Body

A UC Irvine-led study has revealed the underlying genetic factors that help repair skin lesions caused by psoriasis, which could engender new methods of controlling the lingering condition.

Dr. Bogi Andersen, professor of biological chemistry and endocrinology at UCI, and colleagues discovered that a gene called grainyhead – known to be important in epidermal development and wound healing – triggers a repair pathway for psoriasis lesions. Conversely, they found that deletion of this gene increased the severity and longevity of the disfiguring patches.

Researchers for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) suggest that more research is needed to determine the benefits of screening asymptomatic individuals for thyroid dysfunction. Their review is being published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Approximately 1 billion people worldwide have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Individuals with this disease have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease. It is not clear how this disease develops, though both genetics and events that alter metabolism appear to be involved. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation indicates that ketogenesis, a process that breaks down fat in the absence of carbohydrates, prevents NAFLD.

Tooth decay is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide. While oral hygiene and dietary choices promote tooth decay, genetics are also a factor in cavity formation. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that keratins, proteins associated with strong hair, are important for tooth enamel integrity. Maria Morasso and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health found that individuals with mutations in hair keratin genes are prone to cavities. Tooth enamel from individuals with keratin mutations had abnormal structure that resulted in weakness.

Discontinuation and nonadherence were higher among breast cancer patients taking brand name aromatase inhibitors (BAIs) vs generic AIs (GAIs), according to a new study published October 27 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

SAN FRANCISCO: A foot ulcer is typically a painful inconvenience to most people, but to a person with diabetes it could mean an infection, or worse, an amputation. But a research team at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif., has developed a drug delivered through a skin patch that not only helps foot wounds heal better, but also prevents those wounds from recurring, according to study results they presented this week at the American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress.

Pasteurized agave nectar and placebo were both perceived to be better by parents for treating nighttime cough and the resulting sleep difficulty in infants and toddlers than doing nothing at all, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

In a group of young users of injection drugs, recent maintenance opioid agonist therapy with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorders, such as heroin addiction, was associated with a lower incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and may be an effective strategy to reduce injection-drug use and the resulting spread of HCV, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

In a group of young users of injection drugs, recent maintenance opioid agonist therapy with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorders, such as heroin addiction, was associated with a lower incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and may be an effective strategy to reduce injection-drug use and the resulting spread of HCV, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Both agave nectar and a placebo were more effective than no treatment for young children's cough symptoms, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. The findings suggest that a placebo could help children more than "watchful waiting."

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 27, 2014 – When Yanomamö men in the Amazon raided villages and killed decades ago, they formed alliances with men in other villages rather than just with close kin like chimpanzees do. And the spoils of war came from marrying their allies' sisters and daughters, rather than taking their victims' land and women.

A hinge in the RNA genome of the virus that causes hepatitis C works like a switch that can be flipped to prevent it from replicating in infected cells. Scientists have discovered that this shape is shared by several other viruses—among them one that kills cancer cells.

That's Seneca Valley virus, which seems harmless to healthy human cells but lethal to cancer stem cells.

"Clearly we'd like to understand it better," said Thomas Hermann, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is an efficient vector of a bacterium that causes a lethal citrus disease, huanglongbing (HLB), one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide.

PHILADELPHIA - A new effort mapping 24-hr patterns of expression for thousands of genes in 12 different mouse organs – five years in the making – provides important clues about how the role of timing may influence the way drugs work in the body. A study detailing this veritable "atlas" of gene oscillations, never before described in mammals, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A world without plants would be a world without oxygen, uninhabitable for us and for many creatures. We know plants release oxygen by absorbing carbon dioxide and breaking down water using sunlight through the process of photosynthesis. However, we know little about the mechanics of how plants create oxygen during photosynthesis. A breakthrough that will help advance our understanding of this critical ecological process was made recently by scientists at LSU.