Research
Diabetic Mice Provide a Surprising Breakthrough for Multiple Sclerosis Research
New laboratory approach could aid brain recovery, Tel Aviv University research finds
Tel Aviv — In humans, active periods of the debilitating disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can last for mere minutes or extend to weeks at a time. They’re caused by lesions in the brain that develop, partly heal, and then recur. Research into a cure has been difficult, because to date scientists have not been able to replicate these brain recurring symptoms in laboratory mice. That’s frustrating because these lab animals, known as animal “models,” are the primary tool for research into the mechanisms and potential treatments for MS.
But now, by using a mouse model for diabetes instead, Dr. Dan Frenkel of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Neurobiology, working alongside Prof. Yaniv Assaf and Ph.D. student Hilit Levy, may provide a surprising breakthrough for research into a cure for MS. The team has discovered that when mice with Type 1 Diabetes are injected with myelin protein — the insulating material that coats neurons — they experience the periods of relapsing and remitting disability associated with brain lesions in humans. And for the first time, they’ve been able to monitor this brain lesion process using magnetic resonance imaging.
Dr. Frenkel believes his finding will lead to the development of more effective treatments for MS. This research has been published in Experimental Neurology.
NIH Study Shows HIV-Exposed Children At High Risk Of Language Delay
HIV exposed children could benefit from early diagnosis, classroom intervention
Children exposed to HIV before birth are at risk for language impairments, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Moreover, children exposed to HIV before birth may benefit from routine screening for language impairment, even if they don't have any obvious signs of a language problem, the researchers said.
The researchers found that 35 percent of a group of school-age children born to women with an HIV infection during pregnancy have difficulty understanding spoken words and expressing themselves verbally. On a standard series of tests of language ability, children exposed to HIV before birth scored, on average, within the lowest 21 percent of all children who have taken the test.
Children exposed to HIV before birth tended to have language delays, regardless of whether or not they later became infected with HIV.
NIH Scientists Identify Novel Approach To View Inner Workings Of Viruses
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a technique that allows scientists to image very small particles, like structures on the surface of viruses. This method has been useful in helping researchers understand how vaccines work. But, despite the success of cryo-EM, scientists have been unable to clearly visualize structures inside of viruses, because radiation is used to image them. "With lower doses of radiation, it is not possible to see inside the organism," said lead author Dr. Alasdair Steven of the NIAMS Laboratory of Structural Biology Research. "However, higher doses of radiation damage the virus, destroying the very structures that we would like to view."
Working in collaboration with the group of Dr. Lindsay Black at the University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Steven and his team were able to turn the problem of radiation damage into an asset. Viruses, one of the simplest life forms, are made up of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) and the proteins encoded by the nucleic acid instruction manual. The researchers realized that proteins inside the virus are more sensitive to damage than DNA.
Neuromuscular Disease Expert Robert H. Baloh, MD, PHD, Joins Cedars-Sinai Medical Center To Advance Lou Gehrig’s Disease Research
Baloh studies molecular mechanisms of Lou Gehrig’s disease, muscular dystrophies, spinal muscular atrophies and other nerve and muscle diseases
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 9, 2012) – Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, an expert in genetic defects and molecular mechanisms causing neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, has joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to advance the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease), muscular dystrophies, spinal muscular atrophies and other poorly understood disorders that start in nerve cells and electrical signaling.
In his medical practice and research, Baloh focuses on challenging cases involving the neuromuscular system. He will be director of the Neuromuscular Division, working with Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chair of the Department of Neurology, and Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Regenerative Medicine Institute. When Lyden and Svendsen joined Cedars-Sinai in 2009, they identified ALS as a top clinical and research priority because of their collective experience and because there is no treatment for the fatal disease. The addition of Baloh creates one of the most comprehensive teams in California.
First Level 3 Medical Home Designation for Primary Care Practices at an Academic Medical Center Goes to Rush
(CHICAGO) — Seven primary care practices at Rush University Medical Center were the first at an academic medical center in Illinois to receive National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) level 3 recognition as a Physician Practice Connections - Patient Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH). The PPC-PCMH program was developed to assess whether physician practices are functioning as “medical homes” and recognize them for these efforts.
The patient-centered medical home is intended to improve health and health care. The active, ongoing relationship between a patient and a physician in medical homes supports staying healthy and preventing illness in the first place. PPC – PCMH Recognition shows that Rush has tools, systems and resources to provide patients with the right care at the right time.
BMJ survey reveals research misconduct “alive and well" in the UK
More than one in ten (13%) UK based scientists or doctors have witnessed colleagues intentionally altering or fabricating data during their research or for the purposes of publication, while 6% say they are aware of possible research misconduct at their institution that has not been properly investigated, reveals a BMJ survey published today which attracted over 2,700 responses.
