(Press-News.org) SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 7, 2011) — Resveratrol, a compound in grapes, displays antioxidant and other positive properties. In a study published this week, researchers at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio describe a novel way in which resveratrol exerts these beneficial health effects.
Resveratrol stimulates the expression of adiponectin, a hormone derived from cells that manufacture and store fat, the team found. Adiponectin has a wide range of beneficial effects on obesity-related medical complications, said senior author Feng Liu, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and member of the Barshop Institute of Longevity and Aging Studies at the Health Science Center.
Both adiponectin and resveratrol display anti-obesity, anti-insulin resistance and anti-aging properties.
"Results from these studies should be of interest to those who are obese, diabetic and growing older," Dr. Liu said. "The findings should also provide important information on the development of novel therapeutic drugs for the treatment of these diseases."
The researchers confirmed the finding in cells and animal models. The study is in the Jan. 7 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Previous studies
In July 2009 in the journal Nature, the Barshop Institute and collaborators reported that the compound rapamycin extended life in mice. Rapamycin, like resveratrol, is under scrutiny for its beneficial health effects.
In 2010, Dr. Liu and colleagues announced that resveratrol inhibits activity of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). This discovery was included in the prestigious Faculty of 1000 (F1000), a service that identifies and evaluates the most important articles in biology and medical research publications. The selection process involves a peer-nominated global "faculty" of the world's leading scientists and clinicians who rate the best of the articles they read and explain their importance.
A reviewer said the study, which appeared in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, would open up work in a new area: explaining how resveratrol and rapamycin synergistically achieve their results.
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About the UT Health Science Center San Antonio
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country's leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university's schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways "We make lives better®," visit www.uthscsa.edu.
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SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 7, 2011) — Just 5 percent of Parkinson's disease cases can be explained by genetic mutation, while the rest have no known cause. But a new discovery by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio may begin to explain why the vast majority of Parkinson's patients develop the progressive neurodegenerative disease.
This week in the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers demystified a process that leads to the death of brain cells – or neurons – in Parkinson's patients. When researchers blocked the process, the neurons survived.
The ...
HOUSTON - The interplay between a major tumor-suppressing gene, a truncated chromosome and two sets of microRNAs provides a molecular basis for explaining the less aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an international team of researchers reports today in the Jan. 4 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Our findings could reveal new mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy among leukemia patients as this feedback mechanism could help us differentiate between patients with poor or good prognosis," said co-senior author George Adrian Calin, ...
The first drug to treat the underlying disorder instead of the symptoms of Fragile X, the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability, shows some promise according to a new study published in the January 5 issue of Science Translational Medicine. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center helped design the study and are now participating in the larger follow-up clinical trial.
The data from the early trial of 30 Fragile X patients, found the drug, called AFQ056, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, helped improve symptoms in some patients. Patients who had ...
A Jackson Laboratory research team led by Professor Patsy Nishina, Ph.D., has identified a mutation in a gene that's essential for correct protein-processing in cells. Defects in protein folding are associated with a variety of abnormalities and diseases.
Cells don't come prefabricated, with pieces plunked down and tacked together like modular homes offloaded from trucks. The structural proteins that give cells shape, tubulin and actin (think beams and girders), are themselves subject to essential processing before they become part of the assembly. Proteins must be folded ...
SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 7, 2010) — In the Old West, camps sent smoke signals across distances to share key developments or strategy. Likewise, two important signaling molecules communicate across nerve cells to regulate electrical and chemical activity, neuroscientists from the UT Health Science Center San Antonio reported today.
The findings in rodent models have implications for potential future treatment of epilepsy, stroke and other problems, the researchers said.
"We now have novel targets for therapeutic intervention for a range of neurological and cardiovascular diseases, ...
Sri-Lankan born Psychologist / Cognitive Neuroscientist Prof. Erantha De Mel received the President's Call to Service Award at a ceremony held in Washington DC recently. This distinguished service award by President Barack Obama was presented to him for his outstanding services to the American community in the fields of Psychology and Psychotherapy.
This lifetime achievement award was established in 2003 after President George W. Bush created the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. It is given annually to individuals who have dedicated over 4,000 ...
Salesforce.com announced that AppBuddy's new application GridBuddy was recognized as one of the top 4 installed applications in the 'Hack into Dreamforce' contest. Awards were given to applications with the highest number of customer AppExchange software installs between 9/20/10 and 11/30/10 leading up to the annual Dreamforce conference.
GridBuddy is a 100% native Force.com application that allows users to edit multiple related Salesforce objects using an Excel-like view. GridBuddy has a clean, simple-to-use interface for users to view one parent object with multiple ...
In recent years, programs geared to women only
have began to take popularity.
From fitness kickboxing classes, boot camps, and women fitness clubs -- women only
programs have taken off like a grand slam in baseball.
Starting on February 7th, 2011, local martial arts and fitness school owner and instructor,
Javier Lozano, Jr. will be teaching a series of 8 Week Women Self-Defense Courses
throughout the year.
These 8 week courses are designed to teach women the basic fundamentals of empty-hand
self-defense by using effective strikes, kicks, and blocks to fend ...
The benefits and risks of IT outsourcing to Latin America will be explored in-depth during a special one-hour webinar coming January 25th at 2 p.m. EST. "The Agile Alternative: What Does Mexico Have that India Doesn't?", hosted by the premiere IT offshoring blog - Nearshore Americas, examines the value proposition of relying on 'nearshore' partners to provide custom application development services. Register today by visiting:
http://www.csvep.com/registration/view.php?id=123
Geared toward IT decision makers and managers responsible for software development, testing ...
To start with, it is important that we clear things up. The oatmeal that will give you health benefits are those made from pure oak flakes. The instant oatmeals will do you more harm than good since they have much sugar in them; not to mention traces of preservatives.
Having oatmeal for breakfast is a good way to pump you full of energy and start the day. Aside from giving you the boost you need, there are tons of benefits of eating oatmeal. This is why it became a favorite household food item.
The first of the obvious benefits of eating oatmeal is it contains fiber, ...
