Novel Treatment Gives Hope For Duchenne Dystrophy Patients

In a study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne Australia, scientists�have discovered a new specific protein involved in Duchenne dystrophy that may help treat the disease.

The �study, which was�led by led by Professor Gordon Lynch, Head of the Department of Physiology at the University of Melbourne and conducted by Dr Stefan Gehrig for HIS PhD, and published in the journal Nature,�shows a possible link between ‘heat shock protein 72 ‘(HSP72) and Duchenne dystrophy.�During an�animal research program, scientists have found that by increasing this protein in animal muscles not only the disease stops progressing�but also the�lifespan increases. One of the ways to increase the level of HSP72�is by using BGP-15. Researchers have found that�this drug�increases strength in limb muscles and diaphragm. Moreover,� they also found that another effect of increased HSP72 is improving calcium pump function, which has an important role in contraction.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a degenerative� progressive disease that�affects�boys, being an X-linked disease. Even if the�disease is inherited, there are situations in which the dystrophy�occurs without� known cases in the family. The disease is caused by mutation of the gene encoding a muscle protein, dystrophin. In patients with Duchenne disease, there is�no dystrophin in the muscles.

Symptoms usually appear in childhood, from age of 6 . Gradually patients begin to show weakness in the limbs and muscle loss occurs simultaneously. If symptoms appear early, children may have difficulty in walking, climbing stairs, etc.. Due to the muscle loss, muscles may be�hypertrophied because normal fibers are replaced with fibrous connective tissue. Once� first symptoms are installed, the disease progresses so quickly� that at the age of 12 years, some patients lose the ability to work anymore and are immobilized in a wheelchair.

Duchenne

Muscle weakness� affects not�only� the limb muscles, but also� the diaphragm, which�means respiratory failure. In addition,Duchenne dystrophy�can cause enlarged heart, a process that occurs in nearly all patients after the age of 18 years. Most often, patients die before the age of 30 years.

Patients can be diagnosed in several ways. First, bilateral symmetrical muscle damage occurred in a child during early childhood (boy), with a family history of Duchenne dystrophy, is highly suggestive for Duchenne dystrophy. Regarding investigations,�elevated creatine kinase and muscle biopsy with histopathologic examination confirm the diagnosis. In addition, genetic testing can be done with genome sequencing to detect DMD gene mutation.

Up to date, there is no cure for Duchenne dystrophy.��Treatment is symptomatic and primarily aimed at improving cardiac and respiratory symptoms. However, research is promising. “We hope that these exciting findings will serve as the basis for future clinical trials within the next five to 10 years,” Professor Lynch said.

Fast Food Depresses You

Over 121 million people worldwide are affected by depression, this disease being thus one of the main global causes of disability.�Depression can have many causes. One of them could be the food we eat shows a recent study made by scientists�from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada. Although previous studies showed that some nutrients can prevent depressive disorders (group B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil), to this day little is known about the role that diet plays in developing this disease.

The new study�shows that eating commercial baked goods (fairy cakes, croissants, doughnuts, etc.) and fast food (hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza) increases the likelihood of depression by 51%. The results of the study�are�published in the�Public Health Nutrition�journal.

Junk food

Furthermore, it was also shown that the chance of developing signs of depression is increased by the quantity of fast food that a person consumes. This is called a dose-response relationship and this is an argument that fast food consumption is a risk factor for depression.

The consumption of fast food products and commercial baked goods is more frequently found in those participants that are single, less active, are smokers and work more that 45 hours per day. Eating fast food regularly is also associated with poor dietary habits, which include eating less fruit, nuts, fish, vegetables and olive oil. The results are equally conclusive regarding the consumption of commercial baked goods:�“Even eating small quantities is linked to a significantly higher chance of developing depression,” as the university researcher from the Canary Islands points out.

The study was made on a group of 8,964 subjects that have never been diagnosed with depression or taken antidepressants. After carefully observing the group for six months, the researchers counted 493 subjects that were diagnosed with depression or started to take antidepressants.

A previous study,�conducted in 2011, also found a link between eating habits and depression. The�SUN Project (University of Navarra Diet and Lifestyle Tracking Program) counted a total of 657 new cases of depression out of the 12,059 people analysed over more that six months. This correlates to a 42% increase in the risk of developing depression due to fast food consumption, which is lower than that found in the current study.

Almudena�Sánchez-Villegas, lead author of the study, to�SINC�concludes that “although more studies are necessary, the intake of this type of food should be controlled because of its implications on both health (obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and mental well-being.”

