Pulmonary hypertension is a serious, life-threatening condition for which there is currently no cure besides lung transplantation because the  drugs and current therapies are aimed only to relieve symptoms. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, found that the disease may be caused by a molecular pathway that promotes inflammation and targeting this pathway could provide a possible cure for this fatal disease.

Besides a possible treatment for pulmonary hypertension, the study published in Science Translational Medicine, provides a better understanding of other diseases involving inflammation of blood vessels such as coronary artery disease. Mark Nicolls, MD, senior author of the study and division chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Stanford and an associate professor of medicine, said that targeting inflammation is an interesting approach that can augment current treatments for pulmonary hypertension because it can reverse the possible cause of the disease.

Pulmonary hypertension is a life-threatening medical condition that usually occurs in young or middle-aged. Symptoms are not specific: shortness of breath, cough, fatigue or dizziness. In more advanced stages people who suffer from pulmonary hypertension may have swollen legs due to fluid retention in the body. Statistics show that in the United States and Europe there are approximately 100,000 people who suffer from pulmonary hypertension, but it is believed that the number is higher because the symptoms are not specific.

Pulmonary hypertension can be primary and secondary, that is it occurs due to other diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sleep apnea, pulmonary fibrosis and others. It must be said that secondary pulmonary hypertension is more common. In pulmonary hypertension there is a remodeling of blood vessels which leads to their narrowing and which affects the blood flow.

The medical treatment of pulmonary hypertension does not cure the disease, it only relieves the symptoms and prolong survival of patients. This treatment consists of vasodilators to relax the blood vessels and to improve blood flow. Nicolls pointed out that the current approved therapies have focused on the dilation of blood vessels without special attention being paid to the inflammation that is often seen in these blood vessels. He said that they concentrated to discover to what extent inflammation contributes to the development of this disease. The results were promising because the experiments on rats with induced pulmonary hypertension have shown that the disease can be reversed if the inflammation- molecular signaling pathway was blocked.

Blueberries are known to bring many health benefits and there have been done many studies that pointed out these beneficial effects. According to a recent research done by scientists at the University of Maine, people who consume two cups of blueberries a day for two months improve their lipid metabolism (by lowering LDL cholesterol and triglyceride level) and decrease chronic inflammation in the body. Moreover, according to UMaine professor Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, the diet enriched with this fruit can improve the genetic expression of inflammatory markers and others factors involved in fat metabolism.

Professor Klimis-Zacas conducted a study on obese Zucker rats, which are experimental models for metabolic syndrome, a systemic disease including obesity, hypertension, diabetes (glucose intolerance, insulin resistance) and chronic inflammation. The results of the study are promising and valuable especially for people prone to develop type 2 diabetes or coronary artery disease. It is estimated that annually, heart disease leads to the death of approximately 600,000 Americans. Also, it must be mentioned that metabolic syndrome affects more than 37% of adults in the United States and, according to National Health Statistics Reports, this percentage will increase in the future along with obesity.

Professor Klimis-Zacas, who has studied the health effects of bluebberries for 15 years, says it is a great benefit for people to improve their health and prevent degenerative diseases by eating blueberries rather than taking drugs. It is important to note that the Klimis-Zacas’s study is the first to show in vivo that wild blueberries consumption can lower triglyceride levels. Indeed, it was shown that blueberries lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and maintain ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL cholesterol).

Also the study made on obese mice showed that blueberries have anti-inflammatory effect, and this could be seen by the fact that inflammatory markers in the blood, liver and fat tissue dropped significantly. In addition, it was shown that blueberry-enriched diet regulates gene expression of enzymes involved in lipid metabolism and cholesterol and improves blood lipid profile.

The benefits of blueberries are multiple because they contain lots of vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, PP), antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc and other micronutrients. This fruit helps strengthen the immune system, delays the aging process, improves eyesight, etc.. A study made on older adults showed that daily consumption of blueberries for 12 weeks improved cognitive function. In addition, we must not forget that this fruit has a small amount of calories, so it can be consumed by people with diabetes.

