Drugs in Biological News

NTU professor discovers method to efficiently produce less toxic drugs using organic molecules

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)'s Associate Professor Zhong Guofu has made a significant contribution to the field of organic chemistry, in particular the study of using small organic molecules as catalysts, in the synthesis process called organocatalysis. Such synthesis process takes place...

Strong immune response to new siRNA drugs in development may cause toxic side effects

New Rochelle, NY, May 20, 2009Small synthetic fragments of genetic material called small interfering RNA (siRNA) can block production of abnormal proteins; however, these exciting new drug candidates can also induce a strong immune response, causing toxic side effects. Understanding how siRNA stim...

SRI International to screen drugs that fight 2009 H1N1 influenza A

MENLO PARK, Calif. May 13, 2009 SRI International, an independent, nonprofit research and development organization, announced today that that it will screen a library of well-characterized drugs against the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus, previously known as "swine flu." The work will be performed ...

Male impotence drugs may deserve a second look in women

AUGUSTA, Ga. New studies indicate the three drugs used to treat male impotence also appear to work in females, albeit a little differently, and should give the scientific community pause to take a second look at their potential in the 40 percent of women who report sexual dysfunction, researchers...

Research could lead to new non-antibiotic drugs to counter hospital infections

Lack of an adequate amount of the mineral phosphate can turn a common bacterium into a killer, according to research to be published in the April 14, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science . The findings could lead to new drugs that would disarm the increasingly antib...

Canadian scientist mines drugs database for new diabetes treatment

A Canadian scientist, now based in the UK and funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, has harnessed a new drug discovery tool to identify a new player in the body's insulin secretion process. This finding could spark a completely new class of drugs to treat type 2 ...

Scientists mine drugs database for new diabetes treatment

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council have harnessed a new drug discovery tool to identify a new player in the body's insulin secretion process. This finding could spark a completely new class of drugs to treat type 2 diabetes. In work published today ...

Study: Excessive use of antiviral drugs could aid deadly flu

COLUMBUS, Ohio Influenza's ability to resist the effects of cheap and popular antiviral agents in Asia and Russia should serve as a cautionary tale about U.S. plans to use the antiviral Tamiflu in the event of widespread avian flu infection in humans, scientists say. Researchers analyzed almos...

Study first to pinpoint why analgesic drugs may be less potent in females than in males

ATLANTA -- Investigators at Georgia State University's Neuroscience Institute and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience are the first to identify the most likely reason analgesic drug treatment is usually less potent in females than males. This discovery is a major step toward finding more effective ...

Long-term use of diabetes drugs by women significantly increases risk of fractures

A group of drugs commonly used to treat diabetes can double the risk of bone fractures in women, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Wake Forest University. Published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) , the findings show that use of thiazo...

New technique eliminates toxic drugs in islet transplant in diabetