The manner in which genes are expressed in rodents is affected by intermittent signaling by steroid hormones, according to a research by scientists at the University of Bristol and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA.

The research appeared online and appeared in the September 2009 issue of Nature Cell Biology.

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 finding is expected to have implications for understanding how steroids work and can help in opening up novel avenues for development of new therapies.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: cortisol, glucocorticoid, steroid hormones, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

A new way has been identified by scientists that can help people stay protected against heart diseases by emphasizing upon exercises.

According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Medicine and Engineering, increased blood flow has the ability to mimic the powerful anti-inflammatory actions of specific glucocorticoid steroid drugs.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“Inflammation in blood vessels has been linked to atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries, and here we see how the physical force of blood flow can cause cells to produce their own anti-inflammatory response,” said Scott L. Diamond, PhD, director of the Penn’s Biotechnology Program and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. “Conceivably, exercise provides the localized benefits of glucocorticoids – just as potent as high doses of steroids, yet without all the systemic side effects of taking the drugs themselves.”

“Perhaps this is a natural way in which exercise helps protect the vessels, by stimulating an anti-inflammatory program when the vessels are exposed to elevated blood flow. We’re not talking about running a marathon here, we’re just talking about getting the blood moving at high arterial levels,” said Diamond.

It is the first direct evidence that the mechanical effects of blood flow have anti-inflammatory properties. According to their findings, shear stress can activate glucocorticoid receptors (GR) to enter the nucleus of the cells, an event normally triggered by glucocorticoid steroids. Once inside the nucleus, the activated GR binds to the DNA to turn genes on and off.

It was discovered by the researchers that an increase in shear stress, which can be classified as the drag force exerted by blood flowing over endothelial cells that line blood vessels, leads to the same sort of anti-inflammatory events that are normally associated with high doses of steroids.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: glucocorticoid, steroid, Steroid drugs, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

Young children suffering with bronchiolitis, a common viral lower respiratory infection in infants, are not able to find any relief with medications based on steroids, as per a study published in an issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

This finding by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) resolved controversy from past research and is considered to guide during treatment for the most common cause of infant hospitalization.

From News-Medical.Net:

The study compared hospitalization rates for 600 children between the ages of 2 months and 12 months who visited emergency rooms with moderate-to-severe bronchiolitis. Patients were treated with either a dose of dexamethasone (a glucocorticoid form of steroid medication) or a placebo and evaluated after one hour, and again at four hours. The hospital admission rate for both groups was identical at nearly 40 percent. Both groups improved during treatment, but the placebo group did as well as the group treated with active medication. The study was conducted in the emergency departments at 20 hospitals across the United States between November and April during a three-year period. Bronchiolitis is most common during the winter months.

Howard M. Corneli, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah and the principal investigator on the study, said that glucocorticoids (a form of steroids) do not prove effective for treating bronchiolitis and future efforts must be focused upon better treatments and better preventive strategies.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: bronchiolitis, dexamethasone, glucocorticoid, respiratory infection, steroid, steroids

Posted in Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

As per a research by scientists at the University of Bristol and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA, gene activity can be affected via intermittent signaling by steroid hormones.

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

It is believed that this finding would have major implications to ascertain how steroids work besides opening novel avenues to 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.”

It is considered by members of the medical fraternity that such studies would help in defining the potential role of ultradian application of glucocorticoid receptor therapy to a significant extent.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: glucocorticoid, steroid, steroid hormones, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (OP) is now very much treatable with Teriparatide, a synthetic form of the human parathyroid hormone, as per a recent study.

The involved researchers found that patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and administered with teriparatide for a period of 36 months had a greater increase in bone mineral density apart from fewer new vertebral fractures than those treated with alendronate.

The study findings were published in the November issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The 36-month randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial was conducted at 76 centers located in 13 countries and led by Kenneth Saag, M.D., from the University of Alabama.

From News-Medical.Net:

Study participants were randomly assigned to receive injectable teriparatide (20 μg/day) plus oral placebo (150 subjects) or oral alendronate (10 mg/day) plus injectable placebo (144 subjects). Supplements of calcium (1,000 mg/day) and vitamin D (800 IU/day) were provided to all study participants. Subjects kept a daily journal to record their steroid use.

