Health News

New regulatory mechanisms of cell migration uncovered

Date: Mar-25-2014
A study by Sofia J. Araujo, a Ramon y Cajal researcher with the Morphogenesis in Drosophila lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), elucidates the genetic regulation of cell migration. Published in the scientific journal Plos One, the research is part of the thesis work performed by Elisenda Buti, first author of the article.Cell migration is highly coordinated and occurs in processes such as embryonic development, wound healing, the formation of new blood vessels, and tumour cell invasion.

Link between depression and obesity in adolescent girls

Date: Mar-25-2014
Depression and obesity have long been associated, but how they relate over time is less clear. New research from a Rutgers University-Camden professor shows that adolescent females who experience one of the disorders are at a greater risk for the other as they get older."Adolescence is a key developmental period for both obesity and depression, so we thought it significant to look at the onset of these disorders at an early age," says Naomi Marmorstein, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers-Camden.

Novel antibacterial orthodontic bracket cement developed

Date: Mar-25-2014
At the 43rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 38th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, Mary Anne Sampaio de Melo, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, presented a research study titled "Antibacterial Orthodontic Cement Containing a Quaternary Ammonium Monomer Dimethylaminododecyl Methacrylate."Demineralized lesions in enamel around orthodontic brackets are caused by acids from biofilm accumulation.

Structure decoded of cholesterol transporter

Date: Mar-25-2014
The word "cholesterol" is directly linked in most people's minds with high-fat foods, worrying blood test results, and cardiovascular diseases. However, despite its bad reputation, cholesterol is essential to our wellbeing: It stabilizes cell membranes and is a raw material for the production of different hormones in the cell's power plants - the mitochondria. Now, for the first time, scientists in Gottingen have solved the high-resolution structure of the molecular transporter TSPO, which introduces cholesterol into mitochondria.

Even subconcussive injury may lead to neuropathological changes

Date: Mar-25-2014
A standard experimental model of concussion in rats causes substantial brain damage - but no behavioral changes comparable to those seen in patients with concussion, reports a study in the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.The results highlight the "disconnect" between preclinical and clinical studies of concussion, according to the report by Dr. Charles L. Rosen of West Virginia University, Morgantown, and colleagues.

New method can diagnose pancreatic cancer

Date: Mar-25-2014
Pancreatic cancer is often detected at a late stage, which results in poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Researchers at The Sahlgrenska Academy have now developed a method which identifies the cancer's visible precursors with 97% certainty. The method, which is expected to aid in the early discovery of the cancer as well as minimize the risk of unnecessary surgery, may be introduced in patient care within five years.

In patients on anticoagulants, cold snare polypectomy effective for removal of small colorectal polyps

Date: Mar-25-2014
In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has published a special issue for March on colorectal cancer. The issue includes a new study that compares cold snare polypectomy with conventional polypectomy for the removal of small colorectal polyps in anticoagulated patients. The study showed that delayed bleeding requiring hemostasis (stoppage of bleeding) occurred significantly less often after cold snare polypectomy than during conventional polypectomy despite continuation of anticoagulants.

Folate levels in young women reduced by UV exposure

Date: Mar-25-2014
Women who are pregnant or trying to fall pregnant and taking a folic acid supplement may be at risk of reducing their folate benefit through sun exposure, a new QUT study has warned.In a paper titled Exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation is associated with decreased folate status in women of childbearing age, published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B:Biology, QUT researchers found UV exposure significantly depleted folate levels.

Predicting prostate cancer survival by measuring circulating tumor cells

Date: Mar-25-2014
New research by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists demonstrates that measuring circulating tumor cells (CTCs) - the cells that spread cancer through the body - may be a better predictor of patient survival than the prostate specific antigen (PSA).The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by a team led by Amir Goldkorn, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at USC Norris, part of Keck Medicine of USC.

Some patients with bladder defects and disease may benefit from stem cell findings

Date: Mar-25-2014
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in coaxing laboratory cultures of human stem cells to develop into the specialized, unique cells needed to repair a patient's defective or diseased bladder.