Cigarette and Alcohol Use at Historic Low Among Teens

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products (e.g., hookahs, small cigars, smokeless tobacco), marijuana and prescription drugs.
The survey results, announced December 14 during a news conference at the National Press Club, appear to show that more teens continue to abuse marijuana than cigarettes; and alcohol is still the drug of choice among all three age groups queried. MTF is an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The survey was conducted in classrooms earlier this year. "That cigarette use has declined to historically low rates is welcome news, given our concerns that declines may have slowed or stalled in recent years," said NIDA director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "That said, the teen smoking rate is declining much more slowly than in years past, and we are seeing teens consume other tobacco products at high levels. This highlights the urgency of maintaining strong prevention efforts against teen smoking and of targeting other tobacco products." The 2011 results showed that 18.7 percent of 12th-graders reported current (past-month) cigarette use, compared to a recent peak rate of 36.5 percent in 1997 and 21.6 percent five years ago. Only 6.1 percent of eighth-graders reported current smoking, compared to a recent peak of 21 percent in 1996 and 8.7 percent five years ago. "While it is good news that cigarette use has declined to historically low rates, we can and must do more to accelerate that decline," said Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH, assistant secretary for health. "The actual decline is relatively small compared to the sharp declines we witnessed in the late nineties." For alcohol, 63.5 percent of 12th-graders reported past year use, compared to a recent peak of 74.8 percent in 1997. Similarly, 26.9 percent of eighth-graders reported past year use of alcohol in 2011, compared to a recent peak rate of 46.8 percent in 1994. There also was a five-year decrease in binge drinking, measured as five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, across all three grades. Binge drinking was reported by 6.4 percent of eighth-graders, 14.7 percent of 10th-graders, and 21.6 percent of 12th-graders, down from the 2006 rates of 8.7 percent, 19.9 percent and 25.4 percent respectively. Despite the declines noted in the report, use of marijuana has shown some increases in recent years and remains steady. Among 12th-graders, 36.4 percent reported past year use, and 6.6 percent reported daily use, up from 31.5 and 5 percent, respectively, five years ago. The upward trend in teens' abuse of marijuana corresponded to downward trends in their perception of risk. For example, only 22.7 percent of high school seniors saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally, compared to 25.9 percent five years ago. Similarly, 43.4 percent of eighth-graders reported that they saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally, compared to 48.9 percent five years ago. In addition, concerns about the use of synthetic marijuana, known as K2 or spice, prompted its inclusion in the survey for the first time in 2011. Surprisingly, 11.4 percent of 12thgraders reported past year use. "K2 and spice are dangerous drugs that can cause serious harm," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy. "We will continue to work with the public health and safety community to respond to this emerging threat but in the meantime, parents must take action. Parents are the most powerful force in the lives of young people and we ask that all of them talk to their teens today about the serious consequences of using marijuana, K2, or spice."

There was mixed news seen in the non-medical use of prescription drugs. Abuse of the opioid painkiller Vicodin was reported by 8.1 percent of 12th graders -- similar to 2010 and down from 9.7 percent in 2009. There was also a decline reported by 10th graders -- to 5.9 percent from 7.7 percent in 2010. However, no such declines were seen for the opioid painkiller OxyContin. In 2011, the non-medical use of the ADHD medicines Adderall and Ritalin remained about the same as last year among 12th-graders, at 6.5 and 2.6 percent, respectively. There was, however, a significant decline in the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine among eighth-graders, down to 2.7 percent in 2011 from 4.2 percent in 2006, when the survey first asked about its abuse. A similar decline in cough medicine abuse was seen among 12th-graders, to 5.3 percent from 6.9 percent five years ago.

