---

News 22 april 2009

---

OSU abuses dogs, PETA says

A controversial animal rights group is accusing George Billman, a professor of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State, of abusing dogs used in his research. According to PETA, Billman has called for experiments that require a surgical operation on dogs to insert a cuff around an artery. The dog then runs on a treadmill while the cuff is tightened, inducing a heart attack.

Muscle deterioration in patients with lung disease seen connected to CO2

Muscle deterioration in patients with lung diseases might be a direct consequence of high carbon dioxide levels in their blood, an international team of researchers headed by Prof. Yosef Gruenbaum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found. The incidence of lung diseases continues to increase in the world's populations. For example, one in seven persons in the UK is affected by some form of chronic lung disease, most commonly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Many of these diseases also cause, in the worst cases, muscle deterioration as well as elevated levels of carbon dioxide (hypercapnia) in the bloodstream. In a normal situation, the lungs allow for a proper balance of oxygen from the atmosphere reaching the bloodstream and carbon dioxide from the bloodstream being transferred to the atmosphere. It is still a matter of some controversy whether the high carbon dioxide levels in patients with chronic lung disease actually cause damage to those patients and specifically whether the loss of muscle is a consequence of those heightened levels.

MicroRNA may link smoking risk gene to neurobiology of addiction

During the past several years, significant progress has been made in identifying susceptibility genes for nicotine dependence through genetic linkage and association analyses. Although a large number of genes have been associated with tobacco smoking, only a very limited number of genetic variants are considered to be causative. How to find these functional variants and then characterize them remains challenging in the field of human genetics. In the traditional genetic dogma, DNA codes for RNA and RNA codes for protein. But what about the leftover bits of RNA that do not seem to code for proteins? One type of RNA 'leftovers' is the microRNAs. These small pieces of RNA do not code for proteins. Instead, they influence the extent to which other genes are expressed, i.e., the rate or extent of conversion of DNA to RNA. To date, there have been relatively few examples of the direct involvement of microRNAs in psychiatric disorders.

Liver disease responsible for most alcohol-related illness and deaths

Liver disease is the most prevalent cause of alcohol-related deaths, followed by car accidents and cancer, according to new research conducted in Portugal and presented today at EASL 2009, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver in Copenhagen, Denmark. The study also showed that alcohol-related diseases account for 1.25% of the health expenditure in Portugal. The study, aimed at assessing the burden of diseases attributable to alcohol consumption, showed that 3.8% of all deaths in Portugal are related to alcohol consumption and account for a death toll of 4,054 people every year. Within these, most people are killed by liver disease (28.3%, representing 1,147 individuals), followed by car accidents (26.2%, representing 1,062 individuals) and by different types of cancers associated with alcohol consumption 21%, representing 851 individuals). According to the study, the burden of alcohol-related diseases in Portugal is 5.0%, which is higher than the global statistic estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) of about 3.2%. This is the first study designed to estimate the burden of disease attributable to alcohol consumption, specifically in Portugal. Professor Helena Cortez-Pinto, Unidade de de Nutrição e Metabolismo, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, who led the study, said: "The results of the study confirm that alcohol is an important health risk factor that is particularly related to liver disease in Portugal. By quantifying the significant impact alcohol has on the nation's health, we highlight the need for effective strategies to promote lifestyle changes and moderate alcohol consumption to reduce death rates, the incidence of liver disease and related costs to the healthcare system." In this study, researchers estimated the burden and cost of diseases attributable to alcohol drinking based on the demographic and health statistics available for 2005. The results indicate that €14.1 million is attributable to alcohol-related chronic disease admissions (liver diseases, cancer, etc.) and €82.2 million to acute alcohol-related conditions (traffic accidents and external causes), resulting in a total amount of €96.3 million. Furthermore, ambulatory costs of alcohol-related diseases were estimated as €93 million, totaling €189.2 million direct costs attributable to alcohol, which represent 0.13% of the Portuguese Gross Domestic Product and 1.25% of total national health expenditures.

