Estrogen protects male rats from aortic aneurysms
...but left unchecked, MMPs in particular MMP-9 can cause extensive tissue damage and lead to the formation of an aneurysm." In a recent paper published in Atheriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Upchurch described a series of U-M experiments focused on gender differences in AAA formation and est...Study in Royal Society journals presents evidence for inherited factors in homosexuality
...productive success. One of these genes is known to cause pesticide resistance, and our results suggest that...HCJ Godfray FRS and Dr MB Bonsall Cannibalism can cause cycles in population numbers of Indonesian lady beetles. We show using a mathematical model and data...Health, food, new technologies featured during ACS meeting Oct. 17-20 in Peoria, Ill.
...argarine to cookies to fried snacks and thought to cause elevated levels of bad cholesterol, will be the focus of an afternoon symposium entitled Applications of Edible Oils. The symposium, which will include representatives from government and industry, will discuss the development of potentially healthie...Touching research: How white blood cells navigate
...here atherosclerosis occurs when white blood cells cause blockages by narrowing blood vessels. Understanding how forces affect white blood cells offers a new way to fight many of these diseases. Doctors might be able to funnel cells directly where they're needed, allowing them to boost the body's immune r...Gladstone researchers resolve key Huntington's disease mystery in Nature cover story
...s of all Huntington's disease patients, aren't the cause of neuronal death. Scientists know that mutant hun...there is a relationship, is one event possibly the cause or the effect of the other? If it is a cause, is it a minor determinant or a major one? These are ...Muscling in on a deadly cancer
...cer by identifying some of the genetic events that cause the disease and then engineering mice that develop...become cancerous, so it seems likely the gene must cause cancer by becoming active in some other type of cell. In the second study's key fi...Mechanism discovered for muscle wasting seen in diabetes, AIDS and other diseases
... obstructive pulmonary disease. Muscle wasting can cause generalized weakness and debilitation and in its e...e discovery that NF-kB activation is sufficient to cause skeletal muscle atrophy in vivo and that blockage of the NF-kB pathway can ameliorate atrophy sugges...The CF Foundation urges all states to include newborn screening for cystic fibrosis in test panels
...lower decline in respiratory function, the primary cause of death in CF. Advances in CF treatment and care, have had a significant impact on the length and quality of life for people with CF. Research on newborn screening for CF has shown further clinical benefit when therapeutic interventions were admini...Biological importance of basal activity of appetite suppressor
The most frequent genetic cause of obesity in humans is melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) mutations. MC4R has an effect on appetite: when MC4R is activated by its ligand amelanocyte-stimulat-ing hormone (a-MHC) appetite is suppressed. When its activity is suppressed by its ligand ago......y are also bad mothers whose poor parenting skills cause their young to die within a day or two of birth, scientists report this week in the on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Since Chawnshang Chang, Ph.D., cloned the gene for testicular orphan receptor 4 (TR4) 10 year...The long road to a promising malaria vaccine started at NYU School of Medicine
...o protect against severe malaria, which is a major cause of death in children in Africa. It is not yet an ideal vaccine because it is expensive, requires three doses, and it isn't known yet how durable the vaccine's protection will be, but it is a very big step forward." The vaccine, designated RT...Scientists identify new cause of obesity
...esponse to the signals are the most common genetic cause of severe obesity. The protein has become a prime ...und a new group of mutations in this receptor that cause obesity not by interrupting the MC4R receptor's response to the appetite signals, but by affecting i...Multi-species herbivore outbreak follows El Nio drought in Panama
...llars' natural enemies out of play, but the exact cause will remain a mystery. The team monitored lepidopteran populations again, after a milder El Nino event in 2003, but saw no large-scale outbreaks. Drought stress of host trees is thought to be a factor in temperate area outbreaks of spruce bud worm a...Study confirms link between head and neck cancer and common Asian nut
...public health risk, it is believed to be a leading cause of mouth cancer in this part of the world. In this study, researchers used the age-period-cohort (APC) model to examine the incidence trends for men and women in Taiwan of nasopharyngeal carcinoma versus head and neck canc...UCLA scientists discover new way to fix defective gene
...el way to repair one of the genetic mutations that cause ataxia-telangiectasia, (A-T), a life-shortening disorder that devastates the neurological and immune systems of one in 40,000 young children. Reported Oct. 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the findings could hold far-reac...Excess dietary fat accelerates breast cancer by altering the activity of a group of genes
...ain element involved in breast cancer. Fats do not cause cancer, however some of them, such as animal fats or certain vegetable fats, accelerate the clinical development of the disease, while blue fish and olive oil appear to delay its development. A research team headed by Dr. Eduard Escrich, lecturer in...UT Southwestern researchers uncover process for sugar-induced fat formation
...y his research group, activates several genes that cause cells in the liver to turn sugar into fat. Their work appears in two studies in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The first study, published in an earlier issue, is available online, and the second, also online, will appear in an up...Urine testing might prove to be an alternative screening test for cervical cancer
...f the world, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women. The routine way to screen for cervical cancer is through Pap screening and pelvic exams. "More studies involving a much larger group of women need to be done, but we are hopeful about the potential of urine test...Experimental lupus drug may also work against atherosclerosis
...palm oil, one of the vegetable oils most likely to cause atherosclerosis. In addition to the coronary arteries, atherosclerosis also occurred in the aortic arch, part of one of the body's main blood vessels. When Mishra compared the mice given TSA with mice given an inert substance, the amount of atheros...Gene linked to greater risk of heart disease in type 2 diabetes
...ater risk for coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death for this group. "We now have potential gene markers to help identify diabetes patients at increased risk for heart disease," said Alessandro Doria, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator in Joslin's Genetics and Epidemiology research section, Director of...