Particular parvoviruses normally infect rodents, but they are also infectious for human cells. However, they do not cause any disease symptoms in humans. Most importantly, these viruses have an astonishing property: They kill infected tumors cells without causing any damage to healthy tissue. Therefore, scientists in the teams of Jean Rommelaere and Jörg Schlehofer at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have been investigating over the past years whether these viruses can be used as weapons against cancer.
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Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a new control mechanism in our immune system. The discovery is of potential significance to the treatment of serious diseases such as MS (multiple sclerosis), rheumatoid arthritis, and SLE (Systemic lupus erythematosus).
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Most people associate serotonin with brain neurology, but over 95 percent of the body's serotonin occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, which has a complex neuronal circuit that has been called "the second brain" of the body. Now a Mayo Clinic research team has identified a number of genetic variants in serotonin genes that impact irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. The findings are being presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2010 in New Orleans.
Australian researchers have published the results of a study, for the first time showing a positive effect of growth hormone on athletic performance.
It showed a .4 second improvement in a 10-second sprint, enough to turn a last-place Olympic athlete in a sprint event – running or swimming - into a Gold medal winner.
The study justifies growth hormone being a banned substance, even though evidence of its performance enhancing effect has been very poor until now.
DALLAS – May 4, 2010 – A national study involving a UT Southwestern Medical Center neonatologist and pediatric infectious diseases specialist suggests that a screening test routinely performed in newborns is not very good at identifying cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a leading cause of hearing loss in children.
The findings, published in the April 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest that testing blood drawn from a newborn's heel has limited value in detecting CMV infection.
UCLA researchers report in the April 30 edition of the journal Cell that they have imaged a virus structure at a resolution high enough to effectively "see" atoms, the first published instance of imaging biological complexes at such a resolution.
The research team, led by Hong Zhou, UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, used cryo-electron microscopy to image the structure at 3.3 angstroms. An angstrom is the smallest recognized division of a chemical element and is about the distance between the two hydrogen atoms in a water molecule.
In the depths of a former copper mine in Northern California dwell what may be the smallest, most stripped-down forms of life ever discovered.
LOS ANGELES (May 3, 2010) – A targeted antibiotic provides effective and long-lasting relief of Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms, according to the results of two multisite Phase III clinical trials designed by Cedars-Sinai researchers. Rifaximin is the first drug treatment for IBS that relieves symptoms while it's being administered and continues to benefit patients after they stop taking the drug.
New research has identified that a key protein called PEA-15 stops T-cell proliferation by blocking the cell's ability to reproduce. The control of T-cell proliferation is essential in preventing certain blood cancers and autoimmune diseases, as well as the orchestration of the immune response to infection. Findings of the study are reported in a recent online issue of The FASEB Journal, a publication of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Electronic cigarettes, or 'E-cigarettes', are used mainly to quit smoking, and may be useful for this purpose. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health polled 81 users and former users of the devices, finding that although the majority was happy with them, several concerns remain unaddressed.
Rush University Medical Center has been awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Rush Center for Urban Health Equity. The aim of the Center is to find ways to promote changes to eliminate the disparities in heart and lung disease affecting inner city residents, in particular those who are low-income persons of color.
In Australia, Martu hunter-gatherers light fires to expose the hiding places of their prey: monitor lizards called goanna that can grow up to six feet long. These generations-old hunting practices, part of the Martu day-to-day routine, have reshaped Australia's Western Desert habitats, according to Stanford University anthropologists Douglas and Rebecca Bird.
Children with ADHD who carry a specific type of dopamine receptor gene respond better to the drug methylphenidate (MPH) than those without the genotype, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
The findings come from the first-ever placebo-controlled pharmacogenetic drug trial for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in school age children to evaluate variants of the DRD4 dopamine receptor gene using teacher ratings of children's symptoms.
The prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight appears to vary widely among states, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the July print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.