Surgeons at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago have documented the first use of a blood vessel from the abdomen to treat a blocked artery in the brain. The case study was published in the December issue of Surgical Laparoscopy, Endoscopy and Percutaneous Techniques.
The case involved a 49-year old man with a history of hypertension and heart disease and a blocked artery in the brain. The patient’s doctors were Dr. Constantine T. Frantzides, professor of surgery
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center report that two doses of the varicella vaccine for chicken pox given one to two months apart can be safe and effective in children with chronic kidney disease.
The findings, reported in the January issue of Pediatric Nephrology, are critical for chronic kidney disease patients, particularly children who will eventually undergo a kidney transplant. After transplantation, immunosuppressive medications put these children at high risk for
Faint glow given off only when cells are killed could speed drug development for cancer, stroke, other diseases
The process that makes fireflies glow bright in the summer night can also shed light on how well new medicines work, showing immediately whether the drugs are effective at killing cells or causing other effects.
That’s the conclusion of a team of scientists from the University of Michigan Health System, who report that they have inserted the gene for a firefly
A new study identifies sensors in the gastrointestinal tract that signals the body that food ingestion is no longer required
Bethesda, MD – According to the United Nations, 14 African countries now face water scarcity or water stress. By the year 2025, experts agree that eleven more countries will join the list and half the world will live with water stress.
The consequences of water drought can be terrible – a loss of livestock and crops can lead to overall starvation of a
New study identifies an enzyme associated with pancreatic inflammation
Bethesda, MD – Clinical acute pancreatitis can present with varying degrees of severity The chief causes of this disorder are gallstones, gallbladder-related disease and alcohol use. Viral infection, mumps, and certain medications such as corticosteroids, diuretics, and tetracycline are other causes. In adults, the disorder is frequently associated with lung injury, manifesting itself as adult respiratory distress
Researchers from Finland have found that the cholesterol-lowering agent gemfibrozil (marketed as Lopid and generics) greatly increases the concentrations of cerivastatin (Lipobay or Baycol) in blood. This finding explains the observed muscle toxicity of the gemfibrozil-cerivastatin combination. This potentially fatal adverse effect of cerivastatin led to the withdrawal of Lipobay/Baycol from the market.
The concentrations of Lipobay were increased on average 5-6-fold by Lopid, in some indivi
Increased bone mass in a calcitonin knockout mouse full of surprises
Bone is in a constant state of remodeling, during which osteoclasts remove old bone (resorption) and osteoblasts form new bone (formation). Calcitonin is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland and inhibits bone resorption. Following menopause, the rate of bone loss is accelerated, however women with post-menopausal osteoporosis that are treated with calcitonin (by injection or nasal spray) demonstrate increased bon
By redesigning the shell of Ebola, Purdue University researchers have transformed the feared virus into a benevolent workhorse for gene therapy – and as one of the first gene bearers that can be inhaled rather than injected, it might prove valuable in the fight against lung disease.
While replacing the infection-causing genes inside an ordinarily harmful retrovirus with helpful genetic material is a relatively common research practice, David Sanders and his colleagues have gone a step beyond
Ebola shares a closer relationship with several bird viruses than was previously thought, bolstering the case for a common ancestor and hinting that birds might carry the deadly virus, a Purdue University research team reports.
David Sanders and his research group have discovered that the outer protein shell of Ebola has a biochemical structure similar to several retroviruses carried by birds. As scientists had known previously of genetic similarity among the viruses, this discovery makes a
Scientists from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern University have found a new target to squeeze off a tumor’s blood supply. Research published in the December 17 issue of Cancer Cell shows how a common cancer-causing gene controls the switch for tumor blood vessel growth known as angiogenesis.
Recent evidence has shown that this gene, called Id1, is important for angiogenesis, a factor in cancer progression because it provides a needed blood source to tumor cel
Study in Transplantation provides strong support for the development of therapeutics utilizing company’s proprietary peptide technology
Zengen, Inc. announced today that its scientists have discovered a novel approach to reduce organ rejection based on the Company’s proprietary research with alpha-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (a-MSH). The research shows that treatment with the a-MSH peptide caused a significant increase in allograft (transplanted tissue) survival and a mar
A major clinical trial of blood pressure medications has concluded that an inexpensive diuretic (water pill) is more effective in treating high blood pressure and preventing cardiovascular disease than newer more expensive medications.
The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), conducted from February 1994 though March 2002, compared the drugs for use in starting treatment for high blood pressure.
“The preferred drug is the diuretic fo
It is commonplace for patients with Acute Lung Injury (ALI) to be injected with a dye, known as contrast material, before undergoing a CT (computerized tomography) scan of their lungs. Contrast material helps enhance the image so that doctors can evaluate the state of a patient’s lungs. New research published in Critical Care shows that using contrast material could worsen the condition of patients suffering from ALI because it causes the lungs to fill up with fluid, making it more difficult for
Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are reporting success with a novel gene therapy approach. Working with cells grown in the laboratory, the group is the first to repair a defective gene and demonstrate that the resulting protein product is functional, said Dr. Alfred L. George Jr., senior author of a study published Dec. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Although use of the approach in patients is still years in the future, the findings are an important step in sh
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a new contributor to atherosclerosis, the most common form of hardening of the arteries. Marked by cholesterol-calcium-lipid deposits, atherosclerosis is the main cause of heart attacks, the number one killer in the U.S. Doctors at U.Va. say research on mice has determined for the first time that activated platelets circulating in the blood, long understood as markers for atherosclerosis, really serve as participants in the p
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute in Los Angeles have combined a special protein that targets cancer cells with neural stem cells (NSC) to track and attack malignant brain tumor cells. Results of their study appear in the Dec. 15 issue of Cancer Research.
Glioblastoma multiforme, or gliomas, are a particularly deadly type of brain tumor. They are highly invasive with poorly defined borders that intermingle with healthy brain tissue, maki
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