PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Researchers identify a new approach for lowering harmful lipids

Research may lead to better means of controlling 'bad cholesterol'

2015-09-02
(Press-News.org) Brooklyn, NY - Xian-Cheng Jiang, PhD, professor of cell biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has led a study identifying a new approach for lowering "bad" lipids in blood circulation, a critical means to combat devastating cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. The research was published in the online edition of Gastroenterology.

The team established that an enzyme called LPCAT3 (Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3) is involved in the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC), a type of compound lipid that is a major component of cell membranes. Dr. Jiang found that LPCAT3 deficiency significantly reduces polyunsaturated PC levels in the plasma membrane of the cells that line the intestines, which in turn reduces lipid absorption and decreases levels of lipids (cholesterol, triglyceride, and phospholipid) in circulation.

"Hyperlipidemia, or high levels of lipids, is a common disease and contributes significantly to cardiac related morbidity and mortality," explains Dr. Jiang. "Statin drug trials have provided the major evidence for the benefits of a therapy that lowers low density lipoprotein (LDL), the so called 'bad cholesterol,' and statin therapy is now the mainstay of clinical management of cardiovascular disease. However, there are many instances in which patients do not respond to or cannot tolerate statins."

Because of this, there is an urgent need for additional approaches to lower plasma lipid, preferably acting synergistically with statins.

"Our study is intended to provide a novel approach to reduce the 'bad' lipids in the blood. Although the study was conducted in a mouse model, the outcomes may be applicable to humans," explains Dr. Jiang.

INFORMATION:

An abstract of the article, Li Z, Jiang H, Ding T, Lou C, Bui HH, Kuo M-S, Jiang X-C, Deficiency in Lysophosphatidylcholine Acyltransferase 3 Reduces Plasma Levels of Lipids by Reducing Lipid Absorption in Mice, Gastroenterology (2015), doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.07.012., is available here: http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(15)01006-9/abstract.

The research was supported by the following grants: VA Merit 000900-01 (PI: Xian-Cheng Jiang) from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; NIH-R56HL121409 (PI: Xian-Cheng Jiang) from the National Institutes of Health; and Scientist Development Grant 10SDG4040054 from the American Heart Association (PI: Zhiqiang Li). The content of the published article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or other funders.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient's bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing and Health Related Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and an Advanced Biotechnology Park and Biotechnology Incubator.

SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study shows that nutrient shortfalls are a serious and persistent health disparity

2015-09-02
Northridge, CA (September 2, 2015) - A study published Monday in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU) concludes that ethnicity is associated with nutrient shortfalls of important nutrients. This study compared usual intake for essential nutrients between Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Americans using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2010. This new analysis is consistent with previous research and confirms a continuing diet-related health disparity in the American population. Nutrient shortfalls ...

How protein tangles accumulate in the brain and cause neurological disorders

2015-09-02
LA JOLLA, Calif., September 2, 2015 - A new Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) study takes a step forward in understanding how similar, yet genetically unrelated neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, frontal temporal dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are caused by the protein tau. The findings, published today in Neuron, create new opportunities to target this key protein that leads to the brain lesions found in patients with impaired motor functions and dementia. "Our research shows how the abundance of a protein ...

Fire in the Amazon

2015-09-02
Intentional burning in tropical forests has accounted for nearly 20% of all greenhouse-gas emissions since preindustrial times and will have major implications for Earth's climate and biodiversity in years to come. To better understand the complex dynamics surrounding these fires, a team of researchers led by Jennifer K. Balch, of the University of Colorado-Boulder, conducted a six-year controlled burn experiment in an Amazonian rainforest block located in Mato Grasso, Brazil. The results are described in an article that is part of BioScience's just-released Special Section ...

Scientists see motor neurons 'walking' in real time

Scientists see motor neurons walking in real time
2015-09-02
LA JOLLA--When you're taking a walk around the block, your body is mostly on autopilot--you don't have to consciously think about alternating which leg you step with or which muscles it takes to lift a foot and put it back down. That's thanks to a set of cells in your spinal cord that help translate messages between your brain and your motor neurons, which control muscles. Now, for the first time, researchers have created a method to watch--in real time--the activity of those motor neurons. The new technology, developed by Salk scientists and published in Neuron, is ...

Artificial intelligence authors crowdsourced interactive fiction

2015-09-02
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new artificially intelligent system that crowdsources plots for interactive stories, which are popular in video games and let players choose different branching story options. With potentially limitless crowdsourced plot points, the system could allow for more creative stories and an easier method for interactive narrative generation. Current AI models for games have a limited number of scenarios, no matter what a player chooses. They depend on a dataset already programmed into a model by experts. Using ...

NASA sees Tropical Storm Fred losing its punch

NASA sees Tropical Storm Fred losing its punch
2015-09-02
Tropical Storm Fred is losing its punch. Satellite imagery shows that there are no strong thunderstorms developing in the tropical storm indicating that the storm is weakening. The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station measured Tropical Storm Fred's winds on September 1 at 4 a.m. EDT. RapidScat saw that the strongest winds tightly circled the center and were on the northern side of the storm, as strong as 24 and 27 meters per second (53.6 mph/ 86.4 kph and 60.4/97.2 kph). On September 1 at 13:00 UTC (9 a.m. EDT) the MODIS instrument ...

This week from AGU: Water tables, 3D rock formations, wind speed maps & hydrothermal vents

2015-09-02
GeoSpace High water tables can be a boon to crop yields A high water table - usually a bane to crop yields - can provide much-needed water during drought and to crops planted in coarse-grained soils, found a new study published online in Water Resources Research. 3-D maps illustrate formation of the Hangai Dome in central Mongolia Scientists used 1.7 million seismic wave measurements from 227 earthquakes across East Asia to create animated 3-D images of subsurface rock formations under the Hangai Dome in central Mongolia as part of their recent study accepted in Geophysical ...

Saving coral reefs depends more on protecting fish than safeguarding locations

Saving coral reefs depends more on protecting fish than safeguarding locations
2015-09-02
A new study by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) has found that coral reef diversity 'hotspots' in the southwestern Indian Ocean rely more on the biomass of fish than where they are located, a conclusion that has major implications for management decisions to protect coral reef ecosystems. Using data gathered over a 12-year period from nearly 270 coral reefs across the southwestern Indian Ocean, the WCS study found that the highest conservation priorities in the region should be reef systems where fish biomass exceeds 600 kilograms per hectare. This finding conflicts ...

Stanford soil sleuths solve mystery of arsenic-contaminated water

2015-09-02
Can water ever be too clean? If the intent is to store it underground, the answer, surprisingly, is yes. In a new study, Stanford scientists have shown that recycled water percolating into underground storage aquifers in Southern California picked up trace amounts of arsenic because the water was too pure. The research, published online in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, sheds light on a poorly understood aspect of groundwater recharge with purified recycled water, namely the potential mobilization of arsenic. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that ...

Prophylactic surgery nearly doubles in men with breast cancer

2015-09-02
ATLANTA - Sept. 2, 2015 - The number of men with breast cancer who undergo surgery to remove the unaffected breast has risen sharply, according to a new report by American Cancer Society and Dana Farber Cancer Institute researchers. The report, appearing in JAMA Surgery, is the first to identify the trend, which mirrors a trend seen in U.S. women over the past two decades. Breast cancer in men is rare, accounting for only about 1 percent of all cases in the United States. In women (particularly younger women), the use of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) surgery ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

[Press-News.org] Researchers identify a new approach for lowering harmful lipids
Research may lead to better means of controlling 'bad cholesterol'