It is well-known people’s desire to have a normal body weight, but there are countries like Australia where few people really achieve this. Recent studies show why some people find it so hard to abstain from certain foods and thus become overweight or obese. In fact, losing weight is not a complex process because the only thing you have to do is to reduce the amount of calories you consume. However, many people fail to lose weight and continue to eat excessively, being driven by a constant temptation.

Some people probably argue that maintaining a normal body weight should be a personal choice, but we must not forget another aspect, namely the wide availability of processed foods and the food temptation that some simply cannot control. This inability to control this temptation has led researchers to test if there are certain foods that lead to addiction. Although there are some who say that eating cannot lead to addiction because eating is essential for life, many people eat for reasons other than to fulfill the daily nutritional needs. For example, many overeat due to stress or due to frustration.

The researchers wanted to know if this eating behavior is stimulated by certain processed foods, particularly those with high glycemic index. Foods with high glycemic index, such as are drinks with lots of sugar or refined starches, lead to rapid growth and a decrease in blood glucose. A meal with a high glycemic index foods disrupts the body’s metabolism so that glucose in the blood falls in a few hours leading to hunger and overeating. Conversely, low glycemic index foods such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains cause a small change in blood glucose levels and a feeling of fullness for a longer time.

Researchers focused to find out why highly-processed carbohydrates cause excessive eating and if the particular taste of these foods contribute to this. Therefore, they have created two types of milkshakes with the same same number of calories, macronutrients and taste,  one with a high glycemic index and the other with low glycemic index. They then gave the milkshakes to 12 overweight men, on different days. Those who consumed the milkshake with high glycemic index were hungrier than those who consumed the milkshake with low glycemic index.

Researchers discovered, after they performed functional MRI imaging on all 12 participants, that nucleus accumbens, a brain region involved in eating pleasure, reward and craving, had an intense activity, which supports the idea that certain foods can lead to addiction.

It seems that the aging process is determined not only by changes that accumulate over life in the mitochondria of our cells but also by the DNA inherited from our mothers. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging. Researchers believe that mitochondria plays a key role in the aging process and a strategy in delaying this process would be to reduce the number of mutations.

The study, which was published in the journal Nature, shows that there are many causes of aging that are caused by different changes that alter the function of our organs. It seems that the most important of these changes are those that interest mitochondria, a cell organelle which is also called the cell’s power plant because it creates ATP. ATP, which has macroergic phosphate bonds, is the main source of chemical energy in the cell. Nils-Göran Larsson, Ph.D., professor at the Karolinska Institutet and principal investigator at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging, explained that mitochondria contain their own DNA and that this DNA change more than cellular DNA; this significantly influences the aging process. Larsson said that mutations in mitochondria gradually disrupt the cell’s energy production.

aging process and DNA

This is the first study showing that the aging process is determined by two important factors: the accumulation of changes in the mDNA, and by the DNA inherited from our mothers. Larsson says that what is interesting is that they have shown that mitochondrial DNA that we inherit from mothers influence our process of aging, and that if inherit those  mutations too, we age faster.

We already know that normal and modified DNA is transmitted to descendants but what is not known is whether lifestyle changes may in any way influence the degree of damaged DNA. What we know so far is that the slight changes in the DNA of mitochondria that are transferred from the mother affect our aging process. Lead author Jaime Ross, Ph.D., at the Karolinska Institutet, said that low levels of mitochondrial DNA mutations can affect the development and cause brain deformities.

Barry Hoffer, MD, Ph.D., co-author of the study from the Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, noted that therapeutic interventions targeting mitochondrial function could influence the aging process. He added that certain drugs, such as antioxidants, could up-regular mitochondrial function and reduce mitochondrial toxicity.

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suggests that mothers who eat junk food during pregnancy had a higher risk of giving birth to children with behavioral problems. The study also suggests that children who have an unhealthy diet during the first years of life have more often feelings of anxiety, depression, anger and aggression. Researchers at Deakin University, together with Norwegian researchers have established for the first time a clear relationship between maternal diet during pregnancy and the child’s diet in early life, and mental health of the offspring.

