GBP Health / Biotech News 07-28-2010

Public Release: 28-Jul-2010
American Journal of Pathology
Morphine blocks tumor growth
Current research suggests that taking morphine can block new blood vessel and tumor growth. The related report by Koodie et al, "Morphine suppresses tumor angiogenesis through a HIF1á/p38MAPK pathway," appears in the August 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

Contact: Angela Colmone, Ph.D.
acolmone@asip.org
301-634-7953  
American Journal of Pathology

Public Release: 28-Jul-2010
Nature
Molecular mechanism triggering Parkinson's disease identified in Stanford study
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecular pathway responsible for the death of key nerve cells whose loss causes Parkinson's disease. This discovery not only may explain how a genetic mutation linked to Parkinson's causes the cells' death, but could also open the door to new therapeutic approaches for the malady.
National Institutes of Health, McKnight Foundation, Beckman Foundation, Sloan Foundation

Contact: Bruce Goldman
goldmanb@stanford.edu
650-725-2106  
Stanford University Medical Center

Public Release: 28-Jul-2010
Diabetes
One molecule, many more insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes, says Pitt team
With a single stimulatory molecule, human insulin-producing beta cell replication can be sustained for at least four weeks in a mouse model of diabetes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Diabetes. They also found several cocktails of molecules that drive human beta cells to replicate, as well as important differences between mouse and human beta cells that could influence how these approaches are best used to treat diabetes.
NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Pam and Scott Kroh and the Don and Arleen Wagner family foundations

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
SrikamAV@upmc.edu
412-578-9193  
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

Public Release: 27-Jul-2010
Nature Nanotechnology
Nanoblasts from laser-activated nanoparticles move molecules, proteins and DNA into cells
Using chemical "nanoblasts" that punch tiny holes in the protective membranes of cells, researchers have demonstrated a new technique for getting therapeutic small molecules, proteins and DNA directly into living cells.
National Institutes of Health

Contact: John Toon
jtoon@gatech.edu
404-894-6986  
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News

Public Release: 27-Jul-2010
Nature Communications
Multifunctional nanoparticle enables new type of biological imaging
By combining a nanoparticle's magnetic and thermal properties, researchers have created a new technique that virtually eliminates the background noise from non-radioactive medical imaging.
National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health

Leap Forward in Efforts to Develop Treatments for Huntington's Disease

July 28, 2010 — Research reveals that an enzyme linked with multiple disorders -- including stroke, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis -- is also involved in the generation of toxic protein fragments in Huntington's ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728121323.htm

Where Do the Drugs Go?

July 28, 2010 — Drug delivery inside the body is a complicated process. Compounds travel through a maze of aqueous solutions, lipid membranes, and barriers between the blood and tissues like the brain. New research ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727174913.htm

Millions of Americans in Early Stages of Kidney Disease Need Stroke Monitoring, Research Finds

July 28, 2010 — Millions of Americans in the early stages of chronic kidney disease are at an increased risk of having atrial fibrillation -- a major risk factor for stroke -- according to new ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728121333.htm

New Criteria for T-Cell Lymphoma Diagnosis

July 28, 2010 — Researchers in Italy have discovered new diagnostic criteria to differentiate peripheral T-cell lymphomas ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728120910.htm

New HIV Treatment Guidelines Indicate Importance of Early, Individualized Antiretroviral Treatment

July 27, 2010 — Advances in antiretroviral treatment have shown that the progressive immune system destruction caused by HIV infection, including AIDS, can be prevented, indicating the importance of beginning ART ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100718204739.htm

HIV's Sugar Coating Offers New Vaccine Approach

July 27, 2010 — The chains of sugar molecules, or carbohydrates, that cover the outside of the highly variable HIV virus remain constant, are different from those found on human cells, and could form the basis of a ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100723130141.htm

Noninvasive MR Imaging of Blood Vessel Growth in Tumors Using Nanosized Contrast Agents

July 26, 2010 — Scientists have incorporated nanotechnology, material science, and the clinical imaging modality MRI, to create a nanosized probe capable of noninvasively visualizing and quantifying the blood vessel ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100723123938.htm

How Key Enzyme Repairs Sun-Damaged DNA

July 26, 2010 — Researchers have long known that humans lack a key enzyme -- one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants -- that reverses severe sun damage. For the first time, researchers have ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100725142614.htm

Treatments for Blocked Carotid Arteries Vary by US Region

July 26, 2010 — Medicare beneficiaries in some parts of the United States appear more likely to receive carotid endarterectomy, a surgical procedure to clear blockages in the artery supplying blood to the head, ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100726162115.htm

Health Highlights: July 28, 2010

·                        White House OKs Limited Enrollment Periods For Children's Health Insurance

·                        Major Differences Between States In Rates Of Uninsured

·                        Cost Of Treating Back Problems Doubles Over 10 Years: Report

·                        Major Food Safety Violations At Many U.S. Stadiums

·                        BPA Found On Cash Register Receipts: Study

Implantable Sensor Measures Blood Sugar Levels

Wireless device transmitted accurate readings in pigs for more than a year, study shows.