NIH Scientists Find Cause of Rare Immune Disease
Genetic mutation leads to cold allergy, immune deficiency and autoimmunity
Investigators at the National Institutes of Health have identified a genetic mutation in three unrelated families that causes a rare immune disorder characterized by excessive and impaired immune function. Symptoms of this condition include immune deficiency, autoimmunity, inflammatory skin disorders and cold-induced hives, a condition known as cold urticaria.
The study was led by Joshua Milner, M.D., in the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). It will appear in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine on Jan. 11, 2012.
The mutation discovered occurs in a gene for phospholipase C-gamma2 (PLCG2), an enzyme involved in the activation of immune cells. The investigators have named the condition PLCG2-associated antibody deficiency and immune dysregulation, or PLAID
NIH Study Shows 32 Million Americans Have Autoantibodies That Target Their Own Tissues
More than 32 million people in the United States have autoantibodies, which are proteins made by the immune system that target the body's tissues and define a condition known as autoimmunity, a study shows. The first nationally representative sample looking at the prevalence of the most common type of autoantibody, known as antinuclear antibodies (ANA), found that the frequency of ANA is highest among women, older individuals, and African-Americans. The study was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers in Gainesville at the University of Florida also participated.
Cognitive decline can begin as early as age 45, warn experts
Research: Timing of onset of cognitive decline: results from Whitehall II prospective cohort study
The brain’s capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills (cognitive function) can start to deteriorate from age 45, finds research published on bmj.com today.
Previous research suggests that cognitive decline does not begin before the age of 60, but this view is not universally accepted.
Preventive hemophilia A treatment reduces annual bleeding events and frequency of infusions
CHICAGO -- A Rush University Medical Center led international research team has announced that a treatment to prevent bleeding episodes in children with hemophilia A also is effective for adolescents and adults.
The preventive therapy will “optimize care for hemophilia patients of all ages by stopping unexpected bleeding events that can have a detrimental impact on the lives of patients,” said Dr. Leonard Valentino, director of the Rush Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center and principal investigator on the study. The study results appeared in the January online version of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Valentino is associate professor of Pediatrics at Rush University’s Rush Medical College.
Gene identified in increasing pancreatic cancer risk
PHILADELPHIA — Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.
Outside temperatures, sun exposure and gender may trigger glaucoma
Study published in January 2012 issue of Ophthalmology
BOSTON (Jan. 1, 2012) – When it comes to whether or not you will develop exfoliation syndrome (ES) -- an eye condition that is a leading cause of secondary open-angle glaucoma and increased risk of cataract as well as cataract surgery complications -- age, gender and where you live does matter.
HIV Study Named 2011 Breakthrough of the Year By Science
NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study heralded as a major advance
The journal Science has chosen the HPTN 052 clinical trial(http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2011/Pages/HPTN052.aspx), an international HIV prevention trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The study found that if HIV-infected heterosexual individuals begin taking antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems are relatively healthy as opposed to delaying therapy until the disease has advanced, they are 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners. Findings from the trial, first announced in May, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August. The complete top 10 list of 2011 scientific breakthroughs appears in the Dec. 23, 2011 issue of Science.
Brain's Connective Cells Are Much More Than Glue
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Glia cells also regulate learning and memory, new TAU research finds
According to Ph.D. student Maurizio De Pittà of TAU's Schools of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical A network of neurons (in red) and glia cells (in green) grown in a petri dish. Blue dots are the cells' nuclei. Photo Pablo Blinder
Missing trial data threatens the integrity of medicine
Missing clinical trial data can harm patients and lead to futile costs to health systems, warn experts on bmj.com today as part of an in-depth BMJ review of the matter.
Missing data is a serious problem in clinical research. It distorts the scientific record, so that clinical decisions cannot be based on the best evidence.
Turn Down the iPod to Save Your Hearing
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Using MP3 players at high volume puts teens at risk for early hearing loss, say TAU researchers
Today's ubiquitous MP3 players permit users to listen to crystal-clear tunes at high volume for hours on end — a marked improvement on the days of the Walkman. But according to Tel Aviv University research, these advances have also turned personal listening devices into a serious health hazard, with teenagers as the most at-risk group.
Childhood Hypersensitivity Linked to OCD
Adult onset could be connected to oral and tactile sensitivities in childhood, Tel Aviv University research finds
Tel Aviv — In childhood, rituals like regular schedules for meal, bath, and bed times are a healthy part of behavioral development. But combined with oral and tactile sensitivities such as discomfort at the dentist or irritation caused by specific fabrics, these rituals could be an early warning sign of adult Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Are the Anxious Oblivious?
