Renal biomarkers predict risk of acute kidney injury following surgery in two large studies

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• Renal biomarkers predict risk of acute kidney injury following surgery in two large studies
• Research shows promise in the development of a vaccine against Chikungunya Virus
• Orissa cancels doctors' leave as dengue spreads
• NHRC slams health ministry for drug trial deaths
• Court stops Goa from privatising hospital
• Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite
• '45 percent of Kerala drinkers face liver disease threat'
• USF researchers get $2.6 million NIH grant to investigate new post-stroke therapy
• National Center for Systems Biology to be established at Medical College
• Polar climate change may lead to ecological change

Renal biomarkers predict risk of acute kidney injury following surgery in two large studies Posted: 13 Aug 2011 09:03 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common – but preventable -- complication after surgery that can lead to other complications or even death. The use and development of biomarkers will help physicians diagnose and treat acute kidney injury. Three protein measurements indicate who has a high risk of developing kidney injury after heart surgery, according to two studies appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. "To date, these are the largest studies in adults and children comparing and validating the performance of three of the most frequently studied markers of kidney injury," said author Chirag Parikh, MD, PhD (Yale University School of Medicine). The studies included more than 1,200 adults and 300 children undergoing heart surgery throughout North America. Frequent urine and blood samples were collected to measure levels of three proteins -- urine interleukin-18 (IL-18) and urine and plasma (blood) neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)—and assess their ability to predict who will develop kidney injury after surgery. Traditionally, kidney trouble is assessed by measuring the blood protein creatinine, which is not ideal because it has a delayed result—it does not pick up early damage and injury to the kidneys. "We demonstrated that the three proteins in our study identify kidney injury soon after surgery and 24 to 48 hours earlier than creatinine, and shows a similar result," according to Parikh. Risk of kidney injury was especially high—more than six times higher—for adults and children with the highest levels of urine IL-18. Plasma NGAL also predicted kidney injury in adults, whereas urine NGAL was not an accurate predictor in adults once results were adjusted for other factors. Urine IL-18 and urine, but not plasma, NGAL were accurate predictors in children. Doctors may wish to measure these urine or blood proteins immediately after surgery to predict which... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Research shows promise in the development of a vaccine against Chikungunya Virus Posted: 13 Aug 2011 08:52 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers have developed a new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that produces an intensely painful and often chronic arthritic disease that has stricken millions of people in India, Southeast Asia and Africa. A single dose of the experimental vaccine protected lab mice from infection with the virus, according to a paper published online in the journal PLoS Pathogens by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Inviragen, Inc., of Ft. Collins, Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Alabama. "Currently, we have no approved treatment or vaccine for chikungunya, and there's a real need for an effective vaccine to protect against this debilitating and economically devastating infection," said Scott Weaver, director of UTMB's Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory and senior author of the paper. "Everything we've seen so far suggests this vaccine candidate could fill that need." The experimental vaccine is a "recombinant live-attenuated vaccine" created by genetically modifying the chikungunya virus using techniques developed with the initial support from the Western Regional Center of Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, headquartered at UTMB. The resulting vaccine strain differs from wild-type chikungunya virus in two ways: it doesn't cause disease, and it's incapable of infecting mosquitoes; the latter trait is an important safety feature to ensure that the vaccine strain cannot initiate transmission in nonendemic locations where travelers might be immunized before a trip to Africa or Asia. But it still provokes an immune response to protect against future chikungunya infections. Such a live virus vaccine would also be relatively economical to produce in large quantities — an important factor... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Orissa cancels doctors' leave as dengue spreads Posted: 13 Aug 2011 12:35 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 - Orissa Saturday cancelled the leave of doctors working in three state-run medical colleges after a spurt in dengue cases in 11 of the state's 30 districts. The three medical college-cum-hospitals, which are also the main testing centres for the mosquito-borne disease, are in Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla towns. 'There was no report of any death Friday. However, 54 new positive cases have been reported,' a senior state health official told IANS. He said 82 samples were tested in Sri Ram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, 26 km from here, Friday and 54 of them were found positive. With the latest cases, the total number of people infected by the virus in the state in about a fortnight has increased to 132, he said. The districts from where dengue cases have been reported so far are Angul, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Sundargarh. The disease is, however, concentrated in Angul district, which reported the highest 106 positive cases, he said. A three-member team of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, led by its deputy director Kalpana Barua, rushed to Angul Saturday to assess the situation. http://www.rxpgnews.com

