A new type of brain-imaging scanner was recently used to show that intelligence is highly influenced by the quality of the brain’s axons, or wiring that sends signals throughout the brain.

This use was initiated by UCLA neurology professor Paul Thompson and colleagues for a study that was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

From News-Medical.Net:

Thompson and his colleagues scanned the brains of 23 sets of identical twins and 23 sets of fraternal twins. Since identical twins share the same genes while fraternal twins share about half their genes, the researchers were able to compare each group to show that myelin integrity was determined genetically in many parts of the brain that are key for intelligence. These include the parietal lobes, which are responsible for spatial reasoning, visual processing and logic, and the corpus callosum, which pulls together information from both sides of the body.

The researchers used a faster version of a type of scanner called a HARDI (high-angular resolution diffusion imaging) - think of an MRI machine on steroids - that takes scans of the brain at a much higher resolution than a standard MRI. While an MRI scan shows the volume of different tissues in the brain by measuring the amount of water present, HARDI tracks how water diffuses through the brain’s white matter - a way to measure the quality of its myelin.

Thompson said that the whole point of this research is to provide insights into brain diseases.

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Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammation of an unknown etiology, which is characterized by the presence of circulatory autoantibodies and ongoing liver tissue damage.

In the last few years, the understanding about this complication has grown and it is considered that specific agents such as drugs and viruses may trigger the process of self-induced liver damage in genetically predisposed individuals.

From News-Medical.Net:

The patient refused a liver biopsy, therefore, they started him on a tapering course of prednisone for presumed AIH, at a starting dose of 60 mg. He responded to that dramatically, as he became totally asymptomatic and started gaining weight. Within 2 mo of treatment, his liver enzymes normalized. On tapering his steroids below 10 mg, his liver enzymes increased again. His prednisone dose was increased to 30 mg and 50 mg azathioprine was added, however, because of vomiting and epigastric pain, the latter was changed to mycophenolate mofetil 500 mg twice daily. Follow-up showed improvement in his liver enzymes. In August, 2008, he stopped all his medications as he was feeling well and his liver enzymes were normal.

This case of severe AIH following varicella zoster infection in a 23-year-old man was presented by Dr. Waleed K Al-Hamoudi from Saudi Arabia. It was published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

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Prochymal was found to be a successful form of treatment for curing children suffering from severe treatment resistant graft vs. host disease (GvHD), as per reports from Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIR) on the basis of a new study. It was reported that use of Prochymal led to an overall response rate of 63 percent when used as rescue therapy.

The data will be presented at the 2010 BMT Tandem Meeting by the study’s lead author, Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology and Director of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Duke University Medical Center (Abstract #40).

From News-Medical.Net:

“Treatment-resistant GvHD remains a significant challenge in transplantation and results in poor outcomes and high mortality”

“Treatment-resistant GvHD remains a significant challenge in transplantation and results in poor outcomes and high mortality,” said Dr. Kurtzberg. “We are encouraged to see high response rates and improved survival in children with disease unresponsive to other treatments. Because of its excellent risk-benefit profile, Prochymal should be considered in pediatric patients with GvHD that does not respond to steroids.”

Highlights from the Study

The study (Protocol 275) evaluated Prochymal as a rescue therapy in 59 pediatric patients with severe, treatment resistant GvHD. Patients were evaluated for response to Prochymal at day 28 of therapy and survival through day 100.

The children in this study had severe, refractory GvHD:

* At study entry, six patients (10%) had Grade B, 18 patients (31%) had Grade C and 35 patients (59%) had Grade D GvHD. Grades C and D represent the most severe forms of GvHD.

* Prior to treatment with Prochymal, patients had GvHD that was unresponsive to an average of three lines of therapy for an average of 46 days.

Complete results of this study have been included in a February supplement issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

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A research by scientists at the University of Bristol and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA has suggested that intermittent signaling by steroid hormones has the potential of affecting the manner by which genes are expressed in rodents.

