New treatment for common allergiesresearchers have tested successfully treatments for people with allergies to grasses and to dust mites.
There are two treatments one for grass allergy which is commonly known as hay fever and the other for dust mite allergy.
They are expected to be helpful for the millions of people who as a reaction to grass pollen
It is estimated that together these allergens are responsible for more than 50%of allergic respiratory disease. Between 15 and 25 per cent of the population in North america and Europe is sensitive to pollen from different grass species. One in four people is sensitized to house dust mites more than any other common allergen
The treatments are from a new class of therapy known as'synthetic peptide immuno-regulatory epitopes'or SPIRES.
The 280 patients in the phase two clinical trial for the grass allergy treatment recorded their allergy symptoms
while exposed to grass pollen in a controlled environment both before treatment and at the end of the hay fever season.
Those who had the optimal short course of therapy had improved significantly symptoms at the end of the season compared to those who had a placebo.
During the clinical trial for the dust mite treatment 172 patients who received four doses of the treatment over 12 weeks had improved significantly allergy symptoms a year after the start of treatment compared to patients who received a placebo.
This result is an important validation of the approach we are taking to treat allergic diseases said Mark Larch who led the design of the treatments.
Positive results first with a cat allergy therapy and now with house dust mite and grass allergy treatments suggest that this approach may be used for many common allergies.
Larch is a professor of medicine of the Michael G. Degroote School of medicine at Mcmaster and member of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.
Hay fever is a seasonal response to many different grass pollens which are heaviest in the spring and fall.
With 30 million pigs produced in Denmark each year genomics scientist at University of Copenhagen Haja Kadarmideen decided to turn this to his advantage with his latest research on people's eating habits surrounding obesity and diabetes.
and research group leader from the Faculty of health and Medical sciences at University of Copenhagen wanted to understand why for some people opening the fridge
and sometimes unhealthy) food and why some of us overeat so consequently developing obesity and diabetes both
and public health problems adds Kadarmideen. Future implications for human healththe potential implications for better understanding of human health could mean in the future a simple blood (DNA) test could determine
whether humans are susceptible to unhealthy eating behaviour and potentially develop diseases like obesity and diabetes.
Thus addressing the question some humans may have a genetic disposition to overeat. Our pig model research indicates that eating behaviours runs in families.
and treat this'unhealthy eating behaviour'as a disability issue. I believe more follow-up studies would strengthen our findings that some people cannot stop pigging out as it is written in their DNA.
#Death of a spruce treeexamining a long-lived forest researchers have found that Black spruce trees which dominate the northern forests of North america succumb about five years after being weakened by environmental stresses.
The result will help researchers better understand how climate change affects the health of forests
and could one day be used to prevent the transmission of deadly vector-borne diseases such as malaria dengue West Nile virus and yellow fever.
and inconvenient for use in Africa and other parts of the world where hundreds of millions of people suffer from insect-transmitted diseases.
and Drug Administration for consumption as flavors or fragrances and are already being used as flavoring agents in some foods.
Of the four compounds three are approved already by the Food and Drug Administration as food additives.
We think there is incredible potential for a start-up company to develop new repellents based on Dr. Ray's current research said Michael Pazzani the vice chancellor for research and economic development at UCR.
(More than a hundred compounds still await testing in Ray's lab.)The research was supported partially by the National institutes of health's National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious diseases (grants R56ai099778 and R01ai087785) and the National Institute of Neurological disorders and Stroke (grant R21ns074332) and internal funding from UCR.
#Protecting the weedy and wild kin of globally important cropsover the past few decades crop breeders have relied increasingly on the wild and weedy relatives of domesticated crops as new sources of disease resistance drought
and Florida gama grass a source of disease resistance and other useful traits in corn that is only found in Florida and Cuba.
when we this research was how different nitrogen fertilizer supplements affected the overall soil organic matter composition says Dr. Adam Gillespie a postdoctoral fellow working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).
Alternately they also placed samples of the silicon-nanotube sandwiches under tensile stress--pulling them apart instead of compressing them.
#Foods toxins that can cause cervical, liver cancermexican scientists identified and quantified the amount of aflatoxins (carcinogenic) in food such as corn tortilla rice chili pepper processed sauces chicken breast
and eggs and revealed its relationship with cervical and liver cancer in humans. The research won the National Award in Food Science
and Technology in the Science Professional in Foods category organized jointly by CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology) and the Mexican Coca-cola Industry.
