Drug Week

Cell Biology - New compound class found to trigger changes in cell garbage can

Epilepsy - Study points to new gene therapy tool in preventing epileptic seizures

Alzheimer Disease - Common treatment for depression is safe and effective

Animal Models - Wistar rats not relevant model for antipsychotic-induced weight gain

Antifungal Agents - CS-758, a lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase inhibitor, is a promising new drug

Cancer Vaccine - RNA transfection of dendritic cells induces immunity against breast cancer

Diabetes Therapy - Imidazolines active as glucose-dependent stimulators of insulin secretion

HIV/AIDS Drug Resistance - Novel reporter T-cell line useful for HIV drug susceptibility testing

Hypertension - ALT-711 shows efficacy; endpoints not met in phase IIb trials

AIDS Funding - Rwanda gets US$2.8 million for HIV/AIDS control

Acne - Trial data of Periostat released

Acute Myocardial Infarction - "Type A" behavior predicts timing of men's heart attacks

Addiction Medicine - Drug-use by a male partner impacts a woman's response to drug treatment

Addiction Medicine - U.S. regulations governing opioid agonist treatment of addiction reviewed

Anaphylaxis - Charcoal is no substitute for epinephrine for severe allergic reactions

Animal Models - Transgenic mice provide new model of insulin resistance and obesity

Anthrax - Detrick vaccine tested

Anticancer Therapy - Monoclonal antibodies are large portion of drugs in development

Antiviral Agents - Cycloferon has a direct effect, reducing viral infectivity of adenovirus type 6

Atherosclerosis - Pneumococcal vaccination decreases atherosclerotic lesion formation

Bacterial Reservoir - Southern chamois in Spain have antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi

Biological Anti-Inflammatory - Interleukin-10 is secreted by regulatory T cells that may be useful therapy

Blood Safety - High HTLV-1 rate confirmed in blood donors from Iranian city

Blood Substitute - Cholesterol protects against oxidative stress in hemosomes

Blood Testing - Novel assay useful for measuring platelet function in different lab animal species

Bone Cancer - Peripheral opioids act as analgesics in bone cancer pain in mice

Brain Glutamine Transport - Glutamine transport at blood-brain, blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers examined

Breast Cancer - Anti-idiotype antibody elicits antibody response in breast cancer patients

Bronchial Asthma - Anti-IL-5 suppresses eosinophil infiltration; not activated T-cell function

Cancer Drug Toxicity - Two anticancer agents may help reduce platinum-, taxane-associated toxicities

Cancer Therapy - Therapeutic strategies that target NK4 look promising for preventing metastasis

Cancer Vaccine - A syngeneic endothelial cell vaccine jumpstarts antitumor immunity in mice

Cancer Vaccine - Dendritic cell vaccines offer new hope for treatment of endocrine tumors

Cancer Vaccine - Dendritic cells prevent metastasis of HPV 16-associated tumors

Cancer Vaccine - Oncolytic adenoviral vector expressing GM-CSF exhibits anti-tumor activity

Cardiology - A shortage of VEGF receptors in diabetic hearts may explain VEGF resistance

Cardiology - PAR transgenes offer insight into the role of thrombin in vascular pathology

Cardiopulmonary Medicine - Chronic hypoxia causes angiogenesis and remodeling in the circulatory system

Cardiovascular Disease - Thrombin and vascular development are significant elements of heart disease

Cell Biology - TWEAK uses TNF receptor-associated factors to activate nuclear factor kappaB

Cervical Cancer - Comutation of HPV16 E6 and E7 genes in Thai cervical tumors found

Chronic Hepatitis B - Patients show comparable sustained suppression in a study of HBV regimens

Chronic Hepatitis C - Antisense inhibition offers a new way to control hepatitis C virus infection

Chronic Hepatitis C - Several extrahepatic manifestations are related to hepatitis C virus infection

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia - Imantinib enhances antileukemia effect of dendritic cells

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia - Imatinib treatment does not eradicate malignant stem cells in CML patients

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia - Canadian phase I/II study for Theralux completed

Collaborations - Biomarker research collaboration to use proteomics platform

Collaborations - IND milestone payment due from Pfizer

Collaborations - Research agreement signed to discover biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases

Collaborations - Research partnership broadened in CNS-disease area

Colorectal Cancer - New research study suggests PEG-based laxatives may prevent colorectal cancer

Compulsive Shopping Disorder - Antidepressant helps alleviate uncontrollable shopping urges

Dermatology - Dermatopathologic manifestations often accompany hepatitis C virus infections

Diabetes Survival and Mortality - Tight glycemic control needed for in-patients with cardiovascular disease

Diabetes Therapy - Selective inhibitor of aldose reductase has potent activity in diabetic rats

Diabetes Therapy - Specific connexins tend to control beta-cell functioning

Diabetic Nephropathy - Proteinuria dipstick testing for diabetic nephropathy of questionable value

Diabetic Neuropathy - Diabetic neuropathy and nerve regeneration reviewed

Diabetic Neuropathy - Diabetic polyneuropathy presentation and treatment reviewed

Diagnostics - FDA clearance granted for homocysteine test

Diarrhea - Trial shows biotherapeutic agent effective in treating GI problems

Diet and Nutrition - Dietary supplement data from national studies marred by incompatibility

Diet and Nutrition - Food intake delayed by snack high in protein, carbohydrate, or fat

Diet and Nutrition - Vegetarian diets are healthful if planned correctly

Dietary Supplements - Little known about risks and benefits of long-term supplement use

Drug Compounds - Research library exceeds 10 million samples used in drug discovery

Drug Development - Reagent toolkit launched to optimize steps in drug discovery

Drug Resistance - Interferometry can be used to determine bacterial drug susceptibility

Drug Screening - Tritiated thymidine didn't improve sensitivity of popliteal lymph node assay

Endocrinology - Plasminogen activation by endostatin encourages endothelial cell detachment

Endocrinology - The small nuclear protein Ini boosts connexin43 gene response to estrogen

Endocrinology - VEGF-A shepherds pancreatic islet signals to blood vessel endothelium

Environmental Health - Bromate induces heterozygosity loss in Thymidine kinase gene

Enzyme Studies - Activity of enzymes that hydrolyze adenine nucleotides altered in diabetes

Enzymology - Histone deacetylase inhibitors arrest MMP-2 activity to stop cancer invasion

Enzymology - Human PAR1 influences the metastatic potential of cancer

Epilepsy - Maternal gabapentin exposure doesn't compromise pregnancy or developing infants

Facilities - Oklahoma City becoming haven for biotech industry

Finance - Biotech company raises $10M in private placement

Finance - Biotech company reports net loss of $0.81 per share

Finance - Earnings are 20% lower for pharmaceutical firm

Finance - Imaging agent developer reports net profit of $0.10 per share

Finance - Neurotechnology firm raises $4.3M

Finance - Oncology company raises $9.6M

Finance - Pharmaceutical firm to cooperate with request from SEC; performance reported

Finance - PowderJect shares purchased, European commission inquiry resolved

Finance - Record second quarter results reported by medical adhesives firm

Finance - SEC filings made by stem cell, cord blood company

Food-borne Illness - PCR method developed for detection of animal-derived materials in animal feed

Gastric Cancer - COX-2 correlates with VEGF-A and tumor angiogenesis in gastric cancer

Gastroenterology - Bone mineral density declines and remains static in those with Crohn disease

Gastroenterology - Cyclin D1 overexpression in normal cells may cause oncogenic transformation

Gastroenterology - Genetic changes alter pancreatic cancer's sensitivity to IFN gamma

Gene Vectors - Pluronic-block copolymers augment the efficacy of nonviral gene delivery

Genetics and Genomics - Novel E. coli locus useful for pathogenic strain identification

Genomics and Genetics - Link found between type 1 diabetes and IL4R, IL4, and IL13 loci in Filipinos

Genomics and Genetics - Unstable GFP variants useful for study of transient mycobacterial gene expression

Gynecology - Angiogenic cytokines are expressed in human follicular fluid

HIV/AIDS Clinical Trial - "Late-starter" sites add little benefit to HIV trials

HIV/AIDS Coinfection - Hepatitis B core antigen should be used for diagnosis in HIV patients

