Less sleep can lead to higher risk of diabetes and obesity, study

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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and obesity, study ” width=”225″ height=”225″ class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-99160″ />According to a new study, not enough sleep or inconsistent sleep times could significantly increase the risk of diabetes and obesity.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston studied a total of 21 healthy participants in a controlled environment for six weeks. They regulated their diets activities, hours of sleep and sleep disruptions.

The researchers let the subjects sleep 10 hours per night at the beginning and the end of the study. However, in between they made their subjects sleep at all different times of day and night and made sure that they just got five and a half hours of sleep in each 24-hour period.

They found that sleep restriction along with sleep disruption resulted in decreased resting metabolic rate and higher glucose concentrations in the blood after eating due to poor insulin secretion by the pancreas. These symptoms can lead to weight gain and a risk of diabetes, according to researchers.

The study indicates how people working in shifts could face higher risk of obesity.

“We think these results support the findings from studies showing that, in people with a pre-diabetic condition, shift workers who stay awake at night are much more likely to progress to full-on diabetes than day workers,” neuroscientist and lead study author Orfeu M. Buxton said in a statement.

The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Hormone in the blood sugar will reduce innovation

April 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Washington: The way to reduce the amount of sugar in the blood of American scientists have found hormone. Significantly increasing the number of diabetes patients around the world. The only drug currently varapiracatam is insulin. Various studies

have been conducted to find an alternative route. The University of Texas scientists, found in the blood glucose levels to reduce the hormone. The first phase of the successful test of this hormone in the rat. In an attempt to see it done by humans has been a team led by scientist Jonathan crop. If successful this experiment, the injection of insulin in the blood sugar or hormone replacement vakaiyilo This could substantially reduce, crop, said the scientist.

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Nipro Diagnostics, Inc. Appoints Scott Verner President

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.–(Business Wire)–
Nipro Diagnostics, Inc., a leader in diabetes products and a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Nipro Corporation, announced today the appointment of Scott Verner
as President, with responsibility for the Company`s blood glucose monitoring and
insulin pump business in the U.S., effective immediately. Mr. Verner`s
appointment follows on the recent merger announcement between Home Diagnostics,
Inc. and Nipro Diabetes Systems, Inc., which created Nipro Diagnostics, Inc. Mr.
Verner was previously Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Home
Diagnostics and the newly created Nipro Diagnostics.

Luis Candelario, President of Nipro Medical Corporation, commented, “We are
pleased to appoint Scott Verner as President of Nipro Diagnostics. He is a
seasoned healthcare executive with extensive relationships and deep diabetes
industry knowledge. He has already made significant contributions in rebranding
and repositioning Nipro Diagnostics` BGM products, driving adoption of that
product line and improving our sales infrastructure.”

Mr. Candelario added, “The combination of Nipro Diagnostics` blood glucose
monitoring products with the Amigo Insulin Pump provides a substantial platform
to continue building a leading diabetes product company. Scott is a proven
leader and the ideal candidate to leverage this platform and further strengthen
our leadership in the diabetes product market.”

Scott Verner, President of Nipro Diagnostics, Inc., said, “I am excited to
continue making contributions to building Nipro Diagnostics in my new role. Our
product portfolio has further evolved into a comprehensive and competitive
offering, meeting a wide range of unique consumer needs and exceptionally high
standards for both quality and value. We believe those standards will continue
to be the basis of our growth and success over the next several years.”

Mr. Verner joined Home Diagnostics in 2007 as Senior Vice President of Sales &
Marketing, where he was responsible for developing and executing the Company`s
sales and marketing strategy. During his three year tenure, he strengthened the
Company`s sales infrastructure and successfully rebranded and repositioned the
Company`s blood glucose monitoring product line. This included leveraging new
tools to expand the Company`s market reach, broadening the Company`s managed
care relationships, and obtaining Tier 1 or preferred status for the Company`s
products on key managed care formularies.”

Prior to joining Nipro Diagnostics, Mr. Verner was Vice President of Sales at
EyeTel Imaging, a company focused on developing technologies to treat diabetes
and micro-vascular disease. During his tenure at EyeTel Imaging, he was
responsible for the company`s sales, telesales, marketing and national account
and disease management teams. Prior to EyeTel Imaging, Mr. Verner worked for
Allergan, Inc. where he was instrumental in leading the spin-off of Advanced
Medical Optics (AMO). Before Allergan, Mr. Verner spent 12 years at Novartis,
where he held several sales and marketing positions within the company`s medical
device, OTC and pharmaceutical business units.

