Asian-American homosexuals often face unyielding family and cultural social stresses that affect their ethnic and sexual identities, U.S. researchers said.

Hyeouk Chris Hahm of the Boston University School of Social Work said the process of homosexual identify formation among Asian and Pacific Islanders youth is affected by central societal stresses including the role of family life, personal sacrifice for family tranquility and generational clashes, as well as external factors such as racism, sexism and acculturation.

The study, published in the Journal of LGBT Youth, found that both young men and women mask homosexual behaviors and avoid alienating their family and parents’ communities. In their relationships with others, they often have to decide which identity will take precedence — an ethnic or sexual identity.

In the Western gay and lesbian community, ‘coming out,’ is final revelation that you are homosexual while for Asian and Pacific Islanders in America of Korean descent, there is ‘coming home,’ where you want to integrate culturally and be both an American and Korean, Hahm said in a statement. This is not staying closeted but rather alluding to your sexuality to a family member, who may not challenge it, as long as the status quo within the family is maintained.

Many European governments say that they will fast-track the testing of a new swine flu vaccine in an attempt to vaccinate people before winter, although some experts say they are concerned about risking safety and giving proper vaccine doses.

The European Medicines Agency is accelerating the approval process for the swine flu vaccine. Countries like Britain, Greece, France and Sweden all say that they will start using the vaccine once it is given approval, which could happen within weeks.

“One of the things which cannot be compromised is the safety of vaccines,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organization said in an interview Friday. “There are certain areas where you can make economies, perhaps, but certain areas where you simply do not try to make any economies.”

Many experts say extensive testing is unnecessary because flu vaccines have been used for 40 years and the swine flu vaccine simply contains a new ingredient.

However, European officials will not know if the new vaccine causes any side effects until millions of people get the shots.  They say the benefit of saving lives is worth the gamble.

“Everybody is doing the best they can in a situation which is far from ideal,” said Martin Harvey-Allchurch, a spokesman for the European Medicines Agency. “With the winter flu season approaching, we need to make sure the vaccine is available.”

Flu vaccines are tested on hundreds of people for several weeks or months in Europe, which helps to see if the immune system produces enough antibodies to fight the infection.

But to speed the process up, the European Medicines Agency is letting companies skip testing large groups of people before the vaccine is approved.

Although it is unlikely that the vaccine will endanger anyone, experts say that cannot be determined until it is used in large numbers of people.

The U.S. is taking a more cautious approach.

On Wednesday the U.S. government called for several thousand volunteers to be injected with the swine flu vaccine in tests beginning in August to assess the vaccine’s safety.  American officials said the results would be ready in October, which is when the U.S. plans to roll out a vaccination campaign.

Since countries like Britain plan to start vaccinating before any American trial data is available, they will be limited in knowing what the results could be from any US tests.  Also, the vaccines used in the U.S. will be different from those in Europe.

Some experts encourage urgent action.

“The consequences of not having a vaccine if this virus gets worse are very high,” said Leonard Marcus, a public health expert at Harvard University. “If (regulatory authorities) took all the time that was necessary to make sure there are no side effects, ironically, in the effort to save a few lives, many lives could be lost.”

However, critics say that dangers lurk in rushing to vaccinate without thorough testing.

“I can’t see any possible excuse to not test it for safety before it’s given to anyone,” said George Annas, a bioethics expert at Boston University.

Many people remain skeptical of vaccinations in Britain because of unsubstantiated allegations linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism.  That might lead millions of people refusing to take the vaccination.

The European Medicines Agency designed a special protocol to approve a vaccine when the bird flu crisis hit several years ago.

The agency allowed companies to submit a “mock-up” vaccine using H5N1 bird flu.  The idea was for most of the testing to be complete before the epidemic hit. That way drug makers could insert the pandemic virus into the vaccine at the last minute.

When the swine flu vaccine doses are ready, the European Medicines Agency will approve them largely based on data from the bird flu vaccine, which both have the same basic ingredients.

Spokesman Harvey-Allchurch said that if the agency thinks the bird flu data predicts how the swine flu virus will work, they will approve it.

The agency will then require regular reports of the vaccine’s effects as it is being administered.

Fukuda, Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO), said everyone involved in making the vaccine is looking at steps to be taken to expedite the process.

“But there is no one who disagrees that one of the absolutes is that there can’t be any question whether the vaccine is safe or not,” he said.

The WHO said that the swine flu viruses are not producing enough key vaccine ingredients, which might limit how much vaccine is available.  Its laboratory network is now working to produce a new set of viruses that it hopes will work better.

However, drug makers such as Baxter International, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis, and Sanofi-Pasteur all insist they will be able to start shipping the first batches of vaccine soon.

In Britain, health officials have repeatedly said that they will start vaccinating people in August, which is when they expect it will receive approval from the European agency.

—

On the Net:

• European Medicines Agency
• WHO
• CDC

Doctors should consider seasonal flu or H1N1 flu as a diagnosis for children with flu-like symptoms, seizures or mental status changes, U.S. officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said for children who have flu-like symptoms accompanied by unexplained seizures or mental status changes, clinicians should consider acute seasonal influenza or novel influenza A H1N1 virus infection as a diagnosis, send specimens for appropriate testing and promptly begin treatment with antiviral drugs, especially in hospitalized patients.

Four children who were hospitalized in Texas with neurological complications of novel influenza A H1N1 virus infection recovered fully and were sent home without any neurological symptoms, but the report highlights the potential for children with novel influenza A H1N1 virus infection to experience neurological complications.

Physicians who are caring for children hospitalized with influenza-like illness and unexplained seizures or mental status changes should consider that the neurological symptoms may be related to influenza.

Too much alcohol often causes trauma, complicates assessment of injury, and interferes with inpatient care. Even though 20 to 37 percent of accident cases in trauma centers are alcohol-related, some trauma patients are reluctant to self report their drinking. A new study has found that testing for alcohol biomarkers ““ particularly blood alcohol levels (BALs) ““ can identify high-risk patients admitted to trauma centers who had denied excessive drinking.

Results will be published in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

“Alcohol use is associated with higher rates of motor vehicle accidents, falls, injuries inflicted by weapons, and workplace injuries than in persons not using alcohol,” said Michael F. Fleming, professor of family medicine and corresponding author for the study. “In addition, patients processed through emergency may not be aware of their injury severity until the alcohol is out of their system, and in persons suffering from head trauma it is difficult to assess changes in mental status.”

“Alcohol is the single most robust risk factor for physical trauma,” added Jean-Bernard Daeppen, professor of medicine at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland. “An elevated BAL is not just having a glass before trauma. Most patients admitted with positive BALs after trauma have an alcohol-use disorder (AUD), often severe.”