Brown University Researchers Have Created First Anti-Cancer Breast Implant

According to an article published in Nanotechnology, scientists at Brown University have created a breast implant which has the capacity to impede breast cancer cells regrowth. This implant is made�from a polymer and it appears to have the capacity to impair blood vessel architecture�in breast cancer tissue�and in the same time to sustain�healthy breast cells growth.

In terms of incidence after lung cancer, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer, affecting one in eight women worldwide. The treatment of breast cancer, besides chemotherapy and radiotherapy, often requires�a surgical intervention and breast reconstruction which is invols the use�of�breast implants.� Due to the fact that cancer treatment is not always preventing malignant cell relapse, breast cancer recurrence rate in one-fifth of women originally diagnosed can be oberved.

Researchers have created a breast implant which can reduce the rate of relapse in breast cancer. This implant is made of a type of polymer which has on its surface nanometric nails (one-billionth of a meter, having 1/50, 000th of the width of of a human hair) that imper cancer cell growth. This type of breast implant is the first of its kind which can reduce cancer relapse and also made from a federally approved polymer that can cause a reduction in breast cancer cell blood-supply by interfering with tumor blood vessel architecture. It was also observed that this implants posses the capacity to promote healthy breast cell growth.

We've created an (implant) surface with features that can at least decrease (cancerous) cell functions without having to use chemotherapeutics, radiation, or other processes to kill cancer cells. It's a surface that's hospitable to healthy breast cells and less so for cancerous breast cells.�, researchers said.

Breast Implant

In their study, scientists tried to modify the surface of various type of implants in order to promote regeneration of bone, skin, cartilage and other cells of the body. In this work, researchers tried to remodel a implant which can be used in surgical interventions for breast reconstruction, implant that possess the capacity to not only attract healthy cells, but also to interfere with breast malignant cell growth and proliferation. This implant was created by using 23-nanometer-diameter polystyrene beads and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), a biodegradable polymer which is used widely in surgical stitches. After using this materials, researchers created an implant with a surface covered with 23-nanometer-high pimples. They also created implants that have on their surfaces 300-nanometer-high pimples and 400-nanometr-high pimples for comparison.

In laboratory tests it was observed that, implants that have on their surfaces 23-nanometer-high pimples posses the capacity to produce a reduction of 15 percent in the production of protein called VEGF, protein that is needed by endothelial breast malignant cells in their proliferation, compared with breast implants with no surface modification. Compared with 300-nanometer-pimple and 400-nanometer-pimple modified implants, the 23-nanometer-pimple implants showed the greater reduction in the production of VEGF proteins.

The reason why implants that have on their surfaces 23-nanometer-high pimples produce a greater reduction of VEGF proteins is unknown, but scientists believe that this event is linked to malignant cells stiffness, because when cancer cells come into contact with rough surfaces are unable to wrap around this surfaces and making them unable to ingest nutrients needed for growing and proliferation.

I would guess that surface peaks less than 23 nanometers would be even better.The more you can push up that cancerous cell, the more you keep it from interacting with the surface.�, researchers added

It was also observed that implants that have on their surfaces 23-nanometer-high pimples promoted the proliferation of healthy endothelial breast cell with 15 percent, compared with normal breast implants.

New Study Shows The Importance Of Developing New Mental Health Therapies

In a new article published in the journal Nature, leading scientists from around the world are encouraging the start of new mental health medication studies. They say that the current lack of medication for disorders such as depression, Alzheimer’s or schizophrenia should be surpassed.

The conclusion of the Royal Society meeting regarding the pharmacological problem of mental health medication was that a new approach is needed. Gathered scientists said that there is need for new effective treatments. This meeting has led doctor Thomas Insel, the director of the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) and professor Barbara Sahakian from the Cambridge Clinical Neuroscience Institute to publish this new comment article.

Scientists say that almost 40 percent of the entire population suffers from some sort of mental health disorders. These disorders include anything from dementia, anxiety, depression to schizophrenia or even Alzheimer’s disease. The also note that there is a lack of research targeting the development of new medication in this domain.

Professor Barbara Sahakian believes she knows what the problem is, saying that most of the pharmaceutical companies have decided to draw back because of financial pressure or because of the difficulty to create new medication based on current research. The small number of pharmaceutical companies which have remained in the mental health drugs domain are still struggling with the lack of funds.

Mental health

Both professor Sahakian and doctor Insel suggest that the approach towards finding new mental health drugs should target genetics. They point out that medication targeting genetics has had a major impact on treating different other disorders. They have also proposed that an investigation of abandoned composites should be conducted by academicians.

“We need to reassess how we identify and validate new drugs, and should consider open access drug development which involves both industry and academia”, added�professor Barbara Sahakian.

