http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) come under attack by their immune system, producing 'autoantibodies' that inflict damage throughout the body. Antibodies normally target foreign proteins, but SLE autoantibodies attack targets contained within the nuclei of host cells, and immunologists have struggled to untangle how this happens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-protein-implicated-lupus-disease-distinct.html Immunology Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:20:01 EST news282379253 Genes linked to autism and schizophrenia are only switched on during the early stages of brain development, according to a study in mice led by researchers at the University of Oxford. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-genes-autism-schizophrenia-brains.html Genetics Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:26 EST news279804955 A team led by Vanderbilt University investigators has discovered two new genes – both coding for the signaling protein calmodulin – associated with severe early-onset disorders of heart rhythm. The findings, reported online Feb. 6 in the journal Circulation, expand the list of culprits that can cause sudden cardiac death and may point to new therapeutic approaches. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-calcium-binding-protein-mutations-heart-rhythm.html Cardiology Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:00:13 EST news279377526 A paper by Shizhong Han and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry implicates a new gene in the risk for cannabis dependence. This gene, NRG1, codes for the ErbB4 receptor, a protein implicated in synaptic development and function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-gene-implicated-schizophrenia-cannabis.html Genetics Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:09:44 EST news269176168 Mutations in a gene called XRCC2 cause increased breast cancer risk, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The study looked at families that have a history of the disease but do not have mutations in the currently known breast cancer susceptibility genes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-breast-cancer-susceptibility-gene.html Genetics Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:20:52 EST news252246045 Adding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to standard breast cancer screening approaches is expensive, though it could be cost effective for a group of women who may not have inherited the breast cancer susceptibility genes, but who have a familial risk of developing the disease. This is the conclusion of research presented at the eighth European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8) today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mri-screening-women-family-history.html Cancer Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:21:28 EST news251536882 A team of EU-funded researchers has successfully identified a gene that triggers a skin disorder in dogs - and the findings could have implications for humans who also suffer from the condition. Whether it manifests in golden retrievers or in humans, the disease ichthyosis has the same common genetic basis; therefore, any new bounds made in understanding the condition in dogs are applicable to humans too. No molecular cause for ichthyosis has previously been identified. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-golden-scientists-track-human-disease.html Genetics Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:55:07 EST news247218889 Singapore and China scientists, headed by Dr Liu Jianjun, Senior Group Leader and Associate Director of Human Genetics at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Dr Yu Xueqing, a nephrologist at the 1st Affiliated Hospital of the Sun Yat-Sen University, have identified new susceptibility genes for the kidney disease Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy (IgAN). This discovery, reported in the advance online issue of Nature Genetics on December 25, 2011, brings scientists closer to understanding the disease and working towards its cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-scientists-large-asian-genome-wide-association.html Genetics Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:36:35 EST news244359301 Singapore and China scientists, headed by Dr Liu Jianjun, Senior Group Leader and Associate Director of Human Genetics at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Dr Gu Jieruo, a rheumatologist at the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of the Sun Yat-Sen University, have identified new genes that are associated with the spine disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This discovery, reported in the advanced online issue of Nature Genetics on 4 December 2011, brings scientists closer to understanding the disease and work towards its cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-scientists-asian-genome-wide-association-spine.html Genetics Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:40:24 EST news242300385 (Medical Xpress) -- An international team of scientists, including researchers from Karolinska Institutet, have identified several rare gene variants that predispose to IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). The study provides new insights into disease pathogenesis, and suggests next-generation sequencing may speed hoped-for personalized treatment of common complex disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-rare-gene-variants-linked-inflammatory.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:26:51 EST news237461097 Contrary to what you might think, cancer and diabetes appear to have some biology in common. According to a report in the September 30th issue of the Cell Press journal, Cell, a pathway that initially drew attention for its role in embryonic stem cells and cancer also influences the odds that mice develop or resist diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-diabetes-cancer-biological-basis.html Medical research Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:37:56 EST news236518664 New research led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto has identified more genes in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and shows that there is an overlap between some of these genes and those found in other neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study is published in the August 10 advance online edition of Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-adhd-genes-links-susceptibility-autism.html Genetics Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:10:12 EST news232214970 Osteoporosis is the reduction in bone strength that occurs during aging, which increases the chance of elderly people experiencing breaks. A genome-wide association study in the Japanese population has revealed that a genomic variant within a newly identified gene, which the discoverers have named FONG, enhances susceptibility to osteoporosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-bone-disease.html Genetics Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:50:03 EST news231154029 An international research team, co-led by scientists at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida, have discovered three potential susceptibility genes for development of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease that causes symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease but is resistant to Parkinson's medications. Their report is being published online June 19 in Nature Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-susceptibility-genes-neurodegenerative-disorder.html Genetics Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:00:29 EST news227706753