It explains that both types of cancer can be originated by the ingestion of food contaminated with aflatoxins produced by the fungi Aspergilus flavus and A. parasiticus.
Magda Carvajal Moreno from the Biology Institute at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and head of the research explained that this is the first time both conditions are related with the presence of aflatoxins the most frequent carcinogenic we ate daily she said.
and found that aflatoxins are present in chicken breast gizzard liver and eggs-white and yolk.
and cervical cancer in humans therefore aflatoxins are a very important factor in triggering this diseases.
This research is the first in the world to report that cervical cancer can also be caused by ingesting aflatoxin contaminated food.
This carcinogenic has also been detected as a trigger of colorectal pancreatic breast and lung cancer. The specialist clarified that Human Papillomavirus is more carcinogenic and prone to trigger cervical cancer than aflatoxins.
The toxins-the researcher said-are in the water soil and airborne the fungi that produce them are an olive green mold that can be found in refrigerators besides they are very resistant to high temperatures.
Every day Carvajal Moreno said each person consumes traces of millionths or milligrams of aflatoxin that accumulate over the years in DNA decreased resistance in people
and generate disease. To avoid these substances the UNAM researcher suggests properly storing food which would control the production of the toxin.
Also vary the foods one ingests and preferably consume wheat tortilla and fish as well as antioxidants.
The research that Carvajal Moreno did in collaboration with Jaime Berumen Campos from the Genomic Medicine Unit from General Hospital of Mexico now will be focused in studying stomach esophagus
and prostate cancer to determine if there is an association with aflatoxins. These initiatives are promoted by the PNCTA (National Award in Food Science and Technology.
For more information visit www. pncta. com. mx (Agencia ID) Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Investigaciã n y Desarrollo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length g
#What works for women doesnt work for menflushed face sweating a sudden rush of heat.
The hot flash the bane of menopausal women also can affect men who are undergoing hormone therapy for prostate cancer.
But unlike in women neither soy protein nor a common antidepressant provides relief for men according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical center.
Hot flashes occur in approximately 80 percent of men who are undergoing hormone manipulation as treatment for prostate cancer.
Hormone therapy reduces the levels of male hormones called androgens to prevent them from reaching prostate cancer cells
and/or an antidepressant would help reduce them in men as it does in many women said Mara Vitolins Dr. P. H. professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist
which is published in the Sept. 30 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Participants in this Phase III double-blind multicenter study completed a seven day pre-screening phase and 12 weeks of intervention.
placebo pill and milk powder; venlafaxine an antidepressant commonly prescribed to treat hot flashes in women and milk powder protein;
soy protein powder and placebo pill; or venlafaxine and milk powder. Hot flash symptom severity and frequency and quality of life were assessed by the researchers.
The researchers found that neither venlafaxine nor soy protein alone or in combination reduced hot flashes in men.
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The class of compounds studied includes those used by some plant pathogens to coordinate their attacks.
A freely available food supplement could help in this respect scientists from ETH Zurich have demonstrated in roundworms.
In roundworms these reactive oxygen species prolong life says Ristow. No scientific evidence for usefulness of antioxidantsthis might seem surprising as reactive oxygen species are considered generally to be unhealthy.
Reactive oxygen species are known to damage somatic cells a condition referred to as oxidative stress. Particular substances so-called antioxidants which are also found in fruit vegetables
Many scientists believe that antioxidants are beneficial to health. The claim that intake of antioxidants especially in tablet form promotes any aspect of human health lacks scientific support says Ristow.
He does not dispute that fruit and vegetables are healthy. However this may rather be caused by other compounds contained therein such as so-called polyphenols.
and the oxidative stress they trigger have a health-promoting impact. Cells can cope well with oxidative stress
and neutralise it says Ristow. Substance mimics endurance sportin earlier studies on humans Ristow demonstrated that the health-enhancing effect of endurance sports is mediated via an increased formation of reactive oxygen species
--and that antioxidants abolish this effect. Based on the present study he concludes that niacin brings about a similar metabolic condition to exercise.