Vitamin D levels linked to asthma severity

New research provides evidence for a link between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity. Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. While previous in vitro studies have suggested that vitamin D may affect how airway cells respond to treatment with inhaled steroids, this is the first in vivo study of vitamin D and disease severity in children with asthma. Juan Celedón, M.D., Dr. P.H. and Augusto Litonjua, M.D., M.P.H. of Harvard Medical School and colleagues recruited 616 children with asthma living in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, a country known to have a high prevalence of asthma. Each child was assessed for allergic markers, including both allergen-specific and general sensitivity tests, and assessed for lung function and circulating vitamin D levels. Children whose forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) exceeded 65 percent of the predicted value were also tested for airway reactivity.
They found that children with lower vitamin D levels were significantly more likely to have been hospitalized for asthma in the previous year, tended to have airways with increased hyperreactivity and were likely to have used more inhaled corticosteroids, all signifying higher asthma severity. These children were also significantly more likely to have several markers of allergy, including dust-mite sensitivity.
"To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate an inverse association between circulating levels of vitamin D and markers of asthma severity and allergy," wrote Drs. Celedón and Litonjua "While it is difficult to establish causation in a cross-sectional study such as this, the results were robust even after controlling for markers of baseline asthma severity." "This study suggests that there may be added health benefits to vitamin D supplementation" said Dr. Celedón. Current recommendations for optimal vitamin D levels geared toward preserving bone health, such as preventing rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.

Benefit of grapes may be more than skin deep

Can a grape-enriched diet prevent the downhill sequence of heart failure after years of high blood pressure? A University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests grapes may prevent heart health risks beyond the simple blood pressure-lowering impact that can come from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. The benefits may be the result of the phytochemicals – naturally occurring antioxidants – turning on a protective process in the genes that reduces damage to the heart muscle. The study, performed in laboratory rats, was presented at the 2009 Experimental Biology convention in New Orleans. The researchers studied the effect of regular table grapes (a blend of green, red, and black grapes) that were mixed into the rat diet in a powdered form, as part of either a high- or low-salt diet. Comparisons were made between rats consuming the grape powder and rats that received a mild dose of a common blood pressure drug. All the rats were from a research breed that develops high blood pressure when fed a salty diet. After 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than the rats that ate the same salty diet but didn't receive grapes. Rats that received the blood pressure medicine, hydrazine, along with a salty diet also had lower blood pressure, but their hearts were not protected from damage as they were in the grape-fed group. "There are the small changes that diet can bring, but the effect of grape intake on genes can have a greater impact on disease down the road," said E. Mitchell Seymour, M.S., who led the research as part of his doctoral work in nutrition science at Michigan State University. He manages the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory, which is headed by U-M cardiac surgeon Steven Bolling, M.D. Heart cells, like other cells in the body, make an antioxidant protein called glutathione, which is one of our first defenders against damaging oxidative stress. High blood pressure causes oxidative stress in the heart and lowers the amount of protective glutathione. However, intake of grapes actually turned on glutathione-regulating genes in the heart and significantly elevated glutathione levels.
This may explain why the hearts of grape-fed animals functioned better and had less damage.

New imaging analysis predicts brain tumor survival

As early as one week after beginning treatment for brain tumors, a new imaging analysis method was able to predict which patients would live longer, researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found. The method uses a standard magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, protocol to monitor changes over time in tumor blood volume within individual voxels of the image, rather than a composite view of average change within the tumor. This parametric response map allowed researchers to see specific areas in which tumor blood volume increased or decreased, that may have canceled each other out when looking at the changes as an average. Results of the study appear in the advance online edition of Nature Medicine. “What we have potentially is a generalized analytical approach that we can use to quantify treatment intervention in patients,” says study author Brian Ross, Ph.D., professor of radiology and biological chemistry at the U-M Medical School and co-director of the Molecular Imaging Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Price of Pain and the Value of Suffering

During these trying financial times, the cost of healthcare and how much we are willing to pay for it is at the top of our economic concerns. The financial value of pain has a wide ranging influence, affecting drug prices and injury compensation. But what about on an individual level — is it possible to place a value on our health, to prevent pain and suffering? University College London psychologists Ivo Vlaev and Nick Chater, and neuroscientists Ben Seymour and Raymond J. Dolan were interested in just how much money volunteers were willing to pay to avoid pain and discomfort. Study participants were given money, with the understanding that they could keep for themselves whatever cash remained. They experienced one pulse of electric shock and then had to indicate how much money they would pay in order to avoid receiving 15 more shocks of the same intensity. Then, a computer program would determine how much the volunteers would actually have to pay. The program would randomly select a dollar amount — if that amount was higher than what the participants were willing to pay, then the participants would be shocked. However, if the computer's price was lower than the participant's price, then they would pay the computer's price and avoid the pain. The volunteers were informed that the computer selection would be completely random, so it was really in their best interest to select a price that accurately reflected how they value the pain from the electric shock. For each volunteer, this process was repeated a number of times, with differing intensities of shocks. The results, described in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveal that demand for pain relief is almost completely dependent on pain experienced in the recent past and the available cash on hand. That is, the participants were willing to pay more money to avoid pain if that pain was more intense compared to previous trials. In addition, the price they were willing to pay was based on what they were given (money-in-the-pocket) rather than on their overall wealth.These findings suggest that the value we place on relief from suffering is flexible and that activity of health markets cannot be predicted by the behavior of individuals.

