Body

A recent analysis indicates that adding new therapies called anti-PCSK9 antibodies to other lipid-lowering treatments can help patients lower their LDL cholesterol levels.

Mutations in the gene that encodes PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) have been linked to high cholesterol. PCSK9 causes elevated blood levels of LDL cholesterol because it binds to the LDL receptor. Two anti-PCSK9 antibodies have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency: alirocumab and evolocumab.

A new review examines the potential of antioxidant approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - If Paul Simon were to write a song about the bacteria in Richard Lenski's long-term evolution experiment, or LTEE, it could be titled, "Still Changing After All These Years."

For completely endophytic kidney tumors, which grow inward, both open partial nephrectomy (OPN) and robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) led to excellent patient outcomes in a recent study.

Already it's known that many deadly diseases that afflict humans were originally acquired through contact with animals. However new research from the University of Warwick shows that pathogens can also jump the species barrier to move from humans to animals.

The research which was co-authored by Mark Pallen, Professor of Microbial Genomics, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, has been published in the American Society of Microbiology's journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 1, 2016 -- Using new and innovative immune-therapeutic approaches to silence "don't eat me" signaling proteins recognized by specialized cells of the immune system, University of California, Irvine molecular biologists and their colleagues have identified an effective way to combat metastatic melanoma.

Chapel Hill, NC - HIV remains a major health concern for women and children globally. Worldwide, the majority of new HIV infections occur in young women. Each year, 1.5 million women living with HIV become pregnant. Without effective treatment, up to 45 percent of HIV-infected mothers will transmit the virus to their child, usually through breastfeeding.

MAYWOOD, IL - A study led by researchers from Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago has discovered a potential new health concern related to excessive alcohol consumption.

Adults who drink excessively were found to have less nitric oxide in their exhaled breath than adults who don't drink. The finding, published in the journal Chest, is significant because nitric oxide helps protect against certain harmful bacteria.

Everyone would rather cook than take out the garbage. Perhaps that's why biochemists learned how cells make proteins 70 years ago, but are just now learning how they get rid of proteins that are no longer needed or no longer work.

New research from North Carolina State University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finds that choosing how to meet bioenergy goals means making trade-offs about which wildlife species and ecosystems will be most impacted. The work focuses on the southeastern United States, but yields general insights that could inform bioenergy policy globally.

When disease outbreaks occur, people with essential roles - healthcare workers, first responders, and teachers, for example - are typically up close and personal with infected people. As these front-line workers become infected, healthy individuals take their places.

New York, NY, August 1, 2016 - While some previous studies have indicated that taking erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs may reduce the likelihood of developing prostate cancer, new research published in The Journal of Urology® found that these drugs do not play a role in preventing prostate cancer.

LA JOLLA, CA - August 1, 2016 - A new international collaboration involving scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) opens a door to influencing the immune system, which would be useful to boost the effectiveness of vaccines or to counter autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

The research, published August 1, 2016, in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, focused on a molecule called microRNA-155 (miR-155), a key player in the immune system's production of disease-fighting antibodies.

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 1, 2016 -- Heart attack rates among an ethnically diverse population of more than 3.8 million Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California fell 23 percent from 2008 to 2014, as reported today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

MISSOULA, Montana - New research by University of Montana forest landscape ecology Professor Solomon Dobrowski shows that organisms will face more hardships as they relocate when climate change makes their current homes uninhabitable.

Dobrowski and co-author Sean Parks -- a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Aldo Leopold Research Institute and a UM alumnus -- propose a new method to model how fast and where organisms will need to move to keep pace with climate change.