January 28, 2007, 8:58 PM CT

100 Percent Juices As Good As Fruits And Vegetables

When it comes to some of today's health issues, 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices do help reduce risk factors related to certain diseases.

This conclusion is the result of a European study designed to question traditional thinking that 100 percent juices play a less significant role in reducing risk for both cancer and cardiovascular disease than whole fruits and vegetables.

Juices are comparable in their ability to reduce risk compared to their whole fruit/vegetable counterparts say several researchers in the United Kingdom who conducted the literature review. The researchers analyzed a variety of studies that looked at risk reduction attributed to the effects of both fiber and antioxidants. As a result, they determined that the positive impact fruits and vegetables offer come not from just the fiber but also from antioxidants which are present in both juice and the whole fruit and vegetables.

This 2006 review of the literature states, "When considering cancer and coronary heart disease prevention, there is no evidence that pure fruit and vegetable juices are less beneficial than whole fruit and vegetables." The researchers add that the positioning of juices as being nutritionally inferior to whole fruits and vegetables in relationship to chronic disease development is "unjustified" and that policies which suggest otherwise about fruit and vegetable juices should be re-examined.........

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January 26, 2007, 4:28 AM CT

Role Of Appetite Hormone Mch In Insulin Production

A new Joslin Diabetes Center-led study has shown conclusively that a neuropeptide, melanin concentrating hormone (MCH), found in the brain and known for its role in increasing appetite in people, plays a role in the growth of insulin-producing beta cells and the secretion of insulin. This finding has the potential to spur the development of new treatments for diabetes that stimulate the production of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This latest research, conducted with researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and other institutions, will appear in the February 2007 issue of Diabetes.

An earlier Joslin-led study examined the connection between obesity and MCH, which plays a critical role in energy balance and appetite, observing an increase in the number of beta cells when MCH levels are high. This was a new finding that had not been observed before. Although MCH's role in appetite control is well known, its effects on the secretion of endocrine hormones has not been fully understood.

"It's a very logical connection," says Rohit N. Kulkarni, M.D., Ph.D., investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study. "Whenever you eat food, your body needs more insulin. When MCH induces appetite, it simultaneously increases insulin secretion from beta cells and enhances growth of beta cells. If the proteins that mediate the growth mechanism can be identified, it could lead to the development of new drugs that would enhance beta cell growth to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes".........

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January 24, 2007, 6:36 PM CT

Gene That May Predispose To Schizophrenia

In a new study from The American Journal of Human Genetics, a research team lead by Xinzhi Zhao and Ruqi Tang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) present evidence that genetic variation may indicate predisposition to schizophrenia. Specifically, their findings identify the chitinase 3-like 1 gene as a potential schizophrenia-susceptibility gene and suggest that the genes involved in biological response to adverse conditions are likely linked to schizophrenia.

Analyzing two separate cohorts of Chinese patients with schizophrenia, the researchers observed a positive association between schizophrenia and genetic variations in the promoter region of the chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) gene, an association that was significant in both population-based and family-based investigations.

The CHI3L1 gene acts as a survival factor in response to adverse environments, countering various types of physiological stress, such as inflammation, nutrient deprivation, and oxygen deficiency, all of which may induce high expression of CHI3L1. The gene is located on chromosome 1q32.1, a region that has been previously shown to have a weak correlation to schizophrenia.

A number of environmental factors, including prenatal exposure to disease, have been reported as risk factors of schizophrenia. However, the researchers argue that sensitivity to environmental stressors varies widely among individuals, and "at least part of this variation may be genetic in origin and/or involve gene-environment factors," they write.........

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January 24, 2007, 6:10 PM CT

First Human Metabalome

Scientists at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada, have announced the completion of the first draft of the human metabolome, the chemical equivalent of the human genome.

The metabolome is the complete complement of all small molecule chemicals (metabolites) found in or produced by an organism. By analogy, if the genome represents the blueprint of life, the metabolome represents the ingredients of life.