LSUHSC public health researcher finds reason for weight gain

iwei Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, is the lead author of a research paper showing that weight gain and obesity are more linked to an increase in liquid calories, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages, than calories from solid food. To our knowledge, this is the first study to document the relative effects of calories from liquids compared with those of calories from solid food on weight loss in adults over an extended period. The study is published in the May 1, 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study reports four principal findings: First, a reduction in liquid calorie intake was significantly associated with weight loss at both 6 months and 18 months. Second, the weight-loss effect of a reduction in liquid calorie intake was stronger than that of a reduction in solid calorie intake. Third, a reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage intake was significantly associated with weight loss at both 6 and 18 months. Fourth, no other beverage type was associated with weight change. It has been projected that 75% of US adults will be overweight or obese by 2015. "Today, Americans consume 150-300 more calories a day than they did 30 years ago," notes Dr. Chen, "and caloric beverages account for approximately 50% of this increase." The researchers followed 810 men and women, 25-79 years old, whose 24 hour dietary intake recall was measured by telephone interviews conducted when they entered the study and at 6 and 18 months. Beverages were divided into 7 categories based upon calorie content and nutritional composition.

German researchers make significant strides in identifying cause of bacterial infections

Several bacterial pathogens use toxins to manipulate human host cells, ultimately disturbing cellular signal transduction. Until now, however, scientists have been able to track down only a few of the proteins that interact with bacterial toxins in infected human cells. Now, researchers of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch in Germany have identified 39 interaction partners of these toxins, using novel technology which allowed them to screen for large numbers of proteins simultaneously (Cell Host & Microbe, Vol. 5, Issue 4, 397-403)*. Many bacteria inject toxins into human cells using a secretion system that resembles a molecular syringe. Within the host cell, some of these toxins are activated in such a way that they can manipulate important cellular signaling pathways. In healthy cells, these signals serve to regulate metabolism or cell division, among other things. By manipulating the signals, bacteria can abuse the cell machinery of the human host in order to spread and survive. Applying a method developed by Professor Matthias Mann of the MPI, the scientists succeeded for the first time in systematically investigating the cellular target sites of the bacterial toxins. "Surprisingly, the toxins are not optimally adapted to the structures of human proteins," Dr. Matthias Selbach of MDC explained. While binding relatively weakly to individual human proteins, they are able to influence several different proteins simultaneously. "A single bacterial toxin seems to function like a master key that can access different host cell proteins in parallel", Dr. Selbach said. "Perhaps it is due to this strategy that bacteria are able to attack very different cells and, thus, to increase their survival chances in the host." Dr. Selbach hopes that these basic research findings will help to improve the treatment of bacterial infections in the future. Instead of nonspecific antibiotic therapy, new drugs could target the signaling mechanisms which are disrupted by the bacterial toxins.

