Gene nearly triples risk of Alzheimer’s, global team including Mayo Clinic finds

 

A gene so powerful it nearly triples the risk of Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered by an international team including researchers from Mayo Clinic. It is the most potent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s identified in the past 20 years. The findings were reported Wednesday in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Injectable sponge delivers drugs, cells, and structure

Bioengineers at Harvard have developed a gel-based sponge that can be molded to any shape, loaded with drugs or stem cells, compressed to a fraction of its size, and delivered via injection. Once inside the body, it pops back to its original shape and gradually releases its cargo, before safely degrading.

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Cedars-Sinai research: Preclinical muscular dystrophy data shows promise

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have found that an experimental compound may help stem the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy by restoring normal blood flow to muscles affected by the genetic disorder.

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Looking for the anti-Alzheimer’s molecule — A new approach to treating a devastating disease

Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease for which no truly disease-modifying drugs are available. Our approach is completely novel. We explore how the human body attempts to protect itself from Alzheimer’s, and then we exploit this to develop an entirely new approach to therapeutics,” explained Dr. Weaver, a professor at Dalhousie University, clinical neurologist at Capital Health and IWK Health Centre, Canada Research Chair in Clinical Neuroscience, and the DMRF Irene MacDonald Sobey Chair in Curative Approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease. “We are extremely excited about the results presented in this paper and believe that this may represent a new approach to the treatment of AD.”

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New bacteria to fight against intestinal inflammation

 

This protection is provided by a human protein, Elafin, which is artificially introduced into dairy produce bacteria (Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus casei). In time, this discovery could be useful for individuals suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. The results of this research were published in the Science Translational Medicine review on 31 October 2012.

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New drug significantly lowers bad cholesterol

For many people with high cholesterol, statins serve as the first line of treatment. However, some patients are unable to effectively reduce their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) or “bad cholesterol” levels with statins, the most commonly used medication to treat high cholesterol, due to their bodies’ inability to tolerate or sufficiently respond to the medicine.

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Clinical trials for first-ever human hookworm vaccine advance

 

The Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) today announced the start of Part II of its Phase I clinical trial of the Na-GST-1 vaccine candidate, marking another major milestone in the progress toward developing a human hookworm vaccine. Part II of the trial commenced in Americaninhas, Brazil, following successful vaccinations in Part I of the study, which began in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in late 2011.

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Softening arteries, protecting the heart

 

Arterial stiffening has long been considered a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Keeping arteries soft and supple might reduce disease risk, but the mechanisms of how arteries stave off hardening has remained elusive.

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Berkeley Lab scientists help develop promising therapy for Huntington’s disease

There’s new hope in the fight against Huntington’s disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating disease in mice.

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Scientists create ‘endless supply’ of myelin-forming cells

 

In a new study appearing this month in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have unlocked the complex cellular mechanics that instruct specific brain cells to continue to divide. This discovery overcomes a significant technical hurdle to potential human stem cell therapies; ensuring that an abundant supply of cells is available to study and ultimately treat people with diseases.

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