Our genome changes over lifetime, Johns Hopkins experts say
May explain many 'late-onset' diseases
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that epigenetic marks on DNA-chemical marks other than the DNA sequence-do indeed change over a person's lifetime, and that the degree of change is similar among family members. Reporting in the June 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the team suggests that overall genome health is heritable and that epigenetic changes occurring over one's lifetime may explain why disease susceptibility increases with age.
"We're beginning to see that epigenetics stands at the center of modern medicine because epigenetic changes, unlike DNA sequence which is the same in every cell, can occur as a result of dietary and other environmental exposure," says Andrew P. Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H, a professor of molecular biology and genetics and director of the Epigenetics Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Epigenetics might very well play a role in diseases like diabetes, autism and cancer."
If epigenetics does contribute to such diseases through interaction with environment or aging, says Feinberg, a person's epigenetic marks would change over time. So his team embarked on an international collaboration to see if that was true. They focused on methylation-one particular type of epigenetic mark, where chemical methyl groups are attached to DNA. ....More

Six Weeks Of Radiation Therapy May Be Unnecessary For Many Breast Cancer Patients
Groundbreaking European study by Dr. Umberto Veronesi proves a single dose of radiation can be equal to the traditional six-week course
Many women with breast cancer may not need six weeks of daily radiation after surgery. This explosive finding was made public at the recent International Society of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (ISIORT) conference held in Madrid, Spain earlier this month.
A Single Dose of Radiation is Enough
Renowned surgeon Dr. Umberto Veronesi, founder of the European Institute of Oncology, shared for the first time the results of a long-awaited, eight-year randomized trial comparing his breast cancer patients' response to two types of radiation therapy. The results so far show that women who received breast conserving surgery, followed by a single dose of intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy (IOERT) at the time of surgery, had an equal chance of survival as women who underwent the surgery, followed by six weeks of post-operative radiation therapy.
These amazing findings demonstrate that the standard radiation regimen for some lumpectomy patients - already expensive, sometimes painful, and very time-consuming - may be unnecessary. ....More

Umbilical cord blood cell transplants may help ALS patients
Moderate dose proves most effective in mouse model
A study at the University of South Florida has shown that transplants of mononuclear human umbilical cord blood (MNChUCB) cells may help patients suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. A disease in which the motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain degenerate, ALS leaves its victims with progressive muscle weakness, paralysis and, finally, respiratory failure three to five years after diagnosis.
In this study, USF researchers transplanted human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells into mouse models with ALS. Cells were transplanted at three different dose strength levels -- low, moderate and high -- to determine the degree to which dose levels of transplanted cells might delay disease symptom progression and increase lifespan. In results published today online at PloS ONE (Public Library of Science), researchers determined that the moderate-strength dose of HUCB cells was most effective in increasing lifespan and reducing disease progression. ....More

Early Humans Experimented To Get Bow And Arrow Just Right, Findings Suggest
ScienceDaily (Jun. 11, 2008) — In today's fast-paced, technologically advanced world, people often take the innovation of new technology for granted without giving much thought to the trial-and-error experimentation that makes technology useful in everyday life. When the "cutting-edge" technology of the bow and arrow was introduced to the world, it changed the way humans hunted and fought. University of Missouri archaeologists have discovered that early man, on the way to perfecting the performance of this new weapon, engaged in experimental research, producing a great variety of projectile points in the quest for the best, most effective system.
"Technological innovation and change has become a topic that interests people," said R. Lee Lyman, professor and chair of the University of Missouri Department of Anthropology. "When the bow and arrow appeared in North America, roughly 1,500 years ago, it eventually replaced the atlatl (spear thrower) and dart. The introduction of the bow and arrow, a different weapon delivery system, demanded some innovative thinking and technology. In other words, one could not just shoot a dart from a bow. Components like the shaft and arrow point needed to be reinvented.".....More

Combo HIV drug therapy safe, effective in children
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with combination anti-HIV drug therapy that includes a drug from the class known as protease inhibitors is safe and effective for the long-term treatment of previously treated HIV-infected children, according to a report in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Our experience shows that the therapeutic effects achieved in clinical trials "also hold true in a real world situation," Dr. Christoph Rudin told Reuters Health. "One can also endorse the view that adherence is probably the most important issue" when a patient first begins treatment because the first regimen appears to achieve better patient outcomes than treatments that follow.
Rudin from University Children's Hospital, Basel, Switzerland and colleagues evaluated the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of a combination drugs that included one or more protease inhibitors -- ritonavir, nelfinavir, and a lopinavir/ritonavir compound -- in 133 HIV-infected children previously exposed to anti-HIV drug therapy. The children were also given at least one agent from the drug class called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as zidovudine or lamivudine. ....More

Human antibody to dominate next wave of approvals

The successful launch of Genentech's Rituxan in 1997 has not only opened up the market for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), but also inspired many players (both big pharmas and small biotech companies) to make this profitable, low risk investment.
Since 2001, the mAb-based therapies have been posting the fastest growth within the protein therapeutics market. The mAbs market now classified as one of the most lucrative sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, registered a 37 percent growth during 2001-02 touching $5.4 billion. The market continued to witness an upward trend with an exceptional 48.1 percent growth between 2003-2004 and was estimated at $10.3 billion in 2004. The antibodies market, in 2005, was valued at about $14 billion, accounting for over 24 percent of the total protein therapeutics market. This share increased substantially since 2001, when it barely surpassed 13 percent.
According to the industry estimates, the current mAbs market is about $20 billion and will witness a two-fold increase in the next four-five years. This growth will continue in the coming years, boosted by a number of new mAbs on the market, new indications for successful medications, and their ability to treat conditions and diseases. It has the potential to increase in value over the years and reach $30 billion in 2010, driven by technological evolution. ....More

Human Stem Cell Line Made Containing Sickle Cell Anemia Mutation
ScienceDaily (May 31, 2008) — Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. Publishing online in Stem Cells on May 29, the team describes a faster and more efficient method of reprogramming cells that might speed the development of stem cell therapies.
"We hope our new cell lines can open the doors for researchers who study diseases like sickle cell anemia that are limited by the lack of good experimental models," says Linzhao Cheng, Ph.D., an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics, medicine and oncology and a member of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering.
The research team first sought to improve previously established methods for reprogramming of adult cells into so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which look and behave similarly to embryonic stem cells and can differentiate into many different cell types. After testing several different genes, they were able to improve reprogramming efficiency by adding a viral protein known as SV40 large T antigen. ....More

Advinus achieves milestones in Merck deal
Advinus Therapeutics, the TATA promoted company engaged in pharmaceutical R&D, has achieved two more milestones, one each in the two programs under drug discovery and development collaboration between Advinus and Merck. The second milestone for one of the programs was achieved within four months of achieving the first milestone in November 2007.
The companies have been working together since November 2006 to develop clinically validated drug candidates in metabolic diseases, with Merck retaining the right to advance the most promising of these candidates into late-stage clinical trials. Under the terms of the agreement, Advinus will receive milestone payments upon meeting, agreed upon criteria at various stages of discovery and development. Advinus could potentially receive $74.5 million per target and is also eligible for royalties on the sales of any products that result from the collaboration. Rajiv Malik, Senior Vice President and Head of Operations, Advinus, said, "The Advinus team is very proud of the achievement. Together, we have met or surpassed all the expectations that were set out between the partners at the onset of the collaboration." He further said, "The consecutive successes achieved in this collaboration, which is only a little over a year young, validate our ability to do innovative drug discovery on novel targets."....More

Nanotech 'tissue' loves oil spills, hates water
A material with remarkable oil-absorbing properties has been developed by US researchers. It could help develop high-tech "towels" able to soak up oil spills at sea faster, protecting wildlife and human health.
Almost 200,000 tonnes of oil have been spilled at sea in accidents since the start of the decade, according to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation.
Clean-up methods have improved in recent years, but separating oil from thousands of gallons of water is still difficult and perhaps the biggest barrier to faster clean ups.
The new water-repellent material is based on manganese oxide nanowires and could provide a blueprint for a new generation of oil-spill cleaners. It is able to absorb up to 20 times its own weight in oil, without sucking up a drop of water. ....More

Ukranian Doctor Lengthens Limbs
On March 15, 2008, the Ukranian Dr. Vitaliy Veklich called together a number of his young patients in treatment for achondroplasia. This was done in hopes of sharing community results of his limb lengthening treatment using the Ilizarov-Veklich apparatus.
Achondroplasia, an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that causes dwarfism, involves a deformation in one of the genes necessary for proper cartilage formation. As a result, children with the disease are often much shorter in stature than their peers.
Developed by Professor Gavriil Ilizarov, in Kurgan, Russia in the mid-twentieth century, this apparatus lengthens the leg bones slowly over several treatments. Dr. Veklich has redesigned the original apparatus with the goal of being safer and more reliable. Presently, the treatment involves three separate lengthening treatments at two distinct periods of development. Each stage takes 5 months and there is a 3 month period between stages. ....More

