They play an important role in disease control of antelopes and buffalo by killing the sick animals.
#Bee sting allergy could be a defense response gone haywirefor most people a bee sting causes temporary pain
and discomfort but for those with a bee venom allergy the consequences can be devastating:
New findings by Stanford university School of medicine scientists may provide an evolutionary explanation for severe allergic reactions. In a paper to be published online Oct 24 in Immunity the researchers show that mice injected with a small dose of bee venom were later resistant to a potentially lethal dose of the same venom.
The study is the first experimental evidence that the same immune response involved in allergies may have evolved to serve a protective role against toxins.
Innate immune responses occur in subjects exposed to a foreign substance such as a pathogen or a toxic material like venom for the first time.
when a pathogen or toxin intrudes. In a previous study the researchers found that mast cells produce enzymes that can detoxify components of snake venom
By contrast during an adaptive immune response the immune system generates antibodies that recognize the invading pathogen or toxin;
this process makes it possible to vaccinate against infectious diseases. Adaptive immunity is usually a faster more specific and more effective form of defense than innate immunity.
In allergic reactions a type of antibody called Ige binds to the surface of mast cells and prompts them to initiate an adaptive immune response
The functions of Ige and mast cells are known mostly in the context of allergies said Thomas Marichal DVM Phd a postdoctoral scholar
and that allergies are an extreme and maladaptive example of this type of defense. This idea known as the toxin hypothesis of allergy was proposed first by Margie Profet in 1991
but was ignored largely by immunologists until recently. To find out whether adaptive immune responses could help mice resist bee venom Marichal
Moreover they did not develop the anaphylactic reactions characteristic of severe allergies. To determine whether Ige antibodies were required for this protection the team tested mice with three types of mutations:
or in the event of a snakebite said Stephen Galli MD professor and chair of pathology and the co-senior author of the study.
Anaphylaxis probably represents the extreme end of a spectrum of Ige-associated reactivity which in some unfortunate individuals is regulated either poorly
which causes blood vessels to constrict during bacterial infections. At the same time mammals have evolved immune responses to venom which in some cases escalate into maladaptive allergic reactions.
We experience allergies in a much cleaner world where we don't have the same threats of venomous creatures
and potentially toxic food that existed for much of our evolutionary history said Galli. And so we're left with this residual type of reactivity that seems completely mysterious and pointless and harmful.
This is the first evidence that we know of indicating that Ige-associated'allergic-type'immune responses can actually reduce the toxicity of naturally occurring venoms.
#Hypoxia Issues in the Gulf of Mexicothe Mississippi river Basin is home to much of the United states'fertile crop land.
This low oxygen condition is called hypoxia. The result is dying fish and a poor ecosystem called a dead zone.
because kin-blindness benefits the colony. But it's also possible that the veil of ignorance arose for other reasons
and Iowa to trace the likely origin of the emergent porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) to a strain from the Anhui province in China.
There is currently no vaccine against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in the United states . Although some vaccines are in use in Asia we do not know
whether they would work against the U s. strains of the virus. The researchers determined not only that the three U s. strains of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus are most closely related to the Chinese strains of the virus
and Genotyping of Emergent Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus Strains in the United states abstract in the Oct 15 issue of the American Academy of Microbiology's journal mbio.
and Chinese virus strains coincides with a porcine epidemic diarrhea virus outbreak in China back in December of 2010.
whether the U s. strains of the virus diverged in China or in the United states. The sudden emergence of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
and public health concerns in the United states. The ongoing outbreaks of Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus in humans from countries in
or near the Arabian peninsula and the historical deadly nature of the 2002 outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus create further anxiety about the emergency of PEDV in the United states due to the lack of scientific information about the origin
Symptoms include acute vomiting anorexia and watery diarrhea with high mortality rates in pigs less than 10 days old.
Veterinarians need to recognize the symptoms of the disease and with the lack of a vaccine in the United states practicing strict biosecurity and good sanitation procedures on the farm are important for prevention and control of this deadly disease Meng added.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic institute and State university.
