Blood Vessels News and Research

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UC San Diego researchers receive NIH grant to develop scaffolds

University of California, San Diego NanoEngineers won a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop the tools to manufacture biodegradable frames around which heart tissues functional blood vessels included will grow.

16 Nov 2010

New stem cell-infused patch improves heart function after myocardial infarction

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that applying a stem cell-infused patch together with overexpression of a specific cell instruction molecule promoted cell migration to damaged cardiac tissue following heart attack and resulted in improved function in animal models.

16 Nov 2010

Iron in plaque may predict risk of myocardial infarction

Plaque in a heart artery looks threatening, but cardiologists know that many of these buildups will not erupt, dislodge and block a vessel, causing a heart attack that can be fatal. Some will, however, and the challenge is to figure out atherosclerotic plaque that is dangerous and treat or remove it.

16 Nov 2010

Research suggests targeting spleen may promote healing of spinal cord injury

The spleen, an organ that helps the body fight infections, might also be a source of the cells that end up doing more harm than good at the site of a spinal cord injury, new research suggests.

16 Nov 2010

Sangart's MP4CO receives orphan drug designation for acute pain in sickle cell disease

Sangart, Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines specifically designed to enhance the perfusion and oxygenation of ischemic (oxygen deprived) tissues through targeted oxygen and other gas delivery, today announced that its investigational biopharmaceutical product, MP4CO, has been awarded orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in treating acute painful sickling crises in patients with sickle cell disease.

15 Nov 2010

New protocol reduces radiation exposure in pediatric electrophysiology procedures

A protocol that uses continuous real-time radiation monitoring, low-dose imaging programs and requires physician awareness of radiation dose, significantly reduced radiation exposure during electrophysiology procedures and catheter ablations to diagnose and treat heart arrhythmias in children, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Oregon scientist investigates safety, effectiveness of novel low-cost family-planning option

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded nationally prominent Oregon Health & Science University reproductive scientist Jeffrey T. Jensen, M.D., M.P.H., a $100,000 grant to investigate the safety and effectiveness of a novel low-cost family-planning option that may be applicable to women in low-resource countries worldwide.

15 Nov 2010

Scientists unveil mechanism of liver regeneration

The liver's unique ability among organs to regenerate itself has been little understood. Now Weill Cornell Medical College scientists have shed light on how the liver restores itself by demonstrating that endothelial cells the cells that form the lining of blood vessels play a key role.

12 Nov 2010

GPR124 protein controls growth of blood vessels into brains

One protein single-handedly controls the growth of blood vessels into the developing brains of mice embryos, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Understanding how the protein, a cellular receptor, functions could help clinicians battle brain tumors and stroke by choking off or supplementing vital blood-vessel development, and may enhance the delivery of drugs across the blood-brain barrier.

12 Nov 2010

New catheter device for abdominal aortic aneurysm

William E. Sorfleet had a life-threatening abdominal aortic aneurysm, but at age 82, he was too old for major invasive surgery to repair the bulging blood vessel. So vascular surgeon Dr. Ross Milner of Loyola University Hospital repaired the aneurysm with a catheter device instead of a scalpel. The catheter, inserted through an artery, deployed a device called a stent graft that repaired the aneurysm.

12 Nov 2010

Researchers study drug's ability to restore retinal health in eyes of diabetic patients

One drug's startling ability to restore retinal health in the eyes of diabetic mice has researchers wanting to learn more about how it works and whether it might do the same for people.

10 Nov 2010

Researchers to determine levels of stroke risk in patients with narrowed brain arteries

Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center are part of a multicenter, National Institutes of Health (NIH) study to determine the levels of stroke risk and stroke recurrence in patients with narrowed brain arteries.

10 Nov 2010

New type of heart pump for infants born with univentricular circulation

Researchers have created a new type of heart pump inserted with a catheter to improve the survival rate for infants undergoing a series of surgeries to correct a deadly birth defect.

10 Nov 2010

Study sheds light on difficulty of controlling blood pressure in patients with high aldosterone levels

A hormone already responsible for increasing blood pressure by prompting the kidneys to retain salt appears to moonlight as a major stimulator of the brain centers that control the vascular system and blood pressure.

10 Nov 2010

New techniques to stop ventricular arrhythmias in high-risk patients

New techniques now being used at UCLA allow doctors to more precisely target certain areas of the heart to stop ventricular arrhythmias — serious abnormal rhythms in the heart's lower chambers — in high-risk patients.

9 Nov 2010

Multidetector CT helps pinpoint causes of ischemic stroke

Multidetector computed tomography (CT) helps pinpoint the causes of ischemic strokes, the most common type of stroke, potentially speeding the delivery of life-saving treatments, according to a study published online and in the January issue of Radiology.

9 Nov 2010

UC Irvine study: Small amount of brain bleeding is common among older individuals

Neurologist Dr. Mark Fisher and neuropathologist Dr. Ronald Kim found that cerebral microbleeds are highly prevalent in the aging brain - and not primarily products of stroke-related injury, hypertension or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, as had been thought.

9 Nov 2010

Scientists develop nanobioconjugate drug to target brain tumor

Nine years ago, scientists at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute detected a subtle shift occurring in the molecular makeup of the most aggressive type of brain tumors, glioblastoma multiforme. With further study, they found that a specific protein called laminin-411 plays a major role in a tumor's ability to build new blood vessels to support its growth and spread. But technology did not exist then to block this protein.

9 Nov 2010

Research reveals EBV virus infected cell manipulates cancer-producing cells

A new discovery by UNC scientists describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing.

9 Nov 2010

Pervasis receives $920,000 in grants under QTDP program

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded over $920,000 in grants through the U.S. government's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project, which provides tax credits and grants to projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies, reduce long-term health care costs, or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years.

8 Nov 2010