About Nipro Diagnostics, Inc.

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nipro Diagnostics, Inc. is a leading
developer, manufacturer and marketer of diabetes management products. Nipro
Diagnostics offers a portfolio of high-quality blood glucose monitoring products
and systems available throughout the world. Nipro Diagnostics is the exclusive
co-brand supplier of blood glucose monitoring systems for leading pharmacies
including CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens, as well as distributors such as
AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, Invacare and Liberty Medical.

Nipro Diagnostics, Inc. has previously announced plans to merge with Nipro
Diabetes Systems, Inc. Both companies are wholly-owned by Nipro Corporation, a
multi-billion dollar company headquartered in Osaka, Japan and a world leader in
providing medical products to the healthcare community. Nipro Diabetes Systems,
located in Miramar, Florida, is the manufacturer and marketer of the Amigo
Insulin Pump. The merger of the two companies results in a comprehensive
diabetes monitoring and insulin management product portfolio, which few
companies offer. This portfolio will help to ensure that patients and their
healthcare professionals have easy access to the high-quality diabetes
monitoring and management tools they need to improve quality of life. Both
companies share a vision of making diabetes monitoring and management more
affordable and are already well-positioned in the quality-value segment of their
respective categories.

For more information, please visit www.niprodiagnostics.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6346892〈=en

For Nipro Diagnostics, Inc.
The Ruth Group
Eric Reiss, 646-536-7032
ereiss@theruthgroup.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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UPDATE 1-Sanofi, Metabolex in diabetes treatment deal

June 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 25 (Reuters) – Sanofi-Aventis SAYS.PA said on Friday it signed a global licensing deal with U.S. biopharmaceutical group Metabolex for a new oral drug to treat Type II diabetes.

Under the agreement, Sanofi-Aventis will receive an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialise MBX-2982, currenTly in Phase II.

Metabolex will receive an ufront payment and will be eligible for total payments of $375 million, the statement said.

It will also receive royalties on worldwide product sales. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon)

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Marvin Isley of Isley Brothers dies at age 56

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Marvin Isley, bass player for the Isley Brothers, died in Chicago on Sunday, aged 56. He reportedly succumbed to complications from diabetes, a disease that forced him to retire from performing with the legendary funk band in 1997.

Entertainment | Music

Marvin joined the Isley Brothers in 1973 after the original lineup — comprised of older brothers O’Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald — had scored hits with songs like “Twist and Shout,” “It’s Your Thing” and “Shout.”

The band’s first album with Marvin, 1973′s “3+3,” went platinum. Marvin is credited with bringing a funkier, younger vibe to the group on several songs that have been heavily sampled by hip-hop artists such as Ice Cube and Jim Jones.

The Isley Brothers continued to chart throughout the ’70s with songs like “Who’s That Lady,” “Fight the Power” and “Between the Sheets,” many of which were co-written by Marvin and the two younger members, brother Ernie and brother-in-law Chris Jasper. Marvin, Ernie and Jasper split off in 1984 to form Isley-Jasper-Isley, but returned to the fold in 1991.

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Insulin reduces obesity-related inflammation

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 11 (ANI): Scientists have found that one of the most common side effects of obesity – inflammation – can be fought by administering insulin.

As an added benefit, the team behind the work says, this also reduces a person”s risk of developing diabetes.

The remarkable finding was recently presented in a new thesis, written by experts at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden.

When you put on weight, your fat tissue grows and begins to produce a wealth of inflammatory molecules.

The increase in these inflammatory molecules leaves the fat tissue in a state of chronic inflammation.

This plays an important role in the development of insulin resistance, an early stage of type 2 diabetes, where the body is unable to regulate blood sugar levels using its own insulin.

“It”s still not entirely clear why obesity causes insulin resistance. Inflammation could be part of the reason why obesity leads to type 2 diabetes,” said Emelie Wallerstedt from the Institute of Medicine at the University of Gothenburg.

Research has shown that both obesity and insulin resistance are affected by inflammatory conditions in the body.