#Foot and mouth disease in Sub-saharan africa moves over short distances; wild buffalo a problemnew research shows that in Sub-saharan africa the virus responsible for foot
and mouth disease (FMD) moves over relatively short distances and the African buffalo are important natural reservoirs for the infection.
It's very clear that historically infections have moved from buffalo to cattle says corresponding author Matthew Hall of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Foot and mouth disease FMD) is devastating to livestock all over the world but it's a particular problem in Africa where wildlife that harbor the virus are thought to pass it on to their domesticated cousins.
FMD strikes cloven-hoofed animals presenting as a high fever blistering in the mouth and feet decline in milk production in females and weight loss.
Although most animals recover over the course of months some die of complications from the disease.
In wild buffalo the disease is very rarely symptomatic and animals can be infected persistently for a period of several years.
That means it could take longer than previously thought to reduce nitrate contamination in groundwater including in aquifers that supply drinking water in North america
In the 1980s surveys by the U s. Environmental protection agency and the U s. Geological Survey showed that nitrate contamination had impacted probably more public and domestic water supply wells in the U s. than any other contaminant.
Mayer is recognized an internationally expert in the use of stable isotopes to track contaminants in the environment.
Nitrate contamination of aquatic ecosystems can be reduced by farmers following the 4rs of nutrient stewardship:
#Breast milk protein may be key to protecting babies from HIVA substance in breast milk that neutralizes HIV
and may protect babies from acquiring HIV from their infected mothers has been identified for the first time by researchers at Duke Medicine.
The protein called Tenascin-C or TNC had previously been recognized as playing a role in wound healing
The discovery could lead to potential new HIV-prevention strategies. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Oct 21 2013 the researchers describe how the TNC protein in breast milk binds to
and neutralizes the HIV virus potentially protecting exposed infants who might otherwise become infected from repeated exposures to the virus
. Even though we have antiretroviral drugs that can work to prevent mother-to-child transmission not every pregnant woman is being tested for HIV
Worldwide in 2011 an estimated 330000 children acquired HIV from their mothers during pregnancy or birth or through breastfeeding according to UNICEF.
As international health organizations have set a goal of eliminating mother-to-child infections researchers have worked to develop safe and affordable alternatives to antiretroviral therapy that can be used to block HIV transmission to infants.
but the majority of the HIV-neutralizing activity of breast milk remained unexplained. More recent studies pointed to a large protein that had yet to be identified.
In their study the Duke team screened mature milk samples from uninfected women for neutralizing activity against a panel of HIV strains confirming that all of the detectable HIV-neutralization activity was contained in the high molecular weight portion.
Using a multi-step protein separation process the researchers narrowed the detectable HIV-neutralization activity to a single protein and identified it as TNC.
This is a protein involved during wound healing playing a role in tissue repair. It is known also to be important in fetal development
Further analysis described how TNC works against HIV by blocking virus entry. The protein is uniquely effective in capturing virus particles
and neutralizes the virus specifically binding to the HIV envelope. These properties provide widespread protection against infection.
It's likely that TNC is acting in concert with other anti-HIV factors in breast milk and further research should explore this Permar said.
But given TNC's broad-spectrum HIV-1-binding and neutralizing activity it could be developed as an HIV-prevention therapy given orally to infants prior to breastfeeding similar to the way oral rehydration salts are administered routinely to infants in developing regions.
Permar said TNC would also appear to be inherently safe since it is a naturally occurring component of breast milk
and it may avoid the problem of HIV resistance to antiretroviral regimens that complicate maternal/infant applications.