NHRC slams health ministry for drug trial deaths Posted: 12 Aug 2011 06:48 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 12 - The National Human Rights Commission - Friday slammed the health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research - for the loss of hundreds of lives, allegedly because of drug trials in the country. Taking suo moto cognisance of a media report alleging that 1,725 people have lost their lives to drug trials in the last four years, the commission issued notices to the health secretary, ICMR secretary, and the Drug Controller General of India and asked them to submit their comments in the matter within four weeks. In a statement, the commission said: 'Allegedly, there has been evidence of weak monitoring of requests of the companies approaching the Drug Controller... it seems that many of the drugs tested are not even of specific relevance to the country'. The commission also sought information if there is any uniform policy of compensating the victims. 'A notice has also been sent to the Centre for Studies in Ethics and Rights, Anusandhan Trust, Mumbai seeking its comments within four weeks on the subject,' it said. The commission has also decided to take up the case of six women, who allegedly became victims of an unauthorised drug trials in Andhra Pradesh. http://www.rxpgnews.com

Court stops Goa from privatising hospital Posted: 12 Aug 2011 03:28 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Panaji, Aug 12 - The Bombay High Court in Panaji Friday put a stop to Goa's first attempt to partly privatise a district hospital, directing the government to reconsider the tendering process adopted to lease out healthcare premises to a private medical care agency. The order of the Panaji bench of Bombay High Court also asked the Goa government to set aside the letter of intent given to the Mumbai-based Radiant healthcare company Limited, which was awarded the controversial tender to operate the Asilo district hospital, located 15 km from here, on a public private partnership - basis. The high court decision caps several months of controversy surrounding the privatisation process in which the opposition has accused Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane of receiving kickbacks for awarding tender. A lower court had already ordered the filing of a first information report - against health secretary Rajiv Verma, and two senior bureaucrats, including state health director Rajnanda Desai, for a potential loss of more than Rs.700 crore over two decades, during which the hospital was to be managed by the private player. Ahemadabad-based Shalby hospitals, a rival bidder to Radiant healthcare company, which had lost in the tendering process earlier this year, had also petitioned the high court, claiming that the tendering process was rigged. http://www.rxpgnews.com

Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite Posted: 12 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery, published online this week in the journal Neuron, could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the underlying contributors to obesity. Normally, the brain produces neurotransmitters (chemicals responsible for how cells communicate in the brain) called endocannabinoids that send signals to control appetite. In this study, the researchers found that when food is not present, a stress response occurs that temporarily causes a functional re-wiring in the brain. This re-wiring may impair the endocannabinoids' ability to regulate food intake and could contribute to enhanced food drive. The researchers also discovered that when they blocked the effects of stress hormones in the brain, the absence of food caused no change in the neural circuitry. Researchers Jaideep Bains, Ph.D. and Quentin Pittman, Ph.D., looked specifically at nerve cells (neurons) in the region of the brain called the hypothalamus. This structure is known to have an important role in the control of appetite and metabolism and has been identified as the primary region responsible for the brain's response to stress. Bains explains, These findings could help explain how the cellular communication in our brains may be overridden in the absence of food. Interestingly, these changes are driven not necessarily by the lack of nutrients, but rather by the stress induced by the lack of food. If similar changes occur in the human brain, these findings might have several implications for human health. For example, if we elect to pass over a meal, the brain appears to simply increase the drive in pathways leading to increased appetite, explains Pittman. Furthermore, the fact that the lack of food causes activation of the stress response might help explain... http://www.rxpgnews.com

'45 percent of Kerala drinkers face liver disease threat' Posted: 11 Aug 2011 08:45 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 11 - With liquor consumption reaching an all-time high in Kerala, up to 45 percent of the regular drinkers face the risk of ending up with some liver disease, an expert said Thursday. Revealing that at least three new patients suffering alcohol-related liver disease come to him every day, Dr D.Jayakumar of the NIMS Hospital said: 'The sad part is that in a few years time from now, those carrying an alcohol related liver disease in the age group 37 to 45 in the state will go up drastically, given the present trend.' 'This could entail 30 to 45 percent of drinkers in Kerala,' he added, while announcing the setting up of the first ever fibro scan - a machine to scan for liver diseases - at the hospital. 'Seeing the spurt in alcohol-related liver disease of patients, we are getting ready to conduct a detailed study and the pilot study would be done very soon,' said Jayakumar, who has been trained at the Queen's Hospital in London. In the last fiscal 2010-11, liquor sales in the state touched an all-time high at Rs.6,730.30 crore, up from Rs.5,539.85 crore in 2009-10. Currently, there are 683 bars in the state and 383 state owned shops that sell liquor in the retail market. NIMS will be the eighth hospital in India, and the first in South India, to have the state of the art fibro machine. 'The new machine will identify liver ailments in less than five minutes and it is a non-invasive mechanism - unlike the standard liver biopsy test which is an invasive process. This new scan will cost Rs.4,500 per patient, which is cheaper than the conventional liver biopsy test,' added Jayakumar. http://www.rxpgnews.com

