American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for April 2005 (first issue)
...ntal tuberculosis in mice showed that as bacterial metabolism slowed down from the action of other drugs, pyrazinamide worked with more bactericidal effect. Out of the multiplicity of random clinical trials that were carried out over the years, two drug regimens emerged as treatments of choice. The first was ...Bone SPECT superior to FDG PET for detecting bone metastases in breast cancer
...PET is an imaging technique based on the increased metabolism of glucose in tumor cells. SPECT is atype of nuclear medicine scan that detects special radioactive elements administered to the patient by the physician. According to the authors, due to these differences in method, bone SPECT images can reveal the ...Drugs targeted at muscle cells
...linical disease characterised by disruption to the metabolism of glucose and lipids as well as to the production...ted at receptors in the muscle cells increases the metabolism and absorption of glucose, making it a potential tool in the treatment of diabetes. These new findin...Exercise slows development of Alzheimer's-like brain changes in mice, new study finds
...gh exercise or environmental enrichment forces the metabolism of amyloid precursor protein through a pathway that is less harmful and might even be beneficial. Further research will help us to understand those mechanisms, to learn how much and what kind of exercise is best, and to see if these same effects occu...Breast-cancer risk linked to exposure to traffic emissions at menarche, first birth
...mining whether genetic polymorphisms involving PAH metabolism may modify the risk, if lifeline cumulative exposure may be associated with the risk and if this study may be replicated in another geographic settings. Jo Freudenheim, Ph.D., UB professor of social and preventive medicine, heads the WEB study. A...MRI study shows hormone leptin alters brains, may ease cravings of people with obesity gene
...plays an important role in regulating body weight, metabolism and reproductive function. Researchers took MRI scans of research subjects' brains prior to beginning leptin replacement treatment, and again at six and 18 months after treatment began. Investigator: The lead investigators are Drs. Edythe Londo...Atorvastatin shows promise in small trial for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease
...hology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cholesterol metabolism has been suggested by a number of human and animal studies, according to background information in the article. In addition, some epidemiological studies have shown that prior use of statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) for the treatment of risk of c...Mayo Clinic researchers use pharmacogenetic test prior to chemotherapy to reduce toxic side effects
... a gene that encodes for a protein involved in the metabolism of irinotecan. The test gives scientists advance knowledge of the individual risk for toxicity from irinotecan. As a result, scientists are able to tailor this chemotherapy regimen to the individual, thus reducing toxicity. This kind of customized do...Genes may influence nutritional composition of breast milk
...the E4 variant of ApoE , a gene that regulates fat metabolism in the bloodstream. The E4 variant, which is present in about 20 percent of the U.S. population, is associated with an increased risk for both heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. They found that mothers who carried either one or two copies of the ...New method of administering anti-cancer drug may be more effective, safer
...ain the desired level of drug in patients and that metabolism of the drug varies from patient to patient. "The new continuous-infusion method achieved more predictable levels of the drug than does the usual delivery method," said Dr. Thomas C. Shea, professor of medicine at UNC, director of the Bone Marrow Tra...Bad metabolism in blood vessels linked to high blood pressure and atherosclerosis
...Louis to the first direct link between inefficient metabolism and atherosclerosis. "For years, we've heard people say, 'Bad metabolism runs in my family,'" says Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D., professor of medicine and of cell biology and p...Teen-agers with Type 1 diabetes already developing cardiovascular disease
...hool and head of the division of endocrinology and metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Maria Karantza, M.D., endocrinology fellow at CHLA, presented the data. Researchers compared 90 teen-age boys and girls with type 1 diabetes to 16 other teens the same age without the disease. In each partici...Search for bipolar gene, toll of disease topics of conference call briefings June 16, 17
...r manic behaviors and pinpointing changes in brain metabolism that occur in response to certain drugs, will be presented in a special session at 2:45 p.m., Friday, June 17. For more information about the meeting, to request abstracts, register as press or learn more about press briefings, please contact Gloria ...Study explains why up to eight percent of cancers go undetected
...ghts chemical and physiological changes related to metabolism that often occur before structural damage is evident. PET is the leading diagnostic tool for oncology patients because of its high sensitivity to detect malignancies. It also can identify recurrent disease before it spreads through the body. CT imagi...Canadian study demonstrates new approach to achieving diabetes control
...ssor of medicine and director of endocrinology and metabolism at McMaster University in Hamilton, demonstrated that early addition of insulin glargine therapy (in combination with oral agents or alone) safely achieved better glycemic and metabolic outcomes than adding oral agents. These results were achieved wi...Bipolar disorder linked to specific brain regions; certain drugs alter brain metabolism
.... In contrast, pramipexole treatment did not alter metabolism in other brain regions, such as the amygdala, that have been implicated with conventional antidepressants but instead, pramipexole was found to increase activity in the premotor cortex, hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex, and superior temporal g...New computer program uses brain scans to assess risk of Alzheimer's
...rogram, they demonstrated that reductions in brain metabolism in healthy individuals were associated with the la...rchers found that the baseline hippocampal glucose metabolism was the only brain or clinical measure that predicted the future cognitive decline. ...Study sheds light on the developmental origins of polycystic ovarian syndrome
...rowth is more likely to have problems with insulin metabolism in later life due to an underlying metabolic problem. In women this problem appears to be associated with PCOS, and is most evident where there is a constellation of symptoms of increasing severity. Hence, I suspect there are at least two pathways th...ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) significantly improved components of diabetic dyslipidemia
...panheimer, M.D., medical director for diabetes and metabolism at Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. "Many factors can contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes, including multiple lipid abnormalities. It is important to understand the impact medications can have on ...Genomics researchers discover protein deficit that causes drug toxicity
...Prior efforts to explain the mystery of thiopurine metabolism had focused on biochemical mechanisms -- not changes in protein levels. Background Researchers have known for decades that 1 in 300 patients of Caucasian European genetic background has two copies of the variant gene -- specifically, a switch in 2 ...