Identifying Sloth Species at a Genetic Level

ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2012) Identifying species, separating out closely related species and managing each type on its own, is an important part of any animal management system. Some species, like the two types of two-toed sloth, are so close in appearance and behavior that differentiation can be challenging. Conservation researchers at San Diego Zoo Global's Institute of Conservation Research have developed a mechanism for identifying these reclusive species from each other.
"Species identification of two-toed sloths has always been problematic in the wild and captivity due to their large overlap in external morphology. " said Oliver Ryder Ph.D., Director of Genetics for San Diego Zoo Global's Institute of Conservation Research. "Through this effort we have described a low-cost easy-to-use molecular tool for species identification that will help to improve management of two-toed sloth species so that we can ensure that they are properly represented on the ark of rare and endangered species." The study, published in the December 2011 issue of Zoo Biology, describes a PCR-based technique that allows species identification of two-toed sloths without requiring sequencing, by using a mitochondrial marker (COI gene) and restriction enzyme assay. It also reports intra- and inter-specific patterns of chromosome variation in captive two-toed sloths. The chromosome number in Hoffman's two-toed sloths showed low variation ranging only between 50 and 51. In contrast, Linnaeus's two-toed sloths appeared to vary widely, with diploid numbers ranging from 53 to 67, suggesting distinct geographic groups

Plasma-Based Treatment Goes Viral

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2011) Life-threatening viruses such as HIV, SARS, hepatitis and influenza, could soon be combatted in an unusual manner as researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of plasma for inactivating and preventing the replication of adenoviruses.
When exposed to plasma -- the fourth state of matter in addition to solids, liquids and gases -- for a period of just 240 seconds, it was found that only one in a million viruses could still replicate -practically all were inactivated. The study, published in IOP Publishing's Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, is one of the first to concentrate specifically on viruses and builds on research that has already shown the usefulness of plasma in eradicating bacteria from skin and sterilising water Within a hospital environment, a plasma generating device could realistically rid hands of potentially lethal viruses

that relay on a host organism to replicate and spread. In the long-term, plasma could be inhaled directly to treat viruses in the lungs, or applied to blood outside of the body to remove any viruses before transfusion. The researchers, from the Max-Planck Institut fr extraterrestrische Physik and Technische Universitt Mnchen, specifically chose adenoviruses to examine as they are one of the most difficult viruses to inactivate. Illnesses resulting from this specific virus, for example, can only be managed by treating symptoms and complications of the infection, rather than targeting the actual virus itself. Adenoviruses predominantly cause respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis and are hard to inactivate as the whole virus is encased in a protein layer, helping it to remain physically stable and tolerate moderate increases in heat and pH. In this study, the adenoviruses were diluted to specific concentrations and then exposed to plasma for 240 seconds, before being incubated for an hour. A control group of adenoviruses were given the exact same treatment apart from the plasma exposure. Two separate cell lines were then infected with the two sets of adenoviruses: the ones that were treated with plasma and the control group. To test whether a cell had the virus or not, the researchers programmed the virus to produce a protein that fluoresced green when a specific type of light was shone onto it. Whilst the exact mechanisms behind the plasma?s impressive effects are relatively unknown, it is thought that they are a result of a combination of reactions between the plasma and surrounding air, which create similar species to the ones found in our own immune system when under microbial attack.

Genetic Variation Increases Risk of Metabolic Side Effects in Children On Some Antipsychotics
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2012) Researchers have found a genetic variation predisposing children to six-times greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome when taking second-generation anti-psychotic medications. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The study showed a close association with two conditions in particular: high blood pressure and elevated fasting blood sugar levels, which is a precursor to diabetes. The research is published recently in the medical research journal Translational Psychiatry.
"This is the first report of an underlying biological factor predisposing children to complications associated with second-generation anti-psychotic medication use," says Dr. Dina Panagiotopoulos, study co-author, clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI), pediatric endocrinologist at BC Children's Hospital, and assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia (UBC). "It's concerning because these children take medications to treat a chronic disease -- mental illness -- and then develop risk factors for a second chronic disease," says Dr. Angela Devlin, study co-author, CFRI scientist and assistant professor in the UBC Department of Pediatrics. Second-generation anti-psychotics are prescribed to approximately 5500 children and youth in British Columbia for psychotic disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, adjustment disorders and substance abuse. Of these medications, the two most commonly prescribed in B.C. are quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal). For the study, researchers assessed 209 children who were inpatients between April 2008 and June 2011 at the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Department at BC Children's Hospital, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. Their average age was 13 years, and 105 of the

