one step closer to development of drug-eluting contact lens for glaucoma treatment

Penn researchers identify protein that could clear Alzheimer's plaques

New findings by UCI, German researchers could aid in saving sight of millions

Diversity essential for brain's ability to localize sounds

Lord Walton of Detchant receives honorary degree from Northumbria University

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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