Researchers at National Jewish Health have identified cells and signaling molecules that trigger the repair of injured lungs. Stijn De Langhe, PhD, and his colleagues report October 10, 2011, online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, that destruction of lung tissue in mice induces smooth muscle cells surrounding the airways to secrete a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10), which induces surviving epithelial cells in the airways to revert to a stem-cell state, proliferate, repair and repopulate the lining of the lungs.
Body
PHILADELPHIA — Ginger supplements reduced markers of colon inflammation in a select group of patients, suggesting that this supplement may have potential as a colon cancer prevention agent, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Suzanna M. Zick, N.D., M.P.H., a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, and colleagues enrolled 30 patients and randomly assigned them to two grams of ginger root supplements per day or placebo for 28 days.
A commonly prescribed antimicrobial – trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole – that has been used since 1968 can cause serious adverse reactions and physicians need to be aware of these in prescribing, states a review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/site/embargo/cmaj111152.pdf.
Environmental toxicants such as dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides can pose a risk for cardiovascular disease. For the first time a link has been demonstrated between atherosclerosis and levels of long-lived organic environmental toxicants in the blood. The study, carried out by researchers at Uppsala University, is being published online this week in ahead of print in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The research shows that in addition to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, which present the antigen vaccine to the immune cells, genetic factors, that control some immune cells, influence the quality of response to vaccinations. The results could make it possible to prevent neuroinflammatory reactions, which are major obstacles preventing the use of the vaccination in humans. This study has just been published in the Journal of Immunology.
Today the citizens of Liberia will participate in just their second presidential election since the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 2003, and in such an environment the specter of violence or other unrest is never far away. But what if social media, a Georgia Tech professor is asking, could identify and even help prevent dangerous situations from occurring?
Lung cancer patients could receive safer and more efficient treatment through a system being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The scientists have devised a method for giving drugs by inhalation to patients through a nebuliser, rather than the current approach of intravenous delivery.
The system could administer the treatment far more quickly than existing methods and without the harmful side effects associated with current systems, which can cause kidney damage.
Many people in Bangladesh and other parts of Asia have been poisoned by drinking groundwater laced with arsenic—not introduced by humans, but leached naturally from sediments, and now being tapped by shallow drinking wells. In recent years, to avoid the problem, deeper wells have been sunk 500 feet or more to purer waters—but fears have remained that when deep water is pumped out, contaminated water might filter down to replace it.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A compound isolated from a wild, poisonous mushroom growing in a Southwest China forest appears to help a cancer killing drug fulfill its promise, researchers report.
The compound, verticillin A, sensitizes cancer cells to TRAIL, a drug which induces cancer cells to self destruct, said Dr. Kebin Liu, cancer immunologist at the Georgia Health Sciences University Cancer Center and corresponding author of the study in the journal Cancer Research.
Forty-five per cent of cancer survivors in Northern Ireland suffer from physical and mental health problems years after their treatment has finished, according to new research from Macmillan Cancer Support and Queen's University Belfast.
The report, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, also found cancer survivors and their carers are more likely to access health services than the general population.
Bypassing the occlusion
Mazzone has demonstrated that arteriogenesis (growth of pre-existing connections between distinct blood vessels into functional arteries) can be accelerated by blocking the function of the protein PhD2 in a particular class of white blood cells. This resulted in wider and functional vessels, which allows the blood to bypass the occlusion and thus offers better blood perfusion. The scientists want to investigate in further detail the therapeutic potential of blocking PhD2 for ischemic diseases.
A new method for quickly identifying individual viruses and recognising how they bind to host cells may become a vital tool in the early control of winter vomiting disease and other virus-based diseases. In the west, this means saving money and reducing stress on health-care systems. In developing countries, this means saving lives. The method has been jointly developed by researchers at Chalmers and the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- New research has found that if you want some of the many health benefits associated with eating broccoli or other cruciferous vegetables, you need to eat the real thing – a key phytochemical in these vegetables is poorly absorbed and of far less value if taken as a supplement.
The study, published by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, is one of the first of its type to determine whether some of the healthy compounds found in cruciferous vegetables can be just as easily obtained through supplements.
The answer is no.
October 11, 2011, Shenzhen, China -- BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, has developed the first exome sequencing platform for the monkey, based on next-generation sequencing technology and monkey exome capturing array (MECA). MECA is a proprietary exome capture array designed by BGI for capturing the entire monkey exome. The combination of this revolutionary array and BGI's high-throughput sequencing technology not only can simplify the workflow of exome sequencing experiments, but also improve cost-effectiveness and turnaround time.