Body

The efficacy of interferon (IFN) therapy depends on the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype, pretreatment viral load and early viral kinetics. Thus, IFN therapy must be individualized and optimized according to the virological and clinical status of each patient.

Previous studies have shown that GI is a reproducible measure of day-long postprandial glycemia. Over 2480 GI values of individual food items were listed in the recent edition of international tables of GI and GL. The relationship between food GI and human health has been largely investigated and is still one of the research hotspots in this research field. During recent years, the GI values of some local foods have been measured in different Asian countries because most of the published GI data are based on analysis carried out in western countries.

ST. LOUIS – A study co-authored by a Saint Louis University researcher found telaprevir, a protease inhibitor, combined with standard hepatitis C treatment, cures a significantly higher number of difficult-to-treat patients than standard treatment alone. The findings were published in the April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Recql5 is a member of the mammalian RecQ helicase family. Genetic mutations that result in loss of RecQ helicase activity give rise to disorders that are associated with cancer predisposition and premature aging, such as Bloom, Werner, and Rothmund-Thomson syndromes. This class of enzymes is best known for their role in maintaining the integrity of the genome to prevent oncogenic mutations.

Gastric cancer in Mexico is the most frequent gastrointestinal malignant neoplasm. Several precursor conditions, such as chronic gastritis, have been associated with the development of gastric cancer. The gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9, members of the metalloproteinase family, are fundamental enzymes in extracellular matrix remodelling. The extracellular matrix is composed of secreted molecules outside cells which provides structural support and regulates cell behaviour.

As a result of the rarity of Wilson disease (WD) and the fact that liver biopsy is not performed routinely during follow-up, unless clinically indicated, the progression and timing of the liver pathology and its correlation with different anti-copper treatments or aminotransferase levels are poorly characterized. Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility of improvement of steatosis and inflammation grade, and of fibrosis stage during long-term follow-up.

Biomolecules are medicine's jacks-of-all-trades: They are suitable for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer diseases; they are used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and asthma; they help stimulate the build-up of the body's own immune defenses with flu and polio inoculations. In the laboratories of the pharmaceutical industry, new biomolecules are constantly being engineered: Specific antibodies, customized proteins and nucleic acids – the core components of genetic material - are considered promising candidates for therapeutic approaches.

It seems an infarction, but it's not. It's called Tako-Tsubo syndrome, or stress-induced cardiomyopathy, and it's a rare disease which at first used to be confused with the far more common (and dangerous) cardiac infarction. Patients arrive to the emergency room with the characteristic heart attack symptoms: acute pain in the chest, an electrocardiogram with the typical changes and the release of those enzymes associated with the usual heart disease.

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from a landmark study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Overall, sleep apnea more than doubles the risk of stroke in men. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder in which the upper airway is intermittently narrowed or blocked, disrupting sleep and breathing during sleep.

A University of British Columbia doctoral candidate has discovered a previously unknown mechanism for silencing retroviruses, segments of genetic material that can lead to fatal mutations in a cell's DNA.

The findings, published today in the journal Nature, could lead to new cancer treatments that kill only tumour cells and leave healthy surrounding tissue unharmed.

A nutritional supplement could stimulate the production of stem cells integral for repairing the body. Research published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine suggests that a commercially-available supplement can increase the blood circulation of hematopoietic stem cells, which can give rise to all blood cells, and endothelial progenitor cells, which repair damage to blood vessels.

Deep under the Mediterranean Sea small animals have been discovered that live their entire lives without oxygen and surrounded by 'poisonous' sulphides. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology report the existence of multicellular organisms (new members of the group Loricifera), showing that they are alive, metabolically active, and apparently reproducing in spite of a complete absence of oxygen.

April 7, 2010 — (BRONX, NY) — A study of nearly 13,000 rescue workers from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) shows that the significant proportion who suffered acute lung damage after exposure to World Trade Center (WTC) dust have not recovered normal lung function in the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This seven-year study, with almost 62,000 individual measurements, is the largest longitudinal study ever reported of occupational influences on lung function.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Adding the investigational drug telaprevir to standard treatment for hepatitis C infection cures about half the patients willing to give therapy a second try. That compares to a cure rate of just 14 percent among those who were retreated with the standard regimen, according to researchers at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

Taking vitamin C and E supplements starting in early pregnancy does not reduce the risk for the hypertensive disorders and their complications that occur during pregnancy, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

The supplements notably failed to reduce the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially fatal form of hypertension in pregnancy. The findings are in contrast to suggestions in some previous small studies that the vitamins could reduce the risk of preeclampsia. Those studies were not confirmed in subsequent larger studies.