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

Study gives new insight on inflammation

2012-08-30
(Press-News.org) Scientists' discovery of an important step in the body's process for healing wounds may lead to a new way of treating inflammation.

A study published today in Current Biology details how an international team of researchers led by Monash University's Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) discovered the mechanism, which shuts down the signal triggering the body's initial inflammatory response to injury.

When the body suffers a wound or abrasion, white blood cells, or leukocytes, travel to the site of the injury to protect the tissue from infection and start repairing the damage. However, this period of inflammation need only be temporary. If the body allows the inflammatory stage to continue for too long, the next phase of healing is compromised.

Previous research identified the initial signal that calls the leukocytes to the site of the injury, but how this early signal was switched off, letting the leukocytes know that they were no longer urgently needed, was unknown. The latest findings show that an enzyme called myeloperoxidase is the key to this process.

The team studied zebra fish with modified leukocytes and tissues that fluoresced different colours, enabling leukocyte movement and the concentration of chemical signals to be monitored simultaneously. By observing the tiny, transparent fish under a microscope, the researchers were able to observe individual white blood cells and how they are regulated in the inflammatory phase of the healing process.

Lead researcher Professor Graham Lieschke of ARMI said the findings suggested new possibilities for treating inflammation.

"White blood cell activity is important for determining the balance between repair, scarring and healing. Understanding what regulates leukocyte activity during inflammation should ultimately allow us to manipulate this system and maximise healing and repair," Professor Lieschke said.

"Our research has identified a new pathway to target with anti-inflammatory drugs. There is a significant need for new treatment options as current drugs are not effective in all circumstances."

Professor Lieschke said the findings were especially relevant to understanding and treating the hereditary disease myeloperoxidase deficiency, which affects leukocyte function in approximately one in every 2000 people.

### The Monash University-led research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the National Institutes of Health in the USA. ARMI is supported by grants from the State Government of Victoria and the Australian Government.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Protein impedes microcirculation of malaria-infected red blood cells

2012-08-30
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- When the parasite responsible for malaria infects human red blood cells, it launches a 48-hour remodeling of the host cells. During the first 24 hours of this cycle, a protein called RESA undertakes the first step of renovation: enhancing the stiffness of the cell membranes. That increased rigidity impairs red blood cells' ability to travel through the blood vessels, especially at fever temperatures, according to a new study from researchers at MIT, the Institut Pasteur and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). This marks the ...

Many US schools are unprepared for another pandemic

2012-08-30
Washington, DC, August 30, 2012 – Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). A team of researchers from Saint Louis University collected and analyzed survey responses from approximately 2,000 school nurses serving primarily elementary, middle, ...

Cancer 'turns off' important immune cells, complicating experimental vaccine therapies

2012-08-30
Bethesda, MD—A research report published in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology offers a possible explanation of why some cancer vaccines are not as effective as hoped, while at the same time identifies a new therapeutic strategy for treating autoimmune problems. In the report, scientists suggest that cancer, even in the very early stages, produces a negative immune response from dendritic cells, which prevent lymphocytes from working against the disease. Although problematic for cancer treatment, these flawed dendritic cells could be valuable therapeutic ...

Millipede family added to Australian fauna

Millipede family added to Australian fauna
2012-08-30
An entire group of millipedes previously unknown in Australia has been discovered by a specialist – on museum shelves. Hundreds of tiny specimens of the widespread tropical family Pyrgodesmidae have been found among bulk samples in two museums, showing that native pyrgodesmids are not only widespread in Australia's tropical and subtropical forests, but are also abundant and diverse. The study has been published in the open access journal ZooKeys. "Most pyrgodesmid species are so small they could be easily overlooked," explained millipede specialist Dr Robert Mesibov, ...

What babies eat after birth likely determines lifetime risk of obesity, rat study suggests

2012-08-30
Rats born to mothers fed high-fat diets but who get normal levels of fat in their diets right after birth avoid obesity and its related disorders as adults, according to new Johns Hopkins research. Meanwhile, rat babies exposed to a normal-fat diet in the womb but nursed by rat mothers on high-fat diets become obese by the time they are weaned. The experiments suggest that what mammalian babies — including humans — get to eat as newborns and young children may be more important to their metabolic future than exposure to unhealthy nutrition in the womb, the Hopkins ...

