A clot-busting therapy may benefit some heart attack patients who cannot have immediate angioplasty, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.
Med-Chemist : "Quintessential Medicinal Chemistry"
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Promising new drug treats and protects against radiotherapy-associated oral mucositis
Mouse model studies show that administered genetically or topically, protein Smad7 protects against or heals mouth sores commonly associated with cancer treatment.
Ref : http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3118.html
Friday, March 22, 2013
Bitter melon juice prevents pancreatic cancer in mouse models
"Three years ago researchers showed the effect of bitter melon extract on breast cancer cells only in a Petri dish. This study goes much, much farther. We used the juice people especially in Asian countries are already consuming it in quantity. We show that it affects the glucose metabolism pathway to restrict energy and kill pancreatic cancer cells," says Rajesh Agarwal, PhD, co-program leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the CU Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Agarwal's interest came from connecting the dots of existing research in a novel way. Diabetes tends to presage pancreatic cancer and bitter melon has been shown to effect type-II diabetes, and has been used for centuries against diabetes in the folk medicines of China and India. Following this line of thinking, Agarwal and colleagues wondered what would happen if they closed out the middle man of diabetes and directly explored the link between bitter melon and pancreatic cancer.
The result, Agarwal says, is, "Alteration in metabolic events in pancreatic cancer cells and an activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase, an enzyme that indicates low energy levels in the cells."
Perhaps not coincidentally, bitter melon also regulates insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells. After studies in cell cultures, the group showed that mouse models of pancreatic cancer that were fed bitter melon juice were 60 percent less likely to develop the disease than controls.
"It's a very exciting finding," Agarwal says. "Many researchers are engineering new drugs to target cancer cells' ability to supply themselves with energy, and here we have a naturally-occurring compound that may do just that."
The Agarwal Lab is now applying for grants that will allow them to move the study of bitter melon into further chemoprevention trials in mouse models of pancreatic cancer.
Ref : dx.doi.org/10.1093/carcin/bgt081
Monday, March 18, 2013
New Drugs May Offer Hope to Parkinson's Patients - Drugs.com MedNews
"Progress is being made to expand our use of medications, develop new medications and to treat symptoms that either we haven't been able to treat effectively or we didn't realize were problems for patients," said Dr. Robert Hauser, professor of neurology and director of the University of South Florida Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center in Tampa.
Parkinson's disease, a degenerative brain disorder, affects more than 1 million Americans. It destroys nerve cells in the brain that make dopamine, which helps control muscle movement. Patients experience shaking or tremors, slowness of movement, balance problems and a stiffness or rigidity in arms and legs.
In one study, Hauser evaluated the drug droxidopa (see the structure right), which is not yet approved for use in the United States, to help patients who experience a rapid fall in blood pressure when they stand up, which causes light-headedness and dizziness. About one-fifth of Parkinson's patients have this problem, which is due to a failure of the autonomic nervous system to release enough of the hormone norepinephrine when posture changes.
Hauser studied 225 people with this blood-pressure problem, assigning half to a placebo group and half to take droxidopa for 10 weeks. The drug changes into norepinephrine in the body.
Those on the medicine had a two-fold decline in dizziness and lightheadedness compared to the placebo group. They had fewer falls, too, although it was not a statistically significant decline.
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In a second study, Hauser assessed 420 patients who experienced a daily "wearing off" of the Parkinson's medicine levodopa (see structure left), during which their symptoms didn't respond to the drug. He compared those who took different doses of a new drug called tozadenant, which is not yet approved, with those who took a placebo. All still took the levodopa.
At the start of the study, the patients had an average of six hours of "off time" a day when symptoms reappeared. After 12 weeks, those on a 120-milligram or 180-milligram dose of tozadenant (see structure below) had about an hour less of "off time" each day than they had at the start of the study.
Tozadenant, which works on brain receptors thought to regulate motor function, merits further study in future trials, Hauser said.
In another study, Hauser looked at 321 patients with early stage Parkinson's whose symptoms weren't handled well by a medicine called a dopamine agonist, typically the first drug prescribed for Parkinson's patients. During the 18-week study, Hauser assigned them to take either their usual medicine plus an add-on drug called rasagiline (brand name Azilect see below structure) or their usual medicine and a placebo.
Azilect is approved for use in patients with early stage disease as a single therapy or as an add-on to levodopa, Hauser said, but not yet as an add-on to dopamine agonists.
Those taking the Azilect but not those taking the placebo improved by 2.4 points on a standard Parkinson's disease rating scale.