Previously it was believed that fat tissue served merely as a depository for fat, but now scientists know that it is also an important organ for the release of a wide range of different substances, including inflammatory molecules.

In the new study, the researchers managed to identify the properties of the inflammatory molecule IL-6.

“IL-6 impairs insulin signalling, but the insulin signalling itself can also inhibit and ”turn off” the IL-6 signal and inflammation. The protein PKCdelta also plays an important role in the regulation of the IL-6 signal, and we have shown that if we disable the function of this molecule, the inflammation decreases,” Wallerstedt said.

A greater understanding of these signalling mechanisms could make it possible in the future to develop medicines that can “turn off” the inflammation and so reduce the risk of insulin resistance and other obesity-related disorders. (ANI)

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Janice Dickinson promises date in charity auction deal

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, May 10 (ANI): Former supermodel Janice Dickinson will join a fan for lunch after putting herself on auction for charity.

The ‘America”s Next Top Model’ judge put herself up for auction at Juvenile Diabetes Foundation event at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco.

An anonymous fan bid 20,000 dollars for the date with Dickinson. It will also include a makeover and a photo shoot.

“Whoever they are, they”re going to get a lot more for their money than they paid!” the New York Post quoted Dickinson, as saying. (ANI)

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Popular diabetes drug may help treat cancer

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Researchers have learned that the popular diabetes medication metformin doesn”t work the way they thought.

And the discovery could open the door to using metformin to treat cancer, tuberous sclerosis complex and other diseases.

The results of this study, led by George Thomas, PhD, scientific director of UC”s Metabolic Diseases Institute, are published in the May 5 edition of Cell Metabolism.

Metformin is widely prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes and may be extended to the treatment of certain cancers.

The drug blocks the production of glucose (sugar) and increases sensitivity to insulin—a hormone that converts sugar and other foods into energy within the body.

Researchers have thought that metformin, an energy-deprivation agent, disables the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complex by first activating the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) proteins through the enzyme AMPK.

Thomas” team determined that mTOR could actually be disabled without AMPK, and even without TSC. The team was able to determine that metformin works to knock out mTOR through another enzyme, RAG GTPase.

“We”ve poked a hole in dogma,” says Thomas, a professor in the cancer and cell biology department. “Scientists can and should go back and ask about things they had crossed off their list.”

The importance of this finding, says Thomas, is the possibility it holds for broader use of metformin.

“Metformin is already prescribed to 100 million people worldwide, and our study raises the question, ”Could this drug be used even more widely?”” (ANI)

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New discovery to help diabetics with slow-to-heal wounds

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 17 (ANI): With a new discovery about wound-healing process, scientists could offer better treatments to diabetics and other patients who have wounds that take time to heal.

Loyola University Health System researchers found that certain immune system cells slow the wound-healing process.

Thus, it might be possible to improve healing by inactivating these immune system cells, said Dr. Elizabeth Kovacs, who heads the laboratory team that made the discovery.

In the study, the immune system cells that impeded the healing process are called natural killer T (NKT) cells.

NKT cells perform beneficial functions such as killing tumour cells and virus-infected cells.

However, researchers discovered that NKT cells also migrate to wound sites and impede the healing process.

The researchers used an animal model to examine the effects of NKT cells on healing.

Healing was significantly slower in normal mice that had NKT cells than it was in a special breed of mice that lacked NKT cells.

“We demonstrated that early wound closure was accelerated in the absence of NKT cells. Importantly, we also made the novel observation that NKT cells themselves are a constituent of the early wound inflammatory infiltrate,” wrote the researchers.

Certain conditions, such as diabetes and infections, can slow or prevent wounds from healing.

Researchers don”t know how NKT cells slow healing, but they believe it is possible to inactivate NKT cells using an antibody.

They are testing this prediction in a follow-up study.

The findings are reported online, in advance of print, in the Journal of Surgical Research. (ANI)

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Pig cells give hope for diabetes cure

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There is renewed hope of a cure for type 1 diabetes after successful human trials involving pig cells.

In New Zealand and Europe more than a dozen humans have had pigs cells transplanted into their bodies to control diabetes.

So far two patients have been able to stop using insulin.

The trial is now being considered in Australia.

