Whether
they are smokers or non-smokers, people with gum disease have a higher
overall risk of cancer, according to an Article published on May 27,
2008 in The Lancet Oncology.

Gum disease, such as
periodontis or gingivitis, is associated with increased concentrations
of inflammatory markers in the blood. There is some debate, however,
about whether this systemic inflammation, the pathogenic invasion into
the blood stream, or the immune response to gum infection could
possibly affect cancer risk, overall or at specific sites.

To
explore the potential association between gum disease and cancer, Dr.
Dominique Michaud, Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues began a
study of male health professionals aged 40-75 years in 1986.
Questionnaires were sent to the living participants every two years,
and dietary questionnaires were sent every four years. The data
collected through these surveys included: baseline gum disease, bone
loss, the number of natural teeth, tooth loss, smoking history, food
intake, and any cancer diagnoses. The data were examined for the
overall cancer risk and compared to individual cancers, and more than
100 cases were documented.

In total, 48,375 men were
considered eligible for the study and followed for a median follow-up
period of 17.7 years. In this group, there were 5,720 cases of incident
cancer, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer and non-aggressive prostate
cancer. Of these, the most common cancers were colorectal (18% or
1043), melanoma of the skin (12% or 698), lung (12% or 678), bladder
(9.5% or 543) and advanced prostate cancer (9.5% or 541). After
adjusting for many known risk factors, including accounting for smoking
and dietary histories, the subjects who had a history of gum disease
had a risk of cancer that was 14% higher than those with no history of
gum disease.

Patients with a history of gum disease, in
comparison with those without a history of gum disease, had an
increased risk of cancer in certain specific sites as well, including:
36% increased in the lung, 49% increased in the kidney, 54% increased
in the pancreas, and 30% increased in hematological cancers. Patients
with 0-16 natural teeth at the baseline were also 70% more likely to
have lunch cancer than those with 25-32 teeth. In subjects who did not
smoke, gum disease was associated with a 21% overall cancer risk above
those without gum disease. In contrast, nonsmoker subjects had no
difference in risk based on lung disease.

In conclusion, the authors summarize their results: “Gum
disease was associated with a small, but significant, increase in
overall cancer risk, which persisted in never-smokers. The associations
recorded for lung cancer are probably because of residual confounding
by smoking. The increased risks noted for haematological, kidney, and
pancreatic cancers need confirmation, but suggest that gum disease
might be a marker of a susceptible immune system or might directly
affect cancer risk.”

Periodontal disease, tooth loss, and cancer risk in male
health professionals: a prospective cohort study
Dominique S Michaud, Yan Liu, Mara Meyer, Edward Giovannucci, Kaumudi
Joshipura
Lancet Oncol 2008; 9: 550-58
DOI:10.1016/S1470-2045(08)70106-2
Click Here For Journal

Written by Anna Sophia McKenney

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Ischaemic heart disease, characterised by reduced blood flow to the heart, is Australia’s and the world’s leading cause of death. It is most common in older people and the impact of the disease will continue to rise with an ageing population.

Director of Griffith’s Heart Foundation Research Centre Professor John Headrick said older hearts become less resistant to damage during heart attack.

“Furthermore, new experimental therapies to reduce damage also appear less effective in older hearts. It is therefore critical that we understand how age alters the heart, and how older hearts respond to disease.”

Together with researcher Dr Jason Peart, his team have identified normally protective processes within cardiac cells that become ineffective with age.

“When we experimentally target this ‘cascade of proteins’ it is possible to render an aged heart akin to a young heart in terms of its response to a heart attack. This type of research paves the way for new therapies designed to specifically manage heart disease in our older population,” Professor Headrick said.

The research is currently supported by grants from the National Heart Foundation and research fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Dr Jason Peart completed his undergraduate degree at Griffith and PhD in the Heart Foundation Research Centre, before moving to the US for a prestigious postdoctoral position supported by the American Heart Association.