HIV/AIDS Coinfection - Interferon alpha-2a with ribavirin ineffective for HIV patients with hepatitis C

HIV/AIDS Immunology - DNA deamination plays key role in antiretroviral immune activity

HIV/AIDS Immunology - Structure of HIV neutralizing antibody 2G12 elucidated

HIV/AIDS Lipodystrophy - Exercise and vitamin E can help prevent HIV-related metabolic disorders

HIV/AIDS Lipodystrophy - Insulin-like growth factor chimeras provide improved control of HIV-related wasting

HIV/AIDS Mutagenesis - CEM15 enzyme induces lentiviral G to A hypermutation

HIV/AIDS Pathogenesis - Melanin levels may be linked to resistance

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Antioxidants may enhance antiretroviral therapy

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Directly observed HIV therapy does not ensure adherence by prison inmates

HIV/AIDS Therapy - HIV protease-inhibiting activity of novel pyridine derivatives characterized

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Hepatotoxicity linked to antiretroviral HIV-1 protease inhibitor therapy

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Intermittent antiretroviral therapy offers no benefit over continuous treatment

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Novel antibiotic derivatives have antiretroviral activity

HIV/AIDS Therapy - Resistance data reported on tipranavir

HIV/AIDS Transmission - Novel mathematical model may aid study of cellular HIV spread

HIV/AIDS Vaccine - Vector constructed from chimeric SIV and HIV characterized

Head and Neck Cancer - Angiogenesis is not the only tumor growth mechanism targeted by endostatin

Head and Neck Cancer - Excess apoptosis may predict worse outcomes in laryngeal cancer patients

Head and Neck Cancer - The effects of endostatin extend beyond angiostatic influence

Health Economics - BlueCross launches generic drug campaign

Health Economics - Public interest group says uninsured pay too much for prescription drugs

Heart Disease Diagnosis - ¹⁸F-FDG SPECT useful for myocardial viability testing in diabetic patients

Hematology - Product line expanded with Cell-Dyn system

Hemophilia - New model estimates global demand for hemophilia A treatment

Herbal Medicine - Long-term butterbur use is associated with rare cases of reversible hepatitis

Herpesvirus - Glycoproteins M and N of herpesvirus 8 form complexes, inhibit cell fusion

Hormone Replacement - Ovarian hormones may attenuate the body's proinflammatory response to pyrogens

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine - Vaccines to treat human papillomavirus-associated disease under development

Hypogonadism - FDA issues non-approvable letter for Fortigel

Immunology - Colon cancer cells that express interleukin-23 generate systemic immunity

Immunology - Data about B cell lymphoma vessel density hinges on staining specifics

Immunology - Gene modified cytotoxic T lymphocytes present anticancer possibilities

Immunology - Heightened CCR4 expression plays key role in CD25+ suppressor T-cell homing

Immunology - Some T-cell and immunological defects might stem from VEGF overexpression

Immunotherapy - New CpG oligonucleotides cause dendritic cells to activate B cells and cytokine

Infant Pulmonary Fibrosis - Chronic lung disease of prematurity treated with dexamethasone has reduced inflammation

Infectious Disease - Malaria cases down in Scotland despite increased visits abroad

Infectious Disease Diagnosis - Novel monoclonal antibodies may aid detection of Norwalk-like viruses

Infectious Disease Epidemiology - Novel enterovirus 71 strain isolated in India

Infectious Disease Therapy - Ceftriaxone superior to penicillin for treatment of severe leptospirosis

Infectious Disease Therapy - Novel acylides active against Gram-positive and -negative pathogens

Infectious Disease Therapy - Novel chalcones show promise for treatment of leishmaniasis and malaria

Infectious Disease Therapy - Oral ribavirin effective against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

Infertility - Ovarian hemodynamics predict a woman's response to ovulation drugs

Influenza - Green algae extract boosts flu vaccine effectiveness in people 50-55

Influenza Vaccine - Recombinant influenza virus generated using baculovirus delivery vector

Information Technology - Chemoinformatics product released

Information Technology - Clinical trial software licensing agreement signed

Information Technology - Drug discovery process improved with utility storage

Insulin Resistance - Exercise program improves insulin resistance in hyperinsulinemic rats