Michael Helyer, 54, has had type 1 diabetes since he was a child, but 14 years ago became the first man in the world to have pig cells transplanted into his pancreas.

The cells were designed to mimic the body’s natural production of insulin.

“At peak performance my cells were producing 30 per cent of my requirement,” he said.

“What that means is that you can reduce your insulin dose by 30 per cent. Your chances of having a terrible low blood sugar episode are much diminished.”

The cells continued to work inside Mr Helyer’s body for nine years.

As the first human to be trialed, the number of cells transplanted was very small. But some of the recent transplant patients have been able to stop using insulin altogether.

Professor Bob Elliot, a researcher with Living Cell Technologies, says patients were transplanted up to three times without problems.

“To our delight we got more success in terms of efficacy than we expected,” he said.

“Out of the eight [people] that we did, a couple came off insulin for varying periods of time up to many, many months.”

Type 1 diabetes effects 30 million people worldwide. Professor Elliot and his team of researchers hope this could be a cure.

“What we’re more interested in as a shorter-term objective is to improve diabetes control,” he said.

There has been concern though that this treatment could result in the transmission of viruses from pigs to humans.

It caused Australian authorities to place a ban on pig cell transplants, but that ban has now been lifted.

“The pigs used must be free of any disease that’s capable of being transmitted to man,” Professor Elliot said.

“By good fortune we lit upon a herd of pigs that had been abandoned in a sub-Antarctic island some 200 years ago, and in that 200 years they have lost any form of infection capable of being transmitted to man.

“The pigs we used are derived from those. They’re not currently housed on that island, they’re housed in a very special containment facility which keeps that nice pristine, infection-free, bug-free status.”

With no moratorium in place, Living Cell Technologies hopes to conduct more human trials in Australia by the end of the year.

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‘More support needed’ for breastfeeding mothers

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Australian Breastfeeding Association says the culture of breastfeeding in Australia needs to change if health benefits, such as the prevention of metabolic disease in mothers, are to be fully felt.

A study of more than 50,000 women published in US journal Diabetes Care has found women who have children are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who never give birth.

But it found breastfeeding for three months per child can offset that risk.

The manager of the association’s lactation resource centre, Kate Mortensen, says while this is good news, more needs to be done for breastfeeding babies and mothers.

She says when babies reach three months of age, only about 65 per cent of Australian mothers are still breastfeeding, and by six months that figure drops to about 40 per cent.

“That’s been the state of play now for quite a number of years,” she said.

“Mothers still choose to breastfeed, it’s just that they are not seemingly able to keep it going, and so we need skilled lactation support for problems that they face.

“They need good maternity leave so they know they do have a period where they can be at home with their babies and establish lactation. They need good community support and we need more knowledge about breastfeeding out there.”

Ms Mortensen says one of the most common reasons why mothers start supplementing with formula is because of perceived low supply.

“Overall, from my 20 years of counselling mothers, it seems that mothers don’t realise there is not this deep community understanding that a breastfed baby needs to be fed anywhere between eight and 12 times in 24 hours – so that means you are feeding a baby quite often, ” she said.

“There is still this old-fashioned idea that a mother should feed a baby three to four hourly at evenly spaced times throughout the day, which is totally unrealistic. The normal baby will have lots of frequent feeds and their feeding patterns change as they get older.”

Australia’s most recent dietary guidelines, published in 2003, suggest 80 per cent of mothers breastfeeding at six months is an achievable goal.

“But we haven’t even reached 80 per cent at three months,” Ms Mortensen said.

Ms Mortensen says the health benefits associated with breastfeeding are well-known and the recent Australian study backs up previous research in the US, which found the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the lower the risk of diabetes for the mother.

“There is research around lactation helping to reduce the weight that you keep from pregnancy. It also affects where your weight is lost from,” she said.

“You’re in a different metabolic state while you’re breastfeeding. You have a reduced reaction to stress and you have a lowered blood pressure.

“The research on weight loss because of lactation is quite mixed but overall it does seem to have a beneficial effect on mothers’ weight loss – breastfeeding does use calories, but it also affects your metabolism. You require less insulin while you’re breastfeeding, so it affects your metabolism at a quite a deep level.”

Last year the Federal Government put forward a National Breastfeeding Strategy for 2010 to 2015.