He was lured back to Australia with a NHMRC Howard Florey Centenary Research Fellowship – a scheme designed to counteract the brain drain of Australian talent – and has since been awarded an NHMRC Career Development Award.

The award, which supports early career researchers who have demonstrated excellence in their respective fields, allows Dr Peart to continue studying the particular roles of adenosine and opioids in triggering the protein cascades to produce heart cell protection.

Contact: Mardi Chapman

Research Australia Continue reading →

A new noninvasive test shows potential for helping women with unexplained chest pain, according to a study published in the June 22 journal Circulation. The test points out those women whose hearts are deprived of oxygen-even when standard tests show no coronary artery disease.

Women often seek medical help for chest pain, sometimes undergoing coronary angiography. But in almost half of all such women, there is no coronary artery disease. Now scientists suggest that blockages in the smaller, slender arteries that feed the heart muscle-blockages that cannot be spotted on standard tests-might be at fault.

“We have seen that many of these women are admitted to the hospital for chest pain, and undergo angiography to look for coronary artery disease behind the angina, yet no such disease is found,” says Gerald M. Pohost, M.D., chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and corresponding and senior author on the study. “Our results indicate that in many of these women, something is keeping the heart from getting the oxygen it needs. We suspect microvascular dysfunction or disease.”

Coronary artery disease, or CAD, claims more lives in the United States, Europe and other developed regions than any other disease. Prompted by symptoms such as chest pain, or angina, more than a half million U.S. women underwent coronary angiography to look for CAD in 2001. Yet nearly half of women with chest pain who undergo coronary angiography are found to have no significant CAD, posing a puzzle for physicians.

CAD is a disease of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. Over time, as fatty materials collect in the vessels that supply the heart, the artery walls thicken and narrow the space where blood can flow, depriving heart tissue of oxygen.

The study was a part of the Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation, or WISE, study. WISE is a four-center study of women undergoing coronary angiography for chest pain or suspected myocardial ischemia.

The researchers compared 352 women with CAD to 74 other women without it. These CAD-free women underwent an imaging scan called phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which is done completely from outside the body.

The technique simply required that women squeeze a handgrip while lying inside an MRI unit. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy technology enabled scientists to measure levels of two phosphates found in heart tissue, once while women were at rest and again while they were squeezing the handgrip (experiencing physical stress). Investigators then compared the before-and-after levels of the two phosphates.

Researchers saw that the ratio of the two phosphates, phosphocreatine and ATP- called high-energy phosphates, since they supply the energy source for heart contraction-declined significantly in 14 of the 74 CAD-free women when they squeezed the handgrip. A big drop in the ratio is abnormal and a sign that heart tissue is not getting enough blood, Pohost explains.

Investigators wanted to see whether the abnormal results were linked to women’s cardiovascular health. Over the next three years, they tracked how many of the women experienced a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack, stroke or hospitalization for a blood clot or unstable angina.

They found that 87 percent of the CAD-free women with normal magnetic resonance spectroscopy results stayed free of cardiovascular events. But 57 percent of the CAD-free women with abnormal magnetic resonance spectroscopy results had no events. That is not much better than the women who had been diagnosed with CAD: 52 percent of them avoided cardiovascular events during that time period.

Most of the events were hospitalizations due to unstable angina, and many of the women with abnormal magnetic resonance spectroscopy results experienced repeated, fruitless angiography procedures to find the cause of the angina during the three-year follow-up. Health care for CAD-free women with abnormal results cost more than twice that of the other CAD-free women over the three years.

In the clinic, Pohost and fellow cardiologists use standard angina therapies to treat chest pain in these CAD-free women, he says. The study suggests that magnetic resonance spectroscopy could be widely used to evaluate women complaining of chest pain, and even may reduce the number of women undergoing repeated coronary angiography procedures.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is available only at a few select institutes and academic medical centers, such as USC University Hospital.