children were treated with second-generation anti-psychotics while 112 did not use these drugs. DNA analysis showed that eight per cent of children from both groups had a genetic variation called C677T on the MTHFR gene. Children with the MTHFR C677T variant who used these medications were six-times more likely to have metabolic syndrome. The researchers targeted the MTHFR C677T variant because it is known to be associated with metabolic syndrome in adults who have schizophrenia, and with cardiovascular disease in adults who don't have psychiatric illness. Dr. Devlin and Dr. Panagiotopoulos say their discovery is an important step to preventing and managing metabolic complications associated with second-generation antipsychotic medications. It is critical to reduce these risks in childhood because adults with mental illness have a 19 per cent increased mortality rate that is largely due to cardiovascular disease risk. The MTHFR gene is involved in metabolizing the B-vitamin folate. "We now plan to assess B vitamin status and dietary intake in children who take these medications to gain a better understanding of this association," says Dr. Panagiotopoulos. This study was funded by CFRI and the Canadian Diabetes Association. Dr. Panagiotopoulos's previous research on the metabolic side effects of anti-psychotics in children led to national recommendations for clinicians on monitoring and managing the care of children who take these medications. The recommendations were published in the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in August 2011 and in Pediatrics and Child Health in November 2011.

HIV Study Named '2011 Breakthrough of the Year' by Science

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2011) The journal Sciencehas chosen the HPTN 052 clinical trial, an international HIV prevention trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The study found that if HIV-infected heterosexual individuals begin taking antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems are relatively healthy as opposed to delaying therapy until the disease has advanced, they are 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners.
Findings from the trial, first announced in May, were published in the New England Journal of Medicinein August. The complete top 10 list of 2011 scientific breakthroughs appears in the Dec. 23, 2011, issue of Science. "The HPTN 052 study convincingly demonstrated that antiretroviral medications can not only treat but also prevent the transmission of HIV infection among heterosexual individuals," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "We are pleased that Science recognized the extraordinary public health significance of these study results. This recognition also is a credit to the hard work and dedication of the HPTN 052 researchers and the more than 3,000 study participants who selflessly gave their time and energy to make such a significant contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS." Led by study chair Myron Cohen, M.D., director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, HPTN 052 began in 2005 and enrolled 1,763 heterosexual couples in Botswana, Brazil, India, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, the United States and Zimbabwe. Each couple included one partner with HIV infection. The investigators randomly assigned each couple to either one of two study groups. In the first group, the HIV-infected partner immediately began taking a combination of three antiretroviral drugs. The participants infected with HIV were extensively counseled on the need to consistently

take the medications as directed. Outstanding compliance resulted in the nearly complete suppression of HIV in the blood (viral load) of the treated study participants in group one. In the second group (the deferred group), the HIV-infected partners began antiretroviral therapy when their CD4+ T-cell levels -- a key measure of immune system health -- fell below 250 cells per cubic millimeter or an AIDS-related event occurred. The HIV-infected participants also were counseled on the need to strictly adhere to the treatment regimen. The study was slated to end in 2015, but an interim data review in May by an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found that of the total 28 cases of HIV infection among the previously uninfected partners, only one case occurred among those couples where the HIVinfected partner began immediate antiretroviral therapy. The DSMB, therefore, called for immediate public release of the study's findings. The magnitude of protection against HIV infection demonstrated in HPTN 052 has made the successful strategy of the clinical trial a key component of public health policies recently discussed by federal officials and others saying that achieving an end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is now feasible with additional research and implementation efforts. "On its own, treatment as prevention is not going to solve the global HIV/AIDS problem," said Dr. Fauci. "Yet when used in combination with other HIV prevention methods -- such as knowing one's HIV status through routine testing, proper and consistent condom use, behavioral modification, needle and syringe exchange programs for injection drug users, voluntary, medically supervised adult male circumcision, preventing mother-to-child transmission, and, under some circumstances, antiretroviral use among HIV-negative individuals -- we now have a remarkable collection of public health tools that can make a significant impact on the HIV/AIDS pandemic." "Scale-up of these proven prevention methods combined with continued research toward a preventive HIV vaccine and female-controlled HIV prevention tools places us on a path to achieving something previously unimaginable: an AIDS-free generation," Dr. Fauci added. HPTN 052 was conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, which is largely funded by NIAID with additional funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health, both part of the NIH.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111223114126.htm

