Body | Page 2535 | Science Codex

A new therapeutic target in iron overload disorders

Iron is required for multiple cellular functions, including the synthesis of hemoglobin, but a buildup of excess cellular iron can be toxic.

Hepcidin is a circulating molecule produced by the liver that triggers the degradation of iron transporters in the intestine and certain immune cells. In response to rising iron stores, increased hepcidin levels lead to reduced iron absorption from the diet. Iron overload can occur due to inherited mutations in this iron homeostasis pathway, or to disorders that lead to ineffective blood cell development, such as β-thalassemia.

Exploring the cause of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a form of infantile-onset, treatment-resistant epilepsy that is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding a voltage-gated sodium channel, SCN1A. DS patients have a 30-fold increased risk of dying from sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) compared to patients with other forms of pediatric-onset epilepsy. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Franck Kalume and colleagues at the University of Washington characterized SUDEP in a mouse model of DS.

Lymphatic vasculature: A cholesterol removal system

Reverse cholesterol transport is a process in which accumulated cholesterol is removed from tissues, including the artery wall, and transported back to the liver for excretion. Little is known about how cholesterol is removed from peripheral tissues, but a better understanding of these mechanisms could help in the development of therapies that treat atherosclerosis and other cholesterol-related disorders. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Gwendalyn Randolph and colleagues at Washington University in St.

T-cell therapy eradicates an aggressive leukemia in 2 children

Philadelphia, March 25, 2013 - Two children with an aggressive form of childhood leukemia had a complete remission of their disease-showing no evidence of cancer cells in their bodies-after treatment with a novel cell therapy that reprogrammed their immune cells to rapidly multiply and destroy leukemia cells. A research team from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania published the case report of two pediatric patients Online First today in The New England Journal of Medicine. It will appear in the April 18 print issue.

Study: Research reveals protective properties of influenza vaccines

Collaborating scientists from Nationwide Children's Hospital, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified an important mechanism for stimulating protective immune responses following seasonal influenza vaccinations. The study was published in Science Translational Medicine, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

While seasonal influenza vaccines protect 60 to 90 percent of healthy adults from "the flu," the mechanisms providing that protection are still not well understood.

Youth with diabetes at greater risk following transition from pediatric to adult care

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the body does not produce insulin and cannot convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. Generally diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, the disease requires lifelong access to medical care and intensive daily self-management.

As children with Type 1 diabetes grow into young adults, they must leave their pediatric health care providers for adult providers. But the timing of this process and its impact on the young people's health had not been fully explored.

Other stomach microbiota modulate resistance to H. pylori-driven ulcers

WASHINGTON, DC – March 25, 2013 – Mice with different naturally occurring stomach bacteria have distinct susceptibilities to disease caused by Helicobacter pylori, the well-known cause of ulcers in humans, according to a study published online ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity. This is the first study to document (in mice) that the presence of certain bacteria in the stomach microbiota can prevent pathology from H. pylori.

Storming the gates: UNC research probes how pancreatic cancers metastasize

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered that a protein found in the cells surrounding pancreatic cancers play a role in the spread of the disease to other parts of the body.

Smokefree workplaces linked to smokefree homes in India

Adults in India are substantially more likely to abstain from smoking at home if they are prohibited from smoking at work, a new study has found.

According to data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey India, 2009/2010, 64 per cent of adults who work in smokefree environments live in a smokefree home, compared with 42 per cent of those who work where smoking is permitted. The proportion of smokefree homes is higher in states with higher proportions of smokefree workplaces.

Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in models

WASHINGTON, DC – March 25, 2013 – Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

How common is 'The John Next Door'?

Los Angeles, CA (March 25, 2012) While the media is replete with examples of "normal" men who seek out prostitutes regularly, how common are prostitute-seeking men and how much do they differ from men in the normal population? According to a new comparison study by Dr. Martin A. Monto, University of Portland, and Dr. Christine Milrod, only about 14% of men across the U.S. have ever paid for sex in their lives and only 1% of those men had done so in the previous year.

Peculiar parasitoid wasp found on rare sawfly developing in ferns

A mysterious parasitoid wasp was found in the Böhmerwald (Northeast Austria) and reared in the garden of the amateur entomologist Ewald Altenhofer of Gross Gerungs municipality, Austria. The parasitoid was identified by Kees van Achterberg, senior researcher at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, as the rare Seleucus cuneiformis. It is the first time that a tip of its biology was discovered.

New lung cancer study takes page from Google's playbook

SAN DIEGO - The same sort of mathematical model used to predict which websites people are most apt to visit is now showing promise in helping map how lung cancer spreads in the human body, according to a new study published in the journal Cancer Research.

Reversing blood and freshening it up

The blood of young and old people differs. In an article published recently in the scientific journal Blood, a research group at Lund University in Sweden explain how they have succeeded in rejuvenating the blood of mice by reversing, or re-programming, the stem cells that produce blood.

Stem cells form the origin of all the cells in the body and can divide an unlimited number of times. When stem cells divide, one cell remains a stem cell and the other matures into the type of cell needed by the body, for example a blood cell.*

Research: Women over 40 still need effective contraception

Women reaching the age of 40 tend to be less vigilant about birth control because they think the risk of pregnancy is low – or that birth control can cause health problems - but a review of the evidence by a team that includes a Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island physician recently underscored the need to be vigilant about contraception even in perimenopause.