FOOD CHOICES: KIDS SWAYED BY BRAND PREFERENCES
Asked to sample two identical foods from the fast-food giant McDonald's, children preferred the taste of the version branded with the restaurant's familiar "Golden Arches" to one extracted from unmarked paper packaging, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The study shows that even young children are swayed by brand preferences. The researcher said the results are likely to fuel more debate over a growing movement to restrict marketing to kids under 8 years old. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, reports that the kids don't just ask for food from McDonald's but actually believe that the chicken nugget they think is from McDonald's tastes better than an identical, unbranded nugget.

STOMACH ACID MEDICATIONS: LINK FOUND TO COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
Long-term use of one class of drugs that blocks stomach acid may be associated with cognitive impairment in older African-American adults according to an Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute. In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the researchers report the risk for showing signs of cognitive impairment is 2.5 times greater for patients using these medications known as histamine2 receptor antagonists long-term. These acid blockers, including ranitidine and famotidine, are among the most popular medications prescribed in the United States. More than 16 million prescriptions were dispensed in 2005 and several of these medications are also available over the counter. The drugs are sold under brand names such as Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet, and Zantac, and are used to treat ulcers, acid reflux and other gastrointestinal disorders.

EATING BEHAVIOR: HORMONE REGULATES FONDNESS FOR FOOD
Scientists have discovered that leptin, one of the key hormones responsible for reducing hunger and increasing the feeling of fullness, also controls people's fondness for food. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered that the appetizing properties of food have strong effects on the same key brain regions responsible for rewarding emotions and desires. Using brain imaging technology, they show that these areas of the brain "light up" when individuals deficient in leptin are shown images of food. The researchers showed that in the patients lacking leptin, several areas of the brain—known collectively as striatal regions—respond to pictures of food. These areas have previously been linked to pleasant and rewarding emotions and desires. When the patients were treated with leptin, responses to food pictures in these areas were reduced.

NEUROLOGY: CAFFEINE MAY PROTECT MEMORY IN WOMEN
Caffeine may help older women protect their thinking skills, according to a study published in the journal Neurology. The study found that women age 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee had less decline over time on tests of memory than women who drank one cup or less of coffee per day. The equivalent amount of caffeine from drinking tea had the same effect. The results held up even after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect memory abilities, such as age, education, disability, depression, high blood pressure, medications, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic illnesses. The researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, in Montpellier, France who conducted the study have some ideas as to how this works biologically, but said they need to have a better understanding of how caffeine affects the brain before we can start promoting caffeine intake as a way to reduce cognitive decline.

OBESITY: DIET FOODS FOR CHILDREN MAY MAKE THEM FAT
Diet foods and drinks for children may inadvertently lead to overeating and obesity, according to a new report from researchers at the University of Alberta. A team of researchers contends that animals learn to connect the taste of food with the amount of caloric energy it provides, and children who consume low-calorie versions of foods that are normally high in calories may develop distorted connections between taste and calorie content, leading them to overeat as they grow up. The researchers, who published their study in the journal Obesity, said it is better for children to eat healthy, well-balanced diets with sufficient calories for their daily activities rather than low-calorie snacks or meals.

INFLAMMATION: GREEN TEA HOLDS PROMISE FOR SKIN DISEASES
Green tea holds promise as new treatment for inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and dandruff, according to researchers the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry. Researchers studied an animal model for inflammatory skin diseases, which are often characterized by patches of dry, red, flaky skin caused by the inflammation and overproduction of skin cells. Those treated with green tea showed slower growth of skin cells and the presence of a gene that regulates the cells' life cycles. The researchers said the work is important because some treatments for psoriasis and dandruff can have dangerous side effects.

NEUROLOGY: NERVE CELL MODULATOR OFFERS POTENTIAL FOR MOOD DISORDER, EPILEPSY TREATMENTS
A molecular switch that modulates nerve cell activity offers the potential for new mood disorder and epilepsy treatments, according to researchers at the University of California at Irvine. The researchers looked at the role of the natural substance cholecystokinin or CCK in modulating communication between cells in the brain. CCK, originally isolated from the digestive tract, is one of the most abundant small proteins, or peptides, in the brain, and it is linked to psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. The study, which appears as an advanced online publication in Nature Neuroscience, reports CCK enhances the synthesis and release of natural marijuana-like substances known as endocannabinoid from a particular class of nerve cells known to modulate neuronal excitability in brain circuits critical for cognition and mood. CCK also increases electrical activity in a different class of nerve cells that play critical roles in learning and memory. The researchers said the discovery offers the potential for new drug therapies because the link between CCK and cannabinoids can now be further investigated to determine how its modulation by either pharmacological or genetic means alters excitability involved in the part of the brain associated with memory and learning as well as cognitive disorders, epilepsy, and mental illness.

