Researchers investigating the biochemical characteristics behind several everyday diseases have discovered a new chromosomal region to be strongly associated with the bad cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, (LDL). High levels of LDL are considered a major risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease -- the UK’s biggest killer.
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High cholesterol levels drop naturally in children on high-fat anti-seizure diet, study show
Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of 10 children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study reported in the
Journal of Child Neurology.
Statins may protect against memory loss
People at high risk for dementia who took cholesterol-lowering statins are half as likely to develop dementia as those who do not take statins, a new study shows.
Scientists associate 6 new genetic variants with heart disease risk factor
Using new techniques for rapidly scanning the human genome, researchers have associated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, two fats in the blood, to 18 genetic variants, six of which represent new DNA regions never before associated with the traits. The findings, appearing in the January 13 advance online issue of
Nature Genetics, help explain some of the variability in cholesterol and triglyceride levels that arises from genes.
Nanotechnology shows early promise to treat cardiovascular disease
A new tactic in the battle against cardiovascular disease – employing nanoengineered molecules called "nanolipoblockers" as frontline infantry against harmful cholesterol – is showing promise in early laboratory studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Research finds drug candidate slows age-related macular degeneration
Research results from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine show that the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is markedly slowed in new laboratory-engineered mice when they received treatments of retinylamine, a trial drug that has been tested in a medical school lab. AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older.
New tool probes function of rice genes
A new tool for investigating the rice genome has been developed by researchers at UC Davis led by Pamela Ronald, professor of plant pathology. The inexpensive, publicly-available rice DNA microarray covers nearly all the 45,000 genes in the rice genome. Details are published this week in the open-access journal
PLoS ONE.
Why could prednisolone suppress the hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury?
Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury is a serious complication but unavoidable problem in liver surgery including liver transplantation and hepatic resection. The most important consequence of this pathological process is multiple organ failure with a high mortality rate. Steroid therapy suppresses liver injury by a variety of mechanisms, including increased tissue blood flow and suppression of oxygen free radicals, arachidonic acid derivatives, lysosomal proteases (cathepsins) and cytokine production. However, the exact intracellular mechanisms of steroid action on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury remains unknown.
Bioengineers fill holes in science of cellular self-organization
The chemical and biological aspects of cellular self-organization are well-studied; less well understood is how cell populations order themselves biomechanically – how their behavior and communication are affected by high density and physical proximity. Bioengineers and physicists at the University of California San Diego, in a paper published in the current issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have begun to address these fundamental questions.