After all the metabolic pathway initiated by niacin is very similar in roundworms and higher organisms.
Previous studies also suggest a health-enhancing effect of niacin in humans with elevated blood cholesterol levels.
Ristow could easily envisage the substances being used broadly for therapeutic purposes in the future. A whole series of foods naturally contain niacin including meat liver fish peanuts mushrooms rice and wheat bran.
Whether nutritional uptake is sufficient for a health-enhancing or lifespan-extending effect however remains to be demonstrated says Ristow.
Ristow and his team's work now suggests that the activity of sirtuins actually prolongs life in roundworms.
Studying genetically modified roundworms that were unable to convert nicotinamide into certain other metabolic products the scientists did not observe any lifespan extension even after overexpression of sirtuins which otherwise lead to an increased life expectancy.
of Maryland School of Public health (UMD SPH) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health (JHSPH.
The study published in the journal Pediatrics examined the reach of tobacco and cigarette marketing among some of the world's most vulnerable populations sampling five and six year-old children from Brazil China India Nigeria Pakistan and Russia.
and adolescents who are exposed highly to pro-smoking messages are more likely to smoke said Dr. Dina Borzekowski lead author of the Pediatrics study
and research professor in the UMD SPH Department of Behavioral and Community Health. It should be of great concern that the majority of very young children in our study were familiar with at least one cigarette brand Even in households without smokers children could identify tobacco logos.
This study reiterates that more needs to be done to reduce the ability of tobacco companies to market their products to children said co-author Dr. Joanna Cohen director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Global Tobacco Control.
and a pathogen said Yan Liang a co-author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at MU.
The UN and the International Livestock Research Institute list trypanosomosis among the ten diseases of cattle with the greatest impact on the poor.
In Africa the disease is known as Nagana which translates literally as being in low or depressed spirits.
The disease is caused by a parasite that enters the animals'blood as a result of the bite of the Tsetse fly.
When they are infected Baoul cattle develop fever and lose weight but do not necessarily die. Their immune system is
and farmers as each type of trypanosome causes a slightly different disease progression and requires a different type of treatment.
Zebus produce more meat and milk than Baoul but fall severely ill when infected with trypanosomes.
and Zebus with such high parasite levels would have been too ill to be included in our study says Silbermayr.
and pharmaceutical products into waterways is often based on a belief that as the compounds degrade the ecological risks naturally decline.
and published online in the journal Science found this was the case with the anabolic steroid trenbolone acetate and two other drugs.
In lab tests followed by field experiments the researchers found that trenbolone does not fully break down in water as believed retaining enough of a chemical residue to regenerate itself in the environment under certain conditions to an extent that the drugs'lives may be prolonged even in trace amounts.
and impact of steroids and pharmaceutical products all of which have been approved by the federal government for various uses
and that have been shown to improve food availability environmental sustainability and human health. We're finding a chemical that is broadly utilized to behave in a way that is different from all our existing regulatory
and assess the environmental fate of emerging contaminant classes. There are a variety of bioactive pharmaceuticals
and personal-care products that we know are present in trace amounts in our water supply.
The team found similar results for dienogest a hormone used in a birth-control pill called Natazia
The drug is metabolized and then excreted by livestock and makes its way into waterways mainly through runoff.
and other drugs'effects on fish through fewer eggs produced by females to skewing the sex of some species. We rarely see fish kills anymore
It just might be harder to characterize the adverse effects associated with contaminant exposures these days.
More of the drug's mass was regenerated--up to 88 percent in one highly acidic state (ph 2)
These were the kinds of questions that started percolating for Marnie Rout (University of North Texas Health Science Center) after she drove by a remnant tallgrass prairie in North Central Texas as a beginning graduate student.
Indeed perhaps somewhat alarmingly the amount of iron that was produced reached levels that are toxic to many crops
The root microbiome is as important to plant health and agricultural productivity she concludes as the human microbiome is to human health.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Journal of Botany. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and vegetable consumption reduces all-cause mortality and especially cardiovascular disease mortality. The benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption are not a new discovery.
This reduction is more significant in the case of deaths from cardiovascular disease. The analysis recently published in the'American Journal of Epidemiology'was directed by researchers from ten countries including Spain as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC.