FEVERS: RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY SOURCE
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have found that fever is produced by the action of a hormone on a specific site in the brain. The work, published in Nature Neuroscience's Advanced Online Publication, answers a key question as to how this adaptive function helps to protect the body during bacterial infection and other types of illness. The study shows how the brain produces fever responses during infections. It identified the key site in the brain at which a hormone called prostaglandin E2 or PGE2 acts on a target, called the EP3 receptor, on neurons to cause the fever response. During periods of inflammation, such as when the body is fighting an infection or illness, the body produces hormones known as cytokines. The cytokines, in turn, act on blood vessels in the brain to produce PGE2.

LUNG CANCER: RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY GENE THAT SUPPRESSES TUMORS
Collaborating scientists in Boston and North Carolina have found that a particular gene can block key steps of the lung cancer process in mice. The researchers report online in the journal Nature that LKB1 is not only a "tumor-suppressor" gene for non-small cell lung cancer in mice, it also may be more powerful than other, better-known suppressors. The researchers said if further work shows LKB1 has a similar effect in human lung cells, it could influence the way non-small cell lung cancer is diagnosed and treated.

ROSACEA: RESEARCHERS FIND CAUSE FOR COMMON SKIN DISEASE
Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have found a combination of two abnormal factors results in rosacea. The common inflammatory skin disease causes facial redness and affects nearly 14 million Americans. Though its long been known what triggers or worsens the condition—such as spicy foods, heat, alcohol—its cause was unknown. In an article in the online edition of Nature Medicine, the researchers report that over production of two interactive inflammatory proteins results in excessive levels of a third protein that causes rosacea symptoms. Patients with rosacea also had greatly elevated levels of enzymes called stratum corneum tryptic enzymes. These enzymes turned the precursor into the disease-causing peptide. Antibiotics tend to alleviate the symptoms of rosacea in patients because some of them work to inhibit these enzymes. The findings may modify the therapeutic approach to treating rosacea, since bacteria aren't the right target, the researchers said.

HEALING: GARBLED INSTRUCTIONS TO STEM CELLS A PROBLEM IN AGING MUSCLES DELAYS HEALING
As people age, the lines of communication to the stem cells in peoples' muscles deteriorate and, without the full instructions, it takes longer for injured muscles to heal, according to researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The researchers said they have uncovered the conduit that conveys the instructions to muscle stem cells and that knowledge could open the door to new therapies for injuries in a host of different tissues. The key to the process is Wnt, a protein traditionally thought to help promote maintenance and proliferation of stem cells in many tissues. But in this instance, Wnt appears to block proper communication. The researchers, who published their work in Science, said many drugs can block Wnt signaling and said this could lead to a therapeutic that enhanced the healing of aged tissue by reducing the effect of Wnt signaling on the resident stem cells.

NEUROLOGY: LINK FOUND BETWEEN ALZHEIMER'S AND GLAUCOMA
UK scientists have shown for the first time that key proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease are also implicated in glaucoma, the major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Research carried out at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology has also shown that novel drugs being tested for Alzheimer's disease which target this protein may be used to treat glaucoma. The researchers said since they have shown that drugs for Alzheimer's disease can tackle glaucoma, it may be possible to use damaged retina to screen Alzheimer's drugs that target beta-amyloid build up.

PREEMIES: NITRIC OXIDE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE TO TREAT LUNG DISEASE
A nationwide study led by researchers at UCSF provides evidence that inhaled nitric oxide is safe and effective for the prevention of the most common type of long-term lung disease of very premature infants. Chronic lung disease is a major source of morbidity in these infants and neonatologists have been trying to figure out how to prevent it for years. The benefit of inhaled nitric oxide for infants born close to term who suffer from the lung disease known as pulmonary hypertension has been known for some time, but the effect in preemies had not been clearly determined. Nitric oxide is a gaseous compound normally produced by the body, however, premature infants produce insufficient amounts. Recent clinical studies done elsewhere have found positive effects of inhaled nitric oxide in very premature infants, while some animal research has suggested that inhaled nitric oxide in preemies might interfere with the production of pulmonary surfactant, a substance critical to normal lung development and functioning. The study, reported in the journal Pediatrics, found no adverse affects of inhaled nitric oxide on surfactant production or function

HIV: FDA APPROVES PFIZER'S NOVEL ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUG
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved maraviroc, an antiretroviral drug for use in adult HIV patients. Maraviroc, sold under the trade name Selzentry, is the first in a new class of drugs designed to slow the advancement of HIV and received priority review by the FDA. Rather than fighting HIV inside white blood cells, maraviroc prevents the virus from entering uninfected cells by blocking the predominant route of entry, the CCR5 co-receptor. CCR5 is a protein on the surface of some types of immune cells. Among patients who have previously received HIV medications, approximately 50 percent to 60 percent have circulating CCR5-tropic HIV-1. The product label includes a boxed warning about liver toxicity and a statement in the Warnings/Precautions section about the possibility of heart attacks.