Drinking water can be harmful to smallest babies
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies younger than six months old should never be given water to drink, physicians at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore remind parents. Consuming too much water can put babies at risk of a potentially life-threatening condition known as water intoxication.
"Even when they're very tiny, they have an intact thirst reflex or a drive to drink," Dr. Jennifer Anders, a pediatric emergency physician at the center, told Reuters Health. "When they have that thirst and they want to drink, the fluid they need to drink more of is their breast milk or formula."
Because babies' kidneys aren't yet mature, giving them too much water causes their bodies to release sodium along with excess water, Anders said. Losing sodium can affect brain activity, so early symptoms of water intoxication can include irritability, drowsiness and other mental changes. Other symptoms include low body temperature (generally 97 degrees or less), puffiness or swelling in the face, and seizures.
"It's a sneaky kind of a condition," Anders said. Early symptoms are subtle, so seizures may be the first symptom a parent notices. But if a child gets prompt medical attention, the seizures will probably not have lasting consequences, she added.
Water as a beverage should be completely off limits to babies six months old and younger, Anders and her colleagues say. Parents should also avoid using over-diluted formula, or pediatric drinks containing electrolytes. ....More

New Meaning For The Term 'Computer Bug': Genetically Altered Bacteria For Data Storage
ScienceDaily (May 21, 2008) — US researchers have created 'living computers' by genetically altering bacteria. The findings of the research demonstrate that computing in living cells is feasible, opening the door to a number of applications including data storage and as a tool for manipulating genes for genetic engineering.
A research team from the biology and the mathematics departments of Davidson College, North Carolina and Missouri Western State University, Missouri, USA added genes to Escherichia coli bacteria, creating bacterial computers able to solve a classic mathematical puzzle, known as the burnt pancake problem.
The burnt pancake problem involves a stack of pancakes of different sizes, each of which has a golden and a burnt side. The aim is to sort the stack so the largest pancake is on the bottom and all pancakes are golden side up. Each flip reverses the order and the orientation (i.e. which side of the pancake is facing up) of one or several consecutive pancakes. The aim is to stack them properly in the fewest number of flips.
In this experiment, the researchers used fragments of DNA as the pancakes. They added genes from a different type of bacterium to enable the E. coli to flip the DNA 'pancakes'. They also included a gene that made the bacteria resistant to an antibiotic, but only when the DNA fragments had been flipped into the correct order. The time required to reach the mathematical solution in the bugs reflects the minimum number of flips needed to solve the burnt pancake problem.....More

'Mitochondrial Eve' Research: Humanity Was Genetically Divided For 100,000 Years
ScienceDaily (May 16, 2008) — The human race was divided into two separate groups within Africa for as much as half of its existence, says a Tel Aviv University mathematician. Climate change, reduction in populations and harsh conditions may have caused and maintained the separation.
Dr. Saharon Rosset, from the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University, worked with team leader Doron Behar from the Rambam Medical Center to analyze African DNA. Their goal was to study obscure population patterns from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Rosset, who crunched numbers and did the essential statistical analysis for the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project, said the team was trying to understand the timing and dynamics of the split into at least two separate groups.
“We wanted to look into the ancient history of our species. How did we live throughout most of our existence as a species? Did we live as one — or were we fractured into small groups? Until now, it wasn’t really clear,” says Rosset. ....More

Rethinking R&D
R&D in Indian biotech is poised for a big leap. With more and more companies shifting focus from generics to new drug discovery research, innovation seems to be the buzz word driving the industry, with key players hiving off their R&D units to further research.
Sun Pharma, Nicholas Piramal and Ranbaxy belong to a new league of companies, who have spun off their R&D units into separate entities, thus setting the trend for others to follow suit. However, Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories recognized the need for new drug discovery and development over the next decade as early as 2005. It established Perlecan Pharma, India's first integrated drug development company along with Citigroup Venture and ICICI Venture.....More

"We are trying a new culture to advocate innovation"
-Dr MK Bhan, secretary, DBT
FICCI in consultation with the DBT has taken an initiative to constitute the industry platforms comprising a group of biotech industry stakeholders, who have keen interest in accelerating the R&D investment in the country, the main purpose being to bring about the much needed innovation and breakthrough much needed by the industry. In an interview, Dr MK Bhan, secretary, Department of Biotechnology, reveals the purpose of the platform, its inspiration from the European Technology Platform and the benefits that will follow for the Indian biotechnology industry. Excerpts:
What benefits will an industry platform bring about to the Indian biotechnology industry? Why is this platform technology-centric?
An industry association or a platform stresses on common interest issues. This particular platform for the biotech industry is technology-centric, backed by the industry. Technology alone can bring about that breakthrough and innovation. It is primarily technology-centric because it intends to come up with an industry-relevant set-up and find a way to implement and fund the industry.
The DBT needs some influence from the industry in terms of identification of research projects for investment. The whole purpose of a platform is to create a research agenda and strategy, identify barriers and bottlenecks, identify better technology, scientific knowledge, better enabling support systems for validation and to be able to implement that agenda in a sustained manner. We are basically trying to promote a new culture to advocate innovation which is not bound by the rules of the DBT, but which is industry-led. So this platform in the process will churn out different types of stakeholders who can use their industry knowledge. However, at the same time it is not a platform where only guidelines are made or submissions offered-there will be discussions and deliberation and the starting point is the technology platform. This platform will tell the DBT on how to spend its money. This platform can also be used to make the much needed breakthrough for the biotech industry. Obviously it is not going to take small issues but it is going to take big projects into consideration. Individual companies cannot do this alone. The industry will also get access to government fund schemes. Companies can participate in key decision-makings and improvisational technology, which are used in changing products. The proposal will be prepared by scientists from across all the companies in the Indian industry.....More

Suspected cause of type 1 diabetes caught "red-handed" for the first time
May 8, 2008 -- Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes.
Researchers were able to examine the immune cells from isolated insulin-making structures in the pancreas known as the islets of Langerhans. They caught the immune cells, known as dendritic cells, "red-handed" carrying insulin and fragments of insulin-producing cells known as beta cells. This can be the first step toward starting a misdirected immune system attack that destroys the beta cells, preventing the body from making insulin and causing type 1 diabetes.
The results, reported online in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, push scientists a step closer to finding ways to treat this condition.
"Now that we've isolated dendritic cells from the pancreas, we can look at why they get into the pancreas and determine which of the materials that they pick up are most critical to causing this form of diabetes," says senior author Emil R. Unanue, M.D., the Paul and Ellen Lacy Professor of Pathology. "That may allow us to find ways to inhibit dendritic cell function in order to block the disorder."....More

Platypus genome explains animal's peculiar features; holds clues to evolution of mammals
May 7, 2008 -- The duck-billed platypus: part bird, part reptile, part mammal — and the genome to prove it.
An international consortium of scientists, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has decoded the genome of the platypus, showing that the animal's peculiar mix of features is reflected in its DNA. An analysis of the genome, published today in the journal Nature, can help scientists piece together a more complete picture of the evolution of all mammals, including humans.
Platypus genome explains animal's peculiar features; holds clues to evolution of mammals
The platypus, classified as a mammal because it produces milk and is covered in a coat of fur, also possesses features of reptiles, birds and their common ancestors, along with some curious attributes of its own. One of only two mammals that lays eggs, the platypus also sports a duck-like bill that holds a sophisticated electrosensory system used to forage for food underwater. Males possess hind leg spurs that can deliver pain-inducing venom to its foes competing for a mate or territory during the breeding season.....More

Re-examining CSR
Being in the business of medicine, pharmacos should be seen as saviours but the reality is different. Some of them do have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes but this is still the exception rather than the norm. Aashruti Kak explores
The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) comprises of three big words; big in terms of either meaning or letters. But what does it really imply? "CSR or corporate citizenship forms the backbone of a company. A company must tirelessly aspire to be a reasonable and conscientious corporate citizen, based on trust, transparency and accountability. This also involves societal engagement beyond products and profitability," says Ranjit Shahani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Novartis India. Keeping the above in mind, pharmacos need to contribute towards society by involving themselves in activities in the field of healthcare, education, and other environmental and civic initiatives, and should try and delineate these activities from business. ....More

Roaring Bats: New Scientific Results Show Bats Emitting More Decibels Than A Rock Concert
ScienceDaily (May 3, 2008) — Researchers studying the echolocation behavior in bats have discovered that the diminutive flying mammals emit exceptionally loud sounds -- louder than any known animal in air.
Annemarie Surlykke from the Institute of Biology, SDU, Denmark, and her colleague, Elisabeth Kalko, from the University of Ulm, Germany, studied the echolocation behavior in 11 species of insect-eating tropical bats from Panamá, the findings of which are reported in this weeks' PLoS ONE.
The researchers used microphone arrays and photographic methods to reconstruct flight paths of the bats in the field when these nocturnal hunters find and capture their insect prey in air using their sonar system. Surlykke and Kalko took this information as a base to estimate the emitted sound intensity and found that bats emit exceptionally loud sounds exceeding 140 dB SPL (at 10 cm from the bat's mouth), which is the highest level reported so far for any animal in air. For comparison, the level at a loud rock concert is 115-120. ...More

Blood pressure killing the world's workers while banks and drug firms stand idle
In a today’s issue of The Lancet, international health experts call for urgent action from international development banks and pharmaceutical companies to stem the epidemic of blood pressure-related diseases affecting developing countries worldwide.
New findings reveal that each year 8 million people die from heart disease and stroke, the two leading blood pressure-related diseases. The majority of these deaths occur in the developing world where victims are often workers, whose deaths directly result in poverty for families and other dependents. According to the authors these deaths are largely avoidable, but no substantive effort to address this issue has been made by the international development banks or the major drug companies.
Author and Principal Director of The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Professor Stephen MacMahon said today, “Ten years ago, The Global Burden of Disease Project predicted this epidemic, yet none of the key players who determine priorities for international health investment have made any real effort to address the problem. As a consequence in the last decade, blood pressure related diseases have killed more than 50 million people, disabled many more and taken billions of dollars from the already fragile economies of the developing world.”...More