Eating fatty fish once a week reduces men's risk of heart failure

Eating salmon or other fatty fish just once a week helped reduce men's risk of heart failure, adding to growing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids are of benefit to cardiac health. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and reported in today's on-line issue of the European Heart Journal, the findings represent one of the largest studies to investigate the association. "Previous research has demonstrated that fatty fish and omega-3 fatty acids help to combat risk factors for a range of heart-related conditions, such as lowering triglycerides [fats in the blood] reducing blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability," explains first author Emily Levitan, PhD, a research fellow in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Center at BIDMC. "Collectively, this may explain the association with the reduced risk of heart failure found in our study." A life-threatening condition that develops when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to meet the body's needs, heart failure (also known as congestive heart failure) is usually caused by existing cardiac conditions, including high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization among patients 65 and older, and is characterized by such symptoms as fatigue and weakness, difficulty walking, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and persistent cough or wheezing. The researchers followed 39,367 Swedish men between the ages of 45 and 79 from 1998 to 2004. The researchers recorded details of the men's diet and tracked the men's outcome through Swedish inpatient hospital registers and cause-of-death registers. During this period, 597 men in the study (with no previous history of heart disease or diabetes) developed heart failure. Thirty-four men died. Analysis of their numbers showed that the men who ate fatty fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, whitefish and char) once a week were 12 percent less likely to develop heart failure, compared with men who ate no fatty fish. Although this association did not reach statistical significance, notes Levitan, the researchers also found a statistically significant association with the intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in cod liver and other fish oils: The men who consumed approximately 0.36 grams a day were 33 percent less likely to develop heart failure than the men who consumed little or no marine omega-3 fatty acids. "We divided the men into five groups based on their intake of fatty fish," explains Levitan. "The first group consumed little or no fatty fish; at the other end of the spectrum, the fifth group consumed significant quantitities, three or more servings per week. We found that while the 'middle group' – who ate one serving per week – had a 12 percent reduced risk of heart failure, the next two groups, who ate either two servings a week or three or more servings a week, had nearly the same heart failure risk as the men who ate no fish at all."

Instead of fighting breast cancer, immune cell promotes its spread

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have new evidence that a type of immune system cell thought to be part of the first line of defense against breast cancer may also help promote its spread. They have found that when these cells, known as lymphocytes, make an inflammatory protein called RANKL (RANK ligand), breast cancer is more likely to spread to the lungs. They have also shown that blocking a cascade of cellular signals that follow RANKL's docking to its receptor (RANK) on tumor cells can halt cancer progression, or metastasis, and may be a possible target for drug therapy. The scientists, led by first author Wei Tan, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Michael Karin, PhD, professor of pharmacology in UCSD's Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, say that the findings establish RANKL as a potential marker that can be used to help determine breast cancer prognosis and adds further proof to the potentially important role of inflammation in cancer development and spread. They reported their findings April 22, 2009 at the AACR 100th Annual Meeting 2009 in Denver. According to Tan, the role of lymphocytes in breast cancer progression has been controversial for the last 20 years. Such cells are supposed to detect and eliminate cancer cells, but paradoxically, the infiltration of lymphocytes such as B cells and T cells into breast cancer is sometimes an indicator of poor prognosis, including cancer recurrence and metastasis. RANKL has been shown in previous studies to be an important inflammatory protein that can lead to bone loss by activating cells that help break down bone. Along with another protein, IKK alpha, it has been implicated both in tumor formation and metastasis. The researchers created two types of mice that developed breast tumors. One group had lymphocytes in the tumors and expressed RANKL while the other group did not. They found that the group lacking RANKL had significantly fewer lung metastases than those mice with RANKL. They then took tumor cells from both types of mice and injected them into mice with the same genetic background to avoid rejection and monitored the ability of the mice to form tumors and metastases to the lung. The researchers didn't find any lung tumor metastases in mice without lymphocytes. Yet, when RANKL was injected into the animals, the same potential for the cancer to spread was restored, indicating that the lymphocytes, which make RANKL, are critically important to the process. "Without lymphocytes, there is no metastasis," said Tan. "If we treat the mice with RANK ligand, there are metastases, which indicate that RANK ligand can compensate for the function of lymphocytes." The study establishes the role of RANKL-expressing lymphocytes as a promoting factor in breast cancer metastasis and provides a potentially good marker for breast cancer prognosis, the researchers said.

Binge Drinking May Hamper Information Relay System in Teen Brain

A study of adolescent binge drinkers has found that even relatively infrequent exposure to large amounts of alcohol during the teen years may compromise the integrity of the brain’s white matter, which is critical for the efficient relay of information within the brain. The preliminary findings – to be published online in advance of the July issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research – indicate that binge drinking may be detrimental to the developing adolescent brain. Heavy episodic or “binge” drinking is common among adolescents, with 55% of high-school seniors reporting having gotten drunk, and a quarter of them reporting having consumed five or more drinks in a row during the previous two weeks. “Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to high doses of alcohol,” said Susan F. Tapert, PhD, director of Substance Abuse/Mental Illness at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. “This study showed that teens with histories of binge drinking episodes have lower coherence of white matter fibers in a variety of brain regions.”
“White matter” is the part of the brain made up of the axons of neurons – long filaments that extend from the cell bodies and carry the electrical signals that relay messages between neurons. The area appears white because of the axons’ protective myelin covering. Researchers know that the integrity of the brain’s white matter is compromised in adult alcoholics, but it is unclear when during the course of drinking white matter abnormalities begin to manifest themselves. However, white matter has been shown to continue developing throughout young adulthood.