Associate Professor Felice Jacka, lead author of the study, explained that they knew that nutrition in early life and the mother’s diet during pregnancy can influence physical health of offspring and their risk of heart disease or diabetes, for example. But this is the first time that a study establishes an association between diet and mental health. These results are important because studies show that anxiety disorders and depression are among the leading causes of disability in the world. Newer studies have shown that nutrition and diet are among the factors that influence mental health and adult behavior. However, no study so far has highlighted the impact of diet during pregnancy and the first years of life on the behaviour of the offspring.

Junk food illustration

The study conducted by researchers at Deakin University’s included more than 23,000 mothers and their children, and was focused on maternal diet during pregnancy and children from 18 months to 3 years. To evaluate the behavior of children, questionnaires were completed by parents; there were assessed disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, symptoms of depression and anxiety and conduct disorders. The study results showed that pregnant women who consume junk food in larger quantities such as refined grains, sugary drinks, salty snacks, are more likely to give birth to children with behavioral problems (aggression).

The study also suggests that children who have an unhealthy diet in early life, or those who do not eat enough foods rich in nutrients such as vegetables have a higher chance of having this type of behavior. It should be noted that these associations are independent of other factors such as parental mental health or socioeconomic status. Associate Professor Jack wanted to point out that junk food not only leads to obesity, so it affects physical health but also influences our mental health. She said that there is an urgent need for governments to take note of these results and to restrict the marketing and availability of unhealthy foods.

According to recent research published in Pediatrics, the chemicals contained in plastic food packaging and containers are involved in obesity and diabetes. One study suggests that phthalates are associated with insulin resistance in children while  another associates bisphenol A with a high body mass index (BMI). Study author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, an associate professor of Pediatrics and Environmental Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, says there is an increasing concerning about the chemicals contained in various plastic products because they might be involved in the epidemic obesity.

He also notes that their studies confirm these concerns. The researchers examined 766 children ages 12 to 19 years and assessed insulin resistance and urinary levels of phthalates. Previous studies have shown that there is an association between exposure to phthalates and insulin resistance in both humans and animals. Phthalates are chemicals that are used in the manufacture of plastic objects and is believed to disrupt the endocrine system. This is one of the reasons why these products are banned in babies.

The study led by researchers at NYU School of Medicine has shown that insulin resistance in children increases with the level of di-2-ethylhexylphthalate, or DEHP, a type of phthalate, and this association has been made taking into account other risk factors for diabetes and other variables such as caloric intake or BMI. Trasande says that there are studies proving that these chemicals affect our response to glucose. In other words, these chemicals influence insulin release by several mechanisms and one of the mechanisms of interest is the genetic mechanism.

The other study, led by Dr. Donna Eng and colleagues at the University of Michigan, reveals that higher levels of bisphenol A  in urine are associated with an increased risk of obesity. BPA, which is used in a wide range of plastic products: aluminum cans, bottles, etc., has been incriminated to cause many health problems, so its use was banned in baby bottles and other packaging used in babies.

The study was conducted on 3,300 children aged between 6 and 18 years and it was found that those who had high levels of BPA had increased BMI. Dr. Hugh Taylor, chair of the Yale School of Medicine’s department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, noted that children are the most vulnerable to these chemicals. However, there are authors who say that the study has several limitations because one cannot used only the urinary BPA levels to assess the impact of exposure to chemicals.

According to researchers at Houston Methodist Neurological Institute and Erasmus Medical Centre, women who have deficiency of thyroid hormone have a four times higher risk of giving birth to children with autism than healthy women. This is the conclusion reached after researchers conducted a study on 4,000 Dutch mothers and their children. Previous studies have shown that thyroid hormones are essential for fetal brain cells migration during embryonic development and now the present study further confirms this idea.