Advertisements Saying Dairy Products Help You Lose Weight Are Misleading
Asheville, N.C. – May 1, 2008 – There have been recent claims that dairy products can help people lose weight, and the dairy industry has hyped the assertion by investing millions of dollars in commercial advertising. However, a new review of the evidence published in the journal Nutrition Reviews reveals that neither dairy nor calcium intake promotes weight loss.
Amy Joy Lanou of the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Neal Barnard with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC, evaluated evidence from 49 clinical trials from 1966 to 2007 that assessed the effect of milk, dairy products, or calcium intake on body weight and BMI, with or without the use of dieting.
Evidence from the trials showed that neither dairy products nor calcium supplements helped people lose weight. Of the 49 clinical trials, 41 showed no effect, two demonstrated weight gain, one showed a lower rate of weight gain, and only five showed weight loss. ...More

Insects Use Plants Like A Telephone
ScienceDaily (Apr. 27, 2008) — Dutch ecologist Roxina Soler and her colleagues have discovered that subterranean and aboveground herbivorous insects can communicate with each other by using plants as telephones. Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals via the leaves of the plant. This way, aboveground insects are alerted that the plant is already ‘occupied’.
Aboveground, leaf-eating insects prefer plants that have not yet been occupied by subterranean root-eating insects. Subterranean insects emit chemical signals via the leaves of the plant, which warn the aboveground insects about their presence. This messaging enables spatially-separated insects to avoid each other, so that they do not unintentionally compete for the same plant.
In recent years it has been discovered that different types of aboveground insects develop slowly if they feed on plants that also have subterranean residents and vice versa. It seems that a mechanism has developed via natural selection, which enables the subterranean and aboveground insects to detect each other. This avoids unnecessary competition.
Green telephone lines
Via the 'green telephone lines', subterranean insects can also communicate with a third party, namely the natural enemy of caterpillars. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs inside aboveground insects. The wasps also benefit from the volatile signals emitted by the leaves, as these reveal where they can find a good host for their eggs. The communication between subterranean and aboveground insects has only been studied in a few systems. It is still not clear how widespread this phenomenon is. ...More

'Sound Scientific Reasons To Believe' Researchers Can Create HIV/AIDS Vaccine, Opinion Piece Says
The recent failure of a Merck HIV/AIDS vaccine candidate was a "disappointment," but "failure is the rule" in vaccine and drug development, Seth Berkley, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. There are "sound scientific reasons to believe [researchers] can create" an AIDS vaccine, but that "doesn't mean [they] don't have a difficult task," Berkley writes. He adds that during the past 20 years, a "steady stream of incremental advances" in knowledge has produced the "foundation for AIDS vaccine discovery efforts now under way" worldwide. These efforts would be "brought to a halt" if funding for vaccine research instead was allocated for prevention methods, Berkley writes. Vaccine research is still in the "early stages," but with "patience and a belief in science, [researchers] expect to succeed," Berkley writes, concluding that when a vaccine is available, "people will look back with gratitude on the realists who knew that the only impossible thing was giving up" (Berkley, Wall Street Journal, 4/25). ...More

Clumps of red and white blood cells may contribute to sickle cell disease
CHAPEL HILL – It’s long been known that patients with sickle cell disease have malformed, “sickle-shaped” red blood cells – which are normally disc-shaped – that can cause sudden painful episodes when they block small blood vessels.
Now, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that blood from sickle cell patients also contains clumps, or aggregates, of red and white blood cells that may contribute to the blockages.
The study, published on-line April 18 in the British Journal of Haematology, marks the first time that aggregates made up of red blood cells and white blood cells have been found in whole blood from sickle cell patients. The study also shows how the red and white blood cells adhere to one another: the interaction is mediated by a particular protein, integrin alpha four beta one. ...More

Several Indian pharma cos with low promoters' stake may turn vulnerable for takeover
Indian pharmaceutical sector may witness some hostile takeovers in the coming months going by the trend of consolidation taking place in the domestic and overseas markets. Large and medium scale pharma companies have to strengthen themselves by acquiring relatively smaller size pharma companies to increase their market share and to withstand competition.
Inorganic growth is considered to be very crucial in the market place today and it is going to be quite tough with present regulatory conditions. At stake in the scenario are companies with small promoter holdings but with strong financial indicators having approved facilities.
Recently, Ranbaxy Laboratories acquired 14.9 per cent stake through its group company, Solrex Pharmaceutical Company in Orchid Chemicals. The management is saying that it is not going to take over Orchid through an open offer. Earlier, Ranbaxy has invested in the equities of Krebs Biochemicals and Industries Ltd and Jupiter Biosciences. It also increased its stake in Zenotech Laboratories Ltd to 45 per cent.
Promoters' holdings in a few other pharma companies like Ankur Drugs, Venus Remedies, Surya Pharmaceuticals and Stride Arcolab are below 30 per cent. It is quite possible that these companies may become targets for acquisitions by big pharmaceutical companies in the long run. The recent crash in share prices in stock markets in the country made these companies more vulnerable for takeovers. Considering the time factor to set up new plants and approval systems, it is easy to achieve inorganic growth by investing in to equity stake through market purchases. ....More

Growth of pharmacy education in India from 1932 to 2007
Dr. K.G. Revikumar
An old classical approach defines pharmacy as "the art, science and practice of preparing, preserving, compounding and dispensing of drugs". This definition was sufficient to satisfy the expectations of professionals and the requirements of the society in the past. But in the 1990's the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) considering the emerging concepts and practice, suggested a new definition for pharmacy, according to which pharmacy "is a patient oriented health services that applies a scientific body of knowledge to improve and promote health through assurance of safety and efficacy in drug usage and drug related therapy". This definition gives due significance to the concepts of contemporary pharmacy practice activities like hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy and clinical pharmacy.
In Italy, France and some other parts of the world, public pharmacies began to appear during the 12th century. Obligatory examinations based on academic standards were instituted in Prussia in 1725. The first pharmacy college in the world - 'College de Pharmacie' - was established in Paris in 1777. In 1803, six schools for pharmacy were started in France and private institutions for pharmacy education arose in Bavaria of Germany in 1808. In America, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy was founded in 1821 followed by Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1823 and New York College of Pharmacy in 1829. India is one of the latecomers in the area of pharmacy education. ....More

Targeting tropical diseases
In a bid to fill their depleting research pipelines, multinational pharmacos are targeting neglected segments like tropical diseases. This is good news for developing markets like India which represent a table full of opportunities. Sushmi Dey finds out more
Multinational pharmacos are facing tough times on their home turfs thanks to patent expiries, increasing research expenses, stricter regulatory norms and more vigilant patient groups. With more drugs slated to lose patent protection in this year, European and US-based pharmacos have been searching for new molecules to replace these former blockbusters. According to international consulting agencies like KPMG and IMS, MNCs are expected to face a revenue loss of $60-70 billion in next five years on account of patent expiries in developed markets. This figure will only increase as many more molecules reach the end of their patent tenures in the next few years. IMS has also predicted that this loss of revenue will result in a lower sales growth of five to six percent during 2008. As sales in developed nations dwindle, developing countries like India are increasingly becoming the next favoured destination with a new and promising pipeline for R&D. ....More

Cancer stem cells created with technique developed at Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. - With a bit of genetic trickery, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have turned normal skin cells into cancer stem cells, a step that will make these naturally rare cells easier to study.
Cancer stem cells are thought to be the ones that drive a cancer, and are therefore the targets of any cancer therapy that must kill them in order to be effective. Understanding these cells has been a challenge, however, because they are rare, difficult to isolate and don't grow well in the lab.
Howard Chang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology and senior author of the work, said being able to generate cancer stem cells from normal cells will help move that research forward. "The upshot is that there may be a way to directly create cancer stem cells in the lab so you don't always have to purify these rare cells from patients in order to study them directly," he said. The work will be published in the April 10 issue of Cell Stem Cell.
The study also demonstrated that cancer stem cells are much more similar to the stem cells found in embryos, which can develop to form all tissue types, than they are to the more-restricted adult stem cells. This finding has important implications for understanding how cells go awry when they become cancerous. ....More

Study Finds Advances In Estimating HIV Incidence In Epidemics
An article published in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine reports on the development and testing of two user-friendly methods that use changes in cross-sectional HIV prevalence (the fraction of the population infected with HIV) to estimate HIV incidence (the number of new infections occurring during a specific time period). Timothy Hallett (Imperial College London) and colleagues suggest that the incidence of HIV can be estimated from repeat surveys of prevalence with enough accuracy to monitor the epidemic.
Currently, 33 million people are infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), and AIDS has already killed more than 25 million people. Working to thwart this epidemic, governments and international agencies have been assessing the impact of interventions by keeping track of how the virus spreads. Usually, agencies monitor generalized epidemics (ones that have spread to the whole population) by determining the prevalence of HIV infection among women who attend antenatal clinics. More accurate measures of HIV prevalence are being acquired by testing blood for antibodies related to the AIDS virus (serological testing).
Researchers, though still interested in prevalence, are also concerned with the incidence of the virus in order to gage how the epidemic changes over time and how the virus is transmitted. However, measures of incidence are generally more costly - researchers would have to identify individuals, test their blood and then repeatedly follow up the same individuals. Hallett and colleagues tackle this problem by developing mathematical methods that allow one to use prevalence data to estimate the incidence of HIV in generalized epidemics. ....More