Researchers identify missing target for calcium signaling

An international study led by Ohio State University neuroscience researchers describes one of the missing triggers that controls calcium inside cells, a process important for muscle contraction, nerve-cell transmission, insulin release and other essential functions. The research is being posted online April 22 in the journal Nature. The researchers believe the findings will enhance the understanding of how calcium signals are regulated in cells and shed light on new ways to treat many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, immune diseases, metabolic diseases, cancer, and brain disorders. The study found that molecular structures called two-pore channels (TPCs) cause the release of calcium when stimulated by a substance called NAADP. The researchers also show that TPCs are located in the membranes of cell components called lysosomes and endosomes. These are mobile structures within cells that were not previously thought to be sites of calcium release. Furthermore, the discharge of calcium from these structures can prompt much larger releases from stores located on the large and elaborate membrane network called the endoplasmic reticulum. "Our study discovered one of the missing targets for calcium signaling," says Michael Xi Zhu, associate professor of neuroscience and a researcher with Ohio State's Center for Molecular Neurobiology. "It also nails down that NAADP receptors are located on lysosomes and endosomes, which should change people's views of calcium signaling. "It's as if we now understand that cells have not only a primary battery for calcium but other batteries in different places."

Genetics can mediate vulnerability to alcohol's effects during pregnancy

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to teratogenesis, the development of embryonic defects. The estimated incidence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), referring to a wide array of alcohol-exposure effects, is approximately one percent of live births in the US. Yet not all women who drink during pregnancy give birth to children with observable deficits. A mouse study has found that genetics may help to explain alcohol-related susceptibility and resistance. Results will be published in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. "Alcohol-related deficits include pre and/or postnatal growth retardation, craniofacial anomalies, central nervous system dysfunction, hand or finger malformations, a number of different skeletal malformations, and anomalies in a number of different organ systems, including the brain, eyes, and kidney," said Chris Downing, a research associate at the University of Colorado and corresponding author for the study. "Some women who drink during pregnancy don't give birth to children with any of these observable deficits, but later on their children develop a number of behavioral deficits including hyperactivity, attention deficits, learning problems, and deficits in impulse control," Downing added. "It is thought that these behavioral deficits are due to brain damage as result of in utero ethanol exposure, but correlating specific behavioral deficits with damage to specific brain areas is a work in progress. In addition, some women who drink during pregnancy have 'normal' children with no obvious deficits." Downing said that many factors have been shown to play a role in the development of FASD, including the amount, timing and pattern of maternal alcohol consumption, maternal age and parity, maternal ethnicity and socioeconomic status, cultural factors, maternal smoking and other drug abuse, and maternal diet/nutrition. In addition, he said, studies with humans and mice have shown that both maternal and fetal genotypes – in conjunction with the environment – play a role in susceptibility and resistance to the detrimental effects of in utero alcohol exposure.

Humanin peptide linked to neuronal cell survival and regulation of glucose metabolism

Recent studies have shown that the mitochondrial peptide Humanin (HN) protects against neuronal cell death such as happens in Alzheimer's disease. Now, in a study presented April 22 at Experimental Biology 2009 in New Orleans, Dr. Nir Barzilai reports that a small infusion of HN is the most potent regulator of insulin metabolism that his research team has ever seen, significantly improving overall insulin sensitivity and sharply decreasing the glucose levels of diabetic rats. The finding is the first evidence of a role for HN in glucose metabolism and provides new insight into how this metabolism may be involved in the development of seemingly diverse age-related diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer's. The finding also provides support for the growing understanding that the brain (not just the pancreas, liver and other peripheral organs) is heavily involved in glucose metabolism. Furthermore, says Dr. Barzilai, the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research and Director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the power of HN on insulin action suggests a new therapeutic approach to diabetes. Further understanding of how HN interactions with the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor system may also lead to strategies to protect against age-related diseases including Alzheimer's.