Plasma Treatment Zaps Viruses Before They Can Attack Cells

ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2011) Adenoviruses can cause respiratory, eye, and intestinal tract infections, and, like other viruses, must hijack the cellular machinery of infected organisms in order to produce proteins and their own viral spawn. Now an international research team made up of scientists from Chinese and Australian universities has found a way to disrupt the hijacking process by using plasma to damage the viruses in the laboratory environment, before they come into contact with host cells.
The researchers prepared solutions containing adenoviruses and then treated the samples with a low-temperature plasma created by applying a voltage to a gaseous mixture in a syringe. The strong electric field energized electrons that collided with molecules in the gas, generating charged particles and highly reactive species such as oxygen atoms that likely etched away the protein shell of the viruses and damaged or destroyed the viral DNA. When the virus solutions were later added to colonies of embryonic kidney cells, the plasma-treated samples showed

much less viral activity, as measured by the amount of a florescent virus protein the infected kidney cells produced. If the virus solution was covered during treatment to maximize plasmavirus interactions, more than 99 percent of the viruses could be deactivated in eight minutes. The technique is described in a paper accepted for publication in the AIP's journal Applied Physics Letters. Adenoviruses pose life-threatening risks to patients undergoing stem-cell therapy, so the anti-viral plasma treatment may help pave the way to safer therapies, the researchers write. Because plasma jets have multiple biomedical applications, the team is also developing a portable device that generates plasma by using a 12 V battery to decompose and ionize air, says Dr. XinPei Lu at the HuaZhong University of Science and Technology in China and leader of the team. The device might be used in rural areas and battlefields, according to Lu.

Dendritic Cell Subtype Protects Against Atherosclerosis

ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2011) Atherosclerosis, commonly referred to as "hardening of the arteries," is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. The cause of atherosclerosis is not well understood but, for some time, chronic inflammatory immune responses have been implicated in driving disease pathology. Now, a new study, published online on November 10th by Cell Press from the journalImmunity, identifies a type of immune cell that is not associated with promoting disease, but with protection against atherosclerosis.
The findings substantially advance the understanding of the complex immune responses associated with atherosclerosis and may guide research to develop new therapeutic interventions. Atherosclerosis is a vascular disease characterized by the accumulation of fatty material, such as cholesterol, in the wall of an artery. In the early stages of the disease, white blood cells called macrophages ingest the fatty material and become a major constituent of the soft, flaky plaques that narrow the artery and reduce blood flow. Pieces of the plaque can also break away and lodge in the brain, causing a stroke. Although this role for macrophages is well established, there are still many unanswered questions about the involvement of other types of immune cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs). In the paper, the authors explain that, "The precise definition of the development and function of the immune cells in normal and diseased blood vessels is increasingly important. Although macrophages in the large vessels have been the object of longstanding and considerable research, studies on aortic DCs are more recent and less numerous." Senior study author, Dr. Ralph M. Steinman from Rockefeller University, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine on October 3, 2011, but unfortunately died three days before receiving the news. "In our study we compared DCs and macrophages side by side in the mouse aorta, whereas prior work has focused on one cell type or the other" say the co-first authors Drs. Jae-Hoon Choi and Cheolho Cheong. Using a mouse model of atherosclerosis, the researchers discovered that there were more DCs than macrophages in the aorta and that there were two distinct types of DCs, "classical" DCs and DCs that were derived from white blood cells called monocytes. Interestingly, mice engineered to have fewer classical DCs developed more severe atherosclerosis. This suggests that although most types of immune cells are thought to exacerbate atherosclerosis, classical DCs may have a protective function. Steinman and colleagues wrote that, "These findings provide a more precise developmental and functional picture of the cell types in the aorta and support the view that the immune response in atherosclerosis is a double edged sword, with one subset of DCs providing a protective edge." "Further, understanding the roles of DCs and their origins in atherosclerosis is providing new

insight for the treatment of atherosclerosis" adds co-author Dr. Goo Taeg Oh from Ewha Women's University in Korea.