This finding is expected to provide significant implications to understand how steroids operate and open up novel avenues for new therapies.

From News-Medical.Net:

In this new study, the researchers demonstrate that ultradian hormone stimulation induces the pulsed expression of genes (known as gene pulsing) over the same period, both in cultured cells and in animal models. Initially, the researchers administered corticosterone, a naturally occurring glucocorticoid hormone in rodents, in a pulsed manner to cultured mouse cells and then observed that the levels of newly synthesized RNA from glucocorticoid receptor-regulated genes tracked precisely with the hormone pulses.

The reported research results argue that gene pulsing regulated by glucocorticoid receptors is directly linked to varying levels of gene activity. Professor Stafford Lightman, head of the Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology, at the University of Bristol, said: “We have previously shown that the hormone cortisol is released in pulses in man as well as rodents. The present results now show that this pattern of hormone release is critical for good health and provides a novel concept for new drug design.”

The findings were published online and appeared in the September 2009 issue of Nature Cell Biology.

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World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers who have been suffering from a mysterious condition can expect relief coming their way, thanks to radiologists.

A manifestation of obstructed lung airways often seen in smokers and the elderly, air trapping, was noticed in 25 of 29 rescue and recovery workers, as per early research results presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

From News-Medical.Net:

Many of the impairments are clearly obstructive, but there also appears to be a patient subgroup with definite symptoms in whom conventional tests fail to show the nature and extent of the obstruction. The term “WTC cough” was coined to describe ailments that could not be clearly characterized in this group, but the addition of end-expiratory CT revealed abnormalities beyond the mild changes that can be seen in smokers and the elderly.

Although thought to be benign, air trapping is symptomatic – causing shortness of breath, dry cough or wheezing – and is treated as a variant of asthma, with inhaled steroids and bronchodilators.

“We remain attentive to the possibility of other adverse health effects that still may occur,” said co-author Rafael de la Hoz, M.D. “We have seen evidence of improvement in some patients, but certainly not in all. We are hoping to secure enough funding to systematically continue the characterization and treatment of these effects.”

The paper presented by David S. Mendelson, M.D., associate professor of radiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City was co-authored by Dr. de la Hoz, Mark Roggeveen, M.D., Stephen Levin, M.D., and Robin Herbert, M.D.

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As per a study that was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the combination of an ultrasound-guided technique with steroid injection is 95 percent effective to relieve plantar fasciitis, a common and painful foot problem.

Luca M. Sconfienza, M.D., from Italy’s University of Genoa and lead author of the study, remarked that there is an absence of a widely accepted therapy when first-line treatments fail to relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis.

From News-Medical.Net:

For this study, Dr. Sconfienza and colleagues used a new ultrasound-guided technique, along with steroid injection, on 44 patients with plantar fasciitis that was unresponsive to conservative treatments.

After injection of a small amount of anesthesia, the anesthetic needle is used to repeatedly puncture the site where the patient feels the pain. This technique is known as dry-needling. Dry-needling creates a small amount of local bleeding that helps to heal the fasciitis. Lastly, a steroid is injected around the fascia to eliminate the inflammation and pain. The technique is performed with ultrasound guidance to improve accuracy and to avoid injecting the steroids directly into the plantar fascia, which could result in rupture.

After the 15-minute procedure, symptoms disappeared for 42 of the study’s 44 patients (95 percent) within three weeks.

Plantar fasciitis, the most common cause of heel pain, affects approximately one million people on a yearly basis in the United States alone.

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Hay fever and asthma patients can expect a good surprise in the times to come if a new drug, RPL554, is able to live up to expectations of effectively treating respiratory diseases but without many of the side-effects most presently-available drugs produce.

The trial to check efficacy of RPL554 started in November 2009 and is expected to be completed by this summer.

From News-Medical.Net:

Current treatments for asthma and hay fever sufferers are beta-agonists, which open up the airways, and inhaled steroids, which dampen down the inflammation that causes irritation - they are either taken together or singly.