Clinical Trials Update: July 28, 2010

·                        Insomnia

·                        Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

·                        Healthy Volunteers (Ages 18-55)

Technology May Explain Mammogram's Poorer Performance in Younger Women
Worse detection rate not due to tumor biology in women under 50, study suggests.

Longer Time Frame for Clot-Busting Drug May Help Beat Stroke
Expanding the time limit from 3 to 4.5 hours doesn't appear to delay treatment, study suggests

Advanced Life Sciences Applies for FDA Fast-Track Designation for Restanza in CABP - PR Newswire - Wed 8:00 am ET
Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced that the Company has applied to the U.S.

GlaxoSmithKline to Implement New Compensation Program for U.S. Sales Professionals - PR Newswire - Mon Jul 26
GlaxoSmithKline today confirmed that it will implement a new system for evaluating and compensating its sales professionals beginning in 2011.  

Novel Therapies for Advanced Heart Failure
Construction Equipment
The first-in-human trial to utilize this novel gene therapy, CUPID (Calcium Up-regulation by Percutaneous administration of gene therapy In cardiac Disease) ...

Gene Transfer May Correct Monogenic Blood Disease in Young Patients
Medscape
As the report explains: "Correction of â-thalassemia by gene therapy requires gene transfer in stem/progenitor cells and high levels of â-globin gene ...

Watching Genetically Engineered Cells Kill Cancer In Real Time
Singularity Hub (blog)
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center are using gene therapy to teach immune cells how to attack cancer, but that's now all. ...

Hospira Begins Phase I U.S. Clinical Trial Of Biosimilar Erythropoietin In Renal Patients

Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP), the world leader in generic injectable pharmaceuticals, announced the start of a U.S. Phase I clinical trial of its biosimilar erythropoietin (EPO) in patients with renal (kidney) dysfunction who have anemia , an important step on the road toward introducing a biosimilar product in the United States. Erythropoietin is a treatment for anemia associated with chronic renal failure and chemotherapy.    The controlled, randomized trial of patients on hemodialysis who have already been treated with Amgen's Epogen(R) (epoetin alfa), is taking place at 20 different hemodialysis centers across the United States. Patients in the trial will be treated with both Epogen and Hospira's EPO, with each patient receiving one drug first and then being switched to the second drug. The goal of the Phase I trial is to test safety and pharmacokinetics, or measurements of the drug's blood level and distribution in the body, compared with the reference product. Pending successful completion of the Phase I trial, Hospira would launch an expanded Phase III trial in 2011, also comparing safety and efficacy of Hospira's EPO with Epogen.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196120.php

Proposed Lowering Of PSA Threshold For Biopsy Could Result In Increased Overdiagnosis And Overtreatment Of Prostate Cancer, Study

New research from the US suggests that most American men diagnosed with prostate cancer receive aggressive treatment, even if their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level is below the current recommended 4.0 nanograms per milliliter threshold for biopsy and their diagnosis indicates low-risk disease; the researchers argue against lowering the threshold, suggesting there is no evidence that waiting for PSA to reach the current threshold before doing a biopsy leads to significant increases in non-curable cases, whereas lowering it is likely to lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment.   Dr Yu-Hsuan Shao, of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, and colleagues report their findings in a paper that was published online on 26 July in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA/Archives journal.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196014.php

Canadian Researchers Testing Unique Vaccines For Prion Diseases And Common Cancers

Several Canadian researchers have come together to help control the relentless spread of a prion disease, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk, through vaccines. At the same time they aim to generate safe and effective therapies for common cancers . This simultaneous research is possible thanks to a unique connection they have discovered between the two unrelated diseases.    The project builds on links between prion proteins present in certain prion diseases like CWD in animals and common cancers in people like melanoma and lymphoma . The multi-provincial research is made possible by Vancouver-based PrioNet Canada's Bootstrap program and involves three scientists along with two industry partners, Toronto-based Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. and Saskatoon-based PREVENT - the Pan Provincial Vaccine Initiative.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195975.php

Starve A Cancer

Researchers at Boston College, MA, have found that reducing calorie intake can restrict the growth and spread of brain cancer .   Writing in ASN NEURO, Laura Shelton and colleagues report success with mice suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive and invasive form of primary human brain cancer.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195776.php

Speeding Up Diagnosis of Infectious Disease

A startup is developing sequencing-based tests that could detect infections within 24 hours.

Genetic Tests Get Bad Grades

A federal investigation finds conflicting test results and false marketing claims.