Results show at 36 months the BMD for lumbar spine was 11% higher than baseline in the teriparatide group compared with 5.3% in the alendronate group. The BMD (teriparatide versus alendronate) for total hip was 5.2% versus 2.7% and 6.3% versus 3.4% for femoral neck. Researchers also observed fewer vertebral fractures in subjects taking teriparatide (1.7%) than those administered alendronate (7.7%). Higher levels of calcium concentrations were noted in the teriparatide group (21%) than in the alendronate group (7%).

Dr. Saag commented that there are a considerable number of individuals treated regularly with steroids for controlling inflammation that puts them at risk for developing osteoporosis and teriparatide is a safe and effective treatment for patients with steroid-induced osteoporosis.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: alendronate, glucocorticoid, osteoporosis, steroid, steroid use, teriparatide

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

There had been significant development in the life of the people suffering from the rheumatoid arthritis as the steroids were used with the standard treatment According to the sources, low doses of steroids can inhibit joint damage, if used in the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys healthy joint tissue. The hands and feet are generally affected, and as the disease progresses it can cause pain, swelling, deformity and disability.

The steroids used in the treatment are called as glucocorticoids and it also includes the well-known anti-inflammatory prednisone. This medication is generally suggested in the first few months after diagnosis to relieve the discomfort of RA until slower-acting drugs begin protecting the joints.

From BIO-MEDICINE:

Low doses of steroids can inhibit joint damage when used in the early phase of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a new review of evidence.

The steroids studied in the review are known as glucocorticoids and include the well-known anti-inflammatory prednisone. This medication is often prescribed in the first few months after diagnosis to relieve the discomfort of RA until slower-acting drugs begin protecting the joints.

Quality evidence supports medication of combining the pills with standard medications in the first two years after diagnosis. Sources say that the research was conducted by the scientists which had 15 studies including 1,414 patients. In most of the cases, patients were given low doses of glucocorticoid pills along with disease-modifying drugs for one to two years.

Periodic X-rays showed the extent of joint erosion and other signs of damage a bit less than what it was before staring with the treatment.

On the basis of the report by the sources it can be conclude that if people are put on the lowest possible dose of steroids it can get them off it as soon as possible. Glucocorticoid pills are really effective in treatment of the rheumatoid arthritis.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: anti-inflammatory prednisone, glucocorticoid, Rheumatoid arthritis

Posted in Steroid Cycles, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, buy steroids, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions

Sports organizations net two athletes for violation of anti-doping policies.
Soccer player Eduardo Carlos Morgado Oliveira tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone after the Russia-Italy matchup at the FIFA Futbal World Cup Brazil 2008 on Oct.18.

From Web News Wire:

Italian player Eduardo Carlos Morgado Oliveira was suspended for two years after testing positive during a doping control after the match for third place at the FIFA Futbal World Cup Brazil 2008 between Russia and Italy on 18 October.

The substances found were the two major metabolites of the synthetic anabolic steroid nandrolone, which appear on the list of “Prohibited Substances” of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The sanction for such a case is two years and applies for all matches, whether friendly or official fixtures, at domestic and international level, from 6 November 2008, the date on which the player was first provisionally suspended by the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Meanwhile Liberian player Melvin King received a five-month ban subsequent to a positive test at a doping control after the match of the preliminary competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup between Senegal and Liberia. The match took place on 21 June 2008. King was discovered of using a glucocorticoid, which is a medication included in the list of specified substances of WADA.

The use of such a substance requires a therapeutic use exemption, something which the player did not have. The sanctions for such an anti-doping rule violation range from a warning to a two-year suspension, and the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to impose a sanction of five months starting on 2 October 2008, the date on which the player was first provisionally suspended by the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. The sanction applies for all matches, whether friendly or official fixtures, at domestic and international level.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Tags: anabolic steroids, doping, Eduardo Carlos Morgado Oliveira, FIFA, football, glucocorticoid, Liberian player, Melvin King, nandrolone, soccer, WADA, World Cup 2008

Posted in Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports, steroid nation | No Comments/Questions