(Press-News.org) New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2013—Severe chronic pain associated with conditions such as bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis often require the use of opioid medication, with the risk of dependency and serious adverse reactions. An alternative treatment strategy increases the levels of a naturally occurring painkiller in and around the nerves that deliver pain signals to the bladder. This new therapeutic approach is described in an article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hum.
Hitoshi Yokoyama, MD and colleagues from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA), Shinshu University School of Medicine (Matsumoto, Japan), and Diamyd (Pittsburgh, PA) describe a gene therapy technique in which they inject directly into the bladder wall the gene for enkephalin, an opioid compound produced by the human body. The gene is transported into the target cells via a herpes simplex virus vector that is incapable of replication.
In the article "Effects of Herpes Simplex Virus Vector-Mediated Enkephalin Gene Therapy on Bladder Overactivity and Nociception," the authors demonstrate high levels of enkephalin gene expression in the treated rats and significantly lower measures of pain compared to untreated animals when exposed to stimuli intended to induce bladder irritation. The researchers note that a similar gene therapy delivery vector carrying an enkephalin gene has been used in clinical studies in human patients to treat cancer-related pain, and was shown to be well tolerated and safe and to provide substantial pain relief.
"This is a very innovative application of Herpes Simplex Virus gene therapy in the treatment of a common and painful clinical problem that otherwise requires chronic use of narcotics," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
INFORMATION:
About the Journal
Human Gene Therapy, the Official Journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its sister journal, Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly, focuses on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, launching in 2013, publishes data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hum.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells and Development, and Cellular Reprogramming. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: 914-740-2100 800-M-LIEBERT Fax: 914-740-2101
Novel treatment approach for bladder pain using a herpes simplex virus vector reported
2013-03-14
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Researchers building stronger, greener concrete with biofuel byproducts
2013-03-14
MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Kansas State University civil engineers are developing the right mix to reduce concrete's carbon footprint and make it stronger. Their innovative ingredient: biofuel byproducts.
"The idea is to use bioethanol production byproducts to produce a material to use in concrete as a partial replacement of cement," said Feraidon Ataie, doctoral student in civil engineering, Kabul, Afghanistan. "By using these materials we can reduce the carbon footprint of concrete materials."
Concrete is made from three major components: portland cement, water and aggregate. ...
HPV vaccine trends point to failures in patient education, vaccine programs
2013-03-14
Completion rates for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series across both genders continue to remain alarmingly low nearly seven years after its introduction, suggesting that better patient education and increased public vaccine financing programs are needed, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).
The researchers report "startling" trends in a series of three separate studies published in Cancer, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine.
Using data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, an annual cross-sectional ...
Fungus uses copper detoxification as crafty defense mechanism
2013-03-14
DURHAM, NC – A potentially lethal fungal infection appears to gain virulence by being able to anticipate and disarm a hostile immune attack in the lungs, according to findings by researchers at Duke Medicine.
Defense mechanisms used by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans enable it to lead to fatal meningitis, which is one of the opportunistic infections often associated with death in HIV/AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, diabetics and other immunosuppressed patients. In describing the complex process of how C. neoformans averts destruction in the lungs of mice, ...
Study: Dynamic new software improves care of aging brain
2013-03-14
INDIANAPOLIS -- Innovative medical records software developed by geriatricians and informaticians from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research will provide more personalized health care for older adult patients, a population at significant risk for mental health decline and disorders.
A new study published in eGEMs, a peer-reviewed online publication recently launched by the Electronic Data Methods Forum, unveils the enhanced Electronic Medical Record Aging Brain Care Software, an automated decision-support system that enables care ...
Mayo Clinic and Illinois researchers develop new sensor for methylated DNA
2013-03-14
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Collaborators from Mayo-Illinois Alliance for Technology Based Healthcare have developed a new, single molecule test for detecting methylated DNA. Methylation -- the addition of a methyl group of molecules to a DNA strand -- is one of the ways gene expression is regulated. The findings appear in the current issue of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group).
"While nanopores have been studied for genomic sequencing and screening analysis, this new assay can potentially circumvent the need for some of the current processes in evaluating epigenetics-related ...
Researchers divide enzyme to conquer genetic puzzle
2013-03-14
Rice University researchers have found a way to divide and modify enzymes to create what amounts to a genetic logic gate.
Biochemist Matthew Bennett and graduate student David Shis created a library of AND gates by mutating a protein from a bacterial virus. The well-understood protein known as T7 RNA polymerase (RNAP) is a strong driver of transcription in cells.
Their discovery should help overcome a bottleneck in the development of synthetic gene networks that mimic digital circuitry. These networks could become diagnostic systems that look for signs of disease and, ...
News tips from the journal mBio®, volume 4, issue 1
2013-03-14
Disarming One of the Deadliest Pathogens
Francisella tularensis, the cause of tularemia and one of the deadliest respiratory pathogens in existence, is considered a potential biological weapon because it is readily aerosolized and exhibits a high degree of infectivity and lethality in humans. While a live attenuated vaccine strain has been developed, it remains unlicensed because scientists have been unable to understand the basis for its attenuated virulence. In an attempt to find an acceptable live attenuated vaccine strain, researchers from Harvard Medical School ...
Outside the box: UCLA uses brain aneurysm treatment to stop irregular heart rhythms
2013-03-14
For the first time, a UCLA team has used a technique normally employed in treating brain aneurysms to treat severe, life-threatening irregular heart rhythms in two patients.
This unique use of the method helped stop ventricular arrhythmias — which cause "electrical storms" — that originated in the septum, the thick muscle that separates the heart's two ventricles. This area is virtually impossible to reach with conventional treatment.
The research is published in the February issue of Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, and is highlighted ...
College kids who don't drink milk could face serious consequences
2013-03-14
URBANA – College-age kids who don't consume at least three servings of dairy daily are three times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those who do, said a new University of Illinois study.
"And only one in four young persons in the study was getting the recommended amount of dairy," said Margarita Teran-Garcia, a U of I professor of food science and human nutrition.
That alarming finding means that three-fourths of the 18- to 25-year-old college applicants surveyed are at risk for metabolic syndrome, the researcher said.
Metabolic syndrome occurs when ...
Particles and fields package integrated on upcoming Mars-bound spacecraft
2013-03-14
The six science instruments that comprise the Particles and Fields Package that will characterize the solar wind and ionosphere of Mars have been integrated aboard NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. The spacecraft is on track for launch later this year.
The Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) was the last of the six instruments to be delivered, and was integrated late last week at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colo. SWEA measures the properties of electrons at Mars, one electron at a time, and can process up to one million events per second.
The ...