WISE is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

B. Delia Johnson, Leslee J. Shaw, Steven D. Buchthal, C. Noel Bairey Merz, Hee-Won Kim, Katherine N. Scott, Mark Doyle, Marian B. Olson, Carl J. Pepine, Jan den Hollander, Barry Sharaf, William J. Rogers, Sunil Mankad, John R. Forder, Sheryl F. Kelsey, Gerald M. Pohost. “Prognosis in Women with Myocardial Ischemia in the Absence of Obstructive Coronary Disease,” Circulation. Vol. 109, No. 154, June 22, 2004.

Contact: Jon Weiner
jonweineusc
323-442-2830
University of Southern California Continue reading →

“The high presence of microRNA 451 enhances the response to treatment with chemo-radiotherapy and increases the survival of patients with stomach cancer”, explained Dr. Jes??s Garc?­a-Foncillas, chief researcher of the Pharmacogenomics Laboratory at the Applied Medical Research Centre (CIMA) and Director of Oncology at the University Hospital of Navarra. This was one of the results presented at the IV Congress of the Spanish Society for Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomic, recently held at CIMA.

Pharmacogenetics studies the genetic bases determining the response of an individual to treatment, as well as possible toxic reactions; pharmacogenomics analyses the molecular and biological mechanisms involved in a disease in order to develop new medicines. “We know that variations in small molecules (microRNAs) give rise to different responses to the same pharmaceutical drug. In this line, a number of approaches are being made in clinical practice, such as the study of mutations of the K-RAS gene in cancer of the colon or of the EGFR in lung cancer, and which enable directing individualised treatment for each patient”.

The study presented at this scientific meeting analysed the role of microRNA 451 in stomach cancer, “Patients with a high expression of this molecule show greater survival rates, and so could be a biomarker for treatment response”. The CIMA researchers are also taking part in other trials, such as studies with the 192 and 215 microRNAs, which influence the response to pharmaceutical drugs against cancer of the colon, at the preclinical phase.

Psychiatric and cardiovascular diseases

Besides its application in cancer, pharmacogenetics is demonstrating its efficacy in other disciplines such as psychiatry. So today, more individualised treatment can be determined for psychotic disorders and epilepsy for each patient.

Another field that is growing fast is that involving the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. “One of the great risks of these illnesses is controlling the thrombotic processes involved in cerebrovascular accidents. The study of certain genes, such as ALOX5AP, can direct the most appropriate medication for each patient”, explained Dr. Garc?­a-Foncillas.

In the opinion of the CIMA researcher, “the convergence of genetic and pharmacological studies has created a way for optimising both the treatment for each patient as well as health resources, given that we will be able to use pharmaceutical drugs in suitable doses, with fewer side effects and with patients that show better therapeutic response”.

Sources: Elhuyar Fundazioa, AlphaGalileo Foundation. Continue reading →

Thousands of cardiologists and other healthcare professionals from around the world gathered in Beijing to share the latest science on treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the start of the World Congress of Cardiology Scientific Sessions.

Each year 17.1 million people die of CVD representing around 29 per cent of all global deaths and of these 80 per cent of deaths are in the developing world and emerging economies. Moreover, it is estimated that almost 23.6 million people will die from CVD each year by 2030 and this disease looks set to remain the number one global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, for years to come. Like many emerging countries China, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, has seen significant increases in the number of people with CVD.

At the opening ceremony, Congress Co-Chairs Runlin Gao and Tak-Fu Tse welcomed the WCC to Beijing for the first time, noting that by choosing to hold the conference in China the organizers had provided an ideal opportunity to look more closely at the country’s CVD burden and to highlight the role that Chinese cardiologists are now playing on the world stage.

“CVD is the leading cause of death in China accounting for some 39 per cent of urban and 36 per cent of rural deaths,” explained Professor Chen Zu, Minster of Health – also speaking at the opening ceremony. He also highlighted China’s increasing role in global clinical trial research of this disease area as evidenced by the 30 per cent increase in number of people from China participating in international clinical trials during the past 10 years.

