Latest in medical science

Matthew25 · Jun 16, 2013

Latest in medical science

Osteoporosis drug stops growth of breast cancer cells, even in resistant tumors

Osteoporosis drug stops growth of breast cancer cells, even in resistant tumors

A drug approved in Europe to treat osteoporosis has now been shown to stop the growth of breast cancer cells, even in cancers that have become resistant to current targeted therapies, according to a Duke Cancer Institute study.

The findings, presented June 15, 2013, at the annual Endocrine Society meeting in San Francisco, indicate that the drug bazedoxifene packs a powerful one-two punch that not only prevents estrogen from fueling breast cancer cell growth, but also flags the estrogen receptor for destruction.

"We found bazedoxifene binds to the estrogen receptor and interferes with its activity, but the surprising thing we then found was that it also degrades the receptor; it gets rid of it," said senior author Donald McDonnell, PhD, chair of Duke's Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology.
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Cure for breast cancer?

]Artificial Spleen Offers Hope for Faster Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment

Researchers are designing a dialysis-like machine that could identify and remove pathogens responsible for an often lethal blood infection.
By Mike Orcutt on June 13, 2013

Blood cleanser: This device uses microfluidics and nanotechnology to remove pathogens from blood before returning it to the body.

Taking advantage of recent advances in nanotechnology and microfluidics, researchers have made significant progress toward a device that could be used to rapidly remove pathogens from the blood of patients with sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when an infection is distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream.

Engineers at Harvard Universitys Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where the technology is under development, are also hoping the device will be able to identify the specific microörganism causing the problem, which could help physicians determine the most effective antibiotic treatment more quickly than they can with conventional diagnostic tests.
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Spleen-on-a-Chip | MIT Technology Review

Matthew25 · Jun 16, 2013

TEDGlobal: Future vaccines could be delivered via patch
By Jane Wakefield

Technology reporter, TEDGlobal, Edinburgh
BBC News - TEDGlobal: Future vaccines could be delivered via patch

A skin patch that can deliver vaccines cheaply and effectively has been shown off at the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh.

Using a patch rather than a needle could transform disease prevention around the world, said its inventor.

Prof Mark Kendall said the new method offered hope of usable vaccines for diseases such as malaria.

Other medical experts welcomed the news, but warned it might be unsuitable for some patients.

Old technology

It was fitting that Prof Kendall delivered his talk in Edinburgh where, 160 years previously, Alexander Wood had lodged the first patent for the needle and syringe.

"The patent looked almost identical to the needles we use today. This is a 160-year-old technology," he said.
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Matthew25 · Jun 17, 2013

Memory-boosting chemical identified in mice
Pharmacological brake-release of mRNA translation enhances cognitive memory | eLife

A small, drug-like molecule injected into mice has been found to significantly boost their memory.

The same biochemical pathway the molecule acts on might one day be targeted in humans to improve their memory, according to Peter Walter, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

In one test, normal mice were able to relocate a submerged platform about three times faster after receiving injections of the potent chemical than mice who received sham injections. The mice that received the chemical also better remembered cues associated with unpleasant stimuli – the sort of fear conditioning that could help a mouse avoid being preyed upon.

Notably, the findings suggest that, despite what would seem to be the importance of having the best biochemical mechanisms to maximise the power of memory, evolution does not seem to have provided them.

“It appears that the process of evolution has not optimised memory consolidation; otherwise I don’t think we could have improved upon it the way we did in our study with normal, healthy mice,” Walter said.

The memory-boosting chemical was singled out from 100,000 chemicals screened at the Small Molecule Discovery Center at UCSF for their potential to perturb a protective biochemical pathway within cells, that is activated when cells are unable to keep up with the need to fold proteins into their working forms.
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Matthew25 · Jun 17, 2013

New drug reverses loss of brain connections in Alzheimer's disease

The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer's disease has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. The drug, called NitroMemantine, combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline.

