Specific genetic mutations in women with autoimmune diseases are associated with preeclampsia—a common pregnancy-related problem that can threaten the health of both baby and mother. Furthermore, investigation of these specific genetic mutations has revealed an association between similar mutations and preeclampsia in women without any underlying autoimmune disease. These are the findings of a study by Jane Salmon a rheumatologist from Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, USA, and colleagues and published in this week's PLoS Medicine.
Body
The zeta toxins are a family of proteins that are normally present within various pathogenic bacteria and can mysteriously trigger suicide when the cells undergo stress. A team led by Anton Meinhart at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg has now found the mechanism underlying this programmed bacterial cell death. Their paper, publishing next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology, reports that zeta toxins convert a compound required for bacterial cell wall synthesis into a poison that kills bacteria from within.
Scientists have identified genetic errors in women with autoimmune diseases that increase the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs in 10 percent of all pregnancies.
The researchers also found the same mutations in some women with preeclampsia who don't have underlying autoimmune diseases. Their findings provide genetic targets for new treatments and suggest that screening tests could one day identify women at risk of the condition, which accounts for 15 percent of all preterm births.
Scientists have discovered genetic defects that appear to predispose women to a common pregnancy-related medical problem called preeclampsia that can threaten the life of both baby and mother.
Lead investigator Jane Salmon, M.D., a rheumatologist and senior scientist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and colleagues uncovered genetic mutations in women with the autoimmune diseases associated with increased risk of preeclampsia, as well as in patients with preeclampsia who did not have an autoimmune disease.
CHICAGO --- A new study from Northwestern Medicine shows a high-fiber diet could be a critical heart-healthy lifestyle change young and middle-aged adults can make. The study found adults between 20 and 59 years old with the highest fiber intake had a significantly lower estimated lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease compared to those with the lowest fiber intake.
Richmond, Va. – (March 23, 2011) – Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) have discovered a novel mechanism in gene regulation that contributes to the development of a form of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Currently, there is virtually no effective treatment for HCC, and this breakthrough identifies a promising new target for therapeutic intervention.
Obese teens may feel healthy, but blood tests show they have inflammation, insulin resistance, and high homocysteine levels , researchers report at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions.
Although recent evidence suggests that the clinical benefit may be uncertain for fibrates, a class of drugs used for the treatment of high lipid levels, use of these drugs is common in the U.S. and Canada, with usage increasing steadily in the last decade in the U.S., especially for a brand-name fibrate product, according to a study in the March 23/30 issue of JAMA.
In patients with a suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS; such as heart attack or unstable angina), use of a more sensitive test to detect the protein troponin in blood was associated with increased diagnosis of a heart attack and improved identification of patients at high risk of another heart attack and death in the following year, according to a study in the March 23/30 issue of JAMA.
An analysis of previous studies that examined whether episodic physical activity and sexual activity can act as a trigger for cardiac events found an association between these activities and a short-term increased risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac death, although the absolute risk was small and lessened among persons with high levels of regular physical activity, according to an article in the March 23/30 issue of JAMA.
Patients taking imatinib (Gleevec) for CML, or chronic myelogenous leukemia, and in remission after two years of treatment, have a mortality rate similar to that of the general population according to a study published online [date] in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The article offers the first evidence that a disseminated cancer, not amenable to surgery, can be controlled to the point of giving patients a normal life expectancy.
A highly sensitive blood test could help identify heart attacks in thousands of patients who would otherwise have gone undiagnosed, a study suggests.
The test, which identifies heart muscle damage, detected heart attacks in a third more patients who were admitted to hospital with chest pain than previous tests.
The University of Edinburgh study found that after this test was introduced into clinical practice the risk of being readmitted to hospital with – or dying from – another heart attack within the following year was halved.
Ann Arbor, Mich. — In 1998, a study linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism in children appeared in a respected medical journal. For a decade, the study grabbed headlines worldwide. Worried parents rejected the life-saving vaccine for their children and those with autistic children agonized that they allowed an injection that caused the condition.
But the vaccine-autism research was a fraud. The paper was retracted 12 years later, denounced as an elaborate deception.
RENO, Nev. – In a lakewide study, a team of scientists lead by University of Nevada, Reno limnologist Sudeep Chandra has found a considerable decline in native fish species density at Lake Tahoe since 1951. In their final report, they are recommending establishing and implementing a management plan to protect the nearshore zone habitat, which is critical to native fish.
Victims of severe traumatic elder abuse are more likely to be female, suffer from a neurological or mental disorder, and to abuse drugs or alcohol, according to research published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.