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Gut microbiota has profound systemic effect on bile acid metabolism

A new study presented today at the International Liver Congress- 2012 demonstrates that the gut microbiota has a profound systemic effect on bile acid metabolism.

20 Apr 2012

Palatin, AstraZeneca initiate second AZD2820 phase I trial in obesity

Palatin Technologies, Inc. today announced that a second phase I clinical trial of AZD2820, a subcutaneously-administered peptide melanocortin receptor partial agonist under development for the treatment of obesity, has commenced.

20 Apr 2012

Breast cancer treatment and classification revolutionized in landmark study

Breast cancer treatment could be revolutionized with patients offered more accurate diagnoses and better-targeted treatments after a study in which scientists genetically charted the disease. The research found that rather than being a single disease, breast cancer can be classified into 10 distinct types. It also identified several new genes that determine the aggressiveness of the cancer.

19 Apr 2012

NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations benefit from erlotinib-first regimen

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer should only receive treatment with the drug erlotinib before receiving standard chemotherapy if their tumor is known to harbor EGFR mutations, researchers report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

19 Apr 2012

Perampanel drug may significantly reduce seizure frequency

A new type of anti-epilepsy medication that selectively targets proteins in the brain that control excitability may significantly reduce seizure frequency in people whose recurrent seizures have been resistant to even the latest medications, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.

19 Apr 2012

Engineered particles tied to penetratin discover, deliver ligands for mitochondria, ribosomes

Scientists who developed a technology for identifying and targeting unique protein receptor ZIP Codes on the cellular surface have found a way to penetrate the outer membrane and deliver engineered particles - called iPhage - to organelles inside the cell.

18 Apr 2012

Tumor size helps predict survival in node-negative breast cancer patients

Research from investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), UMDNJ-School of Public Health (SPH) and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, indicates that tumor size stratified by age, race and hormone receptor status helps predict survival in node-negative breast cancer patients.

18 Apr 2012

Idera commences IMO-3100 Phase 2 clinical trial for psoriasis

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the treatment of the first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial of IMO-3100, the Company's lead Toll-like receptor (TLR) inhibitor for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

18 Apr 2012

Promising anti-diabetic substance found in liquorice root

It provides the raw material for liquorice candy, calms the stomach and alleviates diseases of the airways: liquorice root. Chosen as the "Medicinal plant 2012", the root has been treasured in traditional healing since ancient times. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin have now discovered that liquorice root also contains substances with an anti-diabetic effect.

18 Apr 2012

Vanda acquires license from Lilly to develop and commercialize NK-1R antagonist

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products for central nervous system disorders, announced today that it has acquired an exclusive world-wide license from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to develop and commercialize a small molecule neurokinin 1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist for all human indications.

17 Apr 2012

Merck, Endocyte enter vintafolide development and commercialization agreement

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Endocyte Inc., today announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Endocyte's novel investigational therapeutic candidate vintafolide (EC145).

16 Apr 2012

Rotavirus infects certain blood types

Whether you become infected by some strains of rotavirus may depend on your blood type.

16 Apr 2012

Researchers discover new class of molecular mutation in breast cancer

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a new class of molecular mutation in various forms of breast cancer, a finding that may shed new light on development and growth of different types of breast tumors. Called fusion transcripts, the mutated forms of RNA may also provide a way to identify tumor subtypes and offer new strategies to treat them, investigators say.

16 Apr 2012

Targeting glucagon's sweetening effect may treat type II diabetes

Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose.

16 Apr 2012

Study investigates genetic factors and smoking exposure in Japanese lung cancer patients

Previous research has shown that Asian patients with lung cancer are more likely to harbor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Furthermore, Asian patients with lung cancer are more likely to be non-smokers than Western patients with lung cancer. Research in the May 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology goes deeper, investigated genetic factors and smoking exposure in Japanese lung cancer patients.

16 Apr 2012

Niceness is gene deep

Researchers at the University of Buffalo and University of California, Irvine, found a connection between people being nice and versions of receptor genes for two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, that have been associated with niceness in past studies.

12 Apr 2012

Inadequate sleep linked to higher diabetes risk

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12 Apr 2012

New compound reverses major symptoms associated with FXS

A recent study finds that a new compound reverses many of the major symptoms associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability and a leading cause of autism. The paper, published by Cell Press in the April 12 issue of the journal Neuron, describes the exciting observation that the FXS correction can occur in adult mice, after the symptoms of the condition have already been established.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists use two different methods to visualize rare CTCs, double positive cells in mBC

New research from The Ohio State University utilizes two different methods to visualize circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as other unusual circulating cells with both epithelial and hematopoietic characteristics in metastatic breast cancer.

12 Apr 2012

Losartan may not increase risk of all-cause mortality in heart failure patients

Although observational studies have suggested that losartan, a drug used primarily for the treatment of hypertension, may be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with heart failure compared with other medications in the same class of drugs (angiotensin II receptor blockers [ARBs]), an analysis that included nearly 6,500 patients found that overall, use of losartan was not associated with increased all-cause death or cardiovascular death compared with use of the ARB candesartan, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Apr 2012