Body

Just as with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the growth rate among non-radiologists who own or lease positron emission tomography (PET) equipment is also on the rise, contributing significantly to the ongoing issues surrounding self-referral and unnecessary utilization of imaging in the United States, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org).

A multicenter EPIC (FiberNet® Embolic Protection System in Carotid Artery Stenting Trial) study found that the FiberNet Embolic Protection System (EPS) had a 97.5% success rate when used in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting (CAS). Full findings are published early online in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the official journal of The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

A recent study found that rats with advanced fibrosis that were administered a short-term dose of losartan-M6PHSA had reduced liver inflammation and fibrosis. Those animals treated with oral losartan alone did not experience a similar reduction in disease activity. Results of this study appear in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Spanish researchers determined that rats treated with recombinant ghrelin displayed a reduction in liver fibrosis. Ghrelin, a stomach hormone, reduced the amount of fibrogenic cells by 25% in the treated rodents. Research further showed ghrelin prevented acute liver damage and reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in the animal models. Details of this study are published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Researchers at Albany Medical College are releasing results of a study this week that they say will help refocus the search for new drug targets aimed at preventing or reversing the devastating tissue inflammation that results after heart attack and stroke.

Researchers at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have figured out how ATP is broken down in cells, providing for the first time a clear picture of the key reaction that allows cells in all living things to function and flourish.

LA JOLLA, CA—The first order of business for any fledgling plant embryo is to determine which end grows the shoot and which end puts down roots. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute expose the turf wars between two groups of antagonistic genetic master switches that set up a plant's polar axis with a root on one end and a shoot on the other.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new technique to study protein dynamics in living cells has been created by a team of University of Illinois scientists, and evidence yielded from the new method indicates that an in vivo environment strongly modulates a protein's stability and folding rate, according to research accepted for publication in the journal Nature Methods and posted on the journal's Web site Feb. 28.

New research has identified four aspects of immune system disturbance which lead to the development of coeliac disease. Nearly 40 different inherited risk factors which predispose to the disease have now been identified. These latest findings could speed the way towards improved diagnostics and treatments for the autoimmune complaint that affects 1 in 100 of the population, and lead to insights into related conditions such as type 1 diabetes.

Digger wasps of the genus Philanthus, so-called beewolves, house beneficial bacteria on their cocoons that guarantee protection against harmful microorganisms. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena teamed up with researchers at the University of Regensburg and the Jena Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research – Hans-Knoell-Institute - and discovered that bacteria of the genus Streptomyces produce a cocktail of nine different antibiotics and thereby fend off invading pathogens.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Reversing a protein deficiency through gene therapy can correct motor function, restore nerve signals and improve survival in mice that serve as a model for the lethal childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research shows.

DURHAM, NC — A novel technology for delivering nicotine to the lungs may soon give smokers a new way to kick the habit.

When compared to the nicotine vapor delivery system used in the Nicotrol/Nicorette inhaler, the new technology proved more effective at delivering nicotine to the blood stream. As a result, it provides immediate relief of withdrawal symptoms, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. Users also reported the new nicotine delivery method was more tolerable than the current inhaler because it caused less throat irritation.

Metastases that were 2 millimeters or less in diameter ("micrometastases") in axillary lymph nodes detected on examination of a single section of the lymph nodes were associated with poorer disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients, according to a new study published online February 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Feb. 26, 2010 — Cancer researchers have high hopes for a new therapy for patients with certain types of lymphoma and leukemia.

PCI-32765 is a new drug being assessed in a Phase I clinical trial at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center in collaboration with the Clinical Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

PHILADELPHIA - Researchers have found that one particularly aggressive type of blood cancer, mixed lineage leukemia (MLL), has an unusual way to keep the molecular motors running. The cancer cells rely on the normal version of an associated protein to stay alive.

MLL happens when a piece of chromosome 11 breaks off at the normal MLL-associated gene. The broken gene attaches itself to another chromosome, resulting in a fusion protein that eventually causes uncontrolled growth of blood cells.