“Without a doubt CVD will place an ever increasing burden on individuals, healthcare professionals and governments around the world as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and socio-economic factors influence our lifestyles,” said Pekka Puska, President, World Heart Federation. “There are already concrete steps that can be taken to try to minimize the long-term impact of these diseases and we are looking forward to reviewing new data and discussing new strategies that will further strengthen our fight against CVD at this meeting.”

About the World Congress of Cardiology

The World Congress of Cardiology Scientific Sessions is the official congress of the World Heart Federation and is held every two years. Through the Congress the World Heart Federation offers an international stage for the latest developments in science and public outreach in the field of cardiovascular health. The World Congress of Cardiology places emphasis on the complementary nature of science and public outreach and strives to spread the message that through individual, community and patient-care interventions, the growing epidemic of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented.

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Etubics Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing “next generation” vector vaccines, has entered into Phase I trials at Duke University with its ETBX-011, a therapeutic vaccine candidate that is intended to treat Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)-expressing cancers such as colorectal cancer. Etubics dosed its first patient yesterday. Etubics was recently granted clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to begin studying ETBX-011 in humans.

Michael Morse, M.D. at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center noted, “Etubics’ novel vector vaccine approach activates cell mediated immunity and antibodies against cancers that express CEA. We look forward to studying this vaccine candidate in patients with cancers that express CEA.”

Etubics ETBX-011 utilizes a novel adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vector platform technology, called Ad5 [E1, E2b-]-CEA. CEA represents an attractive target antigen for immunotherapy since it is over-expressed in nearly all colorectal cancers. When tested against a conventional Ad5 platform, Etubics’ vaccine induced a significantly greater T-cell immune response in mice. Ad5 vectors have been used extensively in clinical studies but have been presented with the challenge of the patient’s own immunity against the vaccine itself. Pre-clinical data suggests that ETBX-011 may break through this barrier to induce an immune response.

H. Kim Lyerly, M.D., Director of Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center noted, “We have been researching immunotherapy for cancer patients for many years, and Etubics’ drug platform may provide us with another option for delivering tumor associated antigens for immunotherapy of our cancer patients in the future. We look forward to better understanding the potential for this candidate as a result of this preliminary study.”

Frank Jones, Ph.D., founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Etubics stated, “This FDA clearance of the IND for Etubics’ next generation vectored vaccine candidate for CEA expressing cancers marks an important step for Etubics. We look forward to the day that Etubics therapeutic vaccine is widely available to treat these cancers and remain committed to bringing this new drug through the FDA licensing process.”

Etubics Phase I CEA trial is funded through grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). For more information on this trial, visit ClinicalTrials. A full press release can be found here.

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Angie Stone and Anthony Anderson, spokespeople for Lilly’s Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered (F.A.C.E.) Diabetes initiative, are teaming up with The Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS) for the 9th annual Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day, taking place on September 28, 2010.

Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day is the culmination of a six-month initiative that seeks to motivate African-Americans to become more proactive about their health and the health of their loved ones through health screenings, immunizations, blood pressure exams and more. This year, F.A.C.E. Diabetes, Stone and Anderson are joining the movement to strengthen the program’s diabetes education efforts with workshops and resources in key cities. F.A.C.E. Diabetes will be part of the seven-city Doctor Day live broadcast in Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Raleigh and Washington, D.C. Stone will make a special appearance in Detroit, and Anderson in Philadelphia, where they’ll share their personal stories and inspire African-Americans to overcome key barriers to success in living with diabetes.

“Lilly and the F.A.C.E. Diabetes initiative are proud to take part in Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day to empower patients living with diabetes,” said Keith Johns, Senior Director of Marketing, Lilly Diabetes. “We hope that these events planned in cities across the country encourage African-Americans to speak with their healthcare providers about desired lifestyle changes to better manage their disease.”
As the “faces” of F.A.C.E. Diabetes, Stone and Anderson visit local communities to raise awareness of the diabetes epidemic that affects nearly 15 percent of African-American adults, and to foster the lifestyle changes that can help those with diabetes better manage the disease.(1) Research shows 3.7 million African-Americans aged 20 or older have diabetes.(1) Through community-based events such as Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day, TJMS and Lilly hope to provide valuable information and culturally-relevant solutions to help overcome the everyday challenges that many African-Americans face while living with diabetes.