“The primary test used to assess recent alcohol use is to ask the patient and sometimes a family member or friend who was present at the time of the accident,” said Fleming. “BALs are also frequently used in US-based trauma centers, however, since alcohol leaves the body at the rate of one drink per hour, BALs can be misleading if the blood is drawn hours after the injury occurred. Liver function tests have limited value as they are neither sensitive nor specific for acute alcohol use. Newer alcohol biomarkers that assess alcohol use over weeks have promise but there is limited research on these among trauma patients.”

Fleming and his colleagues collected data on 213 patients (166 males, 47 females) admitted to a university hospital after trauma and tested for BALs and carbohydrate deficient transferin (CDT). More than 90 percent was admitted due to motor vehicle accidents, and the remainder for falls, bicycle/pedestrian accidents, and penetrating trauma such as gunshot and knife wounds. Collected measures included the development of alcohol withdrawal, infections, respiratory problems, cardiac events, thromboembolism, and length of stay.

The results support testing for BALs in all patients admitted for trauma.

“Elevated BALs at the time of admission are associated with higher rates of complications,” said Fleming, “and strongly predict the development of delirium treatments. Further research is needed on CDT and other alcohol biomarkers to determine their clinical application in trauma patients.”

Of those admitted, 48 (22%) had a positive BAL, 27 (12%) developed alcohol withdrawal, and 113 (55%) had one or more adverse health events during their hospitalization. Notably, the alcohol biomarkers identified 16 patients (13 males, 3 females), or 7.4 percent of the total admitted, as high-risk patients who had previously denied excessive alcohol use and would have been missed if the markers had not been utilized.

“Our finding of 22 percent with a positive BAL is actually on the low side compared to other emergency-department trauma studies,” noted Fleming. “Most studies report 30 to 40 percent positive BALs. Additionally, persons who are alcoholic are more likely to minimize their alcohol use than most social drinkers who often view their use as normal; since seven to eight percent of males and two to three percent of women in the general population are alcoholic, our findings of 7.5 percent who tested positive despite denial is about right.”

“The relationship between BALs and withdrawal and adverse hospital events indicates that patients with AUDs develop many problems during hospitalization, such as longer hospital stays, more complications, more costs,” added Daeppen. “There is no doubt that BALs should be tested systematically in admitted trauma patients. A cheap test identifying 22 percent of individuals with a condition that is likely to be associated with major morbidity and costs is an excellent option. This is especially true when approximately 1 in 4 patients with an AUD would have been missed without BAL, as shown by this study.”

“While there has been some concern that insurance companies may refuse payment for hospitalization due to a positive BAL,” said Fleming, “this is like saying they are not going to pay for treatment of a heart attack or asthma or a stroke in someone who admits to smoking. Just because someone is drinking does not mean alcohol caused the accident. All we really know is that theirs is a greater risk. On a related note, BALs performed as part of routine care are not admissible in court unless chain-of-custody procedures are followed.”

—————

On The Net:

University of Wisconsin – Madison

A group led by Dr. Han-Fei Ding of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA reports that the oncogene MYCN may drive neuronal progenitor cell proliferation, contributing to neuroblastoma development. This study can be found in the August 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Neuroblastomas are the most common cancer in infancy, and nearly 50% of neuroblastomas occur in children under the age of two. Approximately 22% of neuroblastomas, which commonly contain undifferentiated or poorly differentiated neuroblasts, express amplified levels of the oncogene MYCN.

To identify the cell types that drive neuroblastoma development and the role of MYCN in this process, Alam et al examined mice that express MYCN in neural cells; these mice provide an animal model of human neuroblastoma. MYCN expression caused neuronal progenitors to divide as well as prevented their differentiation into more mature cells, and primary tumors were composed predominantly of these cells. These data indicate that the expansion of these neuronal progenitors may be pathogenic in the development of neuroblastoma and that MYCN may contribute to this process by driving the proliferation of the neuronal progenitor cell population.

Dr. Ding and colleagues postulate that “cooperation between oncogenic proteins and lineage-determining factors might be an important mechanism underlying the development of tissue-type specific tumors.”

———–

On The Net:

American Journal of Pathology

Dr. Feng Lin and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH have discovered that the complement inhibitor FUT-175 delays EAE onset. They present these findings in the August 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune response attacks the central nervous system (CNS), causing physical and cognitive disability. Complement, molecules involved in clearing infection, may enhance this misguided immune response.

Li et al therefore examined the effects of FUT-175, a drug with few clinical side effects that prevents the functions of complement, on the development of EAE, a mouse model of MS. They found that FUT-175 prevented production of activated complement and inhibited specific immune responses with little non-specific toxicity. FUT-175 treatment delayed EAE disease onset and decreased the severity of disease. Thus, FUT-175 may be a novel candidate to treat autoimmune diseases such as MS.

This study by Li et al “provide[s] further insight into how to most effectively apply “¦ complement inhibitors for treating T cell-mediated diseases.”

—————

On The Net:

American Journal of Pathology

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons'(AAOS) Board of Directors approved a new clinical practice guideline for the treatment of pediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. Diaphyseal (the shaft of a long bone) fracture of the femur (the bone in the thigh) is a very common childhood injury.

There are several accepted treatment options for femur fracture, a thighbone injury occurring in an average of 19 out of 100,000 kids each year. However, there has not previously been a thorough examination and recommendation outlining the evidence-based best practice recommendations. Therefore, this new guideline can help physicians in three ways, by:

• Outlining the best-known practices depending on the age and size of the child;
• Assuring the most thorough review of all evidence-based outcomes of treatment, by reviewing more than 42 years of published research; and
• Highlighting what research work still needs to be done to better predict and navigate future care and research.
• “Our treatment recommendations include not just best practices, but a heightened level of attention to the child’s social and emotional state as well. For instance, though casting and traction still is an effective treatment, when we believed it was a comparable medical option, this guideline outlined flexible nailing for an internal splint, which significantly reduced hospital stay time, thus getting the child back into her school, family and social routines,” said Dr. Ernest L. Sink, an AAOS work group Vice Chair on this guideline and practicing pediatric orthopaedic surgeon from The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.

The pediatric diaphyseal femur fracture clinical practice guideline presents:

• the results of a systematic review of published studies from 1966 to October 1, 2008, on the treatment of isolated diaphyseal femur fractures in children*;
• 14 specific recommendations;
• the results of the Academy’s commitment to developing more evidence-based outcome methods and resulting guideline recommendations for its members and the orthopaedic surgery community; and
• guidance for appropriately trained surgeons and all qualified physicians considering treatment of isolated diaphyseal femur fractures in children.
• “Treating a child’s fractured femur is a very successful endeavor, with a high likelihood of good outcomes. If you are a parent, you can be relieved to know that thousands of hours of peer review went into the development of this guideline, and if you are a physician, you can trust that your peers have given these treatment options and outcomes the most comprehensive review.” said Dr. Sink.