Gender bias in leading scientific journals

2012-08-30
Fewer women than men are asked to write in the leading scientific journals. That is established by two researchers from Lund University in Sweden, who criticise the gender bias. In the 30 August issue of Nature, researchers have published an article showing that a much lower percentage of women than men are invited to write articles in News & Views in Nature and Perspectives in Science. "We believe that fewer women than men are offered the career boost of invitation-only authorship in each of the two leading science journals" says Daniel Conley, a researcher at Lund ...

Bitter tastes quickly turn milk chocolate fans sour

2012-08-30
Dark chocolate lovers can handle a wider range of bitter tastes before rejection compared to milk chocolate fans, according to Penn State food scientists. In a test of bitterness rejection levels in chocolate, people who prefer milk chocolate quickly detected -- and disliked -- milk chocolate with a bitter substance added to the candy, according to Meriel Harwood, a graduate student in food science. Dark chocolate fans had significantly higher tolerance to the added bitterness than people who like milk chocolate. "In some cases, you may be able to detect a change in ...

Shedding new light on one of diabetes' most dangerous complications

Shedding new light on one of diabetes most dangerous complications
2012-08-30
VIDEO: This movie compares the blood flow dynamics in a cross-section of the foot between a healthy individual and a diabetic patient with PAD. Differences are clearly visible in both the... Click here for more information. WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2012—For many diabetics, monitoring their condition involves much more than adhering to a routine of glucose sensing and insulin injections. It also entails carefully monitoring the ongoing toll this disease takes on their body. An ...

Increased sediment and nutrients delivered to bay as Susquehanna reservoirs near sediment capacity

2012-08-30
Reservoirs near the mouth of the Susquehanna River just above Chesapeake Bay are nearly at capacity in their ability to trap sediment. As a result, large storms are already delivering increasingly more suspended sediment and nutrients to the Bay, which may negatively impact restoration efforts. Too many nutrients rob the Bay of oxygen needed for fish and, along with sediment, cloud the waters, disturbing the habitat of underwater plants crucial for aquatic life and waterfowl. "The upstream reservoirs have served previously to help reduce nutrient pollutant loads to ...

Kidney stenting lowers blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension

2012-08-30
Patients with uncontrolled renovascular hypertension saw a significant improvement in their blood pressure with renal artery stent deployment. The multicenter HERCULES trial, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the RX Herculink Elite Stent, found that patients with higher blood pressure levels at baseline had the most dramatic reduction in blood pressure following intervention. Trial details appear in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). Narrowing ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

“Molecular bodyguard” helps infections persist

Japan’s first nationwide survey highlights gaps in patient engagement for allergy research

World’s first pig-to-human liver xenotransplant in a living recipient reported in the Journal of Hepatology

The Lancet: Tens of thousands of children aged under five suffering acute malnutrition in Gaza, recent estimates suggest

Prostate testing may not target those most likely to benefit, warn experts

Global analysis shows hidden damage from men’s alcohol use

DRI recognizes Ashley Cornish as the 2025 Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award Winner for Women in Atmospheric Sciences

Unlocking the blueprint for a powerful plant-based drug

Bringing modern science to vitamin biology: Isha Jain wins NIH Transformative Research Award

University of Houston scientists learn that rare bacterium ‘plays dead’ to survive

Introduced animals change how island plants spread, new global study finds

Mayo Clinic researchers discover ‘traffic controller’ protein that protects DNA, and may help kill cancer cells

Protein sidekick exhibits dual roles in stress granule assembly and disassembly

New hope for MS

Kennesaw State professor receives grant to study cancer origins

Pain and antidepressant drug combo linked to increased seizure risk in older adults

Cancer researchers shape new strategies for immunotherapy

Physical exercise can ‘train’ the immune system

Calm red brocket deer can learn to "Come" and other commands - but the flightiest, most restless individuals struggle

China, the world's largest tea producer, is predicted to experience increases in land suitable for tea-growing under climate change, with the overall range shifting northwards, per AI modeling study

Composing crews for Mars missions

Early humans butchered elephants using small tools and made big tools from their bones

1,000-year-old gut microbiome revealed for young man who lived in pre-Hispanic Mexico

Bears and pandas in captivity develop significantly different gut microbiomes compared to their wild counterparts, and giant pandas in particular have less diverse microbiomes than their wild counterp

Prenatal and postnatal support apps might not work

Dancing dust devils trace raging winds on Mars

Raging winds on Mars

Real-time biopsies uncover hidden response to glioblastoma therapy

Repeated brain tumor sampling uncovers treatment response in patients with glioblastoma

Novel immunotherapy combination destroys colorectal liver metastases

[Press-News.org] Study gives new insight on inflammation