Stem cells from skin treat brain disease in rats
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Skin cells re-programmed to act like embryonic stem cells eased symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats, researchers reported on Monday in a first step toward tailored treatments for people that bypass concerns about using human embryos.
The experiment suggests it may be possible to take a small sample of skin and turn it into a transplant perfectly matched to patients with Parkinson's and other diseases, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It also supports the usefulness of newly created cells that resemble powerful embryonic stem cells. The stem cell experts used so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, which are skin cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells.
"It's a proof of principle experiment that argues, yes, these cells may have the therapeutic promise that people ascribe to them," said Rudolf Jaenisch, a stem cell expert at the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Researchers have been trying to find ways to harness stem cells, the body's master cells, to treat patients with serious injuries, brain diseases and organ damage caused by conditions such as diabetes. ....More

Mobiles can be more cancerous than smoking
A new study by an Indian-origin neurosurgeon has shown that cell phone use could kill more people than smoking, because of its possible association with brain cancer.
Dr Vini Khurana, a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University, said heavy usage of mobile phones might turn out to be a greater threat to human health than smoking and even asbestos.
To support his finding, Khurana conducted a 15-month 'critical review' of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumours, and said that using mobiles for more than 10 years could result in more than double the risk of brain cancer.
In order to curb this danger, he has urged for 'immediate and decisive steps' by industry and governments to reduce people's exposure to invisible electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets. ...More

Pre-Clovis Human DNA Found In 14,300-year-old Feces In Oregon Cave Is Oldest In New World
ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2008) — DNA from dried human excrement recovered from Oregon's Paisley Caves is the oldest found yet in the New World -- dating to 14,300 years ago, some 1,200 years before Clovis culture -- and provides apparent genetic ties to Siberia or Asia, according to an international team of 13 scientists.
Among the researchers is Dennis L. Jenkins, a senior archaeologist with the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, whose summer field expeditions over two summers uncovered a variety of artifacts in caves that had caught the scientific attention of the UO's Luther Cressman in the 1930s.
The Paisley Caves are located in the Summer Lake basin near Paisley, about 220 miles southeast of Eugene on the eastern side of the Cascade Range. The series of eight caves are westward-facing, wave-cut shelters on the highest shoreline of pluvial Lake Chewaucan, which rose and fell in periods of greater precipitation during the Pleistocene.

The team's extensively documented analyses on mitochondrial DNA -- genetic material passed on maternally -- removed from long-dried feces, known as coprolites, were published online April 3 in Science Express ahead of regular publication in the journal Science. ...More

Scientists Uncover How HIV Hides Inside Cells
TUESDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've discovered how HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- hides in human cells to avoid being destroyed by the body's immune cells.
They explained that when a normal virus, such as the common cold, infects a person, the immune system responds and produces cells that quickly eliminate the virus. However, HIV makes itself appear as part of the normal trash in a cell, rather than being clearly visible on the cell surface.
"HIV can make a protein called Nef, which helps the virus hide," researcher Dr. Kathleen Collins, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, said in a prepared statement.
"Nef interferes with one important part of our defenses, which helps our immune system recognize infected cells, by displaying pieces of the infecting virus or bacteria on the cell surface, forming a target for our bodies' killer cells. When HIV infects one of our cells, the protein Nef binds to this helper system and alters it in such a way that the cell believes it belongs in the cellular trash bin rather than on the surface where our main defenses can see it," she said.

Collins added that the Nef protein recruits other proteins naturally made by cells to help HIV hide from immune cells. She and her colleagues identified these natural proteins and developed inhibitors that block their actions and reverse the activity of Nef. This may help the immune system to detect and destroy HIV. ...More

Stem Cells from Hair Follicles May Help "Grow" New Blood Vessels
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For a rich source of stem cells to be engineered into new blood vessels or skin tissue, clinicians may one day look no further than the hair on their patients' heads, according to new research published earlier this month by University at Buffalo engineers.
"Engineering blood vessels for bypass surgery, promoting the formation of new blood vessels or regenerating new skin tissue using stem cells obtained from the most accessible source -- hair follicles -- is a real possibility," said Stelios T. Andreadis, Ph.D., co-author of the paper in Cardiovascular Research and associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Researchers from other institutions previously had shown that hair follicles contain stem cells.
In the current paper, the UB researchers demonstrate that stem cells isolated from sheep hair follicles contain the smooth muscle cells that grow new vasculature. The group recently produced data showing that stem cells from human hair follicles also differentiate into contractile smooth muscle cells. ....More

Evolution Of New Species Slows Down As Number Of Competitors Increases
ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — The rate at which new species are formed in a group of closely related animals decreases as the total number of different species in that group goes up, according to new research.
The research team believes these findings suggest that new species appear less and less as the number of species in a region approaches the maximum number that it can support.
In order for new species to thrive, they need to evolve to occupy their own niche in the ecosystem, relying on certain foods and habitats for survival that are sufficiently different from those of other closely related species.
Competition between closely related species for food and habitat becomes more intense the more species there are, and researchers believe this could be the reason for the drop-off in the appearance of new species over time.
Dr. Albert Phillimore, from Imperial College London's NERC Centre for Population Biology, lead author on the paper, explains: "The number of niches in any given region is finite, and our research supports the idea that the rate of speciation slows down as the number of niches begins to run out.
"In essence, it seems like increased competition between species could place limits on the number of species that evolve."....More

iPods and similar devices found not to affect pacemaker function
Last May, a widely reported study concluded that errant electronic noise from iPods can cause implantable cardiac pacemakers to malfunction. This just didn't sound right to the cardiac electrophysiologists at Children's Hospital Boston, who've seen hundreds of children, teens and young adults with heart conditions requiring pacemakers. "Many of our pacemaker patients have iPods and other digital music players, and we've never seen any problem," says Charles Berul, MD, director of the Pacemaker Service at Children's. "But kids and parents bring up this concern all the time, prompting us to do our own study."
Between September and December, 2007, Gregory Webster, MD, a cardiac fellow in training at Children's, along with the electrophysiology nurses and physicians, ran tests on 51 patients coming in for appointments. Whereas last year's study was done in patients averaging 77 years of age, the average age in the Children's study was 22 (ranging from 6 to 60). All patients had active pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), which were tested against four digital music players - two kinds of iPods (Apple Nano and Apple Video), SanDisk Sansa and Microsoft Zune. All patients were lying down during the tests (in case an arrhythmia occurred, causing them to faint), and each digital player was placed directly over the pacemaker or ICD. ....More

Are teenage brains really different?
MRI studies show brain changes in the adolescent brain impact cognition, emotion and behavior
Philadelphia, March 28, 2008 – Many parents are convinced that the brains of their teenage offspring are different than those of children and adults. New data confirms that this is the case. An article by Jay N. Giedd, MD, of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health describes how brain changes in the adolescent brain impact cognition, emotion and behavior.
Dr. Giedd reviews the results from the NIMH Longitudinal Brain Imaging Project. This study and others indicate that gray matter increases in volume until approximately the early teens and then decreases until old age. Pinning down these differences in a rigorous way had been elusive until MRI was developed, offering the capacity to provide extremely accurate quantifications of brain anatomy and physiology without the use of ionizing radiation. ....More

Protein protects embryonic stem cells' versatility and self-renewal
M. D. Anderson team connects REST to regenerative medicine, pediatric brain cancer
HOUSTON — A protein known as REST blocks the expression of a microRNA that prevents embryonic stem cells from reproducing themselves and causes them to differentiate into specific cell types, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Nature.
Researchers show RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST) plays a dual role in embryonic stem cells, said senior author Sadhan Majumder, Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Cancer Genetics. "It maintains self-renewal, or the cell’s ability to make more and more cells of its own type, and it maintains pluripotency, meaning that the cells have the potential to become any type of cell in the body."
The paper posted online March 23 in advance of publication grew from M. D. Anderson research on the protein’s role in medulloblastoma – an exceptionally aggressive pediatric brain cancer. ...More

Infection with a mutated HIV strain results in better survival
Persons infected with a mutated HIV strain, transmitted from those who have the genetic advantages to control the virus, results in improved survival according to a recent study by South African researchers. The study, published March 21st in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, looked for genetic mutations in the infecting virus in 24 newly infected people in Durban, South Africa.
The study was conducted by CAPRISA (the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa) researchers at the Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Western-Cape and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in South Africa. According to Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Director of CAPRISA, “It is significant that the mutations to HIV which occur in a person with advantageous genes leads to a low viral load, even when the virus infects a new person who does not have these ‘good’ genes. Low viral load is a goal of several HIV vaccines as it means that these HIV infected people will be clinically well for longer and be less likely to spread the virus.”...More