In addition to providing practice recommendations, the guideline also highlights gaps in the literature and areas that require future research. It also is intended to serve as an information resource for decision makers and developers of practice guidelines and recommendations.

—————

On The Net:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

If this summer weather has you feeling wilted, imagine what it does to your food. An expert at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) , advises taking extra precautions with food during the summer heat.

“Many people don’t pay attention to food poisoning but it really is a major concern. Over 325,000 people per year are hospitalized from food poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control,” said Roberta Anding (http://www.bcm.edu/pediatrics/index.cfm?Realm=99992421&This_Template=anding), a registered dietitian at BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital.

Anding says that with food such as meat, mayonnaise, eggs and cheese, follow the “Golden Hour” rule. Most of the time, these foods can stay at room temperature for up to two hours before they are considered unsafe. However, the rules have to change in severe heat and humidity. These foods can only stay in an environment above 90 degrees for an hour before they need to be thrown out.  

“Don’t assume that you can leave something like a turkey sandwich in the car while you run to the mall for an hour. Don’t run the risk of a food-borne illness,” said Anding.

The “Golden Hour” rule also applies to baby formula, said Anding. She recommends putting a bottle of formula in a zipper bag with a freezer pack if travelling with pre-prepared formula. Once the ice pack melts though, there’s only one hour left before the formula needs to be thrown out. Another suggestion Anding makes is to combine the powder and water right before it’s needed.

There are other food safety tips to keep in mind year-round, Anding said. It’s a myth that you have to wait for cooked food to cool down before refrigerating it. In fact, the longer you leave it out, the more bacteria that is likely to grow. Be sure to have a refrigerator thermometer and a meat thermometer to ensure that food is always at the right temperature. When reheating food, make sure it’s not just lukewarm. The center of a piece of meat should be hot, ensuring that any potential bacteria that has grown is killed.

Be sure to wash all fruits and vegetables before cutting or eating. Even if you do not intend to eat the rind, cutting through the rind with a knife exposes the inside to bacteria. Try to use separate cutting boards for meats and veggies, and do not use a sponge to clean up drippings after working with raw meat ““ it only spreads the germs around.

“Those with any type of health issue that compromises their immune system should be extra cautious since they are more susceptible to food illnesses,” said Anding. “Make sure to check with your physician or a registered dietitian about what you should be cautious of.”  

Anding also warns that it’s important to be cautious when going organic. Be sure that any milk products that are consumed are pasteurized to avoid food borne illnesses and bacteria. Ensuring that milk products are pasteurized is a life-saving strategy, said Anding.  

—————

On The Net:

BCM

The number of people aged 100 years or more is expected to increase to record levels by 2050, according to new data estimates from the Census Bureau.

More and more people are living to see their 100th birthday and beyond, due in part to better diets as well as more aggressive medical procedures.

In the 1950s, the number of centenarians was estimated to be a few thousand worldwide. That figure is now estimated to be at more than 340,000, and rising.

The US and Japan have the highest amount of centenarians within their populations, and the numbers are expected to increase at 20 times the current rate by midcentury.

According to Census Bureau estimates, Japan is expected to have the largest population of people over the age of 100 ““ 627,000 by 2050. The median age in Japan is expected to rise from 37 in 1990 to 55 by 2050.

The nation is already anticipating the boom in population by developing robotic devices aimed at helping the aging community with daily tasks.

The centenarian population in the US is projected to rise from 75,000 to over 600,000 by 2050, which could amount to drastic increases in Medicare and Social Security costs.

Meanwhile, the median age in the US is expected to increase from 33 in 1990 to 39 in 2050 ““ that figure is lower than that of Japan due to the rate of immigration.

“The implications are more than considerable, and it depends on whether you’re healthy or sick,” Dr. Robert N. Butler, president and chief executive of the International Longevity Center, told the AP.

“Healthy centenarians are not a problem, and many are. But if you have a demented, frail centenarian, they can be very expensive.”

“We don’t have a major coordinating figure such as a White House counselor to reach across all departments, and we need one,” Butler said.

The Associated Press reported that Italy, Greece, Monaco and Singapore are among other countries projected to have a large number of centenarians, most of which will be women.

The Census Bureau also estimates that there will be more people aged 65 years and older than children under the age of 5.

The current life span is 78, but a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that an average of Americans would prefer to live to the age of 89, while one in five said they would like to live beyond age 90. Only 8 percent said they hope to live to see their 100th birthday and beyond.

—

On the Net:

• Census Bureau

More than half of new moms suffer postpartum ailments such as incontinence, a U.S. doctor says.

Dr. Dee Fenner, director of the University of Michigan Health System’s Healthy Healing After Delivery Program in Ann Arbor, says all too often new mothers are unclear about what is normal or abnormal, when to worry and when to just wait for healing to occur.

Easily over half of women who have vaginal birth, at least their first birth, will have some problem in terms of bowel, bladder or sexual dysfunction that can occur, Fenner says in a statement.

Unfortunately, I think many women suffer in silence in that they don’t really complain or know that something can be done.

The University of Michigan clinic involves physicians, nurses, midwives, physical therapists and others who offer comprehensive postpartum care that includes education and is open to any woman — regardless of where she delivered her baby.

The aloe vera plant has a long history of healing power. Its ability to heal burns and cuts and soothe pain has been documented as far back as the 10th century. Legend has it that Cleopatra used aloe vera to keep her skin soft. The modern use of aloe vera was first recognized the 1930s to heal radiation burns. Since then, it has been a common ingredient in ointments that heal sunburn, minor cuts, skin irritation, and many other ailments. Recently, aloe vera has gained some popularity as an active ingredient in tooth gel. Similar to its use on skin, the aloe vera in tooth gels is used to cleanse and soothe teeth and gums, and is as effective as toothpaste to fight cavities, according to the May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.

Aloe vera tooth gel is intended to perform the same function as toothpaste, which is to eliminate pathogenic oral microflora””disease-causing bacteria””in the mouth. The ability of aloe vera tooth gel to successfully perform that function has been a point of contention for some dental professionals. However, research presented in General Dentistry may alleviate that concern. The study compared the germ-fighting ability of an aloe vera tooth gel to two commercially popular toothpastes and revealed that the aloe vera tooth gel was just as effective, and in some cases more effective, than the commercial brands at controlling cavity-causing organisms.

Aloe latex contains anthraquinones, which are chemical compounds that are used in healing and arresting pain because they are anti-inflammatory in nature. But, because aloe vera tooth gel tends to be less harsh on teeth, as it does not contain the abrasive elements typically found in commercial toothpaste, it is a great alternative for people with sensitive teeth or gums. But buyers must beware. Not all aloe vera tooth gel contains the proper form of aloe vera. Products must contain the stabilized gel that is located in the center of the aloe vera plant in order to be effective. Products must also adhere to certain manufacturing standards. Dilip George, MDS, co-author of the study, explains that aloe “must not be treated with excessive heat or filtered during the manufacturing process, as this destroys or reduces the effects of certain essential compounds, such as enzymes and polysaccharides.” Dr. George suggests that consumers consult non-profit associations such as the International Aloe Science Council to see what products have received the organization’s seal of quality.

Although there are more than 300 species of the plant, only a few have been used for medicinal purposes. “Thankfully, consumers with sensitive teeth or gums have a number of choices when it comes to their oral health, and aloe vera is one of them,” says AGD spokesperson Eric Shapria, MS, DDS, MAGD, MA. “If they are interested in a more alternative approach to oral hygiene, they should speak with their dentist to ensure that it meets the standards of organized dentistry, too.”

—

On the Net:

• Academy of General Dentistry

Travelers to Japanese encephalitis endemic countries should be advised of the risks of the disease and how to prevent it, U.S. health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weekly Report said the risk of Japanese encephalitis for most travelers is very low, but varies by destination, duration, season and activities.

The report describes three recent Japanese encephalitis cases among U.S. travelers to Asia. All were Asian immigrants or family members who returned to Asia to live or to visit relatives.

Such travelers might be at increased risk for Japanese encephalitis because of rural itineraries and lack of perceived risk. Travelers to Asia should be advised of the risks of Japanese encephalitis and the importance of personal protective measures to reduce the risk of mosquito bites, the report said.

For some travelers with high risk itineraries, Japanese encephalitis vaccine may further reduce the risk. Japanese encephalitis should be suspected in a patient with evidence of a neurologic infection who recently returned from Asia, health officials said.

Japanese encephalitis is a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus. Domestic pigs and wild birds are reservoirs of the virus, but transmission to humans may cause severe symptoms.

Dosing algorithms allow for normalization of antithrombin levels during specific high-risk situations for patients with hereditary anithrombin deficiency

Data presented at the annual meeting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) in Boston show that ATryn® (Antithrombin [Recombinant]) safely prevents peri-operative and peri-partum acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or other venous thromboembolic events in patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency (HD AT). ATryn is not indicated for treatment of thromboembolic events in HD AT patients. Additionally, data validate dosing algorithms that, along with AT activity monitoring, allow physicians to normalize antithrombin levels during the high-risk situations of surgery and childbirth.

“ATryn provides physicians with a safe and effective new treatment option for restoring and maintaining antithrombin levels,” said study co-investigator Michael Paidas, M.D., associate professor and director, Yale Women and Children’s Center for Blood Disorders. “This is important because these patients have a very high risk of venous thromboembolism that can lead to serious and potentially life threatening complications.”

Antithrombin is a naturally occurring protein that helps regulate the blood clotting mechanism in the body. People with HD AT have reduced antithrombin activity, putting them at increased risk for venous thromboembolic events (VTE), including pulmonary embolism and DVT. These patients are at particular risk during surgery and childbirth procedures, when antithrombin levels are often low and need to be carefully managed.

“Data presented show that these validated, individualized dosing algorithms can be used in these different HD AT patient populations, which allows physicians to adjust antithrombin levels based on the fluctuating needs,” said Dr. Paidas.

ATryn was created to provide a safe and reliable supply of recombinant antithrombin. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2009 for the prevention of peri-operative and peri-partum thromboembolic events in patients with HD AT, it is the only recombinant form of antithrombin available in the world. Prior to the availability of ATryn, HD AT patients undergoing surgery or giving birth requiring an antithrombin therapy received treatment derived from human plasma. ATryn is not formulated with human plasma proteins.

Efficacy and Safety Results (Abstract PP-WE-405; Presented July 15, 2009)

The first poster provided a pooled analysis of two Phase III studies (N=32) evaluating the efficacy and safety of ATryn in patients with HD AT undergoing surgery (11 patients) or childbirth procedures (21 patients). Patients were administered ATryn intravenously to maintain antithrombin activity within normal range (80% to 120%). The incidence of acute DVT or other venous thromboembolic events was assessed within seven days of treatment discontinuation. Safety was based on adverse events and laboratory evaluations.

One patient had an asymptomatic, acute DVT that was seen on duplex ultrasound. No other patients had a confirmed thromboembolism up to seven days after cessation of treatment with ATryn. Of note, one patient was diagnosed with DVT 10 days after cessation of ATryn treatment and one patient was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism 14 days after finishing ATryn treatment, which reflect the high risk of VTE in HD AT patients and the need for sufficient follow-up anticoagulation.

The first poster also included a safety analysis which involved 47 patients from three studies (including a pharmacokinetic study). Adverse events were reported in 72 percent of patients and reflect those typically anticipated during the peri-partum and peri-operative period. Fifteen percent of patients reported an adverse event that was thought to be possibly related to ATryn, but none of these led to withdrawal from the study. Significant hemorrhage was reported in three patients: two of these episodes were associated with excessive heparin levels at the time of hemorrhage. The most commonly reported adverse events were anemia, vomiting, and headache (each 10.6%).

Dosing Algorithm Results (Abstract PP-TH-414; Presented July 16, 2009)

The second poster described the development and validation of a dosing algorithm using these two Phase III studies to help physicians maintain optimal levels of antithrombin in HD AT patients during high-risk surgical and childbirth procedures.

The analysis of AT levels from the first Phase III study (N=14: 9 pregnant and 5 surgical patients) that used the same dosing algorithm for pregnant and surgical patients found that pregnant HD AT patients have a higher clearance and volume of distribution than surgical patients, which led to the development of a specific dosing algorithm for pregnant patients.

The second study (N=18: 12 pregnant and 6 surgical) used a dosing formula based on patient type (pregnant or surgical) and, in most patients, AT level normalization markedly improved. Overall, a median of only one (range 0-6) infusion rate adjustment per patient was needed during treatment of a median of 3.2 days (range 0.9 ““ 14).

These studies support the use of separate dosing algorithms for pregnant and surgical patients.

—

On the Net:

• Edelman Public Relations

Cystic fibrosis medicines that help to break down mucus in the lungs may carry an unexpected long-term benefit, a study suggests.

The treatments not only help breathing in the short term – they may also make lung infections develop to be less harmful in the long run, research from the University of Edinburgh shows.

Scientists studied how bacteria which infect the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients gather nutrients from their surroundings. The work builds on the knowledge that most bacteria co-operate to scavenge what they need from their environment, but some bacteria do not actively hunt, instead stealing nutrients from neighboring bacteria.

Scientists found that in a viscous environment, similar to thick mucus, the co-operating type of bacteria is most common. However, in a more liquid environment – similar to mucus having been broken down by medicine – the number of thieving bacteria increases, eventually outnumbering the scavenging type. In this environment, because the thieving bacteria are less adept at obtaining food, the bacterial growth slows down.

The results suggest that liquefying lung mucus would be expected to limit the impact of infection in cystic fibrosis.

Dr Rolf Kuemmerli, formerly a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said: “Treating cystic fibrosis patients with drugs that clear their lungs delivers short-term relief for the patient, but may have long-term health benefits too. We hope that our findings will underline the need for treatments that target mucus in the lungs.”

Dr Freya Harrison of the University of Bath, who took part in the study, added: “Bacterial infections develop over time, and understanding how medical treatments affect this could be very important for managing long-term infections such as those found in cystic fibrosis.”

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition that affects more than 8,000 people in the UK, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Thick mucus can clog the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, making it hard to breathe and digest food.

————-

On The Net:

University of Edinburgh

A vaccine to contend with the mounting swine flu pandemic is not going to be readily available for months as the death toll from the virus increases, according to a statement made by the world’s top health official on Wednesday.

World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan made the comments after Australia and Japan reported a surge in cases of the A(H1N1) virus, and Argentina experienced a sharp increase in the number of deaths from 94 to 137 in just three days.

“There’s no vaccine. One should be available soon, in August. But having a vaccine available is not the same as having a vaccine that has proven safe,” Chan told Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

The swine flu viruses currently being used to develop a vaccine do not contain enough of the ingredient needed for the vaccine, therefore WHO has requested that its laboratory network produce a new set of viruses as soon as possible.

Countering health officials in Britain and elsewhere who claimed the first stocks would start arriving in August, she added “clinical trial data will not be available for another two to three months.”

Referring to the pandemic as “unstoppable”, WHO director of vaccine research Marie-Paul Kieny had said Monday that a swine flu vaccine should be available as early as September.

In order to immunize almost a third of its population, Germany said it planned on having to order nearly 25 million doses of vaccine.

The country hit the hardest of the Asia-Pacific region was Australia, which has already placed an order in advance for 21 million doses. That would be enough to immunize its entire population.

The reason for the higher numbers in Australia and Argentina is because they are now in the southern hemispheric winter, and officials fear a major rise in infections when the northern hemisphere enters the colder months of winter when regular influenza becomes rampant.

Deputy health minister Ferruccio Fazio predicts that Italy might be dealing with between three and four million cases of swine flu by March 2010.

WHO’s vaccine experts have recommended that countries choose which groups should get first dibs on the vaccine. They advised it be given to people such as pregnant women, people with chronic respiratory problems or obesity, children, and possibly young to middle-aged adults, who have been disproportionately affected by the virus.

Around 8.6 million Italians would have been vaccinated against the A(H1N1) virus by the end of this year, with the most vulnerable and emergency workers being treated first, he said.

In terms of fatalities, Argentina’s new death toll made it the nation hit the worst after the United States, which has 211 deaths and 37,000 confirmed infections according to the latest numbers.

The third most afflicted country is Mexico with 124 deaths and 12,521 infections. They reported Tuesday that swine flu cases were increasing in number up in the southeast, particularly in Chiapas state near Guatemala.

On Wednesday, health ministers from six South American countries were to meet in order to plan a coordinated response. Argentina was set to host the meeting of ministers from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The WHO’s global swine flu death count hit 429 with over 94,500 infections tallied worldwide before including the latest numbers from Argentina.

The total of swine flu cases in Australia had reached 10,387, which accounts for more than 10% of the WHO’s global total. The country believes that the swine flu was responsible for the deaths of around 20 people.

Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the actual number might be higher, and therefore said that health authorities are worrying about a growing number of serious cases in young people.

“We do see that there are some people who are young and otherwise healthy who have the rapidly deteriorating disease … it’s obviously concerning,” she said.

On Wednesday, a nationwide protest was called by around 15,000 doctors in Peru demanding more effective prevention against the infamous swine flu, which has claimed at least five lives and infected around 2,000 people in the South American nation.

“We demand addressing adequately the needs of hospitals in order to prevent further mistakes in the treatment of swine flu and to avoid more deaths,” Leoncio Diaz, president of the Peruvian Medical Federation, told AFP.

French football club AS Nancy cancelled their pre-season trip to Britain, Europe’s hardest hit country, out of fear of contracting the virus.

—

On the Net:

• WHO
• CDC

On Tuesday, Medtronic Inc. said that it received regulatory approval in Europe for an implantable brain simulator to treat patients that suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The company, which is based out of Minneapolis, said the approval marks the first time any type of deep brain simulation has gained CE Mark approval for treatment of a psychiatric disorder.

The battery-powered device is implanted near the collarbone or abdomen, and is then connected by a wire to electrodes placed in the brain. 

It received U.S. approval in February through a humanitarian device exemption.  The device’s approval allows treatment of a condition affecting less than 4,000 people a year.

OCD is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by constant upsetting thoughts, which causes the person to perform an action repeatedly in an attempt to dispel them.

The neurostimulator, according to Medtronic, is used for its Reclaim Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy.  This is also used to treat common movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease and dystonia.

The device is similar to a pacemaker because it delivers electrical pulses to targeted areas of the brain.

However, the device will use a unique lead, or wire, because the area of the brain targeted for OCD is different.

Medtronic said it also plans to conduct a post-market study of the therapy at a minimum of eights sites in Europe.

Material was recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry from research into DBS therapy for OCD.  This article showed the research had a reduction of symptoms and functional improvement in about two-thirds of the patients studied.  Medtronic said that a majority of the patients moved from a severe OCD rating to a mild, or moderate, rating after the device was implanted.

Medtronic announced that it is also studying Reclaim DBS therapy in treatment-resistant depression.

—

On the Net:

• Medtronic Inc.
• Molecular Psychiatry

A study by Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’s Assistant Professor
Li Hoi Yeung, Assistant Professor Koh Cheng Gee and their team have
made an important contribution to the understanding of the process that
cells go through when they die. This process known as “Ëœapoptosis’ or programmed cell death, is a normal process in the human body which removes perhaps a million cells a second.

According to Professor Li, they discovered that during apoptosis, the cell’s rescue mechanism is inhibited when certain proteins (i.e. “Ëœanti-factors’ that are necessary to keep a cell alive) are no longer able to enter the cell’s nucleus, thus stopping the cell’s ability to initiate its self-repair process.

In addition, they also discovered that the protein RanGTP, which is involved in the transportation of certain proteins into and out of the cell’s nucleus, is reduced greatly during the early stages of apoptosis.

Under normal circumstances, there is a high distribution of RanGTP in the nucleus and a low concentration of RanGTP in the cytoplasm (the body enveloping the cell’s nucleus). It is this gradient of RanGTP that exist across the nuclear-cytoplasmic boundaries that serves as a track and directs the transport of proteins and other molecules into and out of the nucleus. Hence, when the concentration of RanGTP is reduced in the nucleus, the RanGTP gradient collapses and the nuclear transport machinery subsequently shuts down.

Too little or too much apoptosis plays a role in a great many diseases. When programmed cell death does not work right, cells that should be eliminated may linger around and become immortal – for example, in cancer and leukemia. When apoptosis works overly well, it kills too many cells and inflicts grave tissue damage. This is the case in strokes and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington and Parkinson diseases.

While it is established that cells undergo apoptosis when they are damaged by mechanical injury, exposed to death stimuli, or under stress, the mechanism that initiates apoptosis has not been comprehensively resolved. Thus the study by Professor Li, Professor Koh and their team at NTU have provided new insights on the process that cells go through while experiencing apoptosis.

The team has written a paper that was recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Cell Biology. The paper has also been selected for Faculty of 1000 Biology, an award-winning online service that highlights and evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of over 2000 of the world’s top researchers.

————-

On The Net:

AlphaGalileo

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have turned simple baker’s yeast into a virtual army of medicinal chemists capable of rapidly searching for drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease.

In a study published online today in Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers showed that they can rescue yeast cells from toxic levels of a protein implicated in Parkinson’s disease by stimulating the cells to make very small proteins called cyclic peptides. Two of the cyclic peptides had a protective effect on the yeast cells and on neurons in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease.

“This biological approach to compound development opens up an entirely new direction for drug discovery, not only for Parkinson’s disease, but theoretically for any disease where key aspects of the pathology can be reproduced in yeast,” says Margaret Sutherland, Ph.D., a program director at NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). “A key step for the future will be to identify the cellular pathways that are affected by these cyclic peptides.”

The research emerged from the lab of Susan Lindquist, Ph.D., a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Dr. Lindquist is also an investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/MIT Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson’s Research, one of 14 such centers funded by NINDS to develop treatment breakthroughs for Parkinson’s disease. The study received additional funding from NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the American Parkinson’s Disease Association.

Parkinson’s disease attacks cells in a part of the brain responsible for motor control and coordination. As those neurons degenerate, the disease leads to progressive deterioration of motor function including involuntary shaking, slowed movement, stiffened muscles, and impaired balance. The neurons normally produce a chemical called dopamine. A synthetic precursor of dopamine called L-DOPA or drugs that mimic dopamine’s action can provide symptomatic relief from Parkinson’s disease. Unfortunately, these drugs lose much of their effectiveness in later stages of the disease, and there is currently no means to slow the disease’s progressive course.

In most cases, the cause of Parkinson’s disease is unknown, but there are recent, tantalizing clues. Investigators have discovered that vulnerable brain cells in patients with Parkinson’s disease accumulate a protein called alpha-synuclein. Moreover, genetic abnormalities in alpha-synuclein cause a rare familial form of the disease. Dr. Lindquist and her team previously showed that when yeast cells are engineered to produce large amounts of human alpha-synuclein, they die.

In their new study, Dr. Lindquist and her team tested whether yeast could make cyclic peptides that would save them from alpha-synuclein’s toxicity. Cyclic peptides are fragments of protein that connect end-to-end to form a circle. Although cyclic peptides are synthetic, they resemble structures that are found in natural proteins and protein-based drugs, including pain killers, antibiotics and immunosuppressants. Cyclic peptides that suppress alpha-synuclein toxicity could be candidate drugs for Parkinson’s disease, or they could help researchers identify new drug targets for the disease.

“Our technique, which capitalizes on a long line of investigation in my lab, will lead to a whole new way to obtain small molecule tools useful for improving our understanding of disease mechanisms and for developing new therapies,” says Dr. Lindquist. She notes that her lab and others have modeled many human diseases in yeast and in other kinds of cells.

Joshua Kritzer, Ph.D., a chemist and postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Lindquist’s lab, designed and executed the cyclic peptide strategy. His procedure involves exposing yeast cells to short snippets of DNA that the cells can absorb and use to make cyclic peptides. Then, he flips the genetic switch that causes the cells to produce toxic levels of alpha-synuclein. If the yeast make cyclic peptides that suppress alpha-synuclein toxicity, they live; if not, they die. This simple assay enables testing millions of cyclic peptides simultaneously in millions of yeast cells. The process is extremely rapid and much less expensive compared to other techniques used to screen large number of chemicals with an eye toward new drugs.

“We are making the yeast do a ton of work for us. They make the compounds and then they tell us which ones are functional,” Dr. Kritzer says. Out of a library of 50 million cyclic peptides, only two saved the yeast from alpha-synuclein toxicity.

Dr. Lindquist’s team collaborated with other researchers to test these two cyclic peptides in C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm with a small number of dopamine-producing neurons that are easy to examine and count. Those neurons are vulnerable to alpha-synuclein toxicity, but they were less vulnerable and more likely to survive in worms that were genetically modified to make either of the two cyclic peptides. Guy Caldwell, Ph.D., and Kim Caldwell, Ph.D., professors of biology at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa developed this C. elegans model, and performed the testing.

The researchers have not yet determined why the cyclic peptides are protective. They found that the cyclic peptides do not affect a system of transport inside cells known as vesicle trafficking ““ which was a surprise, since alpha-synuclein and other proteins that have been implicated in human Parkinson’s disease are believed to play a role in vesicle trafficking. However, the researchers observed that the two peptides share a structure that may hold clues to their targets.

“This protein structure has important biological functions,” says Dr. Kritzer. It is found in a class of antioxidant proteins known as thioredoxins, in proteins that shuttle metals around a cell, and in proteins that regulate gene activity. The connection to antioxidants and to metals ties into other lines of research. NINDS is currently supporting clinical trials in patients to test whether specific antioxidants slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. High doses of heavy metals such as lead, manganese, iron and mercury are known to be toxic to brain cells.

The researchers are conducting further experiments to explore how cyclic peptides prevent cell death. They are also adapting their system for making cyclic peptides so that it can be used in other cell types (including human cells) and other diseases.

————–

On The Net:

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Overcoming the biggest obstacle to improving Alzheimer’s treatments

Partnering with local physicians, working with local clinics, and conducting educational seminars and health fairs were found to be the most effective tools in recruiting people for Alzheimer’s clinical studies, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.

Surprisingly, patient registries and Internet recruiting were found to be much less successful recruitment strategies, according to staff at the U.S. Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADCs). The National Institute on Aging (NIA) funds 30 ADCs at major medical institutions across the nation. (http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/)

“Second only to inadequate funding, recruiting participants for clinical studies is the single greatest barrier to developing better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease,” according to William Thies, PhD, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at the Alzheimer’s Association. “These studies give us clear information ““ from people who are conducting large scale clinical trials now ““ on how we may recruit participants better and faster in the future.”

In another study looking specifically at recruiting African Americans for Alzheimer’s genetics studies, researchers in North Carolina and Florida found that having a relative with the disease, use of minority study personnel, and monetary compensation were the most powerful incentives for participation in research.

Successful Recruitment Strategies from the U.S. Alzheimer’s Disease Centers

Tamara Markgraf, MBA, Research Program Manager at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Madison and colleagues interviewed 22 administrators and outreach staff from 20 ADCs about their recruitment strategies and outcomes.

They found that all ADCs utilize community outreach and educational seminars to promote clinical study participation. 17 centers visit health-fairs; 15 recruit from patient clinics. 10 centers reported that the most successful recruitment strategy was recruitment from clinics. Other successful strategies included word of mouth (4) and referrals from physicians (3).

All the ADCs reported partnering with outside organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association. Several have linked with churches, church groups, or church leaders in efforts to boost recruitment, in particular minority recruitment. Many tried sending out postcards to high density postal codes, and other mass mailings. Advertising was not an option for most of those who reported, due to budget constraints.

Recruitment hurdles reported included minority recruitment (8) and inclusion/exclusion criteria (6). Half of ADCs utilize a recruitment registry with databases ranging from 200 to more than 1,500. Interestingly, only six of 20 sites reported their registry as a “beneficial” recruitment tool. In addition, although all ADCs have a website, few (7) see it as a beneficial, active tool for clinical study recruitment. In fact, the Internet was found to be the least successful reported strategy. Despite identified hurdles, 13 of the ADCs report meeting annual recruitment goals.

“Our data suggest that successful recruitment is a result of a comprehensive recruitment plan,” Markgraf said. “The successful ADCs promote study participation while conducting community educational events, and they actively partner with outside physicians. The professionals we interviewed told us that they best way to meet recruitment goals is to get the support of the local community and physicians.”

Encouraging African American Participation in Alzheimer’s Genetics Studies

Despite government regulations on inclusion of women and minorities in clinical research, such as the 1993 Revitalization Act, ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in biomedical research studies and clinical trials, including Alzheimer’s studies. As part of an effort to recruit African Americans for an Alzheimer’s disease genetics study, Goldie S. Byrd, PhD, Nathan F. Simms Endowed Professor in the Department of Biology at North Carolina A&T State University, and colleagues surveyed 500 African American adults to investigate perceptions and inform recruitment efforts for Alzheimer’s research participation.

They found that having a relative with the disease, use of minority study personnel, and monetary compensation were the most powerful incentives for participation of African Americans in Alzheimer’s genetic research. In addition, partnerships with churches and influential community leaders were found to yield significantly greater interest and participation.

“Among survey respondents who had never participated in a research study, 60 percent of those in the 60 to 69 age range with a family history of Alzheimer’s were very willing to participate, independent of their knowledge of historical research atrocities such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,” Byrd said.

The researchers found that African Americans were willing to participate in several types of research studies, including surveys, focus groups, clinical trials, and genetic studies ““ surveys were the most preferred form of participation in all age groups. Though 72% of respondents indicated a willingness to participate if blood samples were needed, enthusiasm for such studies diminished as age increased.

“Large percentages of African Americans are willing participants for Alzheimer’s genetic studies, if culturally sensitive techniques are used to recruit them,” Byrd said.

Why People with Alzheimer’s and Their Relatives Participate in Clinical Studies

In order to further inform the clinical study recruitment process, Ulrika Akenine, MS, a registered nurse at the Memory Clinic, Geriatrics Department, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, and colleagues investigated the motives and expectations of people with dementia and their relatives for participating in Alzheimer’s research trials.

For the study, 19 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, average age 66 years, and their relatives (20 caregivers) participating in five different vaccination studies at the clinic answered a questionnaire during October and November 2008. Primary motives to participate for both patients and their relatives were helping science and contributing to research, hope for easing of symptoms or cure, and getting access to more information about the disease. Patients and relatives reported that access to medical expertise and regular health checkups were advantages of study participation.

Among the disadvantages were the risk of receiving placebo, discomfort/pain during sample-taking and exams, and the risk of side effects. People with Alzheimer’s reported to a greater extent than caregivers that they did not see any disadvantages to participating in a research study.

“Research on Alzheimer’s is intense, and there is great hope for new drugs that will ease the impact of the disease,” Akenine said. “Many people with dementia and caregivers will face the question of whether to participate in clinical trials. We hope our research helps inform healthcare providers, advocacy organizations, and pharmaceutical companies who have increasing need to address these questions.”

—

On the Net:

• Alzheimer’s Association

Medications and lifestyle changes help manage asthma, but they will not actually cure it, according to an expert at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu).  

“You still have airway inflammation that needs to be treated,” said Dr. Nicola Hanania (http://www.bcm.edu/medicine/pulmonary/?pmid=4506), associate professor of medicine at BCM.  

Asthma affects about 24 million Americans and has a higher prevalence in the inner city population, said Hanania. Treatment for asthma depends on its severity and incorporates anti-inflammatory medications and lifestyle changes.

“You have to control the environment and irritants to which you are exposed,” said Hanania.

He stresses controlling indoor allergens such as dust mites and mold, as well as controlling exposure to second hand smoke.   

Although asthma symptoms may not be as apparent when medication and lifestyle changes are incorporated, asthma is not actually cured. If medication or lifestyle changes are stopped, signs of poor control will appear. These include exacerbations and an increased use of an inhaler. This can lead to emergency room visits, hospitalizations and sometimes even death.  

Hanania suggests proper education about asthma, including the use of inhaler devices, avoiding exposure to irritants, taking medications and monitoring asthma on a daily basis. He also emphasizes having an action plan and knowing when to get help or when to go to the emergency room.

It is possible for adults to develop asthma even though it was not present previously. It is difficult to identify asthma symptoms in older adults since symptoms can be related to other illnesses. Hanania and other researchers are studying why this occurs and how older adults can better manage their asthma.  

————

On The Net:

BCM

U.S. scientists say they have completed successful tests on a once-a-month pill for controlling fleas and ticks in dogs and cats.

Peter Meinke and colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories said there is a need for better ways of controlling fleas and ticks, because many of the 71 million pets in the United States live so closely with their owners.

Although many powders, sprays and other topical agents are on the market, many pet owners prefer the convenience of pills, Meinke says.

The study, published in the Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, says in tests on dogs and cats, a single dose of the new pill was 100 percent effective in protecting against both fleas and ticks for a month. In addition, there were no signs of toxic effects on the animals.

Scientists obtained the flea and tick fighter from a substance first found in a fungus that has the potential to usher in a new era in the treatment of ecoparasitic — ticks and fleas — infestations in companion animals, the researchers say.

