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

Feinstein Institute researchers discover that bean used in Chinese food could protect against sepsis

2012-10-26
(Press-News.org) MANHASSET, NY – Researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that a bean commonly used in Chinese cuisine protects against the life-threatening condition sepsis. These findings are published in the current issue of Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM).

It has been found that a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) protein, HMGB1, mediates inflammation. Inflammation is necessary for maintaining good health – without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal. However, persistent and constant inflammation can damage tissue and organs, and lead to diseases such as sepsis. Sepsis affects approximately 750,000 Americans each year, 28 to 50 percent of whom die from the condition, and costs the nation's healthcare system nearly $17 billion annually. It is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection or injury, and occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. The result is that organs become damaged, including liver, heart, lungs, kidney, and brain. If excessive damage occurs, it may be irreversible. Therefore, it is important to identify ways in which persistent and constant inflammation can be halted.

Neutralizing the protein HMGB1 protects against persistent and constant inflammation that results in damage to tissue and organs. Haichao Wang, PhD, and his colleagues, including Shu Zhu, MD and PhD, and Andrew E. Sama, MD, at the Feinstein Institute found that extract from mung bean (Vigna radiata), a bean native to India and commonly used in Chinese food and traditional medicine, reduced the release of HMGB1, thereby increasing survival rates in mice from 29.4 percent to 70 percent (P < 0.05).

"Many traditional medicinal herbs have been successfully developed into effective therapies for various inflammatory ailments, and now we have validated the therapeutic potential of another medicinal product, mung bean extract," said Dr. Wang. "Demonstrating that mung bean extract has a positive effect on septic mice shows promise that this bean can also have a positive effect on septic humans – of course, additional studies are required to prove the safe and effective use in humans."

### The Feinstein Institute and its parent company, the North Shore-LIJ Health System, have been dedicated to studying and treating sepsis. In 2010, the Feinstein Institute hosted an international Merinoff Symposium dedicated to sepsis. This symposia attracted researchers, policymakers and other opinion leaders from around the world who identified that sepsis should be categorized as a medical emergency treatable with fluids and antibiotics within one hour of recognition. The health system mounted an aggressive sepsis prevention and early identification initiative that has reduced the health system's sepsis mortality rate by 35 percent in the last four years, which translates into thousands of saved lives.

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Headquartered in Manhasset, NY, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in many areas including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, human genetics, pulmonary hypertension, leukemia, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. The Feinstein Institute, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, ranks in the top 5th percentile of all National Institutes of Health grants awarded to research centers. For more information visit www.FeinsteinInstitute.org



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Results of the XIMA trial presented at TCT 2012

2012-10-26
MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 26, 2012 – Rarely tested in patients over the age of 80, a study found that drug-eluting stents exhibited some benefits over bare-metal stents, though both types of stents demonstrated a clinical benefit. Results of the XIMA trial were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. Patients over the age of 80 are often excluded from ...

Cost-effective titanium forming

Cost-effective titanium forming
2012-10-26
To all intents and purposes, nothing stands in the way of titanium in terms of becoming a first-choice industrial material. It is a practically unlimited resource; it is stable and lightweight, but also extremely malleable as well as corrosion and temperature resistant. Nevertheless, this white silver lustrous metal remains in the shadows of steel, chrome, nickel and aluminum when it comes to manufacturing. The reason for this is that efficient metal forming processes such as deep drawing or hydroforming can only be used in a very limited way. "Titanium tends to adhere ...

A Viagra follow-up? Drug used to treat glaucoma actually grows human hair

2012-10-26
If you're balding and want your hair to grow back, then here is some good news. A new research report appearing online in The FASEB Journal (www.fasebj.org) shows how the FDA-approved glaucoma drug, bimatoprost, causes human hair to regrow. It's been commercially available as a way to lengthen eyelashes, but these data are the first to show that it can actually grow human hair from the scalp. "We hope this study will lead to the development of a new therapy for balding which should improve the quality of life for many people with hair loss," said Valerie Randall, a researcher ...

Anesthesia type affects outcomes of bilateral knee replacement surgery

Anesthesia type affects outcomes of bilateral knee replacement surgery
2012-10-26
Using regional anesthesia rather than general anesthesia reduces the need for blood transfusions in patients undergoing bilateral total knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City. Currently, the majority of bilateral knee replacements in the United States (as well as single knee replacements) are performed under general anesthesia, and researchers say that a regional anesthesia known as neuraxial anesthesia should be promoted for these procedures. "The use of neuraxial anesthesia may not always be feasible ...

