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Novel Inflammatory Protein Function Discovered


ScienceDaily
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:39 UTC
A UNC-led team of scientists describes the function of a previously uncharacterized protein that dramatically influences inflammation.

A majority of the NLR family of proteins function as activators of inflammation. However, scientists at UNC report that a newly identified NLR protein, NLRC3, was able to inhibit a major inflammatory pathway that is controlled by a protein called NF-Kappa B. NF-Kappa B activation has been long associated with inflammation and cancer promotion. Their article appears in the August 5,2012 online publication of the journal Nature Immunology.

The UNC team previously reported that another NLR family member, NLRP12, was also able to inhibit NF-Kappa B activation. However, in their new study, the team reported that NLRC3 inhibits this major inflammatory pathway through a completely different mechanism. The researchers show that NLRC3 directly interacts with the molecule TRAF6 and forms a novel, previously uncharacterized protein complex described as a 'TRAFasome'. TRAF6 is a key regulator of NF-kappaB and is a critical step in the regulation of inflammation.
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Chalkboard

Major Breakthrough in Macular Degeneration


ScienceDaily
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:35 UTC
University of Kentucky researchers, led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, have made an exciting finding in the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy (GA). GA is an untreatable condition that causes blindness in millions of individuals due to death of retinal pigmented epithelial cells.

The paper appears in the current online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ambati, professor of physiology, and professor and vice chair of ophthalmology and visual sciences at UK, is a leader in the field of macular degeneration research. Previous research from the Ambati laboratory published in the journal Nature showed that in human eyes with geographic atrophy there is a deficiency of the enzyme DICER1, leading to accumulation of toxic Alu RNA molecules in the retinal pigmented epithelium. Another paper published in the journal Cell showed that when these RNAs build up in the eye they trigger activation of an immune complex known as the NLRP3 inflammasome.
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Health

Fainting: All in the Family?


ScienceDaily
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:31 UTC
Fainting has a strong genetic predisposition, according to new research published in the August 7, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Fainting, also called vasovagal syncope, is a brief loss of consciousness when your body reacts to certain triggers, such as emotional distress or the sight of blood.

"The question of whether fainting is caused by genetic factors, environmental factors or a mixture of both has been the subject of debate," said study author Samuel F. Berkovic, MD, FRS, with the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, 51 sets of twins of the same gender between the ages of nine and 69 were given a telephone questionnaire. At least one of the twins had a history of fainting. Researchers also gathered information about any family history of fainting. Of the 51 sets of twins, 57 percent reported having typical fainting triggers.
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Health

Decision-Making Brain Activity in Patients With Hoarding Disorder


ScienceDaily
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:27 UTC
Patients with hoarding disorder exhibited abnormal activity in regions of the brain that was stimulus dependent when deciding what to do with objects that did or did not belong to them, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

Hoarding disorder (HD) is defined as the excessive collection of objects and an inability to discard them. It is characterized by marked avoidance of decisions about possessions, according to the study background.

David F. Tolin, Ph.D., of the Institute of Living, Hartford, Conn., and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural activity when decisions had to be made about whether to keep or discard possessions.

Their study of 107 adults at a private, not-for-profit hospital compared neural activity among patients with HD (43), patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (31, OCD) and a group of healthy individuals (33). The objects used in the study were paper items, such as junk mail and newspapers, that either did or did not belong to the participants.

Compared with patients who had OCD and the healthy individuals, researchers found that patients with HD exhibited abnormal activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula. When deciding about items that did not belong to them, patients with HD showed relatively lower activity in those brain regions. However, when deciding about items that did belong to them, these regions showed "excessive functional magnetic resonance imaging signals" compared with the other two groups, according to study results.
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Roses

USDA: United States Farmers Markets Surge


Common Dreams
Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:40 UTC
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© AP Photo/Gary KazanjianChing Thao, of Mao's Farm, Vineyard Farmers Market in Fresno, California
Urban farmers markets across the US have become increasingly popular over the past few years and are now surging and expanding at unseen levels, according the the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA will announce Friday that the number of direct-sales markets has increased 9.6 per cent over the past year.

