New discovery could reverse tissue damage caused by heart attacks
A new discovery by University of Bristol scientists helps to explain how cells which surround blood vessels, called pericytes, stimulate new blood vessels to grow with the hormone 'leptin' playing a key role. Leptin is produced by fat cells which helps to regulate energy balance in the body by inhibiting the appetite.
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How physical exercise prevents dementia
Numerous studies have shown that physical exercise seems beneficial in the prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia in old age. Now researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt have explored in one of the first studies worldwide how exercise affects brain metabolism.
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One minute of running per day associated with better bone health in women
A single minute of exercise each day is linked to better bone health in women, new research shows. Scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Leicester found those who did "brief bursts" of high-intensity, weight-bearing activity equivalent to a medium-paced run for pre-menopausal women, or a slow jog for post-menopausal women, had better bone health.
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New research highlights optimal methods for administering children's medications
New research published today, conducted by a research team from the University of Liverpool and Alder Hey Children's Hospital, aims to help solve the problem of dose optimisation of children's medicines. Medicines can have different effects on different people. The effects in children can vary due to changes that take place as they grow and develop. Historically, there has been very little focus on paediatric clinical pharmacology, and there are still a lot of unknowns with regard to optimally delivering medicines to children.
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A new ligand extends the half-life of peptide drugs from minutes to days
Peptides are biological molecules, made up of short sequences of amino acids. Because they are easy to synthesize, show low toxicity and high efficiency, peptides such as insulin and other hormones can be used as drugs. But peptides are quickly cleared by the kidneys, which means that we can only use peptide drugs that act within minutes. This problem can be overcome by connecting peptides to ligands that bind blood-serum proteins such as albumin, allowing the peptide to linger in the bloodstream longer.
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Antibody against carcinogenic substance deciphered
Summertime is barbecue time. However, when fat reacts with glowing coal, a substance chemists call benzopyrene is created. It is a widespread environmental toxin that can cause cancer in humans. Since buildings were heated with coal and wood for decades, dispersed by chimney smoke, it is now also found in soil and groundwater. A team led by Prof. Arne Skerra from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has deciphered the binding mechanism of an antibody to benzopyrene
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Shortcut method in drug development
The majority of promising new drug candidates are effective only within the body's cells, but quick general methods of determining intracellular drug quantities are lacking. A team of researchers, headed by the Drug Delivery Group at Uppsala University, may now be on the track of a solution through a new, small-scale and fast method of determining a drug's bioavailability (the fraction available to work in biological processes) inside cultured cells.
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