TAU study finds anxiety-ridden individuals are less sensitive to their environments
Tel Aviv - December 2011 - Anxious people have long been classified as "hypersensitive" — they're thought to be more fearful and feel threatened more easily than their counterparts. But new research from Tel Aviv University shows that the anxious may not be hypersensitive at all — in fact, they may not be sensitive enough.
UTSW research suggests new way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatment
DALLAS – Dec. 22, 2011 – A UT Southwestern Medical Center study using a sophisticated “glass mouse” research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed.
If the study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases is borne out in future investigations, it may lead to better ways to treat one of the world’s major infectious diseases. Health workers worldwide currently are required to witness each administration of the combination of drugs during months of therapy.
B cell receptor inhibitor causes chronic lymphocytic leukemia remission
PCI-32765 applies molecularly aimed attack to disease usually treated with chemotherapy combinations
SAN DIEGO - A new, targeted approach to treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia has produced durable remissions in a Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with relapsed or resistant disease, investigators report at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
"PCI-32765, one of a new class of experimental drugs called B cell receptor inhibitors, has shown impressive potential in this clinical trial for its effectiveness and particularly for its relatively minimal toxicity," said lead investigator Susan O'Brien, M.D., professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
According to the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database, an estimated 14,570 people will receive a diagnosis of CLL in 2011 and about 4,380 patients will die of the disease.
Novel experimental agent is highly active in CLL patients, interim study shows
COLUMBUS, Ohio – An interim analysis of a phase Ib/II clinical trial indicates that a novel experimental agent for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is highly active and well tolerated in patients who have relapsed and are resistant to other therapy. The agent, called PCI-32765, is the first drug designed to target Bruton's tyrosine kinase, a protein essential for CLL-cell survival and proliferation. CLL is the most common form of leukemia, with about 15,000 new cases annually in the U.S. About 4,400 Americans die of the disease each year.
People with DFNA2 Hearing Loss Show Increased Touch Sensitivity
KCNQ4 channel (red) at skin mechanosensory nerve endings (green) (Graphic: M. Heidenreich/Copyright: FMP, MDC)
People with a certain form of inherited hearing loss have increased sensitivity to low frequency vibration, according to a study by Professor Thomas Jentsch of the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP)/Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-
Buch and Professor Gary Lewin (MDC), conducted in cooperation with clinicians from Madrid, Spain and Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The research findings, which were published in Nature Neuroscience (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2985)*, reveal previously unknown relationships between hearing loss and touch sensitivity: In order to be able to ‘feel’, specialized cells in the skin must be tuned like instruments in an orchestra.
Scripps research study underlines potential of anti-stress peptide to block alcohol dependence
Findings could lead to development of new anti-alcoholism drugs
LA JOLLA, CA -- New research by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has underlined the power of an endogenous anti-stress peptide in the brain to prevent and even reverse some of the cellular effects of acute alcohol and alcohol dependence in animal models. The work could lead to the development of novel drugs to treat alcoholism.
Pharmacists crucial in plan for terrorist chemical weapons
Los Angeles, CA (December 9th, 2011) – Terrorist attacks with chemical weapons are a real possibility, according to a study that appears in the online open access journal, Journal of Pharmacy Practice, published by SAGE. Thanks to their extensive knowledge of toxic agents, and how to treat those who have been exposed, pharmacists are an invaluable resource in the event of an actual or potential chemical weapons attack.
Putting the Squeeze on Fat Cells
TAU develops new computer method to measure mechanical stress in fat cells
Tel Aviv - November 22, 2011 - From fad diets to exercise programs, Americans continue to fight the battle of the bulge. Now they'll have help from recent Tel Aviv University research that has developed a new method to look at how fat cells — which produce the fat in our bodies — respond to mechanical loads.
This might be the key to understanding how to control the amount of fat produced by fat cells, the holy grail of weight loss researchers, says Prof. Amit Gefen of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research is driven by the theory that fat cells, like bone or muscle cells, are influenced by mechanical loads, defined as the amount of force or deformation placed on a particular area occupied by cells. By recreating the structure of fat cells using a newly-developed computer method, Prof. Gefen and his team of researchers can determine how much mechanical load can be tolerated by fat cells, and at what point the cells will begin to disintegrate.
Beating Superbugs with a High-Tech Cleanser
TAU engineers an easy-to-use solution to make hospitals safer
Tel Aviv - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are one of the top three threats to human health. Patients in hospitals are especially at risk, with almost 100,000 deaths due to infection every year in the U.S. alone.