The association says this strategy must be supported and implemented if the health benefits of breastfeeding are to be maximised.

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‘Disturbing’ results from Victorian worker health checks

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Eight hundred Victorian workers have been instructed to consult a doctor immediately, after undergoing a workplace health check.

Over the past year, 100,000 State Government-funded checks have been completed.

Fifty per cent of men and 30 per cent of women were found to be at risk of developing diabetes.

The Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, says the results are disturbing.

“Eight hundred people out of that group needed to see a doctor within 24 hours,” he said.

“Almost one in two males in the program had elevated risks, high or very high risks of developing Type 2 diabetes or a heart disease issue, and almost a third of females.”

Mr Andrews said fewer than one in 10 people who took the test, ate enough fruit and vegetables.

“It’s about giving people the advice, the understanding that they need to act,” he said.

“Then, with the support of their GP, with the support of the Victorian health system, to bring about the lifestyle changes they need, to act on those risk factors.”

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Rudd injects $430m into diabetic care

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Government will target diabetics by spending more than $430 million to help them manage their health and keep them out of hospital.

The funding will be given to doctors who take on diabetic patients and provide a personal care program to ensure they stay healthy enough so they do not need hospital treatment.

Unveiling the latest part of the Government’s plans to reform the health system today, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said hospitals will struggle to cope with treating around two million diabetics over the next decade if there is no alternative plan.

“In 2007-08, around 237,000 hospital admissions were related to complications from diabetes that could have been avoided through better management,” he said.

“This is 32 per cent of all avoidable hospital admissions.”

Doctors will be paid $1,200 a year for every diabetic they treat, with an extra $10,800 a year to be given to the practice if their patients’ health improves.

Mr Rudd said he expects more than 4,000 GPs will sign up to the $436 million program when it begins in 2012.

Those GPs will be able to treat around 260,000 patients.

Diabetes Australia acting chief executive Professor Greg Johnson endorses the plan.

While he acknowledges that steps must be taken to stop people developing diabetes, the Government’s move is aimed at “secondary” prevention.

“For people who’ve got diabetes we need to focus on good management of their conditions so we prevent the avoidable complications,” he said.

“It will save money in the long term. It’ll save hospital beds, but most importantly it’ll improve the lives of what is almost one million Australians at the moment.”

Around 85 to 90 per cent of diabetics are type 2, with the remainder type 1.

Professor Johnson says both are often hospitalised with complications.

“People with diabetes are frequent flyers in our hospital system,” he said.

Dr Emil Djakic of the Australian General Practice Network says he broadly supports the plan because other funding models for patients need to be considered.

“A balance between fee-for-service funding, enrolled-patient funding and quality-outcomes funding is important to get the best out of our health system,” he said.

But Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Andrew Pesce has slammed the plan as “policy on the run” and says the AMA was never consulted.

“The Government is effectively encouraging the voluntary removal of Medicare benefits for these patients,” he said.

“By removing fee for service, the Government is removing patient choice about their primary care and eroding the individual doctor-patient relationship.

“It is clear that linking this announcement to relieving pressure on hospitals is designed to have more of a positive effect on the premiers than on people with diabetes.”

Hospital takeover

The Government has already announced its intentions to take over 60 per cent of hospital funding by taking back 30 per cent of GST revenue from the states.

And it has also pledged $632 million to train more than 5,000 doctors and specialists.

Its hospital takeover plan is still facing resistance from some states, but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has signalled he may support it.

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Climate change and chronic disease study

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Researchers at the University of Tasmania are calling for volunteers to take part in a study into the effects of climate change on people suffering from chronic diseases.

The study will look at how people with conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease cope with extreme changes in temperature.

Sibella King from the University’s School of Human Life Science says if a person’s heart is already weakened from disease, it may have to work harder due to rising global temperatures.

“In the heat we expect people’s blood pressure to fall a little bit, and when that happens the heart rate will rise to compensate for the falling pressure,” she said.

“So you get a higher heart rate and a lower blood pressure, so that’s what we would expect to see.”

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Diabetes ”leads to diminished brain power”

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 5 (ANI): Diabetic retinopathy could be associated with poorer memory and diminished brain power in people with Type 2 diabetes, according to a new research.