The discovery of the HIV inhibiting effect of this common protein in breast milk provides a potential explanation for why nursing infants born to HIV-infected mothers do not become infected more often than they do said Barton F. Haynes M d. director of the Duke
Human Vaccine Institute. It also provides support for inducing inhibitory factors in breast milk that might be even more protective such as antibodies that would completely protect babies from HIV infection in this setting.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Duke university Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
A mountain pine beetle epidemic in the western United states has covered left mountainsides with dead pines especially lodgepole pine with most of the timber
and diseases and enhance overall sustainability of organic systems. In a new study the popular cover crop Vetch (Vicia sativa L.)was used in a 2-year field experiment.
on groundwater contamination. According to a study published in the August 2013 issue of Hortscience changes in growers'cultural practices
#Buying breast milk online is likely to cause illness in infantsresults from a study led by researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found more than three-fourths of breast milk samples purchased over the Internet contained bacteria that can cause illness
We were surprised so many samples had such high bacterial counts and even fecal contamination in the milk most likely from poor hand hygiene.
or storage practices screening for diseases transmissible by milk or limiting or abstaining from legal or illegal drugs.
but the types of bacteria found in the online samples contained bacteria that could cause illnesses known to be linked to contaminated breast milk.
and the milk is pasteurized limiting the risk of bacterial illness said Dr. Keim. Human breast milk can help strengthen the immune system
and has been shown to protect against severe illnesses like necrotizing enterocolitis a potentially deadly condition affecting thousands of infants each year.
Milk sold online and contaminated with bacteria that causes illness can be particularly harmful for premature infants
or those with weakened immune systems who are already particularly susceptible to infection. Our research results may not apply to situations where milk is shared among friends
A puzzle which is itself part of a larger picture of solving the riddles of diseases in humans.
The pig the jellyfish and the zebrafish are being used by scientists at Aarhus University to among other things gain a greater understanding of hereditary forms of diseases affecting the nervous system.
This can be disorders like Parkinson's disease Alzheimer's disease autism epilepsy and the motor neurone disease ALS.
thus be used to control an expression of genes connected to hereditary versions of the aforementioned disorders.
The pig The SYN1 gene can with its specific expression in nerve cells be used for generation of pig models of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's.
The reason scientists bring a pig into the equation is that the pig is suited well as a model for investigating human diseases.
The results of this investigation pave the way for the SYN1 gene being used in pig models for research into human diseases.
and life-threatening bowel disease among premature infants researchers at UC Davis Children's Hospital have found.
The bowel disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the second most common cause of death among premature infants said Mark Underwood lead study author neonatologist and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC Davis Children
about 25 percent of those with the severe form of NEC succumb to the infection.
The products tested in the study were two genetically different strains of bifidobacteria normal inhabitants of the gastroentestinal tract that inhibit the growth of harmful pathogens and bacteria:
which typically increases at the onset of NEC and can cause serious tissue-damaging infections in the gastrointestinal system lungs and other organs of the body.
#Barley crops affected by disease found on common wild grassa major fungal pathogen which affects barley crops is also present on a common wild grass according to a new study by leading agricultural researchers including the University
However barley is susceptible to a number of diseases the most important of which is called leaf blotch
and is caused by a fungal pathogen. This disease affects the leaves ears and stems of the barley--decreasing grain quality and reducing crop yields by up to forty per cent.
Bruce Fitt professor of plant pathology at the University of Hertfordshire said: Crops that appear to be clear of disease can suddenly develop leaf blotch symptoms unexpectedly.
The source of the disease is unclear and this has puzzled farmers and researchers alike. However our research shows that the fungal pathogen that causes barley leaf blotch can be found on wild ryegrasses which are common both as weeds within cereal crop fields and in the surrounding field margins.
In the study both DNA and plant testing showed that the leaf blotch pathogen that affects barley can be found on the wild grasses
and was virulent on commonly grown varieties of barley. Professor Fitt continued: Field margins play an important role in creating areas of habitat to support wildlife
and wild plants species. But the increasing demand for agricultural land to provide enough crops to feed
And if this pathogen species can be spread from wild grasses onto barley crops and back again further investigation is needed to identify how widespread this species is and also the role that wild grasses play as sources of disease for other crops such as wheat.
The paper Evolutionary Relationships Between Rhynchosporium lolii sp. nov. and Other Rhynchosporium Species on Grasses is published in PLOS ON.
#Maximizing broccolis cancer-fighting potentialspraying a plant hormone on broccoli--already one of the planet's most nutritious foods--boosts its cancer-fighting potential
John Juvik and colleagues explain that diet is one of the most important factors influencing a person's chances of developing cancer.
In fact eating broccoli regularly has been linked to lower rates of prostate colon breast lung and skin cancers.
and found that of the GS break-down products sulforaphane is the major contributor toward enhanced cancer-fighting enzyme levels
does not affect tastemany American diets fall short of meeting nutritional guidelines resulting in burgeoning obesity rates and health problems across the nation.
or relieving constipation and reducing the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Soluble fiber found mainly in whole grains
and some fruits is particularly beneficial for diabetics because fiber slows sugar absorption and improves blood sugar levels.
Citrus fruits particularly their peels are rich with flavonoids a nutrient in plants that can help prevent diseases in humans such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
#Climate change creates complicated consequences for North americas forestsclimate change affects forests across North america--in some cases permitting insect outbreaks plant diseases wildfires
Tree-killing insects and plant diseases are natural elements of healthy forest ecosystems but climate change is rapidly altering the distribution and magnitude of forest pestilence and altering biodiversity and the ecosystem.
For example pine bark beetles have killed recently trees over more area of U s. forests than wildfires including in areas with little previous experience managing aggressive pests.
The PCBS dieldrin and DDE were the contaminants that we detected in highest concentration in terms of average concentrations Carpenter said.
and coolants in motors and electrical systems but were banned in 1979 in the U s. after studies found that exposure to these compounds caused cancer and other deleterious health effects in animals.
and there are fish consumption advisories for this contaminant in many Illinois rivers. DDT was banned in the U s. in the early 1970s after decades of widespread use.
Some studies (of dieldrin) exposure find links to cancer Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's and some do said not Carpenter.
But perhaps most concerning is that both dieldrin and PCBS can act as developmental neurotoxicants meaning that developing fetuses can be harmed at concentrations much smaller than those that can impact the health of adults.
Concentrations of contaminants in river otters ranged widely. One male had a concentration of PCBS in its liver of 3450 parts per billion (ppb)
Since the otters were collected from counties all over Central Illinois the findings could indicate that some watersheds have a worse contamination problem than others Carpenter said.
For many of the contaminants we did detect a large range she said. This is a red flag.
Or the females might transfer some of the contaminants to their offspring during nursing as previous research suggests.
We don't know enough about how these contaminants behave synergistically Carpenter said especially since the cocktail of contaminants that we're exposed to here in the Midwest differs from
what humans and wildlife are exposed to in eastern or western North america. The research team also included Illinois pathobiology professor Kuldeep Singh Robert Bluett of the Illinois Department of Natural resources and Damian Satterthwaite-Phillips and Nelda Rivera both of the natural history survey.
Their study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests the compound already shown to be safe for humans may protect normal tissues during radiation therapy for cancer treatment
and prevent or mitigate sickness caused by radiation exposure. The compound known as DIM (33'-diindolylmethane) previously has been found to have cancer preventive properties.
DIM has been studied as a cancer prevention agent for years but this is the first indication that DIM can also act as a radiation protector says the study's corresponding author Eliot Rosen MD Phd of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
For the study the researchers irradiated rats with lethal doses of gamma ray radiation. The animals were treated then with a daily injection of DIM for two weeks starting 10 minutes after the radiation exposure.
The result was stunning says Rosen a professor of oncology biochemistry and cell & molecular biology and radiation medicine.
and platelets--side effects often seen in patients undergoing radiation treatment for cancer. Rosen says this study points to two potential uses of the compound.
DIM could protect normal tissues in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancer but could also protect individuals from the lethal consequences of a nuclear disaster.
and prevent the risk of infarction and its application in operating theatres is almost a daily occurrence.
It is used also in burns surgical operations haemorrhages or when the patient is undernourished or dehydrated and in the case of chronic infections and renal or hepatic diseases.
Although commercial albumin is extracted from blood the lack of a sufficient volume in reserve has prompted many researchers to seek new formulas for obtaining this protein on a large scale economically and safely.