“We know the statistics and now it’s time to lower them,” said Tom Joyner, whose morning show reaches over 8 million listeners. “Going to the doctor is the first step, but the follow through is just as important and that includes managing our conditions. Companies like Lilly reach out to our community and make a difference.”

The event in Detroit, featuring Stone, will be held at the Northwest Activities Center from 6 a.m. – 2 p.m. and activities in Philadelphia featuring Anderson will be at the New Covenant Church of Philadelphia from 6 a.m. – 5 p.m.

About the F.A.C.E. Diabetes Campaign

The Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered (F.A.C.E.) Diabetes initiative is a grassroots movement targeting African-Americans in the United States to help individuals, families, and neighborhoods overcome key barriers to success in living with diabetes. It is supported by Eli Lilly and Company, and national and local health advocacy organizations.

(1) American Diabetes Association. African Americans & Complications.

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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced that the Phase I/II clinical trial for its Anthrax Immune Globulin (AIG) therapeutic candidate has commenced with the initial treatment given to the first subject. AIG, which is intended for the treatment of inhalational anthrax disease, is the company’s polyclonal therapeutic candidate developed using plasma collected from healthy donors, who have been vaccinated with Emergent’s BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of anthrax infection.

“The initiation of this clinical trial is a significant milestone that marks our continued commitment to the AIG program and to the expansion of our anthrax product franchise,” said Dr. Stephen Lockhart, Senior Vice President Product Development of Emergent BioSolutions. “AIG is an integral component of our efforts to develop safe and effective treatments for patients to be used in the event of a biological attack.”

The clinical trial will evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of AIG in 120 healthy adult volunteers. The study is designed to evaluate three dose levels of a single intravenous infusion of AIG compared to GAMUNEX®*, a licensed immune globulin therapy for people with primary immunodeficiency or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. AIG is manufactured using the FDA-approved GAMUNEX process. In addition, a fourth cohort receiving two intravenous infusions of AIG or GAMUNEX at equivalent doses administered two days apart will be evaluated.

Emergent BioSolutions received concurrence from the FDA and approval from an Institutional Review Board on January 23, 2009 to begin this clinical trial. The clinical trial will be conducted at SNBL Clinical Pharmacology Center, a state-of-the-art clinical trial unit located in Baltimore, Maryland. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No HHSN272200700034.

For more information about the AIG clinical trial, visit ClinicalTrials.

About Anthrax Immune Globulin

Emergent BioSolutions’ Anthrax Immune Globulin (AIG) is being developed as an intravenous therapeutic for treatment of patients who present with symptoms of anthrax disease resulting from the release of anthrax toxins into the body. If successfully developed, AIG could be prescribed for administration in these circumstances in conjunction with antibiotics.

AIG is being developed using plasma collected from healthy donors who have been vaccinated with BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of anthrax infection.

About Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of vaccines and immune-related therapeutics that assist the body’s immune system to prevent or treat disease. Emergent’s marketed product, BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), is the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of anthrax. Emergent’s development pipeline includes programs focused on anthrax, botulism, typhoid, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and chlamydia. Additional information may be found at emergentbiosolutions.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, including any potential future securities offering, and any other statements containing the words “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “estimates” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including the success of our clinical programs; our plans to expand our manufacturing facilities and capabilities; the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of our products; the timing of and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our other product candidates; our commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategy; our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; and other factors identified in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and subsequent reports filed with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

* GAMUNEX® is a registered trademark of Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc.

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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. Continue reading →

Researchers from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have an enhanced understanding of a common freshwater alga and its remarkable ability to remove strontium from water. Insight into this mechanism ultimately could help scientists design methods to remove radioactive strontium from existing nuclear waste.

Strontium 90, a major waste component, is one of the more dangerous radioactive fission materials created within a nuclear reactor. It is present in the approximately 80 million gallons of radioactive waste sludge stored in the United States alone.