The researchers have catalogued and characterized 2,500 metabolites, 1,200 drugs and 3,500 food components that can be found in the human body.

The research is reported in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

The scientists think that the results of their work represent the starting point for a new era in diagnosing and detecting diseases.

They think that the Human Metabolome Project (HMP), which began in Canada in 2004, will have a more immediate impact on medicine and medical practices than the Human Genome Project, because the metabolome is far more sensitive to the body's health and physiology.

"Metabolites are the canaries of the genome," says Project Leader Dr. Wishart, professor of computing science and biological sciences at the University of Alberta and Principal Investigator at NRC, National Institute for Nanotechnology. "A single base change in our DNA can lead to a 100,000X change in metabolite levels."........

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January 16, 2007, 9:33 PM CT

One-third Of Children Having Surgery Overweight Or Obese

A very high proportion of children who are having surgery are overweight or obese, and because of the excess weight have a greater chance of experiencing problems associated with the surgery, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.

Researchers looked at a database of all 6,017 pediatric surgeries at the U-M Hospital from 2000 to 2004, and they found that nearly a third of the patients - 31.5 percent - were overweight or obese. More than half of those children qualified as obese, according to the study, which appears in the new issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.

The prevalence of overweight children having surgery presents challenges to surgeons, anesthesiologists and their teams. Overweight adult patients are more likely to have conditions such as type II diabetes, hypertension, asthma and other breathing problems, and are more likely to develop infections in their wounds after surgery. The researchers on this study say those conditions also are becoming common among overweight and obese children.

The results also suggest that children who are overweight or obese have an increased likelihood of requiring certain types of surgery. The surgeries these children were having performed most frequently included the removal of tonsils and adenoids, as well as other surgeries designed to assist with breathing problems and sleep apnea; orthopedic surgeries to fix broken bones and other ailments; and procedures designed to mend digestive and gastrointestinal issues.........

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January 16, 2007, 4:57 AM CT

blood test to distinguish between mononucleosis and tonsillitis

Measuring a patient's ratio of white blood cell types may help physicians accurately distinguish between the similar conditions infectious mononucleosis and bacterial tonsillitis, potentially guiding therapy decisions, as per an article in the recent issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Acute tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) and infectious mononucleosis (caused by the Epstein-Barr virus) are both common ear, nose and throat conditions with similar symptoms, as per background information in the article. These symptoms include sore throat, fever, painful swallowing, white plaque on the tonsils and redness of the throat and tonsils. "The importance in differentiating patients with tonsillitis from those with glandular fever [mononucleosis] is the prevention of spontaneous rupture of the spleen and acute intra-abdominal hemorrhage," potential complications of mononucleosis, the authors write. Currently, distinguishing between them requires an expensive mononucleosis spot test.

Dennis M. Wolf, B.Sc., D.O.-H.N.S., M.R.C.S., and his colleagues at St. George's Hospital, London, retrospectively analyzed laboratory tests from 120 patients with infectious mononucleosis and 100 patients with bacterial tonsillitis treated at their facility. All patients were given the spot test for mononucleosis and additional blood tests were performed to determine the number of lymphocytes (a particular type of white blood cell involved in the body's immune response) and overall white blood cell count.........

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January 15, 2007, 5:04 AM CT

Gene That Regulates Adult Stem Cell Growth

A new discovery in stem cell research may mean big things for cancer patients in the future. Gary Van Zant, Ph.D., and a research team at the University of Kentucky published their findings today in Nature Genetics, an international scientific journal.

The researchers genetically mapped a stem cell gene and its protein product, Laxetin, and building on that effort, carried the investigation all the way through to the identification of the gene itself. This is the first time such a complete study on a stem cell gene has been carried out. This particular gene is important because it helps regulate the number of adult stem cells in the body, particularly in bone marrow. Now that it has been identified, researchers hope the gene, along with its protein product Latexin, can be used clinically, such as for ramping up the stem cell count in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation.

