News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...ylsulfatase A (ARSA). The clinical course includes progressive neurodegeneration caused by accumulation of sulfatides, oligodendrocyte dysfunction, and myelin loss. Hematogenous stem cell transplantation in patients and gene therapy in ARSA -/- mice have been tried, but this week, Givogri et al. test a more uni...New evidence suggests statins could prove useful in treating MS
...e cognitive abilities. In later phases of the more progressive forms of the disease, non-inflammatory toxic molec...rone, a cancer chemotherapy, is used to treat this progressive form. The drugs are effective to varying degrees in roughly a third of patients and are often limite...Newly discovered small molecules
...ns are the most lethal poisons known. They produce progressive paralysis by binding to nerves at the point where they connect to muscles, and blocking the release of acetylcholine, which signals the muscles to contract, including those that regulate breathing. Blocking the nerve signal results in paralysis and, ......ructural deterioration. This deterioration causes progressive scarring in the lungs, which impedes the uptake of oxygen into the bloodstream, and thus impedes respiration. The European health authorities currently consider that pulmonary fibrosis is a rare or uncommon disease, with a prevalence of from 13 case...New genetic discovery explains 74 percent cases of age-related macular degeneration
...e age of seventy-five. The disease is marked by a progressive loss of central vision due to degeneration of the macula--a region of the retina and the area responsible for fine, central vision....Obese people are more sensitive to pain, suggests study
...ute coping skills training session that included a progressive muscle relaxation exercise. The obese patients sho...wanted to see if coping skills training, including progressive relaxation techniques would help people with osteoarthritis to better cope with the pain that the di...Evaluation of patients treated with natalizumab finds no new cases of PML
...ce of new cases of the often-fatal disorder called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The laboratory component of the study was coordinated by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), working in conjunction with the NIH Clinic...Sex: Why bother? Evolutionary mysteries probed at UH
...hen successive mutations are expected to lead to a progressive decline in 5 percent steps if the mutations don't interact with each other. Negative epistasis, however, comes into play, for example, if the second mutation decreased fitness by 10 percent, the third by 15 percent and so forth. While biologists h...Study implicates potassium channel mutations in neurodegeneration and mental retardation
...of neurons in the brain's cerebellum, resulting in progressive loss of coordination (ataxia). Dr. Pulst and his colleagues traced the disease in this family to mutations in a gene called KCNC3. The gene codes for one of the proteins that form potassium channels pore-like openings in the cell membrane that con...Study finds drug may cut down involuntary movements
... the disease attempt suicide, and many suffer from progressive cognitive decline. Unlike Alzheimer's disease, where patients usually lose their memory and insight into their disease at some point, most Huntington's patients understand exactly what is happening to them throughout most of their illness. The disea...Unique equine cataract surgery offered on routine basis
...are pleased that the University can now offer such progressive treatment to tackle equine cataracts on a larger scale than currently available." The surgery has successfully been carried out on several horses at the University, including TC, a nine-year old Gelding warmblood, who had developed cataracts in bot......y which altered expression of A-type lamins causes progressive muscular degeneration. Adult skeletal muscle is derived from satellite stem cells, known as myoblasts, which differentiate into mature skeletal muscle cells. While several different types of proteins are known to be involved in myogenesis, the role ...'Big Science': Top funding for EU lung research project PULMOTENSION
...cts young or middle-aged patients, who suffer from progressive loss of exercise capacity and dyspnoea. As a result, this serious lung disease represents a major burden on our healthcare systems. With the formation of PULMOTENSION, European Top centers for scientific and technical competence in PH have taken a d...Discovery of new gene for rare nerve disease may help doctors understand more common illnesses
... form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited progressive nerve disorder. The findings are published in an advance online issue of Nature Genetics. Researchers have identified some 50 people from three families who live in St. Louis, Wisconsin, Belgium and Bulgaria and have this form of Charcot-Marie Tooth ...Virginia Tech researcher examining malignant melanoma in horses
...passed away on October 18, 2005 as a result of the progressive and relentless growth of the non-treated tumors. Chili's involvement with CeCO and the experimental protocol did result in some important achievements, according to Robertson. "I think this research on frankincense oil suggests that this ancient me...Common food preservative might provide treatment for cystic fibrosis
... organs and processes, cystic fibrosis is chronic, progressive and ultimately fatal, mostly as a result of respiratory failure. "The lung-clogging, suffocating mucoid form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa essentially is a death sentence for cystic fibrosis patients because these bacteria are inherently antibiotic and ...JCI table of contents: January 12, 2006
...lmost exclusively in males and is characterized by progressive loss of vision due to degeneration of the choroid and retina. The disorder is caused by a mutation in the CHM gene on the X chromosome, which codes for an important protein called the Rab escort protein-1 (REP-1), which shuttles other cellular protei...Advanced genomics and proteomics improve the diagnosis and treatment of a deadly lung disease
...ver, all are characterized by differing degrees of progressive scarring of lung tissue between the air sacs, or the interstitium. With repeated damage, the interstitium becomes thickened and stiff, or fibrotic, making it increasingly difficult for the individual to breathe. Some forms of interstitial lung diseas...Protein tests to diagnose pet food-poisoned dogs
..., of Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Center. "A progressive fall in protein C levels appears to be a sensitive indicator," Brooks says. This test panel including protein C is only available at Cornell. For testing, veterinarians draw blood from the dog and send it overnight to Cornell's Animal Health Diagnost...Molecular imaging allows detection of plaques likely to rupture
... and Statin Therapy." Atherosclerosis is the slow, progressive buildup of deposits called plaques on the inner walls of arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart, brain and other parts of the body. Over time, plaques--deposits of fat, cholesterol and calcium--can narrow coronary arteries, allowing les...