http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. One of 100,000 children is born with Menkes disease, a genetic disorder that affects the body's ability to properly absorb copper from food and leads to neurodegeneration, seizures, impaired movement, stunted growth and, often, death before age 3. Now, a team of biochemistry researchers at the University of Missouri has published conclusive scientific evidence that the gene ATP7A is essential for the dietary absorption of the nutrient copper. Their work with laboratory mice also provides a greater understanding of how this gene impacts Menkes disease as scientists search for a treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-discovery-children-rare-fatal-disease.html Medical research Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:57:04 EST news286559799 Researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida have discovered a protein that is overly active in every human sample of kidney cancer they examined. They also found that an experimental drug designed to block the protein's activity significantly reduced tumor growth in animals when used alone. Combining it with another drug already used to treat the cancer improved the effectiveness of both. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-experimental-drug-inhibits-growth-stages.html Cancer Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:00:02 EST news286536545 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have devised an entirely novel way to block biological signaling pathways that, when overactive, lead to many types of cancers. They've done so by disrupting the function of a mediator, or scaffold, protein that brings together key members of the pathway and promotes their interaction to stimulate cell growth and division. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-blocking-scaffold-protein-inhibits-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:08:36 EST news285836906 Ever since the appetite-regulation hormone called leptin was discovered in 1994, scientists have sought to understand the mechanisms that control its action. It was known that leptin was made by fat cells, reduced appetite and interacted with insulin , but the precise molecular details of its function —details that might enable the creation of a new treatment for obesity—remained elusive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-block-protein-appetite-suppressing-hormone.html Medical research Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:13:00 EST news285437571 Setting a mouse free to roam might alarm most people, but not so for nuclear imaging researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Maryland who have developed a new imaging system for mouse brain studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-scans-unrestrained-mice.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:03:26 EST news284727797 Amyloids—clumps of misfolded proteins found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders—are the quintessential bad boys of neurobiology. They're thought to muck up the seamless workings of the neurons responsible for memory and movement, and researchers around the world have devoted themselves to devising ways of blocking their production or accumulation in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-accused-complicity-alzheimer-amyloid-proteins.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:00:07 EST news284215646 (Medical Xpress)—By studying the underlying differences in gene expression during healing after a bone break in young versus aged mice, Jaimo Ahn, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues aim to find specific pathways of fracture healing in humans. The team of researchers will present their findings in a poster presentation beginning Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-differences-bone-mice-seniors.html Surgery Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:09:55 EST news283072188 Injected with a fluorescent protein to make them glow bright red, laboratory mice are helping Czech scientists better understand the causes behind intestinal cancers and skin diseases while leaving the rodents unscathed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-red-mice-czechs-bowel-cancer.html Medical research Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:11:47 EST news282391900 A genetically reprogrammed Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cure metastatic diffusion of human cancer cells in the abdomen of laboratory mice, according to a new study published January 31 in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens. The paper reports on the collaborative research from scientists at the at the University of Bologna and specifically describes that the HSV converted into a therapeutic anticancer agent attacks breast and ovarian cancer metastases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-oncolytic-herpes-virus-inhibits-ovarian.html Cancer Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:00:04 EST news278872159 All humans have enormous numbers of bacteria and other micro-organisms (10 to 14) in the lower intestine. In fact our bodies contain about ten times more bacteria than our own cells and these tiny passengers are extremely important for our health. They help us digest our food and provide us with energy and vitamins. These "friendly" commensal bacteria in the intestine help to stop the "bad guys" such as Salmonella that cause infections, taking hold. Even the biochemical reactions that build up and maintain our bodies come from our intestinal bacteria as well as our own cells.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-good-bacteria-intestine-diabetes.html Diabetes Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:59:22 EST news277721911 (Medical Xpress)—If the sinful excess of holiday eating sends your system into butter-slathered, brandy-soaked overload, you are not alone: People who are jet-lagged, people who work graveyard shifts and plain-old late-night snackers know just how you feel. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-excess-holiday-disturbs-food-clock.html Medical research Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:43:01 EST news275550167 Autistic-like behaviors can be partially remedied by normalizing excessive levels of protein synthesis in the brain, a team of researchers has found in a study of laboratory mice. The findings, which appear in the latest issue of Nature, provide a pathway to the creation of pharmaceuticals aimed at treating autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that are associated with diminished social interaction skills, impaired communication ability, and repetitive behaviors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-neuroscientists-excessive-protein-synthesis-linked.html Autism spectrum disorders Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:00:35 EST news275488647 Symptoms of an autoimmune disease disappeared after a team of scientists retrained the white blood cells. This method is extremely promising for treating diseases such as type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-autoimmune-diseaseretraining-white-blood-cells.html Immunology Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:00:13 EST news274961600 Pre-clinical trials—the stage at which medications or therapies are tested on animals like laboratory mice—is a crucial part of drug development. It's only then that scientists can assess benefits and side effects before a drug is administered to patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-uncovering-flaw-drug-chronic-anxiety.html Medical research Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:43:48 EST news274628622 Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have found in an initial clinical trial that a drug typically prescribed for erectile dysfunction or pulmonary hypertension restores blood flow to oxygen-starved muscles in patients with a type of muscular dystrophy that affects males, typically starting in childhood or adolescence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-common-drug-reverses-effect-becker.html Medical research Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:42:41 EST news273336154 Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have found that an experimental compound may help stem the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy by restoring normal blood flow to muscles affected by the genetic disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-preclinical-muscular-dystrophy.html Medical research Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:06:22 EST news271591571 (Medical Xpress)—Apichai Tuanyok dedicated several years to working on a bacterial pathogen in Canada, but his breakthrough occurred in Flagstaff with an unexpected finding on a routine lab report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-glanders-vaccine.