Virus vaccine for breast cancer shows potential: Study
According to a group of US researchers, vaccinating mice with a modified form of a virus containing proteins from breast cancer cells can kill large breast cancer tumours and tumours that have spread to the lungs. The rodent model of cancer used in this study closely resembles a type of breast cancer seen in humans called HER2-positive. Although other cancer vaccines have shown activity in the treatment of very small tumors, their ability to influence large, established tumors, such as many HER2-positive breast cancers, has proven difficult.
The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared in the recent issue of "Cancer Research".
Therapeutic cancer vaccines are intended to disrupt new or existing cancerous growth by stimulating the body's immune system so that it recognizes the cancer as an invader. These vaccines use certain protein molecules on the surface of cancer cells, such as the HER2 receptor protein, as the triggers to initiate an immune response. ...More

India To Manufacture, Distribute Low-Cost Female Condoms To Help Curb Spread Of HIV
India plans to launch a program to manufacture and distribute low-cost female condoms in an effort to curb the spread of HIV among women, the Times of India reports. The condoms will each cost five Rupees, or about 12 cents, according to the Times. Under the first phase of the program, the National AIDS Control Organisation is procuring about 1.5 million female condoms from the Female Health Company. The condoms will be provided to commercial sex workers and married women in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal during the next eight months, and a decision about whether to implement the program nationwide will be made after reviewing the data from these states. ...More

Research on consequences: Hyperactive girls face problems as adults
U.K. / Montreal, March 20, 2008 – Young girls who are hyperactive are more likely to get hooked on smoking, under-perform in school or jobs and gravitate towards mentally abusive relationships as adults, according to a joint study by researchers from the Université de Montréal and the University College London (UCL).
The study, published in the latest issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, followed 881 Canadian girls from the ages of six to 21 years to see how hyperactive or aggressive behaviour in childhood could affect early adulthood. The research team found that one in 10 girls monitored showed high levels of hyperactive behaviour. Another one in ten girls showed both high levels of hyperactive and physically aggressive behaviour.
“Few studies have looked at the consequences of aggressive and hyperactive behaviour in girls,” said UCL lead researcher, Nathalie Fontaine. “This study shows that hyperactivity combined with aggressive behaviour in girls as young as six years old may lead to greater problems with abusive relationships, lack of job prospects and teenage pregnancies."....More

Toiling away at your computer hard on the eyes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who spend hours staring at a computer screen risk suffering tired dry eyes, blurred vision, eye strain, headache, and sensitivity to light -- collectively known as "computer vision syndrome."
"Computer vision syndrome is a condition that is recognized by the American Optometric Association," Dr. Kent Daum, optometrist and vice president of the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.
"A computer is a challenging environment for the visual system primarily because the imagery is not as clear as it seems to be, and because of that it's harder for the eye to focus than it would be on ordinary print," he explained.
According to a recent AOA survey of roughly 1,000 individuals aged 18 and older, 82 percent reported frequent use of a computer or handheld device; 42 percent said they spent three or more hours each day in front of a computer screen; 73 percent admitted not taking computer breaks as often as they should and 10 percent never take breaks.
In addition to eye discomfort, computer users often experience neck and shoulder problems -- particularly those wearing bifocals. "That's because their bifocals are often not set for their computer so they end up having to move their head closer to the computer while tipping their head back to see the screen. That's an awkward position."....More

Penn Researchers Identify First Sex Chromosome Gene Involved in Meiosis and Male Infertility
PHILADELPHIA -– A team of scientists led by University of Pennsylvania veterinary researchers have identified a gene, TEX11, located on the X chromosome, which when disrupted in mice renders the males sterile and reduces female fecundity. This is the first study of the genetic causes of infertility that links a particular sex chromosome meiosis-specific gene to sterility.
As with mice, the TEX11 gene is also located on the human X chromosome. Given that disruption of TEX11 causes azoospermia, or non-measurable sperm levels in mice, mutations in the human TEX11 gene may be a genetic cause of infertility in men. Because men have only one X chromosome that they inherit from their mother and thus only one copy of the TEX11 gene, any mutation could theoretically lead to sterility. Like other X-linked disorders such as color blindness and muscular dystrophy, genetic mutation causing a son’s infertility could be passed from his mother. ....More

UNC, Harvard develop inhaled TB vaccine
CHAPEL HILL – A new tuberculosis vaccine successfully tested at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is easier to administer and store and just as effective as one commonly used worldwide.
Scientists at the UNC School of Pharmacy led by Tony Hickey, Ph.D., vetted a dry powder vaccine provided by Harvard University that is administered using an inhaler. The results of the vaccine test are being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“It is at least as good as the injectable vaccine,” said Hickey, a professor in the School’s molecular pharmaceutics division. “The real advantage is that this vaccine does not need to be refrigerated. It also doesn’t require needles, syringes and water like the injectable vaccine, and administering it is as easy as breathing in, making it ideal for use in developing countries.”
The vaccine is spray dried instead of freeze dried. Spray drying is the process of spraying a liquid through a heated gas such as nitrogen to create a powder. Traditional TB vaccines are freeze dried, requiring refrigerated storage and transportation, and a source of clean water to reconstitute the vaccine for injection. Spray dried vaccines do not need refrigeration or water to be used. ....More

Global biotech industry is on mission transformation
In the last few years, Asia, and more so India, is a high growth market for the global life science suppliers. Almost all the global majors like Agilent Technologies, Bio-Rad, GE Healthcare, Invitrogen, Millipore, Pall, Perkin Elmer, Shimadzu, Thermo Electron, and Waters Corporation have strengthened their presence and market hold in India. These global majors are consolidating their presence in India, adding on their own sales representatives as well as distributors, besides executing a number of other initiatives like setting up various Centers of Excellence (CoEs).
Today, for several of the global vendors, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for almost 15-20 percent of their world-wide sales revenues, and their India business contributes almost 8-10 percent of the Asia-Pacific sales. For example, 16 percent of Millipore's total 2006 global business of $1.2 billion was generated in Asia. The life sciences business of Pall Corporation represents about 40 percent of its global sales of $2.01 billion in 2006 and Asia accounts for 14 percent share of its total life science business of $796.3 million. Bio-Rad's pacific rim sales accounted for 16 percent share of the total business of $1.27 billion in 2006. Dr Kreuzburg, CEO of Sartorius Stedim Biotech, said, "The business in India is growing at a fast rate, making it very appealing. It is certainly appealing for Stedim, which plans to open a new campus in Bangalore by mid 2008."....More

Wait and watch
Though scientists and pharma companies are aware of the potential that DNA vaccines hold, they have still not arrived at any conclusion. Sachin Jagdale reviews the developments
Its been more than two hundred years since the discovery of first vaccine by Edward Jenner. Jenner's discovery of smallpox vaccine resulted in almost complete eradication of smallpox. Last two centuries witnessed the evolution of vaccines in many different ways. Initially vaccines used to have live attenuated infectious material that was supposed to generate immune response inside the host body; even today this is an often employed concept. Now, vaccines have come of age. Advances in bacteriology and virology have led to more advanced form of vaccines. One such vaccine that has caught the eye of medical fraternities is the DNA vaccine. The health conscious world that has survived for a long time on a traditional form of vaccine is now giving serious thought to DNA vaccines.....More

Low testosterone levels associated with depression in older men
Older men with lower free testosterone levels in their blood appear to have higher prevalence of depression, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Depression affects between 2 percent and 5 percent of the population at any given time, according to background information in the article. Women are more likely to be depressed than men until age 65, when sex differences almost disappear. Several studies have suggested that sex hormones might be responsible for this phenomenon.......More

'Female sex hormone' protects against hearing loss in females and males
The "female sex hormone" estradiol is present in both men and women, and is generated from testosterone in men by the protein aromatase. Estradiol plays various roles in addition to its gender-specific ones, including having effects on the hearing (auditory) system. In a new study, Barbara Canlon and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, investigated the role of estradiol-binding proteins, known as estrogen receptors, in response to auditory damage by examining hearing loss recovery in mice with deficiencies in various estrogen receptors. They found that mice deficient in only the estrogen receptor ER-beta had reduced recovery from auditory trauma, and that treatment with ER-beta–binding drugs protected mice from auditory damage. Furthermore, not only was ER-beta found in the ears of both male and female mice, but levels of the nerve-protecting protein BDNF were reduced in mice that lacked either ER-beta or aromatase. .....More

Protein in embryonic stem cells control malignant tumor cells
CHICAGO --- A protein that governs development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) also inhibits the growth and spread of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, Northwestern University researchers have discovered. Metastatic melanoma, which develops from the transformation of skin pigment cells or melanocytes, has a death rate of more than 80 percent and a median survival of less than 7.5 months.
The Northwestern scientists, led by researcher Mary J. C. Hendrix, M.D., additionally found that the protein, called Lefty, prevents aggressive breast cancer cells from metastasizing. Death from metastatic breast cancer exceeded 40,000 in 2007, with over 180,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States.
Importantly, Lefty is secreted only in hESCs, and not in any other stem cell type tested – including stem cells isolated from amniotic fluid, cord blood or adult bone marrow – or placental cells. .....More

HIV Drug in Microbicide Gel Safe for Daily Use
TUESDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A vaginal microbicide gel that contains the antiretroviral drug tenofovir is safe for HIV-negative women to use every day, according to a six-month study of 200 women in India and the United States.
This study, by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network, looked at whether women were able to adhere to a regimen of either daily or sex-dependent use of the gel. Both regimens proved equally safe, and women's adherence to each regimen was similar. Notably, none of the women who used the new gel got HIV during the study period.
There were no differences in liver, blood and kidney function between women who used the gel and those who used a placebo, nor were there any differences in rates of genital symptoms such as itching and burning. ...More