For the study, researchers at Edinburgh University looked at 1,066 people with type 2 diabetes aged between 60 and 75.

Participants in the study completed seven tests focusing on memory, logic and concentration to establish their level of brain function.

The researchers found that those with retinopathy had worse scores on most of the individual tests, as well as on general cognitive ability, compared with those without the condition.

“These findings suggest that the severity of diabetic retinopathy is independently associated with cognitive dysfunction in people with type 2 diabetes aged 60 to 75,” the Scotsman quoted Jie Ding, from Edinburgh University, lead author of the study, as saying. (ANI)

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Three cups of tea a day can cut diabetes risk by almost half

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sept 19 (ANI): Intake of at least three cups of tea every day can reduce the risk of diabetes by almost half, concludes a new study.

To reach the conclusion, researchers studied more than 40,000 people whose consumption was monitored for 10 years.

After analyses, boffins discovered that chemicals found in all types of tea cut the dangers of developing type 2­diabetes by 42 per cent. Drinking more than three cups did not reduce the risk any further, reports The Daily Express.

The study was carried out by a team of Dutch researchers from the University Medical Centre in Utrecht.

The team concluded: “Consumption of at least three cups of tea and/or coffee was associated with a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes. Blood pressure and intake of magnesium, potassium and caffeine did not explain these associations.”

Instead, the beneficial effects in tea were probably explained by “flavonoid antioxidants” which are found in every cup.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, of Britain’s Tea Advisory Panel, said: “The study did not distinguish between black and green tea, but 95 per cent of tea drunk in the Netherlands is black tea, that is regular tea. The results remained the same even when the researchers accounted for other factors which might have influenced diabetes risk, such as body mass index, blood pressure, caffeine, dietary magnesium and potassium.

“This suggests that ingredients other than caffeine, magnesium and potassium (all found in tea) could be causing the beneficial effect. Likely candidates are the flavonoid antioxidants found in tea which are known to protect body cells from damage.” (ANI)

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Genes controlling insulin ‘alter’ body clock

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 18 (ANI): Scientists at University of California, San Diego have identified certain insulin-regulating genes that can also alter the timing of the body clock.

They said that the findings can lead to new approaches to treating disorders such as metabolic syndrome that can result, at least in part, from chronic disruption of the sleep-wake cycle.

“People knew that the clock regulates many different processes, but what they didn’t realize what that when you tweak those processes, it feeds back and alters the clock,” said Steve Kay, Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, who led the study along with John Hogenesch of the University of Pennsylvania.

A molecular clock controls daily physiological rhythms in many types of cells, even cells grown in culture.

By engineering cultured cells to glow yellow when a particular clock gene switched on, the team made the cycle visible. They then interfered with every human gene to see which would shift the clock. They found that hundreds altered the timing.

“We just suddenly discovered 350 new genes that affect the clock that weren’t known before,” Kay said.

However, subsequent screening to confirm the genes’ effect on a second clock gene narrowed the list to 200.

Seven genes involved in insulin control also influenced the rhythms of the clock.

“What came out very strongly was this close relationship between circadian regulation and insulin signalling. There’s a reciprocal relationship between circadian dysfunction and metabolic dysfunction,” said Kay.

The researchers suggest that genetically altered mice with malfunctioning clocks become obese and develop diet-induced diabetes.Understanding this close relationship between circadian regulation and metabolic homeostasis should provide novel ways of identifying new therapies for metabolic disease,” Kay added.

The study appears in journal Cell. (ANI)

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Weight loss can prevent kidney disease progression in obese patients

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 18 (ANI): Shedding extra pounds can preserve kidney function in obese people with kidney disease, according to a new study led by Indian origin scientist from Cleveland Clinic.

Weight loss can improve a number of health problems, like it can improve control of diabetes, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduce the effects of heart disease.

During the study, Dr Sankar Navaneethan, and his colleagues analysed the studies that examined the effects of weight loss interventions in obese kidney disease patients.

It showed that weight loss attained through diet and exercise reduces proteinuria (excess excretion of protein in the urine-a hallmark of kidney damage) and may prevent additional decline in kidney function in obese patients with kidney disease.

Studies also showed that surgical interventions normalize the filtration rate of the kidneys in obese patients with high filtration rates (a risk factor for the development of kidney disease).