Test for hormones in blood not reflective of hormones in breast tissue; breast cancer risk

Many studies determine hormone levels in the blood as a marker of breast cancer risk. But it hasn't been known whether these blood tests reflect what is happening in the breast tissue, where certain hormones fuel cancer. Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center's (GUMC) Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center found that measuring the levels of four hormones in blood known to be linked to breast cancer doesn't necessarily reflect the levels of these hormones in the breast tissue itself. In fact, the scientists say that blood tests used in research studies that measure these hormones could give a false impression of both the real breast cancer risk women face, and an imprecise picture of how these hormones affect breast cancer development. The findings are being presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. "We know from this study that measuring the hormones in a patient's blood is not sufficient but that is how many research studies looking at breast cancer risk are being conducted," says the study's lead author, Adana Llanos, a graduate student in genetics at GUMC. "Understanding how cancers develop in breast tissue is the key to prevention, and we need to understand how these hormones affect breast tissue." The research team, led by Llanos and under the guidance of senior investigator, Peter G. Shields, MD, head of Lombardi's Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology Program, did something that has not been done before: They tested normal breast tissue for the levels of IGF-1, IGFBP-3, adiponectin, and leptin. High levels of IGF-1 has been linked to breast cancer development, while low levels of IGFBP-3 is linked to increased risk. High levels of adiponectin and leptin are both related to obesity, which is, in itself, a risk factor for breast cancer. "By understanding these hormones in the normal breast environment, we will have some insight into how early changes in the breast lead to breast cancer," Llanos says. The researchers asked 15 women who were undergoing breast reduction surgery to participate in the study, and then collected three samples of discarded tissue from each breast, as well as blood, and extensive epidemiological data. They first assessed whether levels of these hormones were the same in each of the three tissue samples taken from the women, which represented different areas of the breast. "We found that the hormones were distributed in the same way across the breast, which is a good thing to know because it means that a tissue biopsy taken from one part of the breast will likely represent the breast as a whole," says Llanos. They then tested the blood to see if levels of the hormones matched those found in the breast tissue, and found that leptin, adiponectin, and IGFBP-3 correlated, whereas IGF-1 did not. But even that may be misleading, Llanos says, because hormone levels may differ between a woman's two breasts. "Breast cancer usually develops in a single breast, so it is not clear that looking at these hormones in the blood is sufficient," she says.

Test for Hormones in the Blood Not Reflective of Hormones in Breast Tissue; Breast Cancer Risk

Many studies determine hormone levels in the blood as a marker of breast cancer risk. But it hasn’t been known whether these blood tests reflect what is happening in the breast tissue, where certain hormones fuel cancer. Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center’s (GUMC) Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center found that measuring the levels of four hormones in blood known to be linked to breast cancer doesn’t necessarily reflect the levels of these hormones in the breast tissue itself. In fact, the scientists say that blood tests used in research studies that measure these hormones could give a false impression of both the real breast cancer risk women face, and an imprecise picture of how these hormones affect breast cancer development. The findings are being presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. “We know from this study that measuring the hormones in a patient’s blood is not sufficient but that is how many research studies looking at breast cancer risk are being conducted,” says the study’s lead author, Adana Llanos, a graduate student in genetics at GUMC. “Understanding how cancers develop in breast tissue is the key to prevention, and we need to understand how these hormones affect breast tissue.” The research team, led by Llanos and under the guidance of senior investigator, Peter G. Shields, MD, head of Lombardi’s Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology Program, did something that has not been done before: They tested normal breast tissue for the levels of IGF-1, IGFBP-3, adiponectin, and leptin. High levels of IGF-1 has been linked to breast cancer development, while low levels of IGFBP-3 is linked to increased risk. High levels of adiponectin and leptin are both related to obesity, which is, in itself, a risk factor for breast cancer.