The sample analyzed includes 25682 deaths (10438 due to cancer and 5125 due to cardiovascular disease) among the 451151 participants studied over more than 13 years.
This study is the most significant epidemiological study that this association has examined to date Marã a Jos Sá
nchez P rez director of the Andalusian School of Public health's (EASP) Granada Cancer Registry and one of the authors of the research explains to SINC.
According to the results a combined fruit and vegetable consumption of more than 569 grams per day reduces the risk of mortality by 10
%and delays the risk of mortality by 1. 12 years compared to a consumption of less than 249 grams per day.
and vegetable consumption in accordance with the recommended daily allowance prevents the development of chronic diseases
%There is now sufficient evidence of the beneficial effect of fruit and vegetable consumption in the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases Sá
Fruit for the hearta diet rich in fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality by 15%.
%Furthermore more than 4%of deaths due to cardiovascular disease could be prevented by consuming more than 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day.
%With regard to cancer mortality no statistically significant risk reduction was found although it will be necessary to assess this according to specific types of cancer Sá
nchez adds. Nevertheless the expert highlights that given that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with the risk of certain cancers--colon and rectal stomach lung etc.
--it is to be expected that their consumption will also have a positive effect on mortality due to these tumours.
Greater effect in people with bad habitsthe mortality risk reduction due to fruit and vegetable consumption was greater in those participants who consumed alcohol (around 30-40%risk reduction
which mitigates the oxidative stress caused by alcohol tobacco and obesity. As such these population groups in particular could benefit from the positive effects of fruit
and vegetables in preventing chronic diseases and their associated mortality risk Sánchez concludes. Story Source:
Smooth surfaces that are resistant to corrosion are crucial for many of the present-day uses of cast metals ranging from bio-implants to automotive parts.
when processing metals destined for exposure to fluids such as those that will be used in bio-implants.
#Hope for halting incurable citrus diseasethe devastating disease Huonglongbing or citrus greening looms darkly over the United states threatening to wipe out the nation's citrus industry
Recently however a research team led by a University of California Davis plant scientist used DNA sequencing technologies to paint a broad picture of how citrus greening impacts trees before they even show signs of infection offering hope for developing diagnostic
tests and treatments for the currently incurable disease. Florida is seemingly in the death grip of citrus greening
and many experts believe it is just a matter of time before the disease appears full force in California said plant molecular biologist Abhaya Dandekar lead author on the study.
The new findings indicate that the bacterial disease interferes with starch and sugar metabolism in young
and matures leaves and fruit while also wreaking havoc with hormonal networks that are key to the trees'ability to fend of infections.
Because the disease has a long latent phase during which there are no symptoms of infection
and the bacteria are resistant to being grown in the laboratory the only option for halting transmission of citrus greening has been to apply chemical pesticides to control the insect that spreads the bacteria Dandekar said.
HLB or citrus greening is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide. It is caused by three species of the Candidatus Liberibacter bacteria including Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus
These disease-causing bacteria reside in the tree's phloem--the vascular tissue that carries vital nutrients throughout the tree.
The disease affects most citrus species causing yellowing of shoots blotchy and mottled leaves lopsided and poorly colored fruit and loss of viable seeds.
Other than one infected backyard tree found in 2012 in the Southern California community of Hacienda Heights the disease has not been detected in California.
In this new study the researchers studied four categories of healthy and diseased citrus trees with the goal of better understanding how HLB affects trees physiologically during the very early stages of infection.
Earlier sequencing of the Calas bacteria genome showed that there were no toxins or enzymes that would destroy plant cell walls
Because these factors which normally accompany plant diseases were not present we suspected that the disease was causing metabolic imbalances
Their analysis confirmed that in infected trees HLB disease caused starch to accumulate in the leaves blocking nutrient transport through the phloem
which are the backbone of the plant innate immune response. And they found that infected trees also had changes in the metabolism of important amino acids that serve as a reservoir for organic nitrogen in many plants.
The nitrogen is required to stimulate the plant immune response. Cause for hope: The researchers anticipate that these discoveries will lead the way to new tests for detecting the bacteria and thus the presence of HLB in orchard trees.
