Pharmacology News and Research

Latest Pharmacology News and Research

DIY high-tech microscope

A resourceful lecturer at the University of Essex has turned his hand to a spot of DIY and built a high-tech microscope that will transform the university's ability to undertake specialist medical and biological research.

3 Nov 2008

Two pronged approach to melanomas shows promise

An international team of researchers have developed a new substance which uses a two pronged attack on malignant cells.

3 Nov 2008

Substance tackles skin cancer with two-pronged attack

By playing it safe and using a two-pronged attack, a novel designer molecule fights malignant melanoma. It was created and tested by an international team of researchers led by the University of Bonn.

2 Nov 2008

New research could be the 'holy grail' for predicting pre-eclampsia

New research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) could pave the way for developing a test to predict pre-eclampsia in pregnant women and save the lives of mothers and babies across the world.

27 Oct 2008

Design of a compound that stabilizes the main natural suppressor of tumours

An interdisciplinary team of researchers, headed by Ernest Giralt at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and Javier de Mendoza at the "Institut Catala d'Investigaciió Quimica" (ICIQ, Tarragona), have discovered a substance with the capacity to maintain protein p53 stable even when it presents certain mutations that promote the appearance of cancer.

14 Oct 2008

New rapid test for rare leukemia

A new twist on a well-known cell sorting technique may allow physicians to diagnose rare leukemias in hours instead of weeks, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and UC-San Francisco.

6 Oct 2008

Muscle stem cell identity confirmed

A single cell can repopulate damaged skeletal muscle in mice, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, who devised a way to track the cell's fate in living animals. The research is the first to confirm that so-called satellite cells encircling muscle fibers harbor an elusive muscle stem cell.

17 Sep 2008

New drug promises once-a-day treatment for asthma and hay fever

The drug RPL554 apparently has the potential to effectively treat the respiratory diseases but without many of the side-effects most currently available drugs produce.

10 Sep 2008

President Bush signs law to ensure health benefits for 'sole survivor' veterans

President Bush on Friday signed into law legislation (HR 5825, S 2874) that will guarantee health benefits for "sole survivor" veterans who receive honorable discharges, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Sep 2008

Indian physicians concerned about malaria drug resistance, recommend combination therapy

India has reported an increase in drug-resistant malaria cases this year, leading physicians to express concern and recommend that the disease be treated with a combination of drugs, India's Daily News and Analysis reports.

26 Aug 2008

Century old rule of chemistry overturned - major implications for drug delivery

A new study by research chemists at the University of Warwick has challenged a century old rule of pharmacology that defined how quickly key chemicals can pass across cell walls. The new observations of the Warwick researchers suggest that the real transport rates could be up to a hundred times slower than predicted by the century old "Overton's Rule". This could have major implications for the development and testing of many future drugs.

25 Aug 2008

Scientists uncover molecule that keeps pathogens like salmonella in check

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a potential new way to stop the bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, tularemia and severe diarrhea from making people sick.

21 Aug 2008

Codeine use may be risky for some breastfeeding mothers

Using pain treatments which contain codeine may be risky for some breastfeeding mothers, according to researchers at The University of Western Ontario, and the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto.

20 Aug 2008

Drugs and fruit juices - a combination to avoid

It has been common knowledge for a number of years that grapefruit juice can influence the absorption of certain drugs, potentially turning normal doses into toxic overdoses.

20 Aug 2008

New reasons to avoid grapefruit juice when taking certain drugs

Scientists and consumers have known for years that grapefruit juice can increase the absorption of certain drugs - with the potential for turning normal doses into toxic overdoses.

19 Aug 2008

Finding cancer's original cell key to treatments

Cancer biologists are turning their attention to the normal cells that give rise to cancers, to learn more about how tumor growth might be stopped at the earliest opportunity.

11 Aug 2008

Estrogen treatments may sharpen mental performance in some women

Estrogen treatments may sharpen mental performance in women with certain medical conditions, but University of Florida researchers suggest that recharging a naturally occurring estrogen receptor in the brain may also clear cognitive cobwebs.

29 Jul 2008

Obesity predisposition linked to brain's reward system

The tendency toward obesity is directly related to the brain system that is involved in food reward and addictive behaviors, according to a new study. Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and colleagues have demonstrated a link between a predisposition to obesity and defective dopamine signaling in the mesolimbic system in rats.

29 Jul 2008

How anti-depressants and cocaine interact with brain

In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction.

28 Jul 2008

Researchers find key mechanism of cell damage in aging and disease

Researchers have taken a first snapshot of how a class of highly reactive molecules inflicts cellular damage as part of aging, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and Alzheimer's disease to name a few. According to a study published today in the journal Cell, researchers have discovered a tool that can monitor related damage and determine the degree to which antioxidant drugs effectively combat disease.

24 Jul 2008