More evidence that humans continue to upset nature

Dartmouth researchers have determined that the presence of the rare element osmium is on the rise globally. They trace this increase to the consumption of refined platinum, the primary ingredient in catalytic converters, the equipment commonly installed in cars to reduce smog. A volatile form of osmium is generated during platinum refinement and also during the normal operation of cars, and it gets dispersed globally through the atmosphere. While osmium is found naturally, the researchers were surprised to discover that most of the osmium in rain and snow, and in the surface waters of rivers and oceans, is produced during the refining of platinum. "It's interesting, maybe ironic, that we stopped adding lead to gasoline in the 70s so that catalytic converters could be introduced to remove smog from car exhaust," says Dartmouth Associate Professor of Earth Sciences Mukul Sharma. "Now we learn that using platinum in the converters is responsible for an increase in osmium. Fortunately, unlike lead, the concentration of osmium in water is extremely small and may not adversely affect biology." Sharma worked with Dartmouth Ph.D. student Cynthia Chen and Peter Sedwick at Old Dominion University. Their study will be published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of April 20, 2009. The research team measured osmium in precipitation in North America, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica, and in both surface water and deep water from the North Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic (or Southern) Oceans. Human-made osmium also comes from chromium smelters, hospital incinerators, and the normal operation of cars, but it's primarily the industrial extraction and refining of platinum that produces the bulk of the osmium found in rain and snow. Sharma explains that about 95 percent of the world's platinum comes from South Africa and Russia where it is roasted at extremely high temperatures during the extraction and refinement process. The process removes sulfur present in the ore as sulfur dioxide and, at the same time, releases osmium, which is abundant in the ore.

Study sheds new light on why breast-fed babies grow more slowly

Breast-fed babies grow more slowly than formula-fed babies, which is why new growth charts, based solely on the growth patterns of breast fed babies, are being introduced in the UK in May. This slower pattern of growth in the first year of life is possibly one reason why breast-fed babies are less likely to become overweight children later on. A study published on-line today (24 April 2009) in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found evidence that the lower protein content of breast milk compared to formula milk explains the slower growth rates seen in breast fed infants. The study was a multi-centre intervention trial in 5 European countries, co-ordinated by Professor Berthold Koletzko from the University of Munich, Germany. Over 1000 infants were randomised to receive infant and follow-on formulas with lower or higher protein content for their first year and were then followed up for 2 years. A group of breast fed infants were also followed up for comparison.

Aston University to explore anti-oxidant benefits of UK grown rosemary

The benefits of UK grown rosemary are set to be explored, and with it the potential to create a new genre of renewable bio-based antioxidants. Polymer scientists at Aston University in Birmingham, UK, have been awarded a £235,000 grant to develop a range of antioxidants from the active natural ingredients present in rosemary. Synthetic antioxidants, added to provide stability to products in areas as diverse as cosmetics, food and drink packaging and car lubricants, help to prevent or reduce the formation of active chemical species (free-radicals) that are responsible for the deterioration and breakdown of organic materials. The damaging effects of free radicals are also often linked to cancer and other degenerative conditions in the human body. The aim of the research is to replace some of these synthetic antioxidants with rosemary-derived antioxidants to add a natural and renewable source to products. This will also help address potential issues relating to safety and toxicity in human-contact applications. Dr Sahar Al-Malaika, Reader in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at Aston, who is a pioneer on the use of vitamin E as an antioxidant in polymers, believes that this latest research could prove as significant. They are studying UK grown rosemary in particular, as evidence suggests the plant yields higher levels of antioxidants than those grown on the continent.

SPEEDY babies – a new behavioural syndrome

Children’s speech and language disorders caused by unknown factors are common. The disorders vary in type and manifest themselves differently in different ages. Delayed motor development is widely known to coexist with speech and language disorders. However, hardly any attention has been paid to children in whom delayed speech development is associated with learning to walk unassisted at an early stage. Dr Marja-Leena Haapanen from the Phoniatric Division of the Helsinki University Central Hospital has studied and described these children and observed a recurrent pattern in their behavioural phenotype. The children were examined by a multi-disciplinary research group over an extensive period in time. Usually these children, known as SPEEDY babies, have good language comprehension skills, but their speech is very unclear, although they may start speaking early on and can be quite talkative. In some cases, the speech production is delayed, the child speaks less, and the speech maybe unclear, especially when speaking long sentences. What makes the child’s speech unintelligible are words and sentences that are produced incorrectly, but each time in a different way, in addition to consistent sound distortion. Consistent sound distortions are associated with tongue dysfunction and are manifest in sounds in which the tip of the tongue is used. SPEEDY babies develop motor skills early, and often start walking unassisted at ten months. They are often avid runners, climbers and eager to jump and skip, and all in all, are quite agile and physically active. They are usually in good physical health, and do not typically suffer from respiratory infections, ear infections or allergies. The intellectual skills structure is usually divided so that their vision-based performance is above the average for their age group and better than their linguistic performance.