While the findings imply that weight reduction may prevent the progression of kidney disease in obese kidney disease patients, the authors noted that there were only a small number of studies available for analysis and additional high-quality long-term studies on this topic are needed.

The study appears in Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology. (ANI)

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Stem cell transplantation may correct rare genetic disorder in kids

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): Scripps Research Institute scientists have offered new hope for parents whose children suffer from the rare genetic disorder ‘cystinosis’ by showing through an experiment on mice that stem cell transplantation can successfully correct the defect.

“After meeting the children who suffer from this disease, like an 18-year-old who has already had three kidney transplants, and the families who are desperately searching for help, our team is committed to moving toward a cure for cystinosis, a lysosomal storage disorder. This study is an important step toward that goal,” said principal investigator Stephanie Cherqui.

In the study, the researchers used bone marrow stem cell transplantation to address symptoms of cystinosis in a mouse model.

The procedure virtually halted the cystine accumulation responsible for the disease, and the cascade of cell death that follows.

Cystine is a by-product of the break down of cellular components the body no longer needs in the cell’s “housekeeping” organelles, called lysosomes.

Normally, cystine is shunted out of cells, but in cystinosis a gene defect of the lysosomal cystine transporter causes it to build up, forming crystals that are especially damaging to the kidneys and eyes.

Cystinosis is a rare but devastating disease affecting children as young as six months, who begin to suffer renal dysfunction, which grows progressively worse with time. Other symptoms include diabetes, muscular disease, neurological dysfunction, and retinopathy.

The only available drug to treat cystinosis, cysteamine, while slowing the progression of kidney degradation, does not prevent it, and end-stage kidney failure is inevitable.

In the new study, the researchers found that transplanted bone marrow stem cells carrying the normal lysosomal cystine transporter gene abundantly engrafted into every tissue of the experimental mice.

This led to an average drop in cystine levels of about 80 percent in every organ.

Not only it prevented kidney dysfunction, there was less deposition of cystine crystals in the cornea, less bone demineralization, and an improvement in motor function.

“The results really surprised and encouraged us. Because the defect is present in every cell of the body, we did not expect a bone marrow stem cell transplant to be so widespread and effective,” says Cherqui.

Cherqui said that adult bone marrow stem cell therapy is particularly well suited as a potential treatment for cystinosis because these cells target all types of tissues.

In addition, stem cells reside in the bone marrow for the duration of a patient’s life, becoming active as needed, a particular benefit for a progressive disease like cystinosis.

The study has been published in the journal Blood. (ANI)

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Popular diabetes drug may help fight breast cancer

September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 15 (ANI): A popular diabetes drug called metformin has been found to be effective in fighting breast cancer.

The findings of the study from Harvard Medical School showed that metformin, along with conventional chemotherapy, shows promise for treating and delaying recurrence of breast cancer.

“We have found a compound selective for cancer stem cells,” said senior author Kevin Struhl, the David Wesley Gaiser professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS.

“What’s different is that ours is a first-line diabetes drug,” he added.

The drug seemed to work independently of its ability to improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar and insulin levels, all of which are also associated with better breast cancer outcomes.

“There is a big desire to find drugs specific to cancer stem cells,” said Struhl.

“The cancer stem cell hypothesis says you cannot cure cancer unless you also get rid of the cancer stem cells. From a purely practical point of view, this could be tested in humans. It’s already used as a first-line diabetes drug,” he added.

Lead researchers Heather Hirsch and Dimitrios Iliopoulos found that the combination of metformin and the cancer drug doxorubicin killed human cancer stem cells and non-stem cancer cells in culture.

In mice, pre-treatment with the diabetes drug prevented the otherwise dramatic ability of human breast cancer stem cells to form tumours.

In cases where tumours were allowed to take hold for 10 days, the dual therapy also reduced tumour mass more quickly and prevented relapse for longer than doxorubicin alone.

“This is an exciting study,” said Jennifer Ligibel, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an HMS instructor in medicine, who was not involved in the study.

“There is a lot of interest in studying metformin in breast cancer, but so far we do not have direct evidence that metformin will improve outcomes in patients,” Ligibel said. “That’s what this trial is for.”

The findings appear online in the journal Cancer Research. (ANI)

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