Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council(BBSRC) have established in mice the mechanism that detects and responds to thepresence of bacteria in the womb - a discovery that opens up the possibility ofnew preventative treatments for diseases like pelvic inflammatory disease andChlamydia.
The work, led by Professor Martin Sheldon from Swansea University's School ofMedicine, is published today (22 September) in PLoS ONE.
An international study looking at DNA from over 26,000 people has identified several genetic variants that substantially increase susceptibility to asthma in the population. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, will help scientists to focus their efforts to develop better therapies for the illness.
STANFORD, Calif. - Implantation of a new bioprosthetic-tissue valve into the hearts of patients who have severe aortic stenosis and are too sick or too old for open-heart surgery has been found to both save lives and improve the quality of those lives, according to a new multicenter study, to be published online at 2 p.m. Pacific time today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study will also be presented at 8 a.m. Pacific time at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23.
Women who survive breast cancer often suffer from functional limitations that affect motion, strength and dexterity, which may adversely affect all-cause and competing-cause survival but not breast cancer survival, according to a study published online September 22 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer survivors who have functional limitations that affect motion, strength, and dexterity are at the same risk of dying from a recurrence of breast cancer as physically fit survivors, but are more likely to die from other causes.
September 21, 2010 – Chicago – The prevalence of periodontal disease in the United States may be significantly higher than originally estimated. Research published in the Journal of Dental Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) suggests that the prevalence of periodontal disease may have been underestimated by as much as 50 percent. The implication is that more American adults may suffer from moderate to severe gum disease than previously thought.
Bethesda, Md. (September 22, 2010) – Taking chromium picolinate may help lessen inflammation associated with diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. In a study comparing diabetic mice treated with chromium picolinate with those that received placebo, the researchers found that mice who received the supplement had lower levels of albuminuria (protein in the urine), an indication of kidney disease.
The Study
Better treatments and prevention for typhoid fever may emerge from a laboratory model that has just been developed for the disease. The model is based on transplanting human immune stem cells from umbilical cord blood into mice that are susceptible to infections.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Sometimes, treasures can be found in your own backyard –– especially if you know what to look for. This is what happened to Jeff Goddard, project scientist with the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.
By following the "nose" of fruit flies, Yale scientists are on the trail of new insect repellents that may reduce the spread of infectious disease and damage to agricultural crops. That's because they've learned for the first time how a group of genes used to differentiate smells is turned on and off, opening new possibilities for insect control. Just as in new drug development, researchers can target these or similar genes in other insects to create substances that make crops and people "invisible" to insect antennae.
LA JOLLA, CA – September 20, 2010 –– A team at The Scripps Research Institute has detailed the structure of a member of the only remaining class of multidrug resistance transporters left to be described. The work has implications for combating dangerous antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, as well as for developing hardy strains of agricultural crops.
The study was published in an advance, online issue of the journal Nature on September 22, 2010.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that a form of cell division typically associated with cancer called multipolar mitosis can yield diverse, viable cells capable of protecting the liver from injury and poisonous substances, such as pesticides, carcinogens or drugs. Their findings are published online in the journal Nature.
Many genes code for proteins that have a "polyglutamine tract," several glutamine amino acid residues in a row. Nine inherited neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), are associated with mutations that cause abnormally long polyglutamine tracts. One theory suggests that accumulation of proteins with extra glutamines damages and kills neurons. However, there is evidence that glutamine tract expansion alone is not sufficient to cause disease.
A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators links the muscle weakness and other symptoms of a rare neurodegenerative disease to a misstep in functioning of a normal protein, rather than its build-up inside cells. The finding offers insight into the mechanism driving common nervous system disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Portable devices that use a laser beam to probe bones, teeth, and other parts of the body for early signs of diseases like osteoporosis and tooth decay may seem like something out of science fiction. But those devices are moving closer to reality, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.