Gene therapy achieves early success against hereditary bleeding disorder
Study of gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and University College London offers first proof that the treatment benefits adults with hemophilia B; reduces need for clotting factor to prevent bleeds
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – December 10, 2011) Symptoms improved significantly in adults with the bleeding disorder hemophilia B following a single treatment with gene therapy developed by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and demonstrated to be safe in a clinical trial conducted at the University College London (UCL) in the U.K.
Scripps Research Scientists Uncover New Role for Gene in Maintaining Steady Weight
The Findings May Help Scientists Combat Obesity and Diabetes
JUPITER, FL, November 23, 2011 – Against the backdrop of the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have made an important new discovery regarding a specific gene that plays an important role in keeping a steady balance between our food intake and energy expenditure. The study may help scientists better understand the keys to fighting obesity and related disorders such as diabetes.
NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases Program announces next round of drug development projects
Researchers will begin drug development projects for rare and neglected diseases that include potential treatments for a musculoskeletal disorder, a cognitive dysfunction disorder, a virus that affects the central nervous system of newborns, a parasitic worm infection, a form of muscular dystrophy and a rare lung disease. The six new projects are part of the National Institutes of Health’s Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program.
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a flexible brain implant that could one day be used to treat epileptic seizures. In animal studies, the researchers used the device — a type of electrode array that conforms to the brain's surface — to take an unprecedented look at the brain activity underlying
he electrode array developed by Litt, Viventi and colleagues is ultrathin and flexible, allowing close contact with the brain and high-resolution recordings of seizures. Credit: Travis Ross and Yun Soung Kim, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
seizures.
"Someday, these flexible arrays could be used to pinpoint where seizures start in the brain and perhaps to shut them down," said Brian Litt, M.D., the principal investigator and
an associate professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. The findings appear in this month's Nature Neuroscience. The team will also discuss their findings at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience meeting, Nov. 12-16 in Washington, D.C.
Intensive Therapy Halves Kidney Disease in Type I Diabetes
NIH-funded study shows long-term benefits
Controlling blood glucose early in the course of type 1 diabetes yields huge dividends, preserving kidney function for decades. The new finding from a study funded by the National Institutes of Health was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine Nov. 12 to coincide with presentation at a scientific meeting.
Scripps Research Scientists Find Potential Achilles’ Heel on Lassa Fever and Related Viruses
New structural study of deadly Lassa fever virus reveals important functional site that may become a target for future antiviral drugs
LA JOLLA, CA, November 14, 2011 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the atomic structure of a protein that the Lassa fever virus uses to make copies of itself within infected cells. The structural data reveal an unexpected molecular crevice where the viral protein grips the viral genes, making this crevice a target for potential antiviral drugs. Lassa fever virus and other arenaviruses infect hundreds of thousands of people annually and are often deadly. Currently there is no specific therapy or vaccine against them.
Targeted Antibiotic Drug Safest Among Recommended Treatments For Irritable Bowel Disease, Study Finds
In an article published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, the ground-breaking therapy developed at Cedars-Sinai found through two double-blind trials that patients who suffered from diarrhea prominent IBS reported relief from bloating, less abdominal pain and improved stool consistency for up to 10 weeks. While the concept of bacterial playing a key role in IBS was controversial when first unveiled a decade ago, this research confirms that bacteria in the gut trigger the symptoms of the chronic condition, affecting an estimated 30 million people in the United States.
NIH Scientists Discover Link Among Spectrum of Childhood Diseases
Hard-to-treat disorders characterized by inflammation and fat loss
An international collaboration of scientists, including researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, has identified a genetic mutation that causes a rare childhood disease characterized predominantly by inflammation and fat loss. The research suggests that the disorder, named chronic atypical neutrophilic dermatosis with lipodystrophy and elevated temperature (CANDLE), actually represents a spectrum of diseases that have been described in the literature under a variety of names. More importantly, since no effective treatment for this disease currently exists, the findings may have uncovered a possible target for future treatments.
Priming with DNA vaccine makes avian flu vaccine work better
NIH study also provides proof of concept for universal influenza vaccine
The immune response to an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine was greatly enhanced in healthy adults if they were first primed with a DNA vaccine expressing a gene for a key H5N1 protein, researchers say. Their report describes results from two clinical studies conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Full Story
Workplace sabotage fueled by envy, unleashed by disengagement: UBC research
University of British Columbia research shows that managers should keep team members connected and engaged to avoid workplace sabotage. Co-authored by UBC Sauder School of Business Prof. Karl Aquino, the study reveals that envious employees are more likely to undermine peers if they feel disconnected from others.