Such therapeutic procedures might rely on using hormones and other small molecules to restore the infected tree's normal metabolism
or boosting the tree's innate immune response to effectively fight the infection. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of California-Davis. Note:
#Model to study human response to bacteria that cause peptic ulcers developedresearchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have developed a new large animal model to study how the immune system interacts with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori the leading
cause of peptic ulcer disease. The discovery in the October edition of the journal Infection and Immunity may inform changes in the ways doctors treat patients.
An estimated 4 million Americans have sores in the stomach lining known as peptic ulcers according to the American Gastroenterological Association.
Although the bacterium is found in more than half the world s population most people do not develop diseases.
However some experience chronic inflammation of the stomach or gastritis which can lead to the development of ulcers or cancer.
In addition to its role as a pathogen the bacteria have beneficial effects preventing certain chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases including Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
When bacteria reside within host cells the immune system typically recruits a type of white blood cell called T cells#in this case CD8+cytotoxic T cells#to destroy the infected cells.
In patients with H. pylori-associated gastritis higher numbers of cytotoxic T cells are present indicating that these cells may contribute to the development of gastric lesions.
To study immune responses in H. pylori-mediated disease researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute s Nutritional Immunology
and Molecular Medicine Laboratory developed a pig model that closely mimics the human gastric environment.
and gerbil models of H. pylori infection. However the rise of the cells in pigs mirrors the recent findings in human clinical studies.#
#oepigs have greater anatomic physiologic and immunologic similarities to humans than mice the main animal model used in biomedical research said Raquel Hontecillas co-director of the Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Laboratory and the Center for Modeling Immunity to Enteric Pathogens. The results from our new pig model closely mimic
what has been reported in clinical settings which will allow us to comprehensively and systematically investigate human immune responses to H. pylori.#
#The discovery will help scientists better understand the complex interactions of H. pylori and its host.
Researchers within the Center for Modeling Immunity to Enteric Pathogens are using results from the pig model and other experimental data to develop a computational model of H. pylori infection.
Such modeling efforts aim to develop faster more efficient ways to predict initiation progression and outcomes of infection.
The Center for Modeling Immunity to Enteric Pathogens is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases part of the National institutes of health under Contract No.
HHSN272201000056C. PI: Josep Bassaganya-Riera. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic institute and State university.
Additionally there is also contamination of soil and waterways by agricultural chemicals as well as carbon costs because of vehicles and artificial fertiliser necessary to maintain the pasture.
(and less runoff) encourages predators of harmful animals minimizes greenhouse gas emissions improves job satisfaction for farm workers reduces injury
and stress in animals improves welfare and encourages biodiversity using native shrubs and trees. Additionally shrubs and trees with edible leaves and shoots along with pasture plants produce more food for animals per unit area of land than pasture plants alone.
It also reduces stress by enabling the animals to hide from perceived danger. The planting as forage plants of both shrubs
and treated are potentially harmful to human health. Excessive water consumption by the plants is also a concern.
and could worsen water shortages in areas that already are under significant water stress. The overall environmental impacts will be said severe Jackson.
In the Journal of Pineal Research scientists from the University of Granada Institute for Neuroscience the Hospital Carlos III Madrid and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San antonio (USA) have revealed for the first time the previously unknown
enigma of why melatonin has metabolic benefits in treating diabetes and hyperlipidemia. In earlier publications the researchers analysed the effects of melatonin on obesity dyslipidemia high blood pressure
and type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with obesity in young obese diabetic Zucker rats--an experimental model of metabolic syndrome.
In view of their most recent results it seems the key lies in the fact that chronic melatonin consumption not only induces the appearance of'beige fat'in obese diabetic rats
but also increases its presence in thin animals used as a control group.''Beige fat'cells are found in scattered lentil-sized deposits beneath the inguinal skin in obese diabetic Zucker rats.
Melatonin is a natural hormone segregated by the human body itself and melatonin levels generally increase in the dark at night.
and prevent cardiovascular diseases associated with obesity and dyslipidemia. The study--coordinated by University of Granada lecturer Ahmad Agil--showed that chronic administration of melatonin sensitizes the thermogenic effect of exposure to cold heightens the thermogenic effect of exercise
and therefore constitutes excellent therapy against obesity. The fact is that one of the key differences between'beige fat
to confirm these findings in humans by administering melatonin to help combat obesity and diabetes.
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