Costs of the still unapproved drugs are not known. Azilect costs about $200 monthly at the 1-milligram daily dose used in the study.
Each of the studies was funded by the pharmaceutical company making the particular drug: Chelsea Therapeutics paid for the blood-pressure study; Biotie Therapies Inc., supported the "wearing-off" study; and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries sponsored the Azilect study. Hauser is a consultant for all three companies.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Can Green Tea, Coffee Reduce Stroke Risk? - Drugs.com MedNews
In continuation of my update on green tea...
This study of about 83,000 people suggests that drinking green tea or coffee daily might lower stroke risk by about 20 percent, with even more protection against a specific type of stroke.
"The regular action of daily drinking [of] green tea and coffee is a benefit in preventing stroke," said lead researcher Dr. Yoshihiro Kokubo, chief doctor in the department of preventive cardiology at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, in Osaka.
"If you cannot readily improve your lifestyle, try to prevent stroke by drinking green tea every day," he said.
Although it isn't certain why coffee and tea may have this effect, Kokubo thinks it might be due to certain properties in these drinks that keep blood from clotting.
In addition, green tea contains catechins, which have an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect. Some chemicals in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, may cut the risk of stroke by lowering the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, he explained.
Coffee also contains caffeine, which may have an impact on cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and may cause changes in insulin sensitivity, which affects blood sugar, he added.
One expert, Dr. Ralph Sacco, past president of the American Heart Association, cautioned that this type of study cannot say for sure that the lower risk of stroke is really the result of drinking coffee or tea.
"Such association studies are still limited in [the] ability to tell whether it is some ingredients in the coffee or tea or some other behavior common to coffee and tea drinkers that is driving the protective effects," said Sacco, chairman of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Grape seed and skin extract: A weapon in the fight against kidney disease caused by high-fat diets
"In our research, obesity-induced leaky kidney and proteinuria are shown to be prevented by GSSE, which suggests the use of GSSE as a preventive nutriceutical for high-risk patients," said co-author Kamel Charradi, a researcher with the Laboratory of Bioactive Substance at the Center of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria (CBBC) in Tunisia. This research group has previously published work showing the benefits of GSSE in combating obesity, heart dysfunction, brain lipotoxicity and kidney cancer.....
Ref : http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/story/10.4141/news.2013.02.27.116#.UTM-5KJTCYk
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
New chemical probe provides tool to investigate role of malignant brain tumor domains in chromatin structure and regulation
Researchers lead by assistant professor in the lab of Stephen Frye, Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Pharmacy and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, announced the discovery of a chemical probe that can be used to investigate the L3MBTL3 methyl-lysine reader domain. The probe, named UNC1215, will provide researchers with a powerful tool to investigate the function of malignant brain tumor (MBT) domain proteins in biology and disease.....
Monday, March 4, 2013
High-Fiber Diet Helps Heart Too, Expert Says - Drugs.com MedNews
Eating a high-fiber diet does more than promote digestive well-being; it's also good for your heart, an expert says.
Dietary fiber from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans "has
been shown in research to help lower cholesterol," Jody Gilchrist, a
nurse practitioner at the Heart and Vascular Clinic at the University of
Alabama, Birmingham.
"Most nutrition experts say that a person needs at least 25 grams of fiber a day as part of a balanced diet," Gilchrist said. "The American Heart Association recommends that a good rule of thumb is 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories consumed, and at least 10 grams should come from soluble fiber."
Soluble fiber makes you feel full quickly, which helps control how
much you eat. Research has shown that soluble fiber also helps lower
"bad" LDL cholesterol by interfering with how the body absorbs
cholesterol from foods.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Positive health indicators associated with avocado consumption
We know that avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Avocado or alligator pear also refers to the fruit (botanically a large berry that contains a single seed) of the tree.
Avocados are commercially valuable and are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world. They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, it ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.
The fruit of horticultural cultivars has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products, etc.) is limited.
A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is prone to enzymatic browning; it turns brown quickly after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after they are peeled.
The fruit of horticultural cultivars has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products, etc.) is limited.
A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is prone to enzymatic browning; it turns brown quickly after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after they are peeled.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tranylcypromine may also hold promise in treating sickle cell disease
In continuation of my update on Tranylcypromine
An antidepressant drug used since the 1960s may also hold promise for treating sickle cell disease, according to a surprising new finding made in mice and human red blood cells by a team from the University of Michigan Medical School.
The discovery that tranylcypromine, or TCP, can essentially reverse the effects of sickle cell disease was made by U-M scientists who have spent more than three decades studying the basic biology of the condition, with funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
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