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Animal studies shouldn't alter anesthesiology practice in newborns

Recent studies showing that commonly used anesthetic agents can cause brain damage in animals don't prove that similar harmful effects occur in human newborns - and shouldn't affect current approaches to anesthesia in preterm and ill infants, according to a leading expert on pain management in newborns.

26 Jun 2007

Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease is safe and some patients benefit

A novel gene therapy technique is safe and may be effective at staving off worsening symptoms of Parkinson's disease, according to the first scientific review of a dozen patients who have received the treatment over the last three years.

23 Jun 2007

Gel capsule for diabetes type 1

There is renewed hope for treatment of diabetes type 1 with gel capsules: Biotechnologists at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a new type of alginate capsule that could solve the problem of the body's immune system recognizing and attacking alien, implanted insulin cells.

23 Jun 2007

New cancer drug target

Research led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has uncovered two new potential points of vulnerability on a key cancer-promoting protein, called XIAP.

23 Jun 2007

DNA repair proteins monitored at double-strand break

St. Jude investigators recently had a molecule's eye view of the human cell's DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends.

23 Jun 2007

PINK1 protects from Parkinson's

Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by the selective loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons.

19 Jun 2007

Clot-buster treatment works in frostbite patients

Researchers in the United States have found that when people with frostbite were treated with a clot-busting drug commonly used to treat stroke patients, fewer amputations resulted.

19 Jun 2007

Noninvasive treatment of cancer tumors

Ram Devireddy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at LSU, recently co-authored an article with Todd Monroe, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, investigating the complex effects of nanoparticles on cell freezing.

18 Jun 2007

Researchers clarify alphaB-crystallin's role in multiple sclerosis

A protein found primarily in the lens of the eye could be the critical "tipping point" in the spiral of inflammation and damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine report.

18 Jun 2007

New area of stroke drug discovery for the 22nd century

A new therapy to re-activate silenced genes in patients who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases or stroke is being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Cornell University.

17 Jun 2007

New understanding of how Staphylococcus aureus hides

A major cause of human and animal infections, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria may evade the immune system" defences and dodge antibiotics by climbing into our cells and then lying low to avoid detection.

17 Jun 2007

Stress and Alzheimer's disease

Subjecting mice to repeated emotional stress, the kind we experience in everyday life, may contribute to the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

17 Jun 2007

Breakdown of myelin may be the cause of Huntington's disease

Last month, Dr. George Bartzokis, director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic, suggested in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia that the breakdown of a type of myelin that develops late in life promotes the buildup of toxic amyloid plaques long associated with Alzheimer's disease.

16 Jun 2007

Researchers find new mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug sorafenib

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a new mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug sorafenib, which could stimulate the development of novel regimens in which it is combined with other molecularly targeted agents for patients with blood cancers and solid tumors.

15 Jun 2007

Nanoparticle-enabled peptide delivery triggers tumor regression

Cells possess a variety of ways of dealing with mutations that can cause them to grow uncontrollably and eventually form a tumor. The tumor suppressor gene p53 plays a critical role in these cancer prevention processes, largely by triggering a form a cell death known as apoptosis.

14 Jun 2007

Double-duty nanoparticles overcome drug resistance in tumors

Cancer cells, like bacteria, can develop resistance to drug therapy. In fact, research suggests strongly that multidrug resistant cancer cells that remain alive after chemotherapy are responsible for the reappearance of tumors and the poor prognosis for patients whose cancer recurs.

14 Jun 2007

Newly found antibodies may be body's natural defense against Alzheimer's

In an important advance in the battle against Alzheimer's disease, physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center have identified naturally occurring antibodies in human blood that may help to defend against this form of dementia as well as other neurodegenerative diseases.

14 Jun 2007

Myelin and Huntington's disease

14 Jun 2007

Cholesterol causes changes in gene expression

Experts from the University of Granada carried out research on atherosclerosis from its earliest stages to discover the origin of atheromatous plaques, fatty deposits gradually and irregularly formed in the main arteries, causing the narrowing of the blood vessel.

14 Jun 2007

New drug-delivery system using nanomaterials

Researchers at UCLA have successfully manipulated nanomaterials to create a new drug-delivery system that promises to solve the challenge of the poor water solubility of today's most promising anticancer drugs and thereby increase their effectiveness.

8 Jun 2007