The researchers agreed that this very process is not only interesting, but important because of its usefulness in a wide variety of future genetics studies.

"We're thinking about cancer in a big way," Van Zant said. "This is a great example of translational research - from the most basic type of genetic research all the way to possible treatments for patients".........

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January 10, 2007, 9:12 PM CT

Diabetes Drug Prevents Brain Injury

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that in animal studies, a common diabetes drug prevents the memory and learning problems that cancer patients often experience after whole-brain radiation treatments.

"These findings offer the promise of improving the quality of life of these patients," said Mike Robbins, Ph.D., senior researcher. "The drug is already prescribed for diabetes and we know the doses that patients can safely take".

Whole-brain radiation is widely used to treat recurrent brain tumors as well as to prevent breast cancer, lung cancer and malignant melanoma from spreading to the brain. About 200,000 people receive the treatment annually, and beginning about a year later, up to one-half develop progressive cognitive impairments that can affect memory, language and abstract reasoning.

In the current issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology - Biology -Physics, Robbins and colleagues report that rats receiving the diabetes drug piolitazone (sold under the trade name Actos®) before, during and after radiation treatments did not experience cognitive impairment.

The scientists compared whether treatment with Actos for four weeks or for 54 weeks after radiation would be more effective, and found there was not a significant difference.........

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January 10, 2007, 8:59 PM CT

New Therapy For Severely Elevated Cholesterol Levels

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated the potential of a new type of therapy for patients who suffer from high cholesterol levels. The findings are in the January 11 issue of the New England Journal (NEJM) (NEJM). In this study, patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a high-risk condition refractory to conventional therapy, had a remarkable 51% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad cholesterol" levels.

"Our study shows that targeted inhibition of the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is highly effective in reducing cholesterol levels in these very high risk patients," stated Daniel J. Rader, MD, Director of Preventive Cardiology and the Clinical and Translational Research Center at Penn, and principal investigator of this study. "Furthermore, there are many other patients who have cholesterol levels that are difficult to treat or who are not tolerant to treatment with statins. New therapies are required for these patients as well, and it is possible that after further research MTP inhibition could eventually be used for such patients".

Genetic defects in MTP lead to profoundly low levels of LDL. Using this information, Bristol-Myers Squibb began to search for inhibitors of this protein and discovered the study drug, originally known as BMS-201038. Bristol-Myers Squibb then donated it to Penn for use in clinical trials in patients with severe cholesterol problems. Rader and his team at Penn designed and carried out the current study in homozygous FH patients with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Due to the success in this study, Penn has licensed the drug to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc for further development as AEGR-733.........

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January 10, 2007, 4:51 AM CT

Gene That Leads To Kidney Failure In Diabetes

A research team at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and the University of Heidelberg has proven that a gene protects some people with diabetes from developing severe kidney failure or "end-stage renal disease".

Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide, an illness that requires either kidney dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant for survival.

The carnosinase 1 gene, located on human chromosome 18, produces the protective factor, said Barry I. Freedman, M.D., the John H. Felts III Professor and head of the Section on Nephrology, in an article in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation published online.

"This is a major gene that appears to be associated with development of severe diabetic kidney disease," he said.

The research team evaluated 858 subjects, including diabetic patients with end-stage kidney failure on dialysis, diabetic patients with normal kidney function, and healthy non-diabetic individuals. They confirmed that a protective form of the carnosinase 1 gene was present in greater frequency among both healthy individuals and diabetic subjects without kidney disease, compared to the diabetic patients on dialysis who more commonly had forms of the gene that were not protective.

This discovery may lead to novel treatment strategies in susceptible diabetic patients to protect them from kidney failure and may provide a marker to determine which diabetic patients are at increased risk for future kidney disease, Freedman said.........

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