Earlier studies show that almost 75 percent of mental health disorders affect people under the age of 24. These results make scientists advocate the development of preventive therapy.

Even though some of the newly advocated treatment would be based on medication only, researchers believe new therapies that integrate drugs and a psychosocial approach should be studied as well. A good example would be the therapy used to help autistic children to socially interact with others, through the use of video games.

Study Reveals A New Role Of Intestinal Goblet Cells

A new study conducted by the scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis and published on the 15th of March in the journal Nature, reveals the particular cells that protect antigens and proteins ingested during meals, from a possible harmful activation of the immune system.

The new study, which was conducted on laboratory rats, reveals the function of the goblet cells found in the intestine. This discovery supports future studies on medication that would target the inflammatory bowel disease, food allergies and different other digestive conditions, all which are an unwanted effect caused by the response of the immune system.

Scientists say that they found that goblet cells work similar in both humans and rats. Their study reveals that the missing link between the antigens and the dendritic cells has been found. It’s already known that the dendritic cells are the ones that stop food antigens and proteins from being marked as “non-self” compounds. Doctor Rodney Newberry says that this new discovery could make goblet cells a new target for therapy.

Goblet Cell

To aid their research, Dr. Newberry’s team used a new imaging technique. This technique allowed them to observe the intestines of rats in real-time, thus leading to the uncovering of the role of goblet cells. This newly discovered role is to pass antigens from the intestine to the dendritic cells. Until now, it was believed that the only role of goblet cells was to secrete mucus.

“Everyone has concentrated only on the fact that goblet cells secrete mucus, but I think in the face of our findings, you could perhaps wonder whether the problem in inflammatory bowel disease might result in part from goblet cells not delivering antigens to the correct place,�or maybe they’re not delivering antigens at all or too many antigens. We just don’t know yet. “, said Dr. Newberry.

The small intestine is the place where bacteria and different food compounds are found. The walls of the small intestine are protected by the secretion of the goblet cells, therefore blocking the pathogenic action of most bacteria that would normally be found there.

According to professor Mark Miller, one of the main authors of the paper, antigens travel the barrier created by the mucus. Dendritic cells are found on the other side of the mucus barrier. By using the “two-photon imaging” method, the research team was able to observe the transition of antigens from the lumen of the intestine to the dendritic cells. The role of these dendritic cells is to transmit the information about whether the antigens are harmless or not to the T-cells.

Professor Miller also notes that this new study reveals that a harmful response of the immune system can also be cause by goblet cells and their ability to transport antigens between the mucus barrier and dendritic cells. This study was made possible by the development of a new technique that allows the real-time observation of the intestinal immune cells.

“Sometimes, just by looking you realize there’s more to a system than you originally thought, and that leads you in new directions”, said professor Miller about the new imaging technique.

The two main authors, professors Miller and Newberry, found that because the goblet cells have similar actions in humans as they do in laboratory rats. They say that this discovery will allow further research on medication for intestinal problems caused by the immune system, through the targeting of goblet cells.

Only healthy test subjects were used in this study, but there are currently new experiments being conducted on test subjects that suffer from infections. Further test will include the studying of goblet cells found in other parts of the body, to determine if their newly discovered role occurs in other parts of the organism as well.

Researchers Managed To Regenerate Nerve Injury After SCI

Researchers have discovered new targets for recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury. The study, which will be published in the April 2012 issue of The American Journal of Pathology, suggest that FTY720 administration can cause nerve regeneration, and therefore recovery of locomotor function.

FTY720�acts as an S1P�receptor modulator, that is sphingosine�1-phosphate, a lysophospholipid�mediator. Researchers from the Jichi�Medical University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, have found that sphingosine�1-phosphate (S1P) is found in high concentrations at the site of nerve injury. The role of the lysophospholipid�mediator is to attract� nerve progenitor cells at contusions, helping to regenerate. Researchers have thought that by acting on S1P receptor might�help in the treatment of central nervous system diseases, such as spinal cord injury or SCI.

Spinal cord injury refers to the damage of the spinal cord. Symptoms vary depending on where one is injured: if the �injury is located�on �the cervical spine, the patient will lose motor function of both arms and legs. In this case, the condition is called quadriplegia. If�the damage is below the lumbar spine,� only the feet will�be affected, and�it is�called paraplegia. Besides the loss of motor function, there are other disorders, such as difficulty when� breathing, incontinence, spasticity and many others.