USF researchers get $2.6 million NIH grant to investigate new post-stroke therapy Posted: 11 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) University of South Florida Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair faculty members have received a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the potential for cells derived from human bone marrow to benefit post-stroke patients by repairing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB prevents harmful substances in circulating blood from entering the brain while allowing passage of needed substances. According to the researchers, current treatment for ischemic stroke is limited to one FDA-approved drug, the serine protease tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) that to be effective must be administered during a three-hour window following a stroke. Although there are almost 800,000 stroke cases yearly in the US, less than three percent of patients benefit from tPA treatment, said Dr. Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and co-principal investigator on the grant. Because of the drug's narrow three-hour therapeutic window, and its detrimental side effects that can exacerbate stroke injury and counteract the benefits provided by reperfusion of the occluded artery, new drugs are desperately needed. According to Dr. Garbuzova-Davis, any treatment aimed at repairing stroke deficits should consider the pivotal role of BBB repair in order to maintain central nervous system (CNS) stability and enhance neuronal regeneration. Permanent BBB damage can lead to harmful serum protein leakage into ischemic brain tissue and may result in the formation of severe brain swelling in the hours and days following a stroke, she explained. This damage could negatively influence CNS regenerative processes after a stroke. Using animal models of stroke, the researchers will investigate how blood-brain barrier repair might mitigate the functional recovery in the stroke animals, and determine if BBB reconstitution can lead to positive therapeutic outcomes. Their... http://www.rxpgnews.com

National Center for Systems Biology to be established at Medical College Posted: 11 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology. Daniel Beard, Ph.D., professor of physiology and member of the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center, is the Principal Investigator for the grant. The first goal of the center is to create a computational model that will integrate data in the form of a virtual physiological rat to help investigators predict and understand physiological function and disease. This will fill a major gap in the understanding of the multiple genetic and environmental causes of diseases. Researchers working on The Virtual Physiological Rat (VPR) will develop computational tools to decipher the underlying causes of diseases, including hypertension, renal disease, heart failure, and metabolic syndromes. Computer simulations will be used to translate the findings from animals to yield new information about complex disease in humans. Many of the most common diseases aren't simple, and cannot be explained by a single cause or relationship, explained Dr. Beard. The Virtual Physiological Rat allows us to create a model for disease that takes into account the many genes and environmental factors believed to be associated. This proposal targets the grand challenge of understanding complex multi-faced diseases through experiments and simulations that capture that hugely complex relationship. The center will also utilize the findings of the VPR in real animal models; researchers will derive new strains of rats by developing new transgenic and knock-out strains of rat to test, validate and refine the discoveries of the virtual model. Knock-out rats are genetically engineered rats with a single gene turned off, or knocked out, to better understand the functions of particular genes. The first knock-out rats were developed at the Medical College in 2009. This new national center highlights the collaborative nature of our... http://www.rxpgnews.com

Polar climate change may lead to ecological change Posted: 11 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ice and frozen ground at the North and South Poles are affected by climate change induced warming, but the consequences of thawing at each pole differ due to the geography and geology, according to a Penn State hydrologist. The polar regions, particularly the Arctic, are warming faster than the rest of the world, Michael N. Gooseff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, told attendees today (Aug. 11) at the 96th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Austin, Texas. As a consequence, polar ecosystems respond directly to changes in the earth systems at the poles. These changes, though different at each pole, could be significant in their effects on not only the local environment, but also globally. While the central part of the Arctic is composed of ice over water, northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia and Greenland all have landmasses within the Arctic Circle. The associated land and water ecosystems are affected by melting ice and thawing soils, but in Antarctica, where much of the ice overlays a continent, the warming alters streams, lakes and the tiny plants and animals that live there. Our focus on the north is in part because it is inhabited, but it is also because the ice there is more vulnerable, said Gooseff. Temperatures and snow and rain across the tundra shifts annually and seasonally. We know that fall is beginning later than it once did. In the Arctic, where there is more immediate feedback from the higher temperatures, the warming is degrading permafrost, the layer of the ground that usually remains frozen during annual thawing events. This causes creation of a boggy, uneven landscape with a disturbed surface. Subsequent rain or snowmelt can erode this surface carrying silt and sediment into bodies of water, changing the paths of rivers and streams. Debris flows are also a common occurrence in degraded permafrost areas. Algae, insects and fish all must deal with this increased level... http://www.rxpgnews.com

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