overload in Biological News

Europe's most common genetic disease is a liver disorder

... problems. The exact origin of the genetic iron overload disorder hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) has ... damage. Hereditary hemochromatosis is an iron overload disorder that, affecting about one in 300 people, ... intestine cannot be limited as effectively and an overload develops, says Martina Muckenthaler, professor at ...

Two-pronged model could help foil tough cystic fibrosis infections

... the maximum tobramycin dosage was needed. They were also studying iron overload in CF lungs. Airway cells with the CF gene mutation release more iron, ... by the Federal Drug Administration to treat acute iron poisoning or overload can enhance the ability of tobramycin against Pseudomonas infection. ...

A genetic cause for iron deficiency

... intestine. Normally, hepcidin is produced to protect the body against iron overload but patients with IRIDA make large amounts of hepcidin even though they ... researchers say. For example, blocking TMPRSS6 may help patients with iron overload disorders make more hepcidin in order to limit intestinal iron absorption. ...

Scientists discover novel way to remove iron from ferritin

... Desferal is currently used to detoxify the blood of patients with iron overload and is a common therapeutic remedy. Ferritin is a protein that ... fatigue, weakness, joint pain and arthritis. If left untreated, iron overload can lead to serious problems, including diabetes, liver and heart disease. ...

High blood pressure, low energy -- a recipe for heart failure

... pump against high pressure. The hearts of normal mice took that pressure overload in stride and stayed healthy. Those contrasting outcomes suggest that heart health greatly depends on ERR alpha. "The stress of a cardiac pressure overload asks heart muscle to manufacture more high energy compounds, and without ...

Galloping and breathing at high speed

... digital flexor resulting from stress and strain on the tendons of the animal. According to Dr. Hermanson, "Fatigue of the deep flexor muscle may overload the superficial digital flexor muscle and tendon, especially towards the end of intense, high-speed exercise. The Importance of Respiration ...

Cutting calories could limit muscle wasting in later years

... "Such iron accumulation in muscle was quite unexpected. This may be of concern because more people are genetically predisposed to developing iron overload than we originally thought." The problem occurs when metals such as iron accumulate in the mitochondria and react with oxygen. Iron can change the ...

Avoiding Spleen Removal for Cooley's Anemia SufferersAvoiding spleen removal for Cooley's anemia suf

... patients do not require frequent transfusions. However, hemoglobin (Hb) levels often decrease over time, splenomegaly appears, and progressive iron overload occurs from increased gastrointestinal iron absorption. Despite its prevalence, Cooley's anemia (beta-thalassemia) is an orphan disease, of which ...

ASU researchers synthesize molecule with self-control

... with their molecule in the advanced online publication of Nature Nanotechnology (May 4, 2008). In nature, plants defend against this sunlight overload process using non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). This process drains off the excess light excitation energy as heat so that it cannot generate the ...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and redox signaling in atrial tachyarrhythmia

... during cardiac tachyarrhythmia.. He further stated These observations are important to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which calcium overload and resulting mitochondrial dysfunction and resulting oxidative stress impact atrial remodelling during atrial fibrillation. ...

Increasing nitrogen pollution overwhelms filtering capability of streams

... the efficiency of denitrification and nitrate assimilation decline as nitrogen loading increases, adds Peterson. This means humans can easily overload stream and rivers networks to the point that nitrate removal is not sufficient to prevent eutrophication downstream, the scenario where algae grow ...

River plants may play major role in health of ocean coastal waters

... plants and the microbial populations they support remove excess nutrients from the water. The removal of too many plants contributes to nutrient overload in rivers, which can subsequently lead to coastal dead zonesoxygen-deprived areas of coastal water where nothing can survive. One well-documented ...

Early treatment stops epilepsy in its tracks

... people worldwide. It is characterized by seizurestemporary loss of consciousness or muscular controlthat are precipitated by abnormal electrical overload on neurons within the brain. Using a combination of molecular profiling, electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, and power spectral analysis, ...