Mechanism Of Blood Clot Elasticity Revealed In High Definition
ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2008) — Blood clots can save lives, staunching blood loss after injury, but they can also kill. Let loose in the bloodstream, a clot can cause a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism.
A new study reveals in atomic detail how a blood protein that is a fundamental building block of blood clots gives them their life-enhancing, or life-endangering, properties.
Fibrinogen molecules form elastic fibers, the main material of blood clots. When a blood vessel is ruptured, signaling proteins in the blood convert fibrinogen into its active form, called fibrin. Fibrin molecules link together in a scaffold of fibers that seals the vesicle. Cells in the blood, such as red blood cells, fill the gaps.
Fibrinogen is highly elastic, able to reversibly stretch to two or three times its original length.
"Once they're formed, blood clots have to be elastic because they have a mechanical function to withstand blood pressure," said Klaus Schulten, holder of the Swanlund Chair in Physics at Illinois. ...More

India Caught In Catastrophic Smoking Epidemic: 1 Million Tobacco Deaths Predicted A Year During The 2010s
ScienceDaily — India is in the midst of a catastrophic epidemic of smoking deaths, which is expected to cause about one million (10 lakh)* deaths a year during the 2010s -- including one in five of all male deaths and one in 20 of all female deaths at ages 30-69. On average, male bidi smokers lose about six years of life, female bidi smokers lose about eight years and male cigarette smokers lose about ten years.
The findings are from the first nationally representative study of smoking in India as a whole. The research, led by a team from India, Canada and the UK, is published online today (February 13, 2008)[1] in the New England Journal of Medicine. ...More

'India has the potential to become self-sufficient in the next ten years'
Dr G S K Velu, Managing Director, Trivitron, discusses how the Indian medical device industry, which is full of opportunities, can be at the forefront with the help of government initiatives, with Arshiya Khan
Please elaborate on the market scenario of medical device technology in India?
According to official statistics, the number of clinics and hospitals has increased almost four times from that in the 1950s. This has also increased the demand for medical equipments which has made the medical device sector one of the most promising markets in India. Even more alluring than the size of the market is its projected growth. The demand for medical equipments is rising annually at an impressive rate of 15 percent. The Indian healthcare sector has seen progressive increase in investments in healthcare infrastructure and facilities, especially hi-tech medical devices. .....More

U of M researchers determine structure of protein that mutates DNA of the AIDS virus HIV-1
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (February 20, 2008) – Understanding the structure of proteins involved in inhibiting HIV-1 infection could help in the battle against AIDS, and University of Minnesota researchers have taken a crucial step in that direction.
Hiroshi Matsuo, Ph.D., and Reuben Harris, Ph.D., co-investigators of the research and assistant professors in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics at the University of Minnesota have determined the structure of APOBEC3G – a protein that inhibits the AIDS virus, HIV. This discovery is the first to shed light on the atomic structure of the protein.
The research was released online Feb. 20, 2008 on the Nature Web site and it will be featured in an upcoming print publication of the journal. ....More

Drinking milk may help ease the pressure
New study suggests fat-free milk may offer protection against hypertension -- a rising risk for women in this country
Women who drank more fat free milk and had higher intakes of calcium and vitamin D from foods, and not supplements, tended to have a lower risk for developing hypertension or high blood pressure, according to a new study published in the American Heart Association journal, Hypertension.
After examining the diets of nearly 30,000 middle-aged and older women, Harvard researchers found that women who consumed more low-fat milk and milk products and had diets higher in calcium and vitamin D from foods were better protected against high blood pressure. When the researchers investigated the benefits of milk specifically, they found women who drank two or more servings of fat free milk each day reduced their risk for high blood pressure by up to10 percent compared to those who drank fat free milk less than once a month. The same was not found for higher fat milk and milk products or calcium and vitamin D supplement users. .....More

RNAi World Congress to be held at Boston
In an attempt to provide a unique networking facility and an opportunity to reach a highly targeted scientific audience, Select Biosciences would for the consecutive second time organise RNAi World Congress at Boston, a home to many of the world's top institutions engaged in gene silencing research. The congress, which would be held from April 30 to May 2, 2008, would feature sessions on RNAi tools, therapeutics and applications and screening, apart from the business of RNAi, microRNA tools and microRNA biology.....More

Rethinking R&D
As more Indian pharma companies hive off their R&D units, Viveka Roychowdhury analyses the methods behind the moves 2008 may well be a watershed year for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Five to six major Indian pharma companies, with a few more sitting on the fence, have announced plans to hive off their New Chemical Entity (NCE) research units into stand-alone companies.
This marks a major mindset move, marking the coming-of-age of an industry previously tagged as a 'copycat'. The early birds, Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) and Sun Pharmaceuticals were trendsetters and after Sun Pharma's NCE research unit successful listing on the stock exchange, the trickle looks set to become a wave. The timing seems right - some industry analysts say that the Indian drug research pipeline has a total of 60 molecules at various stages of development in labs across the country....More

Botox Linked To Respiratory Failure And Death, FDA Advises
ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2008) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified the public that Botox and Botox Cosmetic (Botulinum toxin Type A) and Myobloc (Botulinum toxin Type B) have been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.
In an early communication based on the FDA's ongoing safety review, the agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing. There is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products.
The adverse effects were found in FDA-approved and nonapproved usages. The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy. Treatment of spasticity is not an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults.
The adverse reactions appear to be related to the spread of the toxin to areas distant from the site of injection, and mimic symptoms of botulism, which may include difficulty swallowing, weakness and breathing problems.
The FDA is not advising health care professionals to discontinue prescribing these products....More

NIH scientists add new dimension to the study for HIV vaccine
Vaccines have led to many of the world's greatest public health triumphs, but many deadly viruses, such as HIV, still elude the best efforts of scientists to develop effective vaccines against them. An improved understanding of how the immune system operates during a viral infection is critical to designing successful anti-virus vaccines. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have added an important dimension to this knowledge.
Focusing on mouse lymph nodes -- bean-shaped organs that contain a variety of immune cells and are distributed throughout the body -- the researchers discovered that immune cells confront viruses just inside of the lymph node and not deep within these organs as previously thought. The study, led by Jonathan Yewdell, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the NIAID Cellular Biology Section and his NIAID colleague, Heather Hickman, Ph.D., is described in a report online in Nature Immunology....More

Gene linked to preterm birth among Hispanic women
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that the gene ENPP1 is linked to preterm birth and low birth weight among Hispanic women.
Errol Norwitz, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, will present preliminary results from this research at the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine Annual Meeting on February 2 in Dallas, Texas.
One out of eight babies in the United States is born prematurely—delivery prior to 37 weeks gestation. These babies don’t fare as well as their full-term counterparts, especially if they are born prior to 28 weeks gestation. In many cases, it is still unclear why preterm births occur, but Norwitz said that both the genetic make-up of the mother and the genetic make-up of the baby play a role. ...More

Journal Sleep: Study concludes a daytime nap can benefit a person's memory performance
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A brief bout of non-REM sleep (45 minutes) obtained during a daytime nap clearly benefits a person’s declarative memory performance, according to a study published in the February 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
The study, authored by Matthew A. Tucker, PhD, of the Center for Sleep and Cognition and the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, focused on 33 subjects (11 males, 22 females) with an average age of 23.3 years. The participants arrived at the sleep lab at 11:30 a.m., were trained on each of the declarative memory tasks at 12:15 p.m., and at 1 p.m., 16 subjects took a nap while 17 remained awake in the lab. After the nap period, all subjects remained in the lab until the retest at 4 p.m.
It was discovered that, across three very different declarative memory tasks, a nap benefited performance compared to comparable periods of wakefulness, but only for those subjects that strongly acquired the tasks during the training session. ...More

Migrating Birds Detect Latitude And Longitude, But How Remains A Mystery
Eurasian reed warblers captured during their spring migrations and released after being flown 1,000 kilometers to the east can correct their travel routes and head for their original destinations, researchers report.
The new evidence suggests that the birds have true navigation, meaning that they can identify at least two coordinates that roughly correspond to geographic latitude and longitude.
The findings challenge the notion held by some that birds might be limited to navigation in the north-south direction. But scientists still don't know how they do it.
"We have experimentally shown beyond reasonable doubt that long-distance, intercontinental avian migrants can correct for east-west displacements during their return migration in spring," said Nikita Chernetsov of the Biological Station Rybachy at the Zoological Institute in Russia. "This means that they can determine geographic longitude, even though we do not currently know how they do it."... More

Virtual human in HIV drug simulation
The combined supercomputing power of the UK and US ‘national grids’ has enabled UCL (University College London) scientists to simulate the efficacy of an HIV drug in blocking a key protein used by the lethal virus. The method – an early example of the Virtual Physiological Human in action – could one day be used to tailor personal drug treatments, for example for HIV patients developing resistance to their drugs.
The study, published online today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ran a large number of simulations to predict how strongly the drug saquinavir would bind to three resistant mutants of HIV-1 protease, a protein produced by the virus to propagate itself. These protease mutations are associated with the disease’s resistance to saquinavir, an HIV-inhibitor drug. ....More