SCI

The study has promising results so far�and is especially valuable as, until now, no therapies have been found in order to help the regeneration of nerve injury.The researchers found that there is a significant improvement soon after administration of FTY720�in mice. In other words, FTY720�help recover motor function�by immunomodulation. In addition, scientists have noted that FTY720�cause lymphopenia,�that is�decreasing the number of lymphocytes in the blood. This is beneficial in the spinal injury because�T cell infiltration is reduced. However, this does not affect and infiltration of neutrophils, which play a role in microglial activation. It is important to note that microglial have an important function in the regeneration of spinal injury.

Lead investigator Yoichi�Sakata, MD, PhD, Research Division of Cell and Molecular Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, Jichi�Medical University School of Medicine,�underscores the importance of this discovery and the enormous potential this�research has�: ‘These data clearly indicate the importance of immune-independent functions of FTY720�in the amelioration of functional deficits after SCI in mice.” He also added that targeting S1P�receptors by FTY720 is an attractive therapeutic approach for treating spinal cord injury.

The Effectiveness Of Avastin

New studies show that blood vessels that nourish tumors in the brain are not formed by cancer cells, as scientists previously thought. These discoveries, made by scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, dispute the effectiveness of current treatments against cancer, such as Avastin�(Bevacizumab).

Charles Eberhart, MD, Ph.D., chief of neuropathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that the studies done by�his team�do not clearly show� that the tumor blood vessels�should be composed of cancer cells. He added that purpose of the study was not to call into question whether� brain tumors express markers for blood vessels, but to what extent this fact occurs.

Cancer Blood Vessels

For the tumor to grow, it needs blood supply, which develops as a result of growth factors released by tumor. Cancer cells release various growth factors such as VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor that stimulates angiogenesis. Based on this mechanism, scientists have developed various therapies in metastatic cancers. Bevacizumab�is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits angiogenesis�as it acts as an �inhibitor of VEGF�function. Bevacizumab�was approved by the FDA for the treatment of colorectal cancer, kidney, brain and lung cancer. Bevacizumab was also�approved in the treatment of breast cancer in 2010 but it was withdrawn because it�was�not� safe and it did not prolong life in patients with breast cancer.

More recent studies conducted by scientists in Italy and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, actually showed that blood vessels in brain tumors are not �made up of� cancer cells but stem cells. These findings may explain why tumors respond to Bevacizumab�but only for a short period. Also, researchers found that those cells that form blood vessels�are resistant to treatment. Therefore, as long as tumors�have �blood supply and�are nourished, it is difficult to shrink� those tumors.� Therefore, studies have focused on the application of targeted treatment to combat cancer, such as angiogenesis inhibition.

Eberhart and his colleagues have analyzed over 100 samples of patients with brain cancer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins, and studied the molecular features of blood vessels. They looked in particular two important�cancer markers, EGFR�and IDH1. They also have looked for another marker, CD34,�in order�to differentiate vascular cells from the rest of cells. Researchers found that only 10% of tumor samples expressed the looking markers,� EGFR�and IDH1. Furthermore, in rare�forms of�tumors, only a few cells had those markers.

Malignant Tumors

According to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a malignant tumor has several types of genes . Therefore,� a simple biopsy of a tumor can not�assure�the clinician that the treatment works�for the entire tumor. This explains the failure of many cancer treatments.
The researchers made this discovery during several studies on renal tumors. Scientists have investigated the genome of a tumor by taking pieces from different regions of the same tumors and compared samples taken from four different parts of the tumor and metastatic tumors found in other organs. Surprisingly, two thirds of the genes identified were not the same.

Cancer Genes

Lead author Professor Charles Swanton of the UCL Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute, points out that this is the first time a genome of a tumor is successfully sequenced. He added that the next step is the discovery of drugs that limit the range by controlling the underlying tumor mutations.

Malignant tumor develops as a result of uncontrolled proliferation of a group of cells that have the ability to invade other tissues of the body, either by invasion or by metastasis. This uncontrolled growth is due to abnormalities occurring in the DNA of a cell. There are several causes of these abnormalities, such as inserting viruses in DNA structure,�for example�Epstein Barr, or the occurrence of spontaneous mutations.

It is very important�to�apply a differential treatment� as the primary tumor may be genetically different from metastatic spread of tumors in the rest of the body. In the study, the scientists�found 118 different mutations, 40 of them were found in all biopsies, 53 were found only in some biopsies and 25 were found in one biopsy. This finding is extremely valuable in fighting cancer because it allows researchers to focus treatment on common mutations found in all biopsy samples. Targeting� the treatment on the cells�responsible for�growth is� the way to success�in combating cancer. That explains why primary tumor removal increases patient survival by preventing relapse.

Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information,� stresses the idea �that it is very important to implement in the health system� this new method of investigating tumors, namely genetic analysis. By sequencing the genome of a tumor clinicians can use a personalized treatment and hopes of success are much higher. He added that plans to replicate the findings in a larger group of patients as part of Cancer Research UK’s Genomics Initiative.

Ike Davis – Wrong Or Working Valley Fever Diagnosis?

Ike Davis first baseman player at New York Mets, has been recently diagnosed with valley�fever during�a routine�physical exam. An X-ray�pointed out�fairly�characteristic valley fever lesions in his lungs. Now fans somehow question this valley�fever�presumptive diagnosis (easy to understand why)�due to the�blood test�that came back�negative, despite the�X-ray image. What is the truth then?

Valley fever is in fact a type of infection that is not caused by a bacterium nor a virus. The culprit behind valley fever symptoms (chest pain, fever, couching among�others)�is a fungus called Coccidioides�immitis. The coccidioides species are commonly found in the soil of certain areas and can be transmitted to humans�after raised in the air and inhaled�during various activities. After being inhaled, the fungus reaches the lungs�leading to valley fever�infection�and its�symptoms (red, spotty rash, night sweats, chills, fever).

Valley Fever Fungus

Now comes the good part.�According to guidelines valley fever is not diagnosed based on any signs and symptoms which in most cases are nonspecific nor a chest X-ray (it can not easily differentiate between other lung infections and valley fever). The positive diagnosis is established after�highlighting Coccidioides cysts in different tissue, blood samples or certain body secretions like sputum. Having these said,�a question emerges: why didn’t we read anything in the recent news�about�a sputum smear test?�Many of you will say that the blood test came up negative and there was no point for a sputum smear. Wrong!� There is a possibility, in this case, that somehow prolongs the mystery: Does Ike Davis�actually have valley fever?

Usually after a person is exposed, the body�begins to produce antibodies against�valley fever fungus�that can be detected using a�custom blood test for valley fever. But�what if the immune system had no�time to respond and produce antibodies (in some cases�there is a�delay of some period of time before the test�cames positive – it is called�immunological window).

In conclusion,�in the absence of a�smear test, and a negative blood test fo valley�fever, whether the�baseball player�contracted�valley fever or not remains unclear.�At this point only�further blood tests or perhaps a�sputum smear can�undeniable establish a diagnosis of valley fever.

Immune Defense Against Viruses Not Based On Antibody Production, Study Says

A new research comes with a new explanation for immune defense against certain viruses. According to a study published on March 1st in the journal Immunity, the connection between the specific �immune system� and nonspecific immune system is crucial when it comes to defense against certain viral infections. This�fact�suggests that antibodies are not�an essential component of�the immune system as it was previously thought.

Immune system relies on two types of mechanisms: innate immunity and acquired immunity. Innate immunity forms the first line of defense against infection. It is�very important to note that this type of immunity is inherited from parents and can not be�changed�until the end of life. Also, innate immunity is antigen independent and has no immunological memory. Cells that�play role in�innate immunity�are the�polymorphonuclear cells (PMN), macrophages, complement system, natural killer cells (NK) and dendritic cells.�The defense mechanisms of innate immunity are�anatomical barriers (skin, mucosa), enzymes, body temperature, and others.

Acquired immunity is selective and is directed against� the triggering agent,�that is�against the antigen. The�cells that participate to this�type of immunity are T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and antibodies.

Antibody

The senior study author, Dr. Ulrich H. von Andrian, from Harvard Medical School, explained that, even�in mice infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) that presented a high concentration of anti-VSV antibodies in their system, the infection still�managed to�invade the central nervous system fatally.

Researchers studied VSV infection in mice that�have B lymphocytes but no antibodies. Even if B cells were essential to mice�survival after exposure to the VSV,�they�did not require any specific�antibodies. B cells produce a substance that activates macrophages and�macrophages in turn produce type I interferon, essentially in killing the virus.

VSV is a virus belonging to family Rhabdoviridae. VSV is�in�fact an�arbovirus , that is transmitted by insect bites�and infected mammalians. Therefore, the risk of being exposed to such a virus is higher among farmers. People infected with VSV� present�flu-like symptoms.

The study provides a new explanation on how the immune system functions against fatal infections such as rabies virus.�Moreover,�the research�shows that B cells do not�play a major role�in acquired immunity against the virus but�are related to innate immunity. Dr. von Andrian, pointed out that this new finding contradicts current opinion according to which antibodies are essential�for survival after an viral�infection such.�In addition the study highlights�a new B cell function (activation of macrophages).

Future studies�aim to shed light on�the role of antibodies and interferon in fatal infections such as West Nile virus and rabies.