Glass: Characterizing with precision and efficiency

2012-10-26
At home, in the car or with industrial processes – glass is a universal material. Its properties are so extraordinary that frequently there are no alternatives to this material. Take, for example, high-temperature fuel cells, in which layers of ceramics and metals are alternately attached to each other: to ensure no explosive hydrogen escapes, the metal and ceramic layers must be firmly bound to each other, and the seam must be sealed tight. Only glass can accomplish this type of seal – and here, we are specifically referring to solder glass. But how does glass behave at ...

Scientists step up hunt for bacterial genes tied to Lyme disease

Scientists step up hunt for bacterial genes tied to Lyme disease
2012-10-26
Investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have accelerated the search for the bacterial genes that make the Lyme disease bacterium so invasive and persistent. The discovery could advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which affects an estimated 30,000 Americans each year. The researchers have developed a new technique that allowed them to test 15 times more bacterial genes than had been evaluated in the previous 30 years to ascertain their roles in infection. Findings appeared Oct. 25 in the journal The Public Library ...

Hermit crabs socialize to evict their neighbors

Hermit crabs socialize to evict their neighbors
2012-10-26
Social animals usually congregate for protection or mating or to capture bigger prey, but a University of California, Berkeley, biologist has found that the terrestrial hermit crab has a more self-serving social agenda: to kick another crab out of its shell and move into a larger home. All hermit crabs appropriate abandoned snail shells for their homes, but the dozen or so species of land-based hermit crabs – popular terrarium pets – are the only ones that hollow out and remodel their shells, sometimes doubling the internal volume. This provides more room to grow, more ...

NASA sees Tropical Storm Son-tinh moving through South China Sea

NASA sees Tropical Storm Son-tinh moving through South China Sea
2012-10-26
NASA's Terra satellite got a good look at Tropical Storm Son-tinh moving through the South China Sea and headed for landfall in Vietnam. NASA's Terra satellite flew over Son-Tinh on Oct. 26 at 0305 UTC (Oct. 25 at 11:05 p.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard captured a visible image of the storm. At the time, Son-tinh's western edge had already moved away from the Philippines. The image revealed powerful thunderstorms in the northwestern quadrant of the storm, and in the storm's center. On Oct. 26 at 1500 UTC, Tropical ...

Drug shows promise in animal model of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's with dementia

2012-10-26
New research presented in October at the 6th Neurodegenerative Conditions Research and Development Conference in San Francisco demonstrates the role of the investigational compound IRX4204 in alleviating cognitive decline in animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The presentation entitled "Investigation of the RXR-specific agonist IRX4204 as a Disease Modifying Agent of Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology and Cognitive Impairment" was made by lead researcher Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. IRX4204 is a retinoid ...

Stroke survivors who smoke raise risk of more strokes, heart attack, death

2012-10-26
Stroke survivors who smoke put themselves at a greater risk of additional strokes, heart attack or death than those who never smoked, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke. Those who quit smoking before their stroke also had less risk of poorer outcomes than current smokers, researchers found. Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, tracked 1,589 patients who experienced a first or recurrent stroke in 1996-99. They followed them for 10 years, using medical records and in-person and telephone interviews, and tracked demographics, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Robotic space rovers keep getting stuck. UW engineers have figured out why

New research shows how immigration status can become a death sentence during public health crisis

University of Toronto Engineering researchers develop safer alternative non-stick coating

Good vibrations: Scientists use imaging technology to visualize heat

More ecological diversity means better nutritional resources in Fiji’s agroforests

New global study shows freshwater is disappearing at alarming rates

Scientists create an artificial cell capable of navigating its environment using chemistry alone

A little salt is good for battery health

Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate

How to keep kids with eating disorders home after hospital stay? Therapy

Sex differences affect efficacy of opioid overdose treatment

Aligning AI with Human Values and Well-Being

Engineering the next generation of experimental physics

The scuba diving industry is funding marine ecosystem conservation and employing locals

BATMAN brings TCR therapy out of the shadows

Surrogates more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness, study finds

Columbia Engineering researchers turn dairy byproduct into tissue repair gel

Global estimates of lives and life-years saved by COVID-19 vaccination during 2020-2024

Potential trade-offs of proposed cuts to the NIH

New research simulates cancer cell behavior

COVID, over 2.5 million deaths prevented worldwide thanks to vaccines. One life saved for every 5,400 doses administered

Scuba diving generates up to $20 billion annually

Scientists advance efforts to create ‘virtual cell lab’ as testing ground for future research with live cells

How DNA packaging controls the “genome’s guardian”

Simplified models, deeper insights: Coarse-grained models unlock new potential for ionic liquid simulations

Gorillas’ personal circumstances shape their aggression towards groupmates

Which signalling pathways in the cell lead to possible therapies for Parkinson's disease

Identifying landslide threats using hydrological predictors

First graders who use more educational media spend more time reading

Exploring the meaning in life through phenomenology and philosophy

[Press-News.org] Feinstein Institute researchers discover that bean used in Chinese food could protect against sepsis