Viruses for a healthy pregnancy
Sequences of DNA in the human genome that originated from ancient viral infections have some surprising effects on our bodies and are even essential for a healthy pregnancy, according to an article in the February issue of Microbiology Today.
Retrovirus infections represent the most intimate host-pathogen relationship. The virus inserts a copy of its genome into the DNA of the host cell, resulting in an irreversible, stable and sometimes lifelong infection. If a sperm or egg cell is infected, the virus DNA can be passed down generations, permanently fixed in the germ line. As a result, an endogenous retrovirus (ERV) can exist for millions of years. ...More

DNA (driver of nicotine addiction)
Cigarette smoking is the largest preventable source of death and disability in the USA, contributing to ~ 400,000 deaths annually. Despite widespread knowledge of the health dangers, ~ 1 in 8 American adults is a habitual heavy smoker.
For several decades, scientists have known that most of the risk for habitual heavy smoking (smoking a pack each day) is largely influenced by genetics. This conclusion comes from the study of identical and fraternal twins from Scandinavia, North America, Australia and (more recently) China. It has been estimated that ~ 2/3 of the risk to become a heavy habitual smoker is genetic. This does not imply that this genetic risk is due to a single gene. It is known that many genes are involved, each one contributing a small amount of risk.
Finding the individual genes is a considerable challenge, but worth the effort, because it is hoped that the genes conveying risk for heavy smoking could be used to develop new medicines to help people quit. The development of new medicines to help people quit is particularly important, because the existing medications, including nicotine replacement (‘the patch’ or gum), bupropion and varenicline are effective in the short-term (several months) for a minority of heavy smokers. ...More

Chemical modification: the key to clinical application of RNA interference?
RNA interference provides a potent and specific method for controlling gene expression in human cells. To translate this potential into a broad new family of therapeutics, it is necessary to optimize the efficacy of the RNA-based drugs. As discussed in this Review, it might be possible to achieve this optimization using chemical modifications that improve their in vivo stability, cellular delivery, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, potency, and specificity. ....More

Deficient "fire regulators" in the immune system responsible for type 1 diabetes, according to a new MUHC study
The main regulators of the immune system, called CD4+Treg cells, are thought to be highly involved in a large range of immune diseases. The gradual reduction in their regulating capacity seems to play a critical role in the onset of type 1 diabetes, as demonstrated in the latest study by Dr. Ciriaco Piccirillo, a researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and the principal investigator for this project. This study was published this month in the journal Diabetes.
The immune system needs to be regulated so that it attacks only the site of an inflammation and focuses its attack on pathogens rather than on the body tissues, causing an autoimmune disease. In a healthy patient, CD4+Treg cells deactivate any T lymphocytes, a type of immune cell, that are misprogrammed and could attack the body. Dr Piccirillo's research indicates that in type 1 diabetic patients this control mechanism may be deficient, thereby allowing the misprogrammed T lymphocytes to proliferate and gain the ability to destroy the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. This leads to type 1 diabetes. ....More

Can condoms prevent sexually transmitted infections other than HIV?
Head-to-head: Are condoms the answer to rising rates of nonHIV sexually transmitted infection?
Consistent condom use can reduce the spread of HIV, but are they the answer to rising rates of other sexually transmitted infections"
Researchers debate the issue in this week’s BMJ.
For people who are sexually active, condoms remain our best solution to reducing risks of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (if uninfected) or transmitting these infections (if infected), say Markus Steiner and Willard Cates of Family Health International.
Despite some inconsistencies in the evidence, studies show that condoms are an effective physical barrier against passage of even the smallest sexually transmitted pathogens, they write.
For example, a recent review provides strong evidence that condoms reduce the risk of gonorrhoea and chlamydia in both men and women. Studies have also shown consistent and correct use of condoms can reduce genital herpes and human papillomavirus infection. ....More

Genes Linked To Lupus In Women Identified
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2008) — An international consortium of scientists has identified multiple genes that are linked to systemic lupus erythematosus, a devastating autoimmune disease that affects between 1 million and 2 million Americans. Reporting in Nature Genetics, the scientists also confirmed earlier findings linking lupus to several other genes -- highlighting the role that genetics plays in the disease.
"These findings underscore that numerous genes, which are often immune-function related, contribute to the risk of developing lupus," said Carl D. Langefeld, Ph.D., senior author from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and co-director of the International Consortium for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Genetics.
"These results suggest biologic pathways that help us understand the condition better and suggest additional genetic and non-genetic triggers," said Langefeld. "In addition, they help delineate the genetic distinctions between rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases, which could lead to earlier, more accurate diagnoses." ....More

Oxford plans Indian Business Centre for future leaders
The University of Oxford, in collaboration with Lavasa Corporation, part of the Hindustan Construction Company [Get Quote], has announced plans to set up the Oxford University India Business Centre to be located at Sa�d Business School, Oxford. The centre will address major business issues through collaborative research between academics in Oxford, India and elsewhere.
Besides the generation of research-based projects, the centre will be concerned with teaching and will provide doctoral programmes for students and scholarships for the university's degree programmes in Oxford. The centre also plans to develop a range of custom and open executive education programmes. These are expected to be delivered in India in early 2010 at a new facility in Lavasa, a hill station being developed by the Lavasa Corporation near Pune. ....More

Ebola virus disarmed by excising a single gene
MADISON - The deadly Ebola virus, an emerging public health concern in Africa and a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of exotic pathogens.
Due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available, scientists studying the agent have had to work under the most stringent biocontainment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs and hampering the ability of scientists to develop countermeasures.
Now, however, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has figured out a way to genetically disarm the virus, effectively confining it to a set of specialized cells and making the agent safe to study under conditions far less stringent than those currently imposed.
"We wanted to make biologically contained Ebola virus," explains Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and the senior author of a paper describing the system for containing the virus published today (Jan. 21, 2008) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is a great system."....More

ICGEB joins with US based group to develop vaccines
NEW DELHI: City-based International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology has joined hands with US-based Emory Vaccine Center to develop vaccines for infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and dengue.
The Joint ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Centre will work towards control of infectious diseases through collaborative research on and development of safe and effective vaccines for global use, ICGEB Director V S Chauhan said.
Inaugurating the Joint ICGEB-EV Centre, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said collaborations in research was necessary for making available the best science can offer at lowest possible prices....More

Bilcare inaugurates Centre of Excellence; launches a unique CSR project
Former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr John L LaMattina, Senior Vice-President, Pfizer, and President, Pfizer Global Research and Development, inaugurated the Bilcare Centre of Excellence along with a unique product developed by Bilcare to combat the global crisis of counterfeiting, in Pune. The Global Research Centre of Excellence will have dedicated R&D sections for packaging research, material research, analytical research, drug sensitivity studies and package design.
For converting innovations into reality, the centre is also equipped with Asia's first integrated Flexo Printing machine and a state of the art pilot plant, which was inaugurated by Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India....More

Radiation workers and infertility, impotence
There is no scientific evidence that radiation exposure will cause impotence
Temporary sterility may occur at a lower dose of 0.15Gy (150mGy) in a few months post exposure
All available resources need to be used while counselling persons exposed to radiation
Ill-informed radiation workers have very exaggerated notions about the health effects of ionizing radiation. Fortunately, they are a minority. They rarely get opportunities to clear their doubts. Often, they are reluctant to ask. More so, if their doubts are on intensely private topics such as the impact, if any, of radiation exposure on fertility and sexual performance!
Sterility due to radiation exposure is a deterministic effect....More

Aggression As Rewarding As Sex, Food And Drugs, New Research Shows
ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2008) — New research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs - offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.
“Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food,” Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics, said. “We have found that the ‘reward pathway’ in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved.” ...More

India or China?
Indian and Chinese pharmaceutical markets might pose tough competition for each other, but at the same time, both are promising yet challenging bets for the global pharma industry. Sushmi Dey compares these two pharma markets on the basis of their distinctive features
On a recent trip to China, I was surprised to find the contrast between the first impressions of China and India. It can easily lead anyone to think or rather conclude that there is simply no comparison between these two emerging economies of the world market. In an absolute contrast to what you see in Indian airports, railway stations, roads and buses, China projects an image which is absolutely clean, spacious and fast.
You are left wondering if that is the end of the story or perhaps there is something more to the reality. Undoubtedly, there is more and that is the point we begin with......More

Life Expectancy Of Yeast Extended To 800 In Yeast Years, No Apparent Side Effects
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2008) — Biologists have created baker's yeast capable of living to 800 in yeast years without apparent side effects.
The basic but important discovery, achieved through a combination of dietary and genetic changes, brings science closer to controlling the survival and health of the unit of all living systems: the cell.
"We're setting the foundation for reprogramming healthy life," said study leader Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.
The study is scheduled to appear in the Jan. 25 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics. A companion study, showing that the same genetic changes in yeast reverse the course of an accelerated aging syndrome, appears in the Jan. 14 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
Longo's group put baker's yeast on a calorie-restricted diet and knocked out two genes, RAS2 and SCH9, that promote aging in yeast and cancer in humans. .....More

Fish oil -- helpful or harmful?
Fish oil supplements may help some cardiac patients while harming others
Toronto, ON — Fish oil supplements may help some cardiac patients while harming others, suggests a new review of evidence compiled by St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto researchers.
In a systematic review of trials where patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators used fish oil supplements, Dr. David Jenkins and Dr. Paul Dorian found significant differences among the trials, indicating fish oil may be beneficial to some patients while having a negative impact on others.
“Fish oils can have complex and varied effects on the heart,” says Jenkins, a U of T Professor of Medicine who runs the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital. “These effects include blocking cardiac ion channels, reducing fibrosis in response to mechanical stress, decreasing blood coagulation, and possibly altering immune function.”.....More