Parents compensate for a lazy partner by working harder to bring up their offspring, but not enough to completely make up for the lack of parenting, says research by bird biologists at the University of Bath.

In nature, it is quite rare for both parents to be involved in raising young, but it is very common in birds, some fish and primates including humans. Researchers therefore wanted to find out why, for some animals, parents stick together.

The study, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, analysed more than 50 previous studies of birds to understand why and how they share their parental duties.

The research was led by Dr Freya Harrison and Professor Tamás Sz©kely at the Biodiversity lab at the University of Bath, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Debrecen (Hungary).

Dr Harrison explained: “Caring for offspring is essential for their survival in many species, but it is also very costly in time and effort. Time spent bringing up your young means lost opportunities for remating and having more offspring, so parents face a trade-off between caring for current offspring and creating future offspring.

“This creates a conflict of interest between parents, since each parent would benefit by leaving their partner holding the baby whilst they go off and start a new brood elsewhere.

“This is exactly what happens in most animal species, so we wanted to understand how and why animals like birds and primates have evolved the tendency to share their parental duties.”

The researchers analysed data published over the last 30 years on parenting in birds to see if there was a common pattern in the behaviour of all the species studied.

Dr Harrison said: “In our study we found that if one parent starts slacking off or deserts, its mate works harder to bring up the brood, but not so hard as to completely compensate for their partner’s laziness.

“Some say that marriage is a state of antagonistic cooperation – in this case we found that the secret to a stable pairing was to only partially compensate for your lazy partner’s failings, to make sure that they stick around.”

Professor Innes Cuthill, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Bristol, added: “Of course, we are not claiming that fish and birds, or even humans, are necessarily making a consciously calculated decision.

“More likely there are innate rules for responding, perhaps modified through learning, that allow successful participation in joint activities without leaving room for being exploited.”

The researchers hope that this work could help scientists better understand how biparental care has evolved in humans.

The study was supported by the European Commission coordination action project: Integrating Cooperation Research Across Europe (INCORE).

————-

On The Net:

AlphaGalileo

Injections of THC, the active principle of cannabis, eliminate dependence on opiates (morphine, heroin) in rats deprived of their mothers at birth. This has been shown by a study carried out by Val©rie Daug© and her team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (UPMC / CNRS / INSERM) in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. The findings could lead to therapeutic alternatives to existing substitution treatments.

In order to study psychiatric disorders, neurobiologists use animal models, especially maternal deprivation models. Depriving rats of their mothers for several hours a day after their birth leads to a lack of care and to early stress. The lack of care, which takes place during a period of intense neuronal development, is liable to cause lasting brain dysfunction. Val©rie Daug©’s team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (UPMC / CNRS / Inserm) analyzed the effects of maternal deprivation combined with injections of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active principle in cannabis, on behavior with regard to opiates.

Previously, Daug© and her colleagues had shown that rats deprived of their mothers at birth become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and heroin (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly become dependent. In addition, there is a correlation between such behavioral disturbances linked to dependence, and hypoactivity of the enkephalinergic system, the endogenous opioid system.

To these rats, placed under stress from birth, the researchers intermittently administered increasingly high doses of THC (5 or 10 mg/kg) during the period corresponding to their adolescence (between 35 and 48 days after birth). By measuring their consumption of morphine in adulthood, they observed that, unlike results previously obtained, the rats no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. Moreover, biochemical and molecular biological data corroborate these findings. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC.

Such animal models are validated for understanding the neurobiological and behavioral effects of postnatal conditions in humans. In this context, the findings point to the development of new treatments that could relieve withdrawal effects and suppress drug dependence.

The enkephalinergic system produces endogenous enkephalins, which are neurotransmitters that bind to the same receptors as opiates and inhibit pain messages to the brain.

————

On The Net:

AlphaGalileo

In a move that has the good people of California scratching their heads in perplexity, state lawmakers recently passed a measure that would eventually require medical marijuana””prescribed most frequently to alleviate suffering in patients with severe cancer””to carry a warning label telling of its potential cancer-causing risks.

Last month state environmental regulators decided that cannabis should be added to its official list of substances known to cause cancer, which will likely lead to warning signs in marijuana dispensaries and cautionary labels on product packaging.  

In a 1996 referendum, Californians voted to legalize the leafy green stuff for patients ailing under serious diseases such as AIDS, cancer and glaucoma.  A number of research studies have pointed to the unique benefits of marijuana in counteracting the pain, nausea and “wasting-effect” that often accompanies the late stages of AIDS and cancer in particular.

Defenders of pot legalization have argued that scientists have long known that marijuana smoke contains carcinogens, but that this does not necessarily prove a causal relationship with cancer.

Regulators have countered this claim however, pointing to studies conducted by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in which “marijuana smoke was clearly shown, through scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles, to cause cancer,” according to an agency statement.

Dr. Thomas Mack, a University of Southern California epidemiologist and chairman of the committee, said the decision to add marijuana smoke to the official list of cancer-causing substances is no big shocker.

“If you take a piece of vegetable material, a leaf, and burn it, you’re going to get the type of compounds that cause cancer,” explained Mack.

Still, Mack agrees to some extent with the defenders of marijuana legalization, saying that the data linking marijuana smoke to cancer is only “suggestive” and by no means conclusive.

Critics of the regulatory decision have pointed to a number of methodological flaws in the studies reviewed by the committee, such as the inclusion of data from studies conducted in North Africa, where marijuana is typically mixed with tobacco.

There is by no means a consensus in the scientific community regarding the relationship between pot smoke and cancer.  One 2006 study even indicated that marijuana smokers may actually be at a reduced risk of developing cancer than nonsmokers.

“If they want to classify marijuana smoke as carcinogenic, then that is true. It contains carcinogens,” said Donald Tashkin, a longtime marijuana researcher at the University of California. “That doesn’t mean it causes cancer.”

Ironically, the regulators’ authority to list marijuana as a cancer-causing substance derives from another voter-approved measure known as Proposition 65, which instructs state health officials to compile a list of all substances that can lead to cancer, birth defects or reproductive abnormalities.

First instituted in 1986, critics contend that the list of dangerous substances has grown absurdly long, including such common products as aspirin, gasoline, potato chips and French fries.

Dr. Frank Lucido of Berkeley, vice president of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, is a true believer in the benefits of medical marijuana and says that he has been prescribing it to patients since it first became legal in 1996.  The AACD is a recently formed organization of physicians who study and advise standards for medical marijuana use.

Lucido says that while he will not stop prescribing marijuana as a result of the legislation, he may begin suggesting that patients take it in a smoke-free form, such as marijuana-infused foods or vaporizers.

“Obviously, it’s never good to breathe smoke if you can avoid it,” Lucido said.

————

On The Net:

USC