#Diet, lifestyle advice for those with diabetes should be no different from that for general publicnew research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes EASD) suggests that lifestyle advice for people with diabetes should be no different from that for the general public
although those with diabetes may benefit more from that same advice. The research is by Dr Diewertje Sluik Department of Epidemiology German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke Nuthetal Germany and colleagues.
whether the associations between lifestyle factors and mortality risk differ between individuals with and without diabetes.
Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) a cohort was formed of 6384 persons with diabetes and 258911 EPIC participants without known diabetes.
Computer modelling was used to explore the relationship (in both those with and without diabetes) of mortality with the following risk factors:
Unsurprisingly the researchers found that overall mortality was 62%higher in people with diabetes compared with those without.
While the strength of the association was different in those with diabetes versus those without the associations were in the same direction in each case (see table 2 full paper).
No differences between people with and without diabetes were detected for the other lifestyle factors including adiposity alcohol consumption physical activity and smoking.
in people with diabetes. This may indicate that individuals with diabetes may benefit more from a healthy diet than people without diabetes.
However since the directions of association were generally the same recommendations for a healthy diet should be similar for people with or without diabetes.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Diabetologia. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Badgers ultimately responsible for around half of TB in cattlebadgers are ultimately responsible for roughly half of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in areas with high TB prevalence according to new estimates based on data from a previous badger culling trial.
whether badgers should be culled to control the disease. The Randomised Badger Culling Trial which ran from 1998 to 2005 found evidence that culling could reduce TB in herds inside culled areas while increasing TB in areas nearby.
and solid fats counter to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes.
and obesity habits among children persists leading to increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in adulthood.
Funding is provided by a grant from the National Cancer Institute at the National institutes of health. The study also is part of the National Cancer Institute's State and Community Tobacco Control Research Initiative.
To read the full study visit here. To find out more about the CPHSS visit cphss. wustl. edu. Story Source:
and urbanization and agriculture now send runoff laden with fertilizers and other contaminants into Lake Okeechobee.
According to the expert this methodology makes a more reliable and accurate evaluation of the association between food intake and mortality or disease risk.
and vegetables are at lower risk of several chronic diseases and overall mortality. Moreover the research stresses the importance of evaluating
#New urine test could diagnose eye diseaseyou might not think to look to a urine test to diagnose an eye disease.
But a new Duke university study says it can link what is in a patient's urine to gene mutations that cause retinitis pigmentosa or RP an inherited degenerative disease that results in severe vision impairment and often blindness.
I knew from my previous experience in analyzing urine samples from liver disease patients that I can readily detect dolichols by liquid chromatography
Led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural history the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
and the Museum fuì r Naturkunde Berlin the new study reveals that two bat-infecting parasites are closely related to parasites in rodents that are used commonly to model human malaria in laboratory studies.
Bats which are important reservoir hosts for many pathogens particularly viruses have been hosts to malaria parasites for more than a century said coauthor Susan Perkins an associate curator in the Museum's Division of Invertebrate Zoology.
and how they fit into the tree of life is key to understanding this important human disease.
Malaria is caused by a handful of species of parasites in the Genus plasmodium through the bite of mosquitos
and remains a widespread vector-borne infectious disease sickening almost half a billion people every year around the planet.
Experimental research on drugs immunology and the development of malaria is done typically on related Plasmodium species that infect rodents including laboratory-reared mice.
but the high diversity of parasites as well as the high proportion of individuals that are infected with the parasites suggest that this may be yet another example of the unusually high tolerance of these flying mammals for pathogens said co-author Juliane Schaer a researcher at the Max Planck Institute
for Infection Biology and the Museum fuì r Naturkunde Berlin. Other work has suggested that the evolution of flight may have triggered parallel strengthening of the immune system of bats
and may explain why they are able to host viruses such as Ebola rabies and the recently discovered Middle east Respiratory system (MERS) virus
which transmits devastating diseases to cattle has developed resistance to one of the main pesticides used to kill it.
Prevention of disease is through frequent treatment of cattle with acarides-pesticides for ticks and mites--mainly amitraz ivermectins and pyrethroids but ticks have become increasingly resistant to these treatments.
The global cost of the tick-borne diseases and associated acaricide application is estimated to be more than £4 billion annually.
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