Medical whistleblowers speak out
... to - meaning basically that they're required by a regulator - and that rarely happens." The industry researcher explained that the studies that are the basis for regulatory approval are too small and are conducted over too brief a period to properly assess safety. There are "blockbuster drugs" out there, ...Smoking and obesity accelerate human ageing
...tigators measured the concentrations of a body fat regulator called leptin and telomere length in blood samples from the women. They found that telomere length decreased steadily with age and the telomeres of obese women and smokers were much shorter that those of lean women and never-smokers. Lean individuals...Researchers shed new light on cause of bedsores and other chronic wounds
... the molecular pathway to beta-catenin, a critical regulator of cell behavior. According to the researchers, beta-catenin activates the production of c-myc as well as other pathways that affect the migration, growth, and regulation of skin cells. This is the first study to investigate the roles of c-myc and b...New study shows SARS can infect brain tissue
...vered a high level of Mig, a type of immune system regulator called a chemokine, in the man's bloodstream and brain, which may have resulted from the central nervous system infection. The researchers speculated that Mig could also have contributed to his brain damage by attracting immunological cells to the si...Suppression of FOXO1a gene might kill resistant ARMS tumors
...orted that FOXO1a (also called FKHR) is the master regulator that controls the differentiation of myoblasts into muscle cells (EMBO Journal 22:1147-1157; 2003). The investigators also showed that the loss of FOXO1a expression works in combination with another mutation in ARMS. Specifically, muscle cells first ...Special issue on cystic fibrosis in The Journal of Pediatrics
...n of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, birth rates started a linear decline to an estimated rate of 1 in 3,608. Cystic fibrosis birth rates appear to have stabilized in the last few years, but the authors speculate that further decline may occur with implementation of carrier scree...Notch signaling molecule important in type 2 immunity
...erentiation. Notch is a protein that is a critical regulator of the process by which stem and other multipotent...2 response, demonstrating that Notch is a critical regulator of this response," adds co-author David Artis, PhD, Assistant Professor at Penn's School of Veterina...Mayo Clinic Cancer Center finds possible genetic link to pancreatic cancer
...d in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene in two patients, both younger than 60. A follow-up study was designed to test all the young-onset cases in the registry, resulting in a study group of 166 young-onset pancreatic cancer patients. This study showed that mutations in the C...NHS should have an independent regulator
The NHS should have an independent regulator like other public utilities in the UK, argues a se...c. At present the UK does not have an independent regulator of healthcare reform, yet the consequences of ill judged reform of the NHS may inflict long term dam...New strides being made in chemoprevention
...DO-Im activated Nrf2, a gene that acts as a master regulator of the majority of antioxidant pathways and detoxifying enzymes for environmental pollutants. "The unparalleled potency of CDDO-Im in rats highlights the chemopreventive promise of targeting Nrf2 pathways with triterpenoids, and provides a new direc...UCSD research may lead to targeted treatment for asthma sufferers
...cantly reduced," said Broide. IKK beta is a master regulator gene that is expressed in cells throughout the body including cells lining the bronchial tubes and immune cells, which are needed to fight infection. Through its effects on the transcription factor NF-kB, IKK beta also regulates the expression of ma...New insight into machinery of immune cells' 'tentacles'
...t was known activation of the enzyme Rac was a key regulator of actin polymerization, but the downstream molecules in this pathway have remained elusive," said Pendergast. "The prevailing dogma was that this function is mediated by a protein called WASp. However, mice lacking WASp can still form immunological ...JCI Table of Contents, April 3, 2006
...to external stressors." TITLE: Nrf2 is a critical regulator of the innate immune response and survival during experimental sepsis AUTHOR CONTACT: Shyam Biswal Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Phone: (410) 955-4728; Fax: (410) 955-0116; E-mail: sbiswal@jhsph.edu View the PDF of this articl...JCI table of contents, April 20, 2006
... mice with type 1 diabetes in which the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) was lacking. The authors found that in the absence of AIRE, the target cells primarily attacked by the autoreactive T cells were no longer islet beta cells, but acinar cells in the mouse pancreas. This change in specificity was associated with...ESF sets out research strategy to push rheumatic diseases up the health agenda
...fic Advisory Group within EMEA to advise the drugs regulator on the approval of new treatments. The ESF and E...ed in the drug approval process, and to ensure the regulator gets consistent, independent and expert advice." Co-chair, Professor Andreas Radbruch of DRFZ, Berli...JCI table of contents: July 3, 2006
... split personality Adenosine, long known to be a regulator of heart function, has recently been identified as an inhibitor of inflammation that acts primarily by activating the A2A adenosine receptor (A2AAR) on lymphoid and myeloid cells. In a study appearing in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Inve...Genetic variation linked to age-related macular degeneration
...tion between the complement factor H (CFH) gene, a regulator of the complement pathway, and AMD. Dominiek D. ...nd colleagues hypothesized that the effect of this regulator gene may be particularly hazardous in persons in whom the complement cascade is activated. They asse...Pigeons provide clue to solving common problem in heart patients
...ose back up after angioplasty. "We identified a regulator of genes that controls the growth of artery smooth muscle cells," said William Wagner, Ph.D., senior researcher. "Learning to modulate the uncontrolled growth of these cells could potentially solve the problem of vessels re-closing after angioplasty....Flavanol-rich cocoa improves blood vessel function in aging baby boomer study participants
...uence the body's production of nitric oxide, a key regulator of blood vessel tone. Compared to the younger subjects, the vessel responses of the older men and women were significantly more pronounced after drinking the flavanol-rich cocoa beverage -- suggesting that the consumption of this flavanol rich co...Hope for significant new diabetes treatment in Stanford discovery
...e lines of research are connected through a common regulator in calcineurin. Heit and Kim used further genetic trickery to bypass calcineurin by artificially activating its protein sidekick, called NFAT. Beta cells lacking calcineurin but with active NFAT behaved normally, multiplying as the mice aged and pro...