The researchers are the first to show quantitatively how Closterium moniliferum, one of the bright green algae often seen in ponds, sequesters strontium (in the form of barium-strontium-sulfate crystals). They are using this understanding to think about a practical sequestration system for nuclear waste that maximizes strontium removal. The possibilities include using the algae for direct bioremediation of waste or accidental spills in the environment or designing a new process for waste treatment inspired by how the algae work.

The results are published by the journal ChemSusChem, a sister journal of Angewandte Chemie.

“Nuclear waste cleanup is a problem we have to solve,” said senior author Derk Joester, who experienced Chernobyl’s radioactive fallout when he was a teenager living in southern Germany. “Even if all the nuclear reactors were to shut down tomorrow, the existing volume of waste is great, and it is costly to store. We need to isolate highly radioactive ‘high-level’ waste from ‘low-level’ waste. The algae offer a mechanism for doing this, which we would like to understand and optimize.”

Even though strontium 90 doesn’t appear to be a significant environmental threat following the nuclear accident in Japan, the radioactive isotope will need to be dealt with during the power plant and nuclear waste cleanup, Joester said.

Joester is the Morris E. Fine Junior Professor in Materials and Manufacturing at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Strontium 90 has a half-life of about 30 years, is chemically very similar to calcium and thus is drawn to bone. The cumulative cancer risk from strontium 90 exposure when strontium is bound in bones for many years is very high.

The crescent-shaped, single-celled organism studied by Joester and his colleagues naturally makes biominerals that include non-radioactive strontium, and it can differentiate strontium from calcium — a rare feat. The researchers want to learn more about this selectivity because calcium is present in far greater abundance than strontium in nuclear waste, but calcium is harmless. By concentrating the radioactive strontium (Sr-90) in the form of solid crystals with very low solubility, the dangerous high-level waste could be isolated from the rest and dealt with separately.

“Using the algae for direct bioremediation of waste is one approach,” said Joester, who began the research years ago with his graduate student Minna Krejci, “but we also are looking at the basic mechanisms of how the algae sequester strontium so we can engineer a more selective process for waste treatment. We want to isolate and concentrate in the crystals the most strontium possible.”

The algae’s ability to separate strontium from calcium occurs when the crystals are formed inside the cells. The algae first soak up barium, strontium and calcium from their watery environment. Strontium then is sequestered along with barium in the crystals, which remain in the cells, while the calcium is excreted from the cells. (Barium must be present for the organisms to take up strontium.)

Joester and Krejci teamed up with Lydia Finney and Stefan Vogt at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory to produce maps showing the distribution of barium, strontium, calcium and several other elements in the cells. At the same time, the composition of the crystals made by the cells was determined. (The crystals are located in the organism’s vacuoles, at the tips of the cells.)

The researchers varied the amount of barium and strontium in the algae’s environment and then measured the amount of strontium taken up into the cell. They found the ratio of barium to strontium in the water affected the amount of strontium incorporated into each crystal. Depending on the medium’s composition, the strontium measured in a crystal ranged from less than 1 percent up to 45 percent. This gives the researchers an avenue for making the process more strontium-selective.

“The synchrotron X-ray microscopy available at the Advanced Photon Source was absolutely critical to this study,” Joester said. “It allowed us to visualize where calcium, strontium and barium go inside the cells.” These sorts of experiments, he noted, are only possible at three synchrotron radiation facilities in the world: the Advanced Photon Source, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France and the SPring-8 in Japan.

Nonradioactive strontium, which is chemically identical to the radioactive version, was used in the experiments. The researchers do not know how well the algae would survive in a radioactive environment, although the organisms have proven resistant in other harsh environments.

Joester, Krejci, Finney and Vogt all are authors of the paper, titled “Selective Sequestration of Strontium in Desmid Green Algae by Biogenic Co-precipitation with Barite.”

