New Drugs Hope To Fight Neglected Tropical Disease
March 31, 2010
Scientists at the University of York, working with research colleagues in Dundee and Toronto, have made a breakthrough in identifying new treatments for a parasitic disease which proves fatal for tens of thousands of Africans each year.
Their findings, published in the latest edition of the journal Nature, describe a new approach to tackling the disease, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), commonly known as sleeping sickness. The new research shows promise for the development of effective, orally administered, low toxicity drugs.
Each year, around 50,000-70,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa contract the disease spread by the bite of the tsetse fly. HAT gets its more common name from the disturbance of the sleep cycle caused by the parasites infecting the brain.
This second stage of the disease is particularly difficult to treat in poverty-stricken rural areas. Of the two drugs currently available, one – an arsenic-based drug – has fatal side effects in around one in 20 patients, and the other, eflornithine, is costly, requires prolonged hospital treatment and is not effective against all forms of the disease. Increasing reports of treatment failures with these drugs is causing concern that soon there may be no effective treatment for this fatal disease.
Researchers Harness The Power Of Plants To Fight Hemophilia
March 31, 2010
Hemophilia, a disease linked with legends of European monarchs, frail heirs and one flamboyant charlatan called Rasputin, still afflicts many people today.
And the very treatments that can help can also put patients’ lives at risk.
The standard treatment is infusion with an expensively produced protein that helps the blood to clot. But in some patients the immune system fights the therapy, and in a subset of those, it sets off an allergic reaction that can result in death.
Now researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida have devised a way that potentially could help patients develop tolerance to the therapeutic protein before they are in need of treatment.
Rx For Health: Engineers Design Pill That Signals It Has Been Swallowed
March 31, 2010
Call them tattletale pills.
Seeking a way to confirm that patients have taken their medication, University of Florida engineering researchers have added a tiny microchip and digestible antenna to a standard pill capsule. The prototype is intended to pave the way for mass-produced pills that, when ingested, automatically alert doctors, loved ones or scientists working with patients in clinical drug trials.
“It is a way to monitor whether your patient is taking their medication in a timely manner,” said Rizwan Bashirullah, UF assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering.
Such a pill is needed because many patients forget, refuse or bungle the job of taking their medication. This causes or exacerbates medical problems, spurs hospitalizations or expensive medical procedures and undercuts clinical trials of new drugs.
Iowa State NWRC Study Finds Flaxseed Lowers High Cholesterol In Men
March 30, 2010
A new study from Iowa State University’s Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) may give men a way to combat high cholesterol without drugs — if they don’t mind sprinkling some flaxseed into their daily diet.
Suzanne Hendrich, an ISU professor in food science and human nutrition, led a study that examined the effects of flaxseed lignan in 90 people diagnosed with high cholesterol. The results showed that consuming at least 150 milligrams of flaxseed lignans per day (about three tablespoons) decreased cholesterol in men, but not women, by just under 10 percent over the three months that they were given the flaxseed.
While Hendrich admits that’s considerably less than the expected outcome from cholesterol-lowering drugs — approximately 10 to20 percent for three months, depending on the individual — it’s still enough to make flaxseed a more natural option for some men.
“Because there are people who can’t take something like Lipitor, this could at least give you some of that cholesterol-lowering benefit,” Hendrich said. “The other thing is, there are certainly some people who would prefer to not use a drug, but rather use foods to try to maintain their health. So this potentially would be something to consider.”
As Use of Herbal Remedies Soars, Patients Taking These and Cardiovascular Medications May be at Heightened Risk of Dangerous, Potentially Life-Threatening Interactions
March 30, 2010
More and more Americans are turning to herbal remedies to help manage chronic conditions or promote general health and wellness. But many of today’s popular herbal supplements, including St. John’s wort, gingko biloba, garlic and even grapefruit juice can pose serious risks to people who are taking medications for heart disease, according to a review article published in the Feb. 9, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The use of these products is especially concerning among elderly patients who typically have co-morbidities, take multiple medications and are already at greater risk of bleeding, according to authors.
“Many people have a false sense of security about these herbal products because they are seen as ‘natural,’” said Arshad Jahangir, M.D., cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and senior author of the study. He added that more than 15 million Americans reportedly use herbal remedies or high-dose vitamins. “But ‘natural’ doesn’t always mean they are safe. Every compound we consume has some effect on the body, which is, in essence, why people are taking these products to begin with,” he added.
In addition to their direct effects on body function, these herbs can interact with medications used to treat heart disease, either reducing their effectiveness or increasing their potency, which may lead to bleeding or a greater risk for serious cardiac arrhythmias.
Leptin Therapy in Animal Models Shows Promise for Type 1 Diabetes
March 26, 2010
Using leptin alone in place of standard insulin therapy shows promise in abating symptoms of type 1 diabetes, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.