The decade-long study, led by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Del E. Webb Center for Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research, who is also a practicing clinical neurologist, shows that NitroMemantine can restore synapses, representing the connections between nerve cells (neurons) that have been lost during the progression of Alzheimer's in the brain. The research findings are described in a paper published June 17 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

The focus on a downstream target to treat Alzheimer's, rather than on amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles—approaches which have shown little success—"is very exciting because everyone is now looking for an earlier treatment of the disease," Lipton said. "These findings actually mean that you might be able to intercede not only early but also a bit later." And that means that an Alzheimer's patient may be able to have synaptic connections restored even with plaques and tangles already in his or her brain.
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New drug reverses loss of brain connections in Alzheimer's disease

Matthew25 · Jun 19, 2013

HPV vaccine reduces cancer virus in girls by 56%

Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY 7:42 p.m. EDT June 19, 2013

The CDC reports a striking decline in the prevalance of HPV infection since vaccination began in 2006.

A vaccine against the human papillomavirus has decreased the incidence of the cancer-causing virus among teenage girls by 56%, despite being available since only 2006, a study released Wednesday finds
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HPV vaccine reduces cancer virus in girls by 56%

Matthew25 · Jun 20, 2013

Silver Boosts Antibiotic Success

Adding silver to antibiotics makes them 10 to 1,000 times more effective at fighting infections, research suggests.

This could mean that medicines could become far, far more effective in a very short amount of time.
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BBC News - Silver 'boost to antibiotic success'

Another huge advancement of understanding!

Matthew25 · Jun 23, 2013

Medtronic takes 'first step' toward U.S. sale of artificial pancreas

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO | Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:06am EDT

(Reuters) - Type 1 diabetics, who run the risk of dangerously low blood sugar, may be a step closer to getting help from a crude artificial pancreas device that can read blood sugar levels and automatically turn off the flow of insulin after a clinical trial showed the device is safe.

The long-awaited results of the clinical trial may pave the way for U.S. approval of the device, made by Medtronic, which already sells insulin pumps with an automatic shutoff feature in 50 countries outside the United States. The feature is meant to guard against delivering insulin to diabetics their blood sugar is already too low.
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Medtronic takes 'first step' toward U.S. sale of artificial pancreas | Reuters

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Stroke drug can 'boost quality of life'
By Caroline Parkinson

Health editor, BBC News website

Image of a brain affected by a stroke A stroke can cause permanent loss of function

Patients given a clot-busting drug within six hours of a stroke are more likely to have a good quality of life 18 months afterwards, an international study suggests.

However, the review of more than 3,000 patients found the drug - alteplase - offered no improvement in survival rates.

The drug is increasingly being used in specialist stroke units in the UK.

The Stroke Association said the Lancet Neurology research was "encouraging".

Quality of life

The treatment is given to patients who have had an ischaemic stroke, when the brain's blood supply is interrupted by a clot.
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BBC News - Stroke drug can 'boost quality of life'

Matthew25 · Jun 25, 2013

Nerve cells 're-grown' in rats after spinal injury
By Helen Briggs

BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23051516

US scientists say they have made progress in repairing spinal cord injuries in paralysed rats.

Rats regained some bladder control after surgery to transplant nerve cells into the spinal cord, combined with injections of a cocktail of chemicals. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could raise hopes for one day treating paralysed patients.

But UK experts say it will take several years of research before human clinical trials can be considered.

Scientists have tried for decades to use transplants of nerve cells to restore function in paralysed animals by bridging the gap in the broken spinal cord.
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New palm-sized microarray technique grows 1,200 individual cultures of microbes

10 minutes ago

A new palm-sized microarray that holds 1,200 individual cultures of fungi or bacteria could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery, according to a study published in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
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Read more at: New palm-sized microarray technique grows 1,200 individual cultures of microbes

Matthew25 · Jun 25, 2013

EU heart deaths 'halved since 1980s

Death rates from coronary heart disease have more than halved in almost all EU countries since the early 1980s, according to research.

Most countries have seen steady reductions in deaths in both men and women of all ages, despite rises in obesity and diabetes, a UK study shows.

However, experts have warned against complacency, saying wide disparities remain across Europe.

Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer.

About one in five men and one in eight women die from the disease.
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BBC News - EU heart deaths 'halved since 1980s'

Matthew25 · Jun 26, 2013

Type 1 diabetes vaccine hailed as 'significant step'

It may be possible to reverse type 1 diabetes by training a patient's own immune system to stop attacking their body, an early trial suggests.