But they have serious side effects, including possible harm to the cardiovascular system and the ’shakes’ reported by many patients from excess use.

Experts say little progress has been made recently with alternative, effective and practical treatment options for a wide range of people with asthma and hay fever and by combining anti-inflammatory properties and the ability to overcome airway narrowing in a single long-lasting dose via the nose, RPL554 could offer real hope of a significant breakthrough.

According to Dr. Clive Page, chairman of Verona Pharma and a professor of pharmacology at King’s College London, RPL554 is the sole molecule expected to have a low side effect profile. Once-a-day treatment with it can provide significant relief to asthma and hay fever patients.

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An experimental vaccine for preventing shingles can cut down the infection rate by half and curb related pain in people of the age of 60 years or older, as per an FDA advisory panel.

The panel was of the view that Zostavax does not show any severe side effects and they are expecting a decision soon to recommend its approval.

From News-Medical.Net:

Some antiviral drugs can help control the outbreak and prevent the pain, all of which can last for up to five weeks on average.

Other drugs such as antidepressants, steroids and anticonvulsants, also can help decrease the initial discomfort.

According to experts shingles is more prevalent among older people, and more will contract the infection as people live longer.

In their review, the FDA staff also noted age was a factor in how well the vaccine worked, saying it was less effective in people 70 and older.

Viral infections were reduced by 63.9 percent in people 60 to 69 years old, compared with 37.6 percent in those ages 70 and older, say the panel.

Illness-related pain dropped by 65.5 percent in 60- to 69-year-olds and by 55.5 percent in those 70 and older.

It was remarked by Merck officials that Zostavax has the ability of significantly reducing the incidence of the virus as well as related complications when compared with a placebo.

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Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) recently announced the full presentation of results from the first of two pivotal Phase 3 trials of BENLYSTA™ (belimumab) in seropositive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), BLISS-52.

The data was presented in Philadelphia at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

From News-Medical.Net:

“The BLISS-52 Phase 3 results presented at ACR demonstrate that the efficacy of treatment with BENLYSTA plus standard of care was superior to that of placebo plus standard of care,” said David C. Stump, M.D., Executive Vice President, Research and Development, HGS. “These data were statistically significant and were strongly supported across multiple measures of clinical effect and multiple time-points. Of note, a greater percentage of patients receiving BENLYSTA were able to reduce their use of steroids.”

Carlo Russo, M.D., Senior Vice President, Biopharm Development, GSK, said, “We have been pleased by the consistency of benefit demonstrated by belimumab in the BLISS-52 study, and we hope to confirm these results in the second Phase 3 study which is to report shortly. We very much hope that we will be able to deliver a new option for the treatment of this debilitating disease.”

It was noted that belimumab plus standard of care in BLISS-52 attained a clinically significant improvement in patient response rate compared with placebo plus standard of care.

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Athletes and bodybuilders relying on anabolic steroids for gaining muscle mass and strength may actually destroy their kidney function, as per a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA.

It was indicated by the finding that long-term and habitual use of anabolic steroids can lead to possible harmful effects on the kidneys, a fact that was recognized previously.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Reports of professional athletes who abuse anabolic steroids are increasingly common. Most people know that using steroids is not good for your health, but until now, their effects on the kidneys have not been known. Leal Herlitz, MD (Columbia University Medical Center) and her colleagues recently conducted the first study describing injury to the kidneys following long-term abuse of anabolic steroids. The investigators studied a group of 10 bodybuilders who used steroids for many years and developed protein leakage into the urine and severe reductions in kidney function. Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten bodybuilders developed a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the kidneys. This disease typically occurs when the kidneys are overworked. The kidney damage in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears to be even more severe.

The study was conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Vivette D’Agati, MD at Columbia Univeristy Medical Center. Study co-authors include Glen Markowitz, MD, Joshua Schwimmer, MD, Michael Stokes, MD, Cheryl Kunis, MD, Vivette D’Agati, MD, (Columbia University Medical Center); Alton Farris, MD, and Robert Colvin, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital).

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