Lead author Gustavo Román, MD, a neurologist and neuroepidemiologist who directs the Nantz National Alzheimer Center, believes that autism is not caused by genetic factors but by environmental factors, which means that it is possible to prevent the condition. Regarding the relationship between thyroid hormones and the risk of autism in offspring, the researchers found that children with autism have more pronounced symptoms if their mothers had severe deficiency of thyroxine (thyroid hormone T4). Mild T4 deficiencies in the mother resulted in an insignificant increase in autistic symptoms in children.

The most common cause of thyroid hormone deficiency is the lack of iodine in the diet because both thyroid hormones (both T3 and T4) contain this element. Iodine deficiency is quite common around the world, including in developed countries and the statistics show that 1 in 3 people are affected. Although it was considered that this problem was solved in the U.S. through salt iodization, a study conducted in 2005 showed that 1 in 7 Americans were deficient in iodine.

Researchers at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands, in collaboration with the scientists from Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, conducted a study involving over 4,000 pregnant women in 2002-2006. In the 13th week of pregnancy, blood samples were taken to measure levels of T4 and of other two proteins that might indicate the cause of iodine deficiency. After six years, the women who participated in the study were asked to describe emotional and behavioral traits of their children using a standardized psychology checklist.

From a population of 4039, 80 children were considered “probable autistic”, 159 mothers were found to have severe deficiency of T4, and 136 were found to have mild deficiency of T4. Researchers found a weak association between mild deficit of T4 and the risk of having autistic children; however there was a strong association between severe deficiency of T4 and this risk. Therefore, the researchers advise women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to measure their level of urinary iodine and thyroid hormone levels.

Latest research on Alzheimer’s disease suggests that in the future patients could benefit from a more effective treatment. Researchers at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen and the Hospital de Santo António, CHP, Porto, Portugal, believe that AD could be stopped before symptoms appear, which would be a remarkable progress. Alzheimer’s disease has a very long preclinical period, in other words, the disease begins about 10 years before symptoms occur. This is one of the reasons that treatment is not effective.

Researchers have found that cerebrospinal fluid contains certain biomarkers that could be used to monitor the disease independent of symptoms. What is interesting is that these biomarkers have already been identified in patients with Alzheimer’s disease but a direct association between these biomarkers and the disease could not be demonstrated since the brain can be viewed only after death. So researchers want to better understand AD in preclinical stages and study the effects of different treatments on two animal models of AD (transgenic mice). Also, the researchers want to see and if these biomarkers can offer information about AD  disease in preclinical patients.

The interest of researchers to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is justifiable because AD has a rising incidence and is a public health problem;  in 2010 statistics showed that over 36 million people suffered from this disease and it is estimated that the incidence will double in 10 years. Alzheimer’s disease, which occurs with age, lead to memory loss, impaired perception of time and space and, in advanced stages, patients with Alzheimer’s disease can no longer care for themselves and become totally dependent on their families or medical staff. Needless to say that the costs allocated to treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease are enormous: WHO estimated that in 2010 640 billions dollars have been spent on treatment and care of these patients. Given all this and the fact that the world population has a clear trend towards aging, finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is extremely important.

Now, according to latest research, CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) contains two biomakers, amyloid-beta (Ab) peptide and Tau protein, which can provide information about disease progression in preclinical stage (it seems that patients with Alzheimer’s have less Ab peptide and more in their CSF compared with healthy patients). Though other studies are needed, researchers are optimistic and hope that this transgenic mice can be used to test new drugs for AD  using CSF analysis.

An European team of researchers made new progress in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammatory bowel disease, which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are chronic diseases of the digestive tract of unknown etiology. Symptoms of these two diseases are similar but there, however, are some differences. Crohn’s disease affects mainly the terminal ileum, has transmural lesions that are asymmetric and discontinuous, while ulcerative colitis affects especially the rectum and the lesions are continuous and are only present in the mucosa. IBD can cause both digestive symptoms such as pain, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and extra-digestive symptoms and signs such as weight loss, anemia, joint pain, uveitis, etc.. It must be mentioned that IBD can cause a number of serious complications requiring emergency treatment, such as massive bleeding, peritonitis, perforation, ileus, etc..

