Capillaries News and Research

RSS

Drug abuse linked to brain hemmorhage in young adults

A fifth of young adults whose blood vessels ruptured inside their brain abused drugs and more than 40 percent had malformed blood vessels, according to a study reported Feb. 17 at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2006 in Kissimmee, FL.

20 Feb 2006

University of Florida researchers restore vitality to cells in lab experiments

University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like molecular maintenance men - traveling throughout the body to repair damaged blood vessels - become too rigid to move in patients with diabetes, fueling the disease's vascular complications.

25 Jan 2006

Controlled delivery of peptide nanofibers for myocardial protection

Reminiscent of the 1966 sci-fi thriller Fantastic Voyage, where a surgical team is miniaturized and injected into a dying man, researchers from Harvard Medical School have used injectable self-assembling peptide nanofibers loaded with the pro-survival factor PDGF-BB to protect rat cardiomyocytes from injury and subsequent heart failure.

15 Dec 2005

University of Alberta researchers pioneer gene therapy to restore alveoli and lung capillaries in damaged rat lungs

The good news is that medical advances in perinatal care have allowed us to save many more premature babies. The bad news is they're often at risk of developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia--a chronic lung disease caused by having to place the tiny infants on ventilators and oxygen-rich therapy for acute respiratory failure.

13 Nov 2005

Paclitaxel may help treat scleroderma

Using a novel model for scleroderma, researchers from Duke University Medical Center have discovered two important insights into this devastating disorder - the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) may prevent the skin thickening and small blood vessel destruction that characterizes the disease.

1 Nov 2005

Gene therapy used to successfully treat heart failure

University of Pittsburgh investigators have for the first time used gene therapy to successfully treat heart failure and other degenerative muscle problems in an animal model that is genetically susceptible to a human muscular dystrophy.

25 Oct 2005

How cells use very slow biological flows to signal and organize

An EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) team led by professor Melody Swartz has demonstrated for the first time that the presence of very slow biological flows affects the extracellular environment in ways that are critical for tissue formation and cell migration.

25 Oct 2005

Glucose test device for diabetics that does not involve pricking the finger

A Syracuse University chemistry professor has patented a device that aims to make painful fingerstick testing of glucose levels a thing of the past for diabetics.

11 Oct 2005

Flaviviruses immune system defenses in different ways depending on whether they are transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks

"Flaviviruses exact an enormous toll in terms of illness and death worldwide," notes NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Because this is a relatively new field of study, everything we learn about how these viruses operate is significant.

28 Sep 2005

Abnormal leakage of lymph fluid from the ruptured lymphatic vessels stimulates the accumulation of fat

Leaky lymphatic vessels are the leading cause of the adult onset obesity observed in a laboratory model developed by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

26 Sep 2005

Nitric oxide synthase plays a role in peripheral vascular disease

The enzyme nitric oxide synthase plays a role in peripheral vascular disease, a common disease that impairs the mobility of 25 percent of people over the age of 50, according to a Yale study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

26 Aug 2005

Analytical tool to help detect cancer

Scientists have long used ultra-fine glass tubes known as capillaries to analyze the chemical makeup of substances. Called capillary electrophoresis, or CE, the method applies high voltage to the capillaries, and by measuring the rate that the various materials move through the capillaries, researchers are able to identify individual compounds.

16 Aug 2005

The wonders of watermelon

On a hot summer day, nothing refreshes quite like a crisp, juicy slice of cool watermelon. Whether you're chomping into watermelon, enjoying it as part of a fruit salad or slurping on a watermelon smoothie, that red pulp provides a powerhouse of nutritional value.

2 Aug 2005

New finding has potentially major implications for anti-angiogenic therapy

Scientists supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) have added a key new piece to the puzzle of how tumor cells induce new blood vessels to form and fuel their abnormal growth, a well-known process called angiogenesis.

18 Jul 2005

Urine testing may predict birthmarks

Vascular anomalies - birthmarks caused by abnormal development of arteries, capillaries, veins or lymph vessels - can sometimes begin to progress, requiring aggressive treatment to save the child's health or vision. Research at Children's Hospital Boston now suggests that urine testing can help monitor these anomalies and predict those about to become a serious threat.

6 Jul 2005

Link between PKC enzyme and kidney disease in diabetes confirmed

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have investigated PKC-beta - a critical enzyme implicated in the devastating complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes - for more than two decades.

12 Jun 2005

Link between hyperglycemia (high blood glucose), overexpression of PKC-beta 2 and kidney disease

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have investigated PKC-beta -- a critical enzyme implicated in the devastating complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes -- for more than two decades.

10 Jun 2005

Two out of three Americans with type-2 diabetes do not have their disease under control

According to a new survey two out of three Americans with type-2 diabetes do not have their disease under control and are putting themselves at risk of early deaths from stroke, heart attack or kidney failure as well as blindness and limb loss.

18 May 2005

Angiogenesis : Blocking tumor growth and treating infarction - a new target

Our tissues are able to form new blood vessels throughout life. This mechanism, which is called angiogenesis, is essential notably in the case of myocardial infarction, stroke and limb ischemia. The very same mechanism, however, keeps tumors supplied with nutrients and oxygen thus enabling them to continue growing.

27 Apr 2005

Researchers discover mechanism by which tumours support their own growth

In a recent issue of the American Journal of Pathology, the Bremen researchers report their findings on a signalling molecule called "High Mobility Group Protein B1" (HMGB1). As a signal sent by tumour cells HMGB1 proteins induce sprouting of blood vessels that supply tumours with oxygen, thus promoting tumour growth.

11 Apr 2005