UI study examines decision-making deficits in older adults
We often read or hear stories about older adults being conned out of their life savings, but are older individuals really more susceptible to fraud than younger adults? And, if so, how exactly does aging affect judgment and decision-making abilities?
Recent work led by University of Iowa neuroscientist Natalie Denburg, Ph.D., suggests that for a significant number of older adults, measurable neuropsychological deficits do seem to lead to poor decision-making and an increased vulnerability to fraud. The findings also suggest that these individuals may experience disproportionate aging of a brain region critical for decision-making. .....More

New treatment mechanisms for schizophrenia
Philadelphia, PA, January 8, 2008 – The field of schizophrenia research has come alive with many exciting new potential approaches to treatment. From the introduction of chlorpromazine to the current day, all treatments approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have had, at their core, a single treatment mechanism, the blockade of the dopamine D2 receptor. The introduction of clozapine in the 1980’s suggested a potential that other brain targets might complement the blockade of dopamine D2 receptors to treat symptoms that failed to respond to the “typical” antipsychotics. We are now entering an age where new treatments are being rationally developed within the context of translational neuroscience, i.e., the steps whereby basic molecular neuroscience leads to fundamental new mechanisms that can be tested in animal and human laboratory-based research that, in turn, leads to tests of new medications in our clinics. The January 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry includes encouraging new research related to three new treatment approaches. ...More

Maharashtra FDA raids Getwell Clinic in Thane
Maharashtra Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has conducted a raid on Dr Ketan Gala's Getwell Clinic at Thane and ceased unauthorised medicines worth Rs 50,000. The FDA ceased medicines like multivitamin tablets, azithromycine tablets, OPPI-20 capsules. The raid is conducted by D R Gahane, drug inspector, under the Clause 18(c) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act1940. Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra State, is Maharashtra's primary instrument of consumer protection. It is a law enforcement agency.
The FDA authorities send one bogus customer and collected bill from the doctor. As per the clause 18(c) doctor can keep these medicine for his own patients but can't sell these medicines like medical shops. It is mandatory for the doctors to keep the records of purchases and use of such medicines. Dr Ketan Gala has not keep proper records of above medicines. The department is receiving several such cases and taking actions promptly. ...More

Integrated gene delivery vectors—Evolution and prospects
Treating human genetic diseases poses new challenges for modern medicine. Genetic diseases are mainly caused by mutation or deletion of genes, being inherited or transferred from the parent, usually leading to the impairment of the otherwise normal metabolic pathway.
Gene delivery system
Genetic disorders have existed since long; however, no adequate tools were available for their treatment till date. Gene therapy, although still in its infancy, has provided the correct tool. Gene therapy is considered to cure common diseases, as well as cystic fibrosis, SCID, haemophilia, muscular dystrophies, and so on. While new generation nucleic acid based therapies are emerging rapidly, a complete transfer of gene (DNA) into a cell, which is imperative for therapy, is proving to be a difficult hurdle to overcome. The journey of the gene from the needle into the nucleus of the cell is fraught with barriers. The human system naturally contains nucleases, which degrade the gene. That apart, the lack of hydrophobicity and a large size prevents them from reaching the cell and further into the nucleus, imposing a formidable challenge to gene delivery technologists. Efforts are now being directed, across the globe towards efficient and safe gene delivery. ...More

Newer meningitis vaccine appears safe and effective for infants
A vaccine not yet licensed in the United States produces immunity against four strains of meningococcal disease and is well tolerated when administered to infants, according to a study in the January 9/16 issue of JAMA.
It is estimated that 1,400 to 2,800 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur in the United States each year, and that ten to 14 percent of people who contract the disease will die. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now advises immunization with a tetravalent vaccine (serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y) for all 11- to 18-year-olds. However, the currently licensed vaccine is poorly immunogenic in infancy, when the highest rates of disease are observed, according to background information in the article. ...More

Restless Legs Syndrome Doubles Risk Of Stroke And Heart Disease, Study Shows
People with restless legs syndrome (RLS) are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart disease compared to people without RLS, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent and severe symptoms, according to new research.
The study, the largest of its kind enrolling both men and women, involved 3,433 people with an average age of 68 who were enrolled in the Sleep Heart Health Study. Participants were diagnosed with RLS by detailed questionnaire and asked if they had been diagnosed with a variety of systemic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease. Of the participants, nearly seven percent of women and three percent of men had RLS.
The study found people with RLS were more than twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease. The results remained the same after adjusting for age, sex, race, body mass index, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood pressure medication, HDL/LDL cholesterol levels, and smoking. ....More

UVa. Tests Viagra-Like Drug for Women
(AP) -- A drug that could do for women what Viagra has done for men is being tested at the University of Virginia. The drug is a testosterone-laden ointment called LibiGel and it's intended to boost the libido of women who have lost interest in sex. It will be prescribed at UVa in coming months to women who are suffering from hypoactive sexual desire disorder.
The condition is believed to affect one-third of American women.
"It is the most common sexual problem that women have," said Dr. Anita Clayton, a psychiatrist with the UVa Health System and author of the 2007 book "Satisfaction: Women, Sex and the Quest for Intimacy."
UVa joins 99 other medical institutions participating in testing the drug's efficacy and safety.....More

Atomic Structure Of Proteins Altered In Autism
A new study by an international group of scientists describes in atomic detail a protein complex that is affected by genetic mutations implicated in autism spectrum disorders. The research team, including scientists from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS), details the neuroligin family of proteins, which are encoded by genes known to be mutated in certain patients with autism. Their study will be published in the December 20 issue of Neuron.
"This goes beyond previous studies to show the individual atoms of these two proteins and how they interact," said Palmer Taylor, Ph.D., Dean of SSPPS and the Sandra & Monroe Trout Professor of Pharmacology. "We have described the mutations found in some people with autism; and we have identified where the altered amino acids are located in the protein, and how they impact the folding and cell adhesion properties of neuroligin and neurexin." ....More

Religion might keep anxiety at bay
For many, religious activity changes between childhood and adulthood, and a new study finds this could affect one’s mental health.
According to Temple University’s Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., women who had stopped being religiously active were more than three times more likely to have suffered generalized anxiety and alcohol abuse/dependence than women who reported always having been active.
“One’s lifetime pattern of religious service attendance can be related to psychiatric illness,” said Maselko, an assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study, which appears in the January issue of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. ....More

A short-term dose of zolpidem is an effective treatment for insomnia
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A study published in the January 1 issue of the journal SLEEP finds that zolpidem extended-release 12.5 mg, taken three to seven nights per week for up to six months, provided sustained and significant improvements in sleep onset and maintenance, and also improved next-day concentration and morning sleepiness in people with insomnia.
The study focused on 1,018 patients between 18 and 64 years of age with chronic primary insomnia, who had difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or experiencing non-restorative sleep for three months or greater. The subjects took either a single dose of zolpidem extended-release or a placebo from three to seven nights per week. ....More

Top ten breakthroughs of the year 2007
The one that tops the list of breakthroughs this year is the finding of the human genetic variation. We have come a long way from asking what in our DNA makes us human to striving to know what in my DNA makes me me.
Already, the genomes of several individuals have been sequenced, and rapid improvements in sequencing technologies are making the sequencing of "me" a real possibility.
The potential to quantify one’s genetic risk for cancer, asthma, or diabetes — is both exhilarating and terrifying.
It comes not only with great promise for improving health through personalized medicine and understanding our individuality but also with risks for discrimination and loss of privacy. ....More

"We are looking at competency in molecular biology"
Dr Rama Mukerjee has been the brain behind Dabur Research for quite a few years where she headed the R&D unit and came up with new and innovative products. She is now all set to synergize her scientific capabilities coupled with entrepreneurial spirit as she takes on the mantle of heading her own company, Ara Healthcare, an innovation driven organization that would focus on the commercialization of research.
The company based in Gurgaon will soon be operational. Dr Mukerjee has got together a team of six scientists from Dabur and recruitment is on to ensure that Ara is 30-people strong by this year-end. They already have three molecules from Dabur (for cancer) for further development out of which two are NMEs and the third is a biological entity. The company will also focus on developing leads for autoimmune diseases, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases and genetic disorders....More

MIT professor at IIT Bombay lecture series
As a part of the ongoing Golden Jubilee celebrations—distinguish lecture series at IIT Bombay, Professor Stephan J Lippard, Head of Department of Chemistry from MIT University, delivered a public lecture on discovery, understanding and invention of platinum anti-cancer drugs at PC Saxena Hall at IIT Bombay, Powai.
Lippard's lecture focused on the history behind the discovery of the anticancer activity of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II), the most potent anti-cancer drug and a virtual cure for testicular cancer. Studies of the mechanism of the action was described, together with synthetic efforts that have expanded the range of tumours that can be successfully treated by the platinum drug family. The various stages in the process, from serendipitous discover to understanding to invention, was delineated. The lecture concluded with the presentation of novel agents in which cancer-cell targeting units and cell-piercing carbon nano tubes are tethered to platinum warheads for next generation anti-cancer drug candidates.....More

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