It seems that IBD occurs due to a disorder of the immune system, and this is caused by environmental and genetic factors. Several genes were studied: major histocompatibility complex genes (HLA DR and DQ), genes encoding TNF alpha, NOD2 etc; it seems that those who have mutations in the NOD2 gene have a higher risk of developing Crohn’s disease. Regarding environmental factors, there appears to be an inappropriate immune response to specific antigens such as Listeria, Mycobacterium, etc., which causes an inflammation of the lining mucosa. However, we do not know the exact cause of IBD.

IBD treatment consists of several drugs that relieve symptoms: derivatives of 5-ASA, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, biological response modifiers (anti-TNF alpha monoclonal antibody) or surgical treatment. Drugs are not effective for all patients and in addition they also have many side effects. Regarding surgery, it must be said that sometimes surgery can cure ulcerative colitis, but there are also situations when the disease recurs. Now a team of researchers in Europe have conducted research to better understand the causes IBD and focused on specific enzymes called matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). MMPs degrade other proteins such as those found in the spaces between cells, freeing the way for inflammatory cells to target tissue. These enzymes are controlled by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteases, TIMPs, and it seems that tissue damage and inflammation occur when there is an imbalance between these two.

Researchers have identified the enzymes that may be targets for TIMPs after comparing  the expression of MMPs in healthy and chronically inflamed digestive tract. They also have found that the proteases associated with inflammation sometimes originate in bacteria from the digestive tract. This new perspective on the causes of IBD can be the basis for new therapeutic targets in the treatment of IBD.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have made new progress in nanotechnology: they have managed to improve a nanoscale drug used to treat breast cancer. Nano researchers work with drugs smaller than 100 nanometers, in other words they manipulate substances at the atomic level. Now researchers have created a nanoscale drug that contains inside a component that activates the immune system to destroy cancer cells in breast tumors.

To test the new drug, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center conducted a study on laboratory animals which were  implanted with human breast cancer cells. Results showed that mice that received the drug lived longer than their counterparts who did not receive the drug and than those who received only part of it. Other drugs used in oncology destroy cancer cells from the outside, and an adverse effect would be that they can attack also the healthy cells. Unlike standard treatment, this new therapy includes nano drugs that are connected with a ‘nanoplatform’ that acts as carrier for the drug.

Approximately 20-30% of breast and ovarian cancers are HER2-positive cancers, which have a poor prognosis compared with other tumors. HER2-positive cancers are more aggressive because Her2 gene stimulates a protein that promotes the formation of excessive tumor growth. Until now researchers have developed a single drug, trastuzumab, which is effective in the treatment of HER2-positive cancer, but most patients develop resistance to treatment in the first year. However, researchers have sought to use transtuzumab, or Herceptin, which is a antibody for Her2 gene, as carier for the nano drug.

Julia Y. Ljubimova, MD, PhD, professor of neurosurgery and biomedical sciences and director of the Nanomedicine Research Center, explained that they have genetically engineered a new ‘fusion gene’ that consists of interleukin-2, a protein that stimulates the immune system, and a gene of Herceptin. She said that interleukin-2 activates a number of cells in the immune system but it is not stable in plasma and does not target specifically cancer cells. By combining the two components, the researchers were able to send both Herceptin direct into HER2-positive cancer cells and IL-2 at the tumor site. In this way, the effect was more powerful because not only the drug was sent directly into cancer cells but also because there could be used a double dose of the drug.

In addition, the new nanodrug, Polycefin, also contains another component that blocks the formation of blood vessels by cancer cells (blood vessels maintain growth and tumor development). “We believe this is the first time a drug has been designed for nano-immunology anti-cancer treatment,” explained Ljubimova.

For further readings on breast cancer be sure to check the following :
Researchers-reveal-biomarker-that-predicts-breast-cancer-recurrence-risk.html