Latest Atrophy Stories

Researchers have found a potential new treatment for the common problem of muscle atrophy. Results of the animal study were presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.Muscular atrophy is a debilitating process that results in an extensive loss of muscle mass and function, which greatly worsens quality of life. It occurs in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, AIDS and heart failure, negatively affecting the patients' prognosis. Also, muscular atrophy can occur...

During desperate times, such as fasting, or muscle wasting that afflicts cancer or AIDS patients, the body cannibalizes itself, atrophying and breaking down skeletal muscle proteins to liberate amino acids. In a new study published online June 8 and in the June 15, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org), Shenhav Cohen, Alfred Goldberg, and colleagues show that muscle atrophy is a more ordered process than was previously thought. These researchers find evidence that...

Project will advance novel platform for treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. and NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Foundation today announced the expansion of their research collaboration in which the SMA Foundation will provide up to $8.5 million in funding to PTC. This is the second continuation of the collaboration to fund a series of research projects initiated in 2006 to identify and optimize...

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- QuatRx Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has completed enrollment in the Company's second pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Ophena(TM) (ospemifene tablets). Together with the previously completed first pivotal Phase 3 study of Ophena(TM), the Company has fully enrolled its planned pivotal Phase 3 studies for Ophena(TM), the most advanced estrogen-free oral therapy currently in development for the...

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Additional results of a Phase 3 study for Ophena(TM) (ospemifene tablets) for the treatment of symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) in postmenopausal women showed that Ophena(TM) significantly improves a broad range of clinical signs of vulvovaginal atrophy, including petechiae, pallor, friability, vaginal dryness and redness in mucosa. These are all visual observations of VVA assessed during gynecological examination and were pre-defined...

SAN FRANCISCO and EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bionovo Inc. today announced results from animal studies of its drug candidate, VG101. The data were presented at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, and showed that in animal models, VG101, an estrogen receptor beta selective modulator, is safe and effective for the treatment of vaginal atrophy or "vaginal dryness.""Vaginal dryness occurs in over 50% of menopausal women, resulting in long...

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , announced today the launch of its marketing campaign for ENJUVIA(TM) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe vaginal dryness and pain with intercourse, symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause. ENJUVIA(TM) is the first and only oral estrogen approved by FDA for the treatment of these specific symptoms associated with vaginal atrophy....

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have developed a series of transgenic mouse models of multiple system atrophy, a progressive, fatal neurological disorder. The work is reported in the November 16 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience by Eliezer Masliah, M.D., Professor of Neuroscience and Pathology at UCSD and Cliff Shults, M.D. Professor of Neuroscience at UCSD and Neurologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. The mouse models are...

NSBRI -- A bike-like centrifuge that creates artificial gravity may help astronauts combat muscle atrophy in space. Through a study at the University of California, Irvine, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is exploring the concept of a Space Cycle for inflight resistance-training exercise. "Even with onboard exercise, astronauts face the risk of losing muscle mass and function because their muscles are not bearing enough weight, or load," said Dr. Vincent J. Caiozzo,...

Dr. Stephen Burden and colleagues demonstrate that the DNA-binding protein, Runx1 (AML1), directs the expression of 29 genes involved in the prevention of skeletal muscle wasting. Using mice deficient in runx1 specifically in skeletal muscle cells, the researchers determined that Runx1 activation is necessary to sustain muscle by limiting the autophagy of denervated myofibers. Dr. Burden believes that their findings "raise the intriguing possibility that congenital myopathies, which do...