"Farmers markets are a critical ingredient to our nation's food system," USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan told the Associated Press.
"These outlets provide benefits not only to the farmers looking for important income opportunities, but also to the communities looking for fresh, healthy foods."
After 18 years of steady growth, the number of farmers markets across the country now registered with the USDA is up to 7,864 - compared to the 1,744 registered in 1994. California and New York currently have the greatest amount of farmers markets per state.
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Why a Major Food Organization Is Teaming Up With Monsanto and Friends to Block Your Right to Know What's in Your Food

Ronnie Cummins
Alternet
Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:08 UTC
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Big Food companies like ConAgra, Smucker, Hormel, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo want to block consumer protection legislation.
[The California Ballot Initiative to label genetically engineered food is] "a serious, long-term threat to the viability of agricultural biotechnology. Defeating the Initiative is GMA's single highest priority this year." - Pamela Bailey, President of Grocery Manufacturers Association, speech to the American Soybean Association, July 9, 2012
This November, Californians will vote for or against Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. The outcome of that vote will likely determine whether the U.S. will one day join the nearly 50 other countries that allow their citizens to choose between genetically engineered and non-genetically engineered food through the enactment of laws requiring mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
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2 + 2 = 4

Study: Media Before Bedtime Can Disrupt Children's Sleep

Serena Gordon
Health.usnews.com
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:50 UTC
There's more evidence that watching violent or age-inappropriate images on TV, in movies or on computers can significantly disrupt children's sleep.

Kids between 3 and 5 years old who were exposed only to age-appropriate viewing materials in the hour before bed were 64 percent less likely to have any type of sleep disturbance, such as trouble falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep or nightmares, according to a new study.

Perhaps surprisingly, "violent" media might even include popular kids' fare such as SpongeBob SquarePants, said the study's lead author, Michelle Garrison.
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2 + 2 = 4

Study: Chemotherapy May Trigger Cancer Growth


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:03 UTC
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© Chris Hondros/Agency France Presse/Getty Images
Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday.

Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab.

They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found "evidence of DNA damage" in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine.
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Bacon

Kids with autism benefit from a ketogenic diet

Emily Deans, M.D.
Psychology Today
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:09 UTC
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Not too long ago, Dr. Robert Su sent me a link to a paper concerning a study of a ketogenic diet in autistic disorders. That is, a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate and protein, so that the kids were burning fat as a primary fuel rather than glucose. It is a pilot study of 30 kids from Crete with autism who were placed on a ketogenic diet for 6 months in 1999. They went on a "John Radcliffe" version of a ketogenic diet, consisting of 30% medium chain triglyceride oil, 30% fresh cream, 11% saturated fat (oops! overshooting the USDA 2011 guidelines by a bit), 19% carbohydrates, and 10% protein along with vitamin and mineral supplements. The kids were placed on the diet in 4 week intervals, followed by 2 weeks of anything goes, so on and off. The kids' urine
was tested with ketostix and their serum checked for beta hydroxybutyrate (a ketone) to measure the amount of ketosis. After 6 months, the diets were discontinued, and the kids were evaluated monthly for another 6 months.
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Attention

Gluten Attack: Is gluten attacking your brain?

Christine Boyd
Living Without Magazine
Sun, 05 Aug 2012 12:19 UTC
Not long after her diagnosis, Sarah Bosse realized her case of celiac disease was not typical. Bosse had joined a support group for newly diagnosed celiacs and was surprised by what she saw at the first few meetings.

"They were working full-time jobs, had families and went out at night. Not to discount the severity of their symptoms and experiences but they had a much more normal life."

Bosse had expected them to be as sick as she was.

The 26 year old from Raleigh, North Carolina, can trace her celiac symptoms all the way back to elementary school when she spent countless hours holed up in the nurse's office, nibbling on saltines for her diarrhea, nausea and stomach cramps.
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