Body

SAN FRANCISCO-Researchers have discovered a molecular switch that explains, at least in part, how some fast-growing prostate cancers become resistant to hormone treatment, a new study conducted in human cell cultures and mice finds. The results were presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

A factor not normally found in the prostate, called Steroidogenic Factor 1, stimulates production of new steroid hormones and increases cell multiplication to fuel growth of the tumor, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found.

A new osteoporosis drug hinders the growth of estrogen-sensitive cancer that has become resistant to treatment with tamoxifen, a study in mice shows. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

The medication, bazedoxifene, which is approved in Europe under the brand name Conbriza for the treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis, also reduced estrogen activity and estrogen receptor levels in cultured human breast cancer cells, the study authors reported.

SAN FRANCISCO-- A drug that mimics the activity of thyroid hormone significantly increases the amount of energy burned by fat tissue and promotes weight loss, an animal study of metabolism finds. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO-- High doses of testosterone significantly improve sexual function among women who have had their uterus and ovaries surgically removed, a clinical study demonstrates. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO-- Reduced effectiveness of the hormone insulin, or insulin resistance, is associated with weakened bones, a clinical study shows. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO—- When fathers eat a high-fat diet before conception of offspring, the male offspring have increased body weight after weaning and high body fat in midlife despite eating a low-fat diet, a new study in mice finds. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Joseph Pidala, M.D., M.S., assistant member of the Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant and Immunology programs at Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues from the Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease Consortium have determined that certain gastrointestinal and liver-related types of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are associated with worsened quality of life and death.

Their study appeared in the May issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the official journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Understanding how gastric bypass surgery changes the properties of nerve cells that help regulate the digestive system could lead to new treatments that produce the same results without surgery, according to Penn State College of Medicine scientists, who have shown how surgery restores some properties of nerve cells that tell people their stomachs are full.

The results may also better predict which patients will keep the weight off after surgery.

The value of a fuel's long-term usefulness and viability is judged through its energy return on investment; the comparison between the eventual fuel and the energy invested to create it. The energy return on investment (EROI) study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology finds that shale gas has a return value which is close to coal.

In the United States, gas is mined from horizontal, hydraulically fractured wells in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. The study compares the total input energy with the energy expected to be made available to end users.

PHILADELPHIA — A new molecular pathway involving the gene ZNF365 has been identified and abnormalities in that pathway may predict worse outcomes for patients with breast cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

When it comes to honey bees, more mates is better. A new study from North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that genetic diversity is key to survival in honey bee colonies – meaning a colony is less likely to survive if its queen has had a limited number of mates.

HGPS is a rare genetic disease that affects one in every 4-8 million births. The disease is caused by a spontaneous mutation in one of the two copies (alleles) of the gene LMNA, which codes for lamin A, a protein important for the integrity and function of the envelope surrounding the cell nucleus. The mutation causes incorrect processing of the messenger RNA for lamin proteins, resulting in the synthesis of an anomalous protein, called progerin.

The plant genus Lepidiums is a small group of representatives of the economically important cabbage family Brassicaceae. Most commonly known as peppercress or peppergrass Lepidiums includes around 180 species worldwide. In a new extensive study, published in the open access journal PhytoKeys, scientists explore the diversity within the New Zealand Lepidiums oleraceum and allied species.

A University of Calgary researcher has identified how a steroid hormone may indicate infant distress during labour and delivery. The study, published by PLOS ONE this month, suggests that a full-term, healthy baby preferentially secretes a different stress hormone than its mother does. That stress hormone, corticosterone, has not been previously studied in human development.

SAN FRANCISCO—Hormone treatment to halt puberty in adolescents with gender identity disorder does not cause lasting harm to their bones, a new study finds. The results were presented today at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.