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Potential Breast Cancer Vaccine Combination Therapy
Date: May-17-2012A vaccine that targets cancer cells in combination with the drug letrozole, a standard hormonal therapy against breast cancer, significantly increased survival when tested in mice, a team of UC Davis investigators has found. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. "We found that the vaccine and the hormonal drug letrozole were more effective when given together," said Michael DeGregorio, UC Davis professor of hematology and oncology and principal investigator of the study. "This adds critical evidence that immunotherapy with vaccines, which has traditionally been...
New Mechanism For Anxiety Disorders Revealed By Mystery Gene
Date: May-17-2012A novel mechanism for anxiety behaviors, including a previously unrecognized inhibitory brain signal, may inspire new strategies for treating psychiatric disorders, University of Chicago researchers report. By testing the controversial role of a gene called Glo1 in anxiety, scientists uncovered a new inhibitory factor in the brain: the metabolic by-product methylglyoxal. The system offers a tantalizing new target for drugs designed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorder, epilepsy, and sleep disorders. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that animals with...
Potential To Predict Parkinson's Disease Via Colonoscopy Or Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
Date: May-17-2012Two studies by neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center suggest that, in the future, colonic tissue obtained during either colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy may be used to predict who will develop Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder of aging that that leads to progressive deterioration of motor function due to loss of neurons in the brain that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential to executing movement. Currently, Parkinson's disease afflicts almost 5 million people worldwide. It is projected that by 2030, Parkinson's disease will affect over 10...
Using Antioxidants To Stabilize Fanconi Anemia
Date: May-17-2012Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disorder which affects one person in 350,000. People affected by this disease have defects in DNA repair, and are hypersensitive to oxidative damage, resulting in bone marrow failure and an increased predisposition to cancer. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases shows that a combination of the fatty acid α-lipoic acid (α-LA) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can stabilize the DNA of blood cells from FA patients, and drastically reduce its instability. 15 genes are known to be involved in FA. These genes...
Focusing On New Directions Of Viral Hepatitis Care And Research
Date: May-17-2012The editors of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, are pleased to announce the publication of this year's highly anticipated special 13th issue. Published each May, the 13th issue is devoted to a particular gastroenterological topic of broad interest; this year's topic is viral hepatitis. In conjunction with editor-in-chief M. Bishr Omary, MD, PhD, this issue was developed by Gastroenterology's experts in viral hepatitis: Senior Associate Editor Anna S. Lok, MD, AGAF, and Associate Editor Jean-Michel Pawlotsky, MD, PhD. Their...
Insight Into Brain Regeneration And Developmental Disorders From Mice With Big Brains
Date: May-17-2012Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) have discovered that mice that lack a gene called Snf2l have brains that are 35 per cent larger than normal. The research, led by Dr. David Picketts and published in the prestigious journal Developmental Cell, could lead to new approaches to stimulate brain regeneration and may provide important insight into developmental disorders such as autism and Rett syndrome. Dr. Picketts and his team created the mice to learn more about Snf2l, which is known to play a role in packaging DNA and determining...
Examining Adaptive Abilities In Children With Prenatal Alcohol Exposure And/or ADHD
Date: May-17-2012Prenatal exposure to alcohol often results in disruption to the brain's cognitive and behavioral domains, which include executive function (EF) and adaptive functioning. A study of these domains in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), non-exposed children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and children without PAE or ADHD has found that, despite similarities in the relation between EF and adaptive abilities among children with ADHD or PAE, the patterns of abilities in these children were different. Results will be published in the August 2012 issue of...
Possible Link Between Early Alcohol Use, Alcohol Dependence, Daily Nicotine Use, And Fewer Years Of Educational Attainment
Date: May-17-2012Although various kinds of substance use are associated with reduced educational attainment, these associations have been mixed and may also be partially due to risk factors such as socioeconomic disadvantages. A study of substance use and education among male twins from a veteran population has found a strong relationship among early alcohol use, alcohol dependence, daily nicotine use, and fewer years of educational attainment. Results will be published in the August 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. "Evidence for an...
Possible Diagnostic Technique For Lung Cancer Screening
Date: May-17-2012The most recent research released in June's Journal of Thoracic Oncology says molecular biomarkers in the tissue and fluid lining the lungs might be an additional predictive technique for lung cancer screening. Since the National Lung Screening Trial found that 96.4 percent of the positive CT screening results were false positive, scientists have been looking for ways to more accurately diagnose patients. This research focused on a way to determine if the nodules detected by the CT screening, are in fact malignant or benign. The study presented in the June 2012 issue of the International...
Air Pollution Changes During Beijing Olympics Linked To Systemic Inflammation And Thrombosis Changes
Date: May-16-2012A study featured in the May 16 edition of JAMA shows that changes in air pollution during the 2008 Beijing Olympics were related to changes in biomarkers of systemic inflammation and thrombosis, in addition to measure of cardiovascular physiology in healthy young people. The study's background information states: "Air pollution is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but the mechanisms by which air pollution leads to CVD is not well understood. Hypothesized mechanisms with associated biomarkers include systemic inflammation and thrombosis or endothelial [thin layer of cells that...
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