UT Southwestern researchers, using mouse models, found that leptin administered instead of insulin showed better management of blood-sugar variability and lipogenesis, the conversion of simple sugars into fatty acids. Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of body weight.
Dr. Roger Unger, professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern, led the study whose findings are available online and in a future issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Insulin treatment has been the gold standard for type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes) in humans since its discovery in 1922. Dr. Unger’s laboratory found that insulin’s benefit resulted from its suppression of glucagon, a hormone produced by the pancreas that raises blood sugar levels in healthy individuals.
Novel Grant Supports Drug Discovery Effort
March 26, 2010
A $10 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health has established Vanderbilt’s Program in Drug Discovery as a National Cooperative Drug Discovery and Development Group (NCDDDG).
The five-year grant will support efforts to find novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of schizophrenia.
“This is one of the first examples of the NIH funding a fully integrated drug discovery effort, with the large team of investigators it takes to move ideas from basic science findings all the way to novel therapeutics,” said P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Program in Drug Discovery and co-principal investigator with Craig Lindsley, Ph.D., director of Medicinal Chemistry, of the NCDDDG.
The program’s other leaders — internationally recognized in their respective areas of drug discovery — are Carrie Jones, Ph.D., director of Behavioral Pharmacology, Colleen Niswender, Ph.D., director of Molecular Pharmacology, and J. Scott Daniels, Ph.D., director of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics.
NIH Urges Investigators to Finish Research On Time
March 26, 2010
That’s the message from the National Institutes of Health to researchers around the country, including more than 150 at Vanderbilt University, who have received NIH stimulus grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The grants will provide more than $76 million to Vanderbilt researchers over the next two years to purchase major new equipment, hire additional staff and make significant progress on a host of biomedical research projects.
But while researchers can take an extra year to complete their projects (without additional federal funds), any additional extensions will require prior NIH approval, and those requests will be considered only “in very limited circumstances,” the NIH said last week.
That’s because “the primary goals of all NIH Recovery Act awards are to create U.S. jobs and increase the tempo of biomedical research,” the advisory said.
Patients At High Risk of a Heart Attack or Stroke Are Under Treated
March 26, 2010
Australian research has confirmed substantial under treatment of patients who are at risk of cardiovascular disease. The new research shows that up to 70% of patients who are at a high risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 5 years aren’t receiving the care required to prevent these conditions. Findings also show that 50% of older patients who have had a heart attack or stroke aren’t receiving the care or treatments they need to prevent a second attack.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and in Australia it is responsible for around 35% of deaths. Evidence shows the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease is to assess a patient’s absolute risk of cardiovascular disease by conducting a comprehensive review of all possible major risk factors and treat those patients identified as high risk using evidence based therapies.
“We know that the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease act together, so it’s vital that patient risk factors such as age, diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure are considered altogether to estimate their future risk of a heart attack or stroke and treated accordingly. Unfortunately our study showed that many patients who are at risk are missing out on this type of care. Practitioners are also underestimating a patient’s risk,” says lead author Dr Emma Heeley, The George Institute.
FDA Drug Safety Communication: Ongoing Safety Review Of High-Dose Zocor* (simvastatin) and Increased Risk of Muscle Injury
March 26, 2010
Based on review of data from a large clinical trial and data from other sources, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public about an increased risk of muscle injury in patients taking the highest approved dose of the cholesterol-lowering medication, Zocor (simvastatin) 80 mg, compared to patients taking lower doses of simvastatin and possibly other drugs in the “statin” class.
The clinical trial data being reviewed is from the Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine (SEARCH) trial. The agency is also reviewing data from other clinical trials, observational studies, adverse event reports, and data on prescription use of simvastatin to better understand the relationship between high-dose simvastatin use and muscle injury (see Data Summary below).
The muscle injury, also called myopathy, is a known side effect with all statin medications. Patients with myopathy generally have muscle pain, tenderness or weakness, and an elevation of a muscle enzyme in the blood (creatine kinase). The higher the dose of statin used, the greater the risk of developing myopathy. The risk of myopathy is also increased when simvastatin, especially at the higher doses, is used with certain drugs (see Simvastatin Dose Limitations below).
The most serious form of myopathy is called rhabdomyolysis. It occurs when a protein (myoglobin) is released as muscle fibers break down. Myoglobin can damage the kidneys. Patients with rhabdomyolysis may have dark or red urine and fatigue, in addition to their muscle symptoms. Damage to the kidneys from rhabdomyolysis can be so severe that patients may develop kidney failure, which can be fatal.
Known risk factors for developing rhabdomyolysis include age (> 65 years), low thyroid hormone levels (hypothyroidism), and poor kidney function. Myopathy and rhabdomyolysis are listed as possible side effects in the simvastatin and other statin drug labels.