Preclinical Effectiveness of TB Drug Target Validated

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) In research at SRI International, scientists evaluating new drug targets against tuberculosis (TB) recently validated the preclinical effectiveness of a target that could rapidly eliminate infections and potentially shorten treatment time. The new drug target is a protein called DNA gyrase B, found in bacteria that cause TB infections.
DNA gyrase is an enzyme consisting of two subunits: gyrase A and gyrase B. Although gyrase A is often the target of antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin, there currently is no antibiotic on the market that targets gyrase B. In laboratory experiments, SRI researchers found that by targeting gyrase B, TB bacteria are killed whether they are replicating or dormant. Further studies will be conducted toward the development of a TB drug against gyrase B. "One of the greatest needs in infectious disease treatment is a drug that allows a shorter length of treatment," said Peter Madrid, Ph.D., program director in the Center for Infectious Disease and Biodefense Research, SRI Biosciences Division. "Though our program is still in the preclinical phase of research, with a number of years of required testing ahead, our goal is to develop a drug that will improve the treatment process for TB patients." TB patients currently undergo treatment for six months and take a combination of at least four different drugs. There are often challenges to treatment effectiveness because of the long treatment time, including low patient treatment compliance and high rates of drug resistance. Tuberculosis that is resistant to multiple drugs takes even longer to treat, usually 18 to 24 months. Research results are presented in the November 2011 Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in a paper titled "Evaluation of Gyrase B as a Drug Target in Mycobacterium tuberculosis." The project described was supported by Award Numbers R56AI090817 and U01AI082070 from the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or the National Institutes of Health.

People With Dementia Less Likely to Return Home After Stroke

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2011) New research shows people with dementia who have a stroke are more likely to become disabled and not return home compared to people who didn't have dementia at the time they had a stroke. The study is published in the November 1, 2011, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"Our findings represent a growing challenge for the health care system as baby boomers age and their risk of stroke and dementia increases," said lead study author Gustavo Saposnik, MD, MSc, of the University of Toronto in Canada and member of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 9,304 people who had a stroke between 2003 and 2008. Of the group, 702 people had dementia at the time they had a stroke.

Researchers found the people with dementia who had a stroke were three times more likely to have greater disability at discharge from the hospital compared to people without dementia who had a stroke, with 81 percent of those with dementia having moderate to severe disability compared to 57 percent of those without dementia. In addition, only 24 percent of the people in the dementia group returned to the place they lived prior to the stroke compared to 45 percent of people without dementia. People with dementia were also more likely to have severe stroke and an abnormal heart rhythm and less likely to receive tPA, a clot-busting drug used to treat stroke. "How to best manage stroke patients with pre-existing dementia is under debate and raises several diagnostic, management and ethical issues as some facilities may limit access to specialized stroke care for dementia patients unless the care is likely to improve outcomes," said Saposnik. "The lack of established guidelines for the management and treatment of stroke patients with dementia contributes to this uncertainty." Another study is underway to determine whether dementia or other comorbid conditions (e.g. hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, smoking) are responsible for the observed outcomes.

Researchers Develop More Effective Way to Discover and Test Potential Cancer Drugs
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2011) Researchers have created a new phenotypic screening platform that better predicts success of drugs developed to prevent blood vessel tumor growth when moving out of the lab and onto actual tumors.
"This platform allows us to predict what's going to happen in preclinical models," said Enrique Zudaire, Ph.D., staff scientist in the radiation oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute, who presented the findings at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held Nov. 12-16, 2011. "This not only shortens the amount of time that you would need to do screenings and drug discovery but also enhances dramatically the success you're going to have in the next phases." Zudaire and colleagues developed a phenotypic, high-content, cell-specific fluorescence platform that examines the effectiveness of angiogenesis inhibitors, which shut down or impede tumor growth by hampering blood vessel formation and thus starve the tumor. Past research has mainly focused on identifying single molecular targets for angiogenesis inhibitors. The new phenotypic platform evaluates how angiogenic inhibitors affect simultaneously entire cells and several steps of the angiogenesis process. "If you do a screening for activity of a particular enzyme, that's all you're going to get: a drug that targets that specific enzyme activity. That tells you little about how the enzyme works in a complex organization," said Zudaire. As a result, he explained, when many of these drugs advance to phase 2 clinical trials, they are either ineffective or result in side effects that are toxic to the patient. Researchers validated the platform by screening the 1,970 small molecules that are part of the National Cancer Institute Developmental Therapeutics Program Diversity Set. Through the phenotypic platform, they identified more than 100 lead compounds that were then tested in preclinical models. All tested compounds showed antitumor activity, and some blocked tumor growth more effectively than current, FDA-approved antiangiogenic drugs. This screening platform also ensures that researchers do not precondition the system to a known target. "We sometimes assume we know a lot about how these tumor systems work and what we should target," said Zudaire. The researchers proposed that most of the therapeutically relevant information in pathological systems rests on the complex interactions between the different components of the system rather than on the components themselves. Interrogating these systems in an unbiased manner will