Their immune system destroys the cells that make insulin, the hormone needed to control blood sugar levels.

A study in 80 patients, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, showed a vaccine could retrain their immune system.

Experts described the results as a "significant step".

Normally a vaccine teaches the immune system to attack bacteria or viruses that cause disease, such as the polio virus.
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BBC News - Type 1 diabetes vaccine hailed as 'significant step'

Matthew25 · Jun 29, 2013

Skin Cancer Vaccine Closer To Reality

Updated June 29, 2013 7:41 AM | Filed under: Health

(UNDATED) - Doctors tell you to use sunscreen every day to avoid skin cancer, but there could be a new weapon against the most dangerous form of the disease.

A vaccine for melanoma passed its initial human trial without causing any adverse side effects, according to a study published online this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Researchers at Duke University and Merck Laboratories are injecting dendritic cells into patients, the cells that are part of our immune system that normally protects us from disease. "You take a protein from the melanoma that was always there but the immune system couldn't see, and you enhance the ability of the immune system to see it," said Dr. Ruemu Birhiray, an oncologist at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.
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Skin Cancer Vaccine Closer To Reality - WBIW.com / Local

Matthew25 · Jul 2, 2013

World's first approved bionic eye to launch in U.S.

The Argus II, which treats patients with the rare genetic condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, was approved by the FDA in February after more than 20 years in the making.

After more than 20 years in the making and FDA approval in February, the Argus II bionic eye is finally here. Well, almost. Developer Second Sight says it has selected clinical centers in 12 U.S. markets where it will begin rolling out the groundbreaking technology later this year.
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World's first approved bionic eye to launch in U.S. | Cutting Edge - CNET News

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Drug Appears To Work For Weight-Loss In U-M Study
CBS News ^ | July 1, 2013 | NA
Drug Appears To Work For Weight-Loss In U-M Study « CBS Detroit

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - Could a drug used to treat canker sores be a miracle weight-loss solution? Researchers at University of Michigan are working to find out.

Back in February, U-M researchers discovered that mice given the prescription drug, Amlexanox, lost weight without diet or exercise.

Now, Dr. Elif Oral, an associate professor of internal medicine at U-M’s Metabolism, Endocrinology & Diabetes (MEND) division, is beginning the first human study to determine whether the drug will have the same effect in people.

“The weight loss together in improved glucose metabolism makes this even more interesting, you know, and more exciting,” Oral told WWJ Health Reporter Sean Lee. “We’re going to start out by targeting the diabetic population because that’s the population that needs more immediate help.”

The study is small, enrolling just 10 obese people with Type 2 diabetes. If that goes well, the next study will enroll more people.
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Matthew25 · Jul 4, 2013

Technological breakthrough paves the way for better drugs

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed the first method for directly measuring the extent to which drugs reach their targets in the cell. The method, which is described in the scientific journal Science, could make a significant contribution to the development of new, improved drug substances.

Most drugs operate by binding to one or more proteins and affecting their function, which creates two common bottlenecks in the development of drugs; identifying the right target proteins and designing drug molecules able to efficiently seek out and bind to them. No method has been available for directly measuring the efficiency of the drug molecules to locate and bind to its target protein. Now researchers from Karolinska Institutet have developed a new tool called CETSA (Cellular Thermal Shift Assay), which utilise the concept that target proteins usually get stabilised when drug molecules bind.
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Technological breakthrough paves the way for better drugs

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Japanese researchers grow working liver from stem cells

Adario Strange

Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - 2:16pm
Japanese researchers grow working liver from stem cells | DVICE

The promise of curing any number of human ailments through the use of stem cells has been slow going, but a new breakthrough offers hope that the age of organ donation may soon come to an end. Japanese scientists at Yokohama City University have announced that for the first time stem cells have been used to create a working human liver.

Published in this week's Nature journal, the researchers wrote, "To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the generation of a functional human organ from pluripotent stem cells." Grown gradually over the course of two months, iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells) treated to function as liver cells organized into an early stage version of a liver. According to the scientists, once transplanted into test mice, the liver cells grew into what appeared to be the early stages of an adult human liver.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/03/human-liver-stem-cell-treatment

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