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:50:03 EST news269853788 Some animal models developed by researchers at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Bellvitge (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) has served to validate the effectiveness of a new drug against ovarian cancer resistant to cisplatin. The multidisciplinary work, done in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company Pharmamar, was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-animal-revolutionize-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:42:54 EST news269016113 Researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have found that a blood vessel-building gene boosts the ability of human bone marrow stem cells to sustain pancreatic recovery in a laboratory mouse model of insulin-dependent diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bone-marrow-stem-cell-therapy.html Medical research Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:08:47 EST news268416504 Neuroscientists at New York University have devised a method that has reduced several afflictions associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) in laboratory mice. Their findings, which are reported in the journal Neuron, offer new possibilities for addressing FXS, the leading inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-neuroscientists-fragile-afflictions.html Medical research Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:00:13 EST news267273547 Scientists have discovered the first direct evidence that a biological mechanism long suspected in epilepsy is capable of triggering the brain seizures – opening the door for studies to seek improved treatments or even preventative therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-biological-mechanism-trigger-epileptic.html Neuroscience Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:00:01 EST news267273778 Researchers at the Georgia Health Sciences University Cancer Center have identified a gene that disrupts the inflammatory process implicated in liver cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-inflammation-cancers.html Cancer Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:06:58 EST news264870392 One might expect that ridding a brain cell of damaged proteins would be a universally good thing, and that impairing the cell's ability to do this would allow the faulty proteins to accumulate within the cell, possibly to toxic levels. So a lot of scientific effort has gone into looking for ways to enhance the process by which cells dispose of banged-up proteins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-blocking-destruction-defective-proteins-unexpectedly.html Medical research Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:00:09 EST news264252485 Malaria parasites evolving in vaccinated laboratory mice become more virulent, according to research at Penn State University. The mice were injected with a critical component of several candidate human malaria vaccines that now are being evaluated in clinical trials. "Our research shows immunization with this particular type of malaria vaccine can create ecological conditions that favor the evolution of parasites that cause more severe disease in unvaccinated mice," said Andrew Read, Alumni Professor of Biological Sciences at Penn State. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-vaccine-vigilance-evolution-more-virulent-malaria.html Medical research Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:00:01 EST news262968492 A new gene therapy approach can reverse hearing loss caused by a genetic defect in a mouse model of congenital deafness, according to a preclinical study published by Cell Press in the July 26 issue of the journal Neuron. The findings present a promising therapeutic avenue for potentially treating individuals who are born deaf. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-gene-therapy-reversing-congenital-loss.html Neuroscience Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:00:02 EST news262426482 The widespread practice of allowing laboratory rats and mice to eat as much as they want may be affecting the outcome of experiments in which scientists use these "test-tubes-on-four-feet" to test new drugs and other substances for toxicity and other effects. That's the conclusion of a new analysis published in ACS' journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-all-they-can-eat-diet-lab-mice-rats.html Medical research Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:13:36 EST news261843207 (Medical Xpress) -- Non-infectious proteins of the species of bacteria that causes Lyme disease can remain in the body for a long time after antibiotic therapy, and are capable of causing an inflammatory immune reaction that could contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant arthritis, Yale researchers have found. The study appears in the online Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-lyme-disease-perpetuate-inflammation.html Inflammatory disorders Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:23:37 EST news259914197 The environment in which laboratory mice are reared can drastically alter the results of experiments and may have major implications for medical research around the world, according to new Australian data presented today at a meeting of The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-modern-mice-pose-medical.html Medical research Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:20:01 EST news258717615 When laboratory mice were modeled with colitis and treated with human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal cells, the cells homed in on the inflamed colon and effectively ameliorated colitis, reported a study published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (20:9), now freely available online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-colitis-mice-treatment-human-umbilical.html Medical research Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:49:42 EST news254404147 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that an injectable solution can protect mice from an otherwise lethal overdose of cocaine. The findings could lead to human clinical trials of a treatment designed to reverse the effects of cocaine in case of emergency. Cocaine is involved in more than 400,000 emergency-room visits and about 5,000 overdose deaths each year in the United States. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-antidote-cocaine-overdose-lab.html Medications Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:29:41 EST news253970959