reveal not only single molecular targets but unknown interactions between them, which are relevant for the disease. Ultimately, using this type of phenotypic platform can make drug development more efficient and cost-effective. "If we improve the initial phases of drug discovery, we can decide where to invest time and money on drugs that are a lot more likely to work," Zudaire said. "This study is proof of principle that the platform works. From here, we can design assays that are more complex and better able to describe what the in-vivo situation will be."

Tangled Web in Alzheimer's Protein Deposits Is More Complex Than Once Thought
ScienceDaily (Nov. 1, 2011) Scientists from the National Institutes of Health in the United States have made an important discovery that should forever change the scope and direction of Alzheimer's research. Specifically, they have discovered that the protein tangles which are a hallmark of the disease involve at least three different proteins rather than just one. The discovery of these additional proteins, called neurofilaments and vimentin, should help scientists better understand the biology and progression of the disease as well as provide additional drug discovery targets.
The discovery was published in the November 2011 issue of the FASEB Journal. "Since neurofilaments are the predominant protein in nerve cells, our study suggests that we should refocus our research on the biology of these filamentous proteins in an effort to understand how they are normally regulated and deregulated in response to human aging," said Harish C. Pant, Ph.D., a senior researcher involved in the work from the Cytoskeletal Regulatory Protein Section of the Laboratory of Neurochemistry at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. To make their discovery, Pant and colleagues identified normal and abnormal proteins present in autopsy samples of the brains of Alzheimer's disease victims. Then they isolated and purified the tangles (which are knots of abnormally aggregated filaments that fill and compromise nerve cells) from the autopsy samples and compared their protein composition to age- and post mortemmatched samples of brains from patients who died of other causes, such as accidents. Through a combination of improved instrumentation and informatics, it was possible to resolve the mixture of proteins successfully and identify the novel Alzheimer's disease proteins. Previous research suggested that only one protein, called "tau," is present in these tangles. "This is a breakthrough of great importance: tau is not the only target," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of theFASEB Journal. "Before this discovery, we approached these tangles as if they were woven of one piece of string. Now we know that there are at least three proteins involved, we're much closer to untangling the Alzheimer's web. Without question, discoveries like this bring us closer than ever to advanced Alzheimer's treatments, and it is a good example of why NIH funding is among the best investments our nation can make toward improving health and well being."

Is It Alzheimer's Disease or Another Dementia? Marker May Give More Accurate Diagnosis
ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) New research finds a marker used to detect plaque in the brain may help doctors make a more accurate

diagnosis between two common types of dementia -- Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The study is published in the November 30, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"These two types of dementia share similar symptoms, so telling the two apart while a person is living is a real challenge, but important so doctors can determine the best form of treatment," said study author Gil D. Rabinovici, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. For the study, 107 people with early onset Alzheimer's disease or FTLD underwent a brain PET scan using a PIB marker, which detects amyloid or plaque in the brain that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease but not related to FTLD. The participants underwent another PET scan using a FDG marker, which detects changes in the brain's metabolism and is currently used to help differentiate between the two types of dementia. The study found the PIB PET scan performed at least as well as the FDG PET scan in differentiating between Alzheimer's disease and FTLD, but had higher sensitivity and better accuracy and precision with its qualitative readings. The study found PIB had a sensitivity of 89.5 percent compared to 77.5 percent for FDG. "While widespread use of PIB PET scans isn't available at this time, similar amyloid markers are being developed for clinical use, and these findings support a role for amyloid imaging in correctly diagnosing Alzheimer's disease versus FTLD," said Rabinovici. The study was conducted at the University of California (UC) San Francisco, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and supported by the National Institute on Aging, the California Department of Health Services, the Alzheimer's Association, John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation and the Consortium for Frontotemporal Dementia Research.