Boston University biomedical engineers find chink in bacteria's armor

... lipids in the membrane, pretty much anything. Theyre equal opportunity damagers, said Kohanski. This hidden pathway and resultant free radical overload appears to help current antibiotics do their job, but is not always enough to kill all bacteria by itself. Collins group theorizes that if this ...

Antioxidant overload may underlie a heritable human disease

... free radicals, a new study in the August 10 issue of the journal Cell reveals that, in fact, balance is the key. The researchers show in mice that an overload of natural antioxidants can actually lead the heart to failure. There is plenty of evidence about the damaging effects of oxidative stress, but ...

Putting an old drug to a new use

... to treat high blood pressure can reverse iron overload in mouse models and has the potential to treat ... of toxic radicals leading to tissue damage. Iron overload is the consequence of one of the most common ... much iron. "We observed in mice with iron overload that nifedipine helps mobilise iron from stores ...

Surprising findings reported about iron overload

... Individuals who develop hemochromatosis/iron overload absorb an excessive amount of iron from food and ... iron absorption. "Hemochromatosis and iron overload are easily treatable if diagnosed early, but the ... for some reason, develop hemochromatosis/iron overload despite their high blood levels of iron." He ...

Keeping the immune system from starting a 'food fight'

... of metabolic syndrome—including insulin resistance and fatty liver disease—even while eating a regular diet. In those who regularly consume an overload of nutrients, the flood control protein may become overwhelmed and give out, leading to the chronic, low-grade inflammation characteristic of obesity ...

How plants avoid feeling the burn

... found that oxidation is not required for photoprotection, but rather, carotenoids in a neutral, or uncharged state, can readily handle the electron overload from the sun. Their findings have been published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) under the ...

'Dead zone' summer killed billions of ocean state mussels

... This is what happened in Narragansett Bay in the summer of 2001 and again in the summer of 2003. Mussels, however, can help control nutrient overload and hypoxia by consuming phytoplankton, which reduces bottom-dwelling bacteria. "When we lose mussels, we may be losing the ability to prevent future ...

Microbiology text tells stories, offers online resources

... rather a textbook in the traditional sense: a book that can be used for studying rather than for looking up factual information. "Not wanting to overload this book with information, we turn you to the wealth of material available on the internet," says Schaechter. Purchase of the Microbe textbook ...

Argonne researchers confirm lead in Beethoven's illness

... skull, along with DNA results indicating authenticity of the bone/hair relics, provides solid evidence that Beethoven suffered from a toxic overload of lead," Walsh said. "In addition, the presence of lead in the skull suggests that his exposure to lead was not a recent event, but may have been ...

Molecular cabal contributes to stroke damage

... pore-like protein in the membranes of neurons. In response to the acid unleashed by ischemia, ASICs open to admit calcium into the cell, and calcium overload is central to neuronal death. In their experiments, Gao and colleagues induced ischemia in rat brains, or deprived cultured neurons of oxygen, and ...

Newly discovered genetic disease sheds light on body's water balance

... of NSIAD began in 2003 after two unrelated baby boys, each about three months old, were referred to UCSF Children's Hospital with symptoms of fluid overload and strikingly low levels of sodium in their blood. The first child suffered from severe irritability. A few months later, the second infant was ...

Man-made wetland's effectiveness similar to natural marsh

... compound found in fertilizer. "As a wetland gets older, it gets better at handling and storing nitrogen," Mitsch said. "The idea is not to overload wetlands in the first place." The three-acre wetland in the study was roughly the size of three football fields and drained a watershed about 14 ...

Iron exporter revealed that may explain common human disorder

... hepcidin, a hormone that binds ferroportin and targets it for destruction. Drugs that inhibit or degrade ferroportin might therefore curb the iron overload suffered by those with hemochromatosis, Andrews said. Those with excess iron for other reasons, such as repeated blood transfusions, might also ...