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Following today’s announcements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for rosiglitazone in the U.S. and Europe, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Europe Limited (“Takeda”) underscore the company’s commitment to ACTOS® (pioglitazone HCl) and ACTOS-containing medications, and to the millions of people living with type 2 diabetes.

As this news may cause concern or confusion among people with type 2 diabetes, Takeda encourages those with questions to speak with their health care provider. Takeda has consistently emphasized the importance of physician education and patient safety in communications involving ACTOS, and has prioritized communicating the appropriate use of ACTOS in patients with type 2 diabetes.

ACTOS is an effective prescription medication used with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose) control in many adults with type 2 diabetes. Since its launch, more than 100 million ACTOS prescriptions have been written globally. ACTOS offers an established safety profile regarding the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in people living with type 2 diabetes. Although drugs may be in the same class and have the same use, they also may have different effects due to their unique chemical structure.

Takeda remains confident in the breadth, depth and consistency of ACTOS data. Controlled clinical studies, conducted over the past 11 years in more than 20,000 patients globally, show no evidence that ACTOS is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death.

In 2005, Takeda was the first company to complete a rigorous, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the PROactive (PROspective PioglitAzone Clinical Trial In MacroVascular Events) trial, assessing significant CV outcomes in people living with type 2 diabetes. The PROactive trial demonstrated that although there was no statistically significant difference between ACTOS and standard-of-care alone for the primary endpoint, there was no increase in mortality or total macrovascular events with ACTOS. This safety information has been included in both the FDA-approved product label and EMA-approved Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) since 2007, providing patients and health care professionals with additional relevant information regarding the CV safety profile of ACTOS.

Takeda is the inventor and developer of ACTOS, which was launched commercially in 1999. ACTOS, as labeled, is an effective and appropriate treatment option for many people living with type 2 diabetes. Certain patients with heart failure should not start taking ACTOS. ACTOS can cause new or worsen heart failure. In clinical trials using ACTOS in monotherapy, the most common adverse events (greater than or equal to 5%) were upper respiratory tract infection, headache, sinusitis, myalgia, tooth disorder, aggravated diabetes mellitus and pharyngitis. Please see additional important safety information continued below.

About ACTOS® (pioglitazone HCl) Indications and Usage

ACTOS is a prescription medication used with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose) control in adults with type 2 diabetes. ACTOS has been studied as a monotherapy and in combination with sulfonylurea, metformin, or insulin. ACTOS should always be used according to Health Care Provider directions and its Complete Prescribing Information.

Important Safety Information

ACTOS is not for everyone. Certain patients with heart failure should not start taking ACTOS. ACTOS can cause new, or worsen, heart failure. Patients should talk to their doctor immediately if they experience unusually fast weight gain, fluid retention (swelling), shortness of breath, or unusual tiredness.

ACTOS is not for patients with type 1 “juvenile” diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

ACTOS may cause low blood sugar when taken in combination with insulin or other oral antidiabetic drugs. Lightheadedness, shakiness, dizziness, or hunger may mean that a patient’s blood sugar is too low. Patients should talk to their doctor if low blood sugar is a problem for them.

Some people taking ACTOS may experience flulike symptoms, mild-to-moderate swelling of legs and ankles, anemia, and weight gain.

If a patient is of childbearing age, they should talk to their doctor before taking ACTOS, as it could increase their chance of becoming pregnant. Patients should talk to their doctor if they are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to breastfeed.

A patient should not take ACTOS if they have active liver disease. A doctor should perform a blood test to check for liver problems before a patient starts ACTOS and periodically thereafter. Patients should talk to their doctor immediately if they experience nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, unusual tiredness, loss of appetite, dark urine, or yellowing of the skin or eyes.

Patients with diabetes should have regular eye exams. If a patient experiences vision problems, they should consult with their doctor immediately. Some patients have experienced visual changes while taking ACTOS. Some people, particularly women, are at higher risk of having bone fractures while taking ACTOS. Other side effects may include cold-like symptoms, headache, sinus infection, muscle pain, tooth disorder, and sore throat.

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