Risk of Contracting Diabetes to Increase in World of 7 Billion People

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2011) World citizen number 7 billion is less likely to die from infectious diseases like measles or even AIDS, and more likely to contract diabetes or other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), as they are now the leading causes of deaths globally.
14th of November is official World Diabetes Day. In a world of 7 billion people with changing disease patterns, this day is more relevant than ever, according to external lecturer Siri Tellier from the Copenhagen School of Global Health at the University of Copenhagen. "Our new world citizen number 7 billion is more likely to grow up in an urban setting, which increases his or her risk of getting diabetes, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer and heart disease," says Siri Tellier, who teaches demography and health in emergencies, while she also lectures on international perspectives on demographic challenges to Chinese university students in Beijing. Global health challenges rapidly changing World citizen number 7 billion, who was estimated to be born on 31 October, will face very different diseases than that of children born only a few decades ago. As the population of urban areas keeps growing, it rapidly changes the global health challenges. "Until 2008, the majority of the world population lived in rural areas, but since then the majority has become urban, and most future population growth will happen in urban areas of developing countries. And one third of them, a little more than one billion, live in urban slums," says Siri Tellier. A high proportion of people who move to cities are young adults, and this has several implications for health. Among them are the consequences of leaving their parents behind in rural areas.

"Aging parents can no longer depend on their adult children for care. They will often 'live with' chronic NCDs such as diabetes, and will need daily assistance. It's not just a question of the children sending them money from their new home in a big city -- who will care for the old people on a daily basis? The household size is shrinking. In rural areas it may be five, in urban areas only two. So in order to meet that challenge, new patterns of caring for older people will be needed," says Siri Tellier. Challenges are twofold In the cities of the world, the health challenge is twofold: Firstly, living conditions in slum areas are poor, both with respect to water and sanitation, and access to health care almost non existent. In addition, life in urban areas often entails a shift toward 'modern' life styles, with inadequate nutrition, especially more fatty, salty foods, smoking, alcohol and lack of exercise -- all primers for NCDs. Secondly, when the young newcomers become parents, their own poor health will have influenced the unborn child's predisposition for NCDs. "Increasing numbers of studies show, that healthy aging begins in the womb," Siri Tellier continues, and explains that if -- for example -- children are born with low birth weight, they are more likely to develop diabetes later in life "Our new world citizen nr. 7 billion will probably grow up in an urban setting, and will face factors that increase his or her risk of diabetes, as well as COPD, cancer and heart disease. "There is also an increasing awareness of the need to help even healthy, young people gain the habits which will predispose them for health in later life. Parents may have a hard time ensuring that their teenagers develops healthy habits, which will follow him or her throughout life, especially if a lack of these habits do not cause ill health immediately," Siri Tellier points out. And the good news "Of course, the good news is that the child is less likely to die from measles, or even AIDS or diarrheal diseases. We have reduced the number of child deaths from around 12 million in 1990 to less than 8 million today, and most of the saved lives are through prevention measures such as vaccinations against infectious diseases. That is not only good news, that is fantastic news." Siri Tellier explains. Flemming Konradsen, Director of the Copenhagen School of Global Health at the University of Copenhagen, shares this optimistic view, and stresses that we must now deal with the noncommunicable diseases as seriously as infectious diseases: "Global disease patterns are changing. As many countries around the world have reduced the great killers such as malaria, we must turn the same effort and resources towards NCD's, as they must be prevented now rather than treated later. In addition to the personal consequences for the patient, NCDs burden developing health care systems with such high expenses, that can halt their development if we do not intervene," says Professor Flemming Konradsen.