Researchers presenting at the 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco have demonstrated for the first time that stress-related increases in central nervous system inflammation are behind the adverse effects of stress in an animal model of MS. Researchers from Texas A&M University used mice to show what role social stress plays in the immune process to influence the course of an MS-like disease. They proposed that stress-induced increases of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are proteins that regulate immune and inflammatory functions, inhibit the clearing of a virus and allow the inflammatory process to run amok. Stress, say the researchers, may interact with viral infections to increase vulnerability to diseases such as MS.
CANCER: VITAMIN D SHOWS CANCER-FIGHTING ABILITIES
As many as 600,000 cases a year of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year by adequate intake of vitamin D, according to researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California at San Diego. In a paper published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, the researchers showed an inverse association of serum vitamin D with risk of colorectal and breast cancer. The researchers maintain that increasing vitamin D levels in populations, particularly those in northern climates, has the potential to both prevent—and possibly serve as an adjunct to existing treatments for—cancer.
TRANSPLANTS: SOME PATIENTS COULD LIVE FREE OF ANTI-REJECTION DRUGS
People with organ transplants, resigned to a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs, may now have reason to hope for a respite, according to researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine. Using a simple blood sample, the scientists have identified for the first time a pattern of gene expression shared by a small group of patients who beat the odds and remained healthy for years without medication. The findings suggest that transplant recipients who share the same pattern of genes but are still on conventional medication may be able to reduce or eliminate their lifelong dependence on immunosuppressive drugs. The study may also help physicians determine how best to induce acceptance, or tolerance, of donor organs in all transplant patients, regardless of their gene expression profiles.
CANCER: ABRAXIS ENTERS INTO LICENSING DEAL WITH SCRIPPS ON CANCER DRUGS
Abraxis BioScience and The Scripps Research Institute said they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for the worldwide development and commercialization of a novel epothilone therapeutic for the treatment of cancer. Epothilones belong to a new class of microtubule-stabilizing agents, which bind to the tubulin pathway to inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Under the terms of the agreement, Los Angeles-based Abraxis has rights to eleven potential drug candidates for pre-clinical evaluation and the right to select a lead candidate for clinical development. The company did not disclose financial terms of the agreement with the La Jolla, California-based research institute.
LIVER CANCER: BAYER AND ONYX GRANTED FDA PRIORITY REVIEW
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals said the FDA granted priority review for their supplemental new drug application for their drug Nexavar as a treatment for patients with liver cancer. Nexavar is currently approved in more than 50 countries for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer. Priority review designation is intended to expedite the regulatory review process for investigational agents or uses that address unmet medical needs. Based on this designation, the FDA reviews the application with a goal of taking action within six months of the date on which they received the application. If approved, Nexavar would be the first FDA-approved therapy for patients battling liver cancer.
INSOMNIA: FDA ACCEPTS NEUROCRINE'S APPLICATION SEEKING DRUG APPROVAL
Neurocrine Biosciences said the Food and Drug Administration accepted its resubmission of it application to market its insomnia treatment indiplon in 5 mg. and 10 mg. capsules. The agency is expected to act on the application by December 12. The San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company licensed indiplon from DOV Pharmaceutical in 1998.
HIV: FAT ON CHEST AND UPPER BACK INCREASES RISK OF INSULIN RESISTANCE
Deposits of fat on the chest and back is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, a condition that is a precursor of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. It is the first time such an association has been demonstrated, say the researchers. The association was equally strong in both HIV-infected subjects and HIV-negative control subjects in the Study of Fat Redistribution and Metabolic Change in HIV Infection, a national long-term longitudinal study of HIV-infected people taking modern antiretroviral therapy and HIV-negative controls. The presence of visceral fat, which is located between and around the internal organs, was also associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance in both populations. The researchers found that each type of fat contributes independently to insulin resistance whether or not the other type is present. The study appears online in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. With the new, highly effective antiretroviral medications, Americans with HIV now have the same weight problems as everybody else.
CHOLESTEROL: ABILITY TO COPE WITH STRESS INCREASES GOOD HDL
Older white men who are better able to cope with stress experience higher levels of so-called "good cholesterol" than men who are more hostile or socially isolated, according to a study released at the 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco. The same coping ability had no effect on the subjects' "bad cholesterol" levels, according to researchers at University of Hawaii at Manoa. Researchers gathered data from 716 men who participated in the Normative Aging Study to look at the complex interrelations among hostility, stress, and coping processes and cholesterol levels. The average age in the sample was 65. Most of the men were white and were evenly split between white-collar and blue-collar occupations.
NEUROLOGY: BRAIN CELLS WORK DIFFERENTLY THAN ONCE THOUGHT
Scientists know that information travels between brain cells along hair-like extensions called axons. Researchers at the University of California at Irvine have found for the first time, that axons don't just transmit information—they can turn the signal up or down with the right stimulation. This finding may help scientists develop treatments for psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia in which it is thought that different parts of the brain do not communicate correctly with each other. The result of the study, published online in Nature Neuroscience, suggests that axons should be considered sites of information processing and of potential problems when things go wrong.
HEART DISEASE: COST EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR LOWERING RISKS
As U.S. policy experts continue to search for ways to re-engineer the country's health-care system, a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that a case-management approach helped a diverse group of patients reduce their overall risk of heart disease by roughly 10 percent, and did so in a cost-effective way. Case management makes use of specially trained health-care personnel, such as nurses and dietitians, who help patients manage chronic conditions on a long-term basis. The study estimated the overall cost of the case-management visits at about $1,250 per patient, or about the price of six regular office visits to a primary-care physician. Stafford said that's a relatively small outlay to reduce the risk of a heart attack, which often entails hospital costs of more than $40,000. The effectiveness of case management in providing preventive medical care and counseling has been explored in previous studies involving middle-class patients, the researchers said their study, published in the journal Disease Management, is the first to test the approach in a diverse, low-income patient population.
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