Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Mesoblast Announce Heart Muscle Function Improved After Single, Lowest-Dose Injection Of "Off-The-Shelf" Stem Cells In Patients With Heart Failure
Australia"s regenerative medicine company, Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)(PINK:MBLTY), announced positive three-month interim efficacy results from the first 20 patients enrolled in the Phase 2 heart failure trial of the proprietary allogeneic, or "off-the-shelf", adult stem cell product Revascor(TM).
generic viagra online
Low-income Breast Cancer Patients Skipping Hormonal Therapy, Increasing Their Risks
Many low-income women are failing to take the hormonal therapy prescribed as part of their breast cancer treatment, possibly lowering their survival rates, according to a study led by a researcher in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.
News of the day
Examines Effects Of Maternal Mortality On Infants In Tanzania
The New York Times on Thursday examined the effects of maternal mortality on infants in Tanzania, many of whom live in village orphanages after their mothers" deaths. The article is the last in a three-part series on pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in the country. The Times reports that 250,000 women die annually during pregnancy or childbirth in Africa as the result of bleeding, infection, high blood pressure, prolonged labor and botched abortions. Although many of these problems can be treated or prevented with basic obstetrical care, Tanzania has too few physicians, nurses and drugs -- and is short on equipment, ambulances and paved roads -- to address the issue. Women who die during pregnancy often are survived by their infants. The newborns do not have access to breastmilk, and formula and baby food are not widely available in the country. To avoid malnutrition and infection, the infants often are taken to orphanages that can provide basic care until they reach age two or three, and then they are returned to their extended families. The article profiled an innovative program at the Berega Orphanage that is being widely replicated in Africa. The "program is designed to meet the infants" emotional as well as physical needs," by having "teenage girls from their extended families living with [the infants] at the orphanage," the Times reports. The girls -- known as "bintis" in Swahili -- learn how to take care of the infants and are then better able to take care of them when they return to their villages. Ute Klatt, a German missionary and nurse who has been the director of the orphanage for 10 years, explains that "the families weren"t visiting, and it was hard to reintegrate the children." With the bintis, "the children grow up more normally, as they might at home," she said (Grady, New York Times, 6/25).
Nutrition

Peripheral Nerve Repair With Fat Precursor Cells Led To Wider Nerves And Less Muscle Atrophy

To determine if guided fat (adipose) precursor cells (APCs) could improve nerve regeneration and functional recovery, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) used biodegradable nerve guides to transplant APCs into the injured peripheral nerves of laboratory rats. "Adipose tissues, shown to be multipotent, have also been shown to be an abundant of post-natal precursor cells that are relatively easy to isolate from fat tissue and in sufficient amounts to be injected immediately post-isolation," said Dr. Kacey Marra, lead author of a study published in the current issue of the journal Cell Transplantation (18:2). Adipose precursor cells, said Marra and co-authors, have demonstrated an ability to differentiate in vitro into cartilage (chondrogenic), bone (osteogenic), fat (adipogenic) and muscle (myogenic) cell types. Control groups for this study included those with no treatment, those receiving an autograft but no nerve guide tube, and those receiving an autograft and nerve guide tube but no APC transplant in the guide tube. Researchers noted that the "gold standard" for nerve repair is the autograft to repair nerve gaps. Pre-clinical studies have shown that including Schwann cells within nerve conduits can enhance nerve regeneration. However, the incorporation of Schwann cells requires a second surgery, renders a secondary nerve nonfunctional, and requires Schwann cells in high numbers that are clinically challenging to obtain. According to the researchers, significant differences in the sciatic functional index (SFI) were observed three weeks post-injury in the autografted, APC-transplanted group using nerve guides over a control group in which nerve guides were left empty. Researchers also observed the formation of a more robust nerve accompanied by modestly decreased muscle atrophy in the APC-transplanted group. No differences were observed after 12 weeks, however. "We found that full regeneration of the sciatic nerve occurred in the rats receiving the autograft, the guide, and the guide loaded with APCs. No regeneration was observed in any of the rats in which the defect was left untreated," said Marra. Their results also showed that transplanted human-derived APCs survived for up to 12 weeks in the injured peripheral nerve and formed a more robust nerve with nerve cells more than double the size of those formed using the conduit alone. "The versatility of adult precursor cells, such as those from adipose, for the treatment of a number of disorders is promising and this study demonstrates their potential benefit towards nerve repair," said section editor Dr. John Sladek, professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Notes: The editorial offices for CELL TRANSPLANTATION are at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, College of Medicine, the University of South Florida and the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. News Release by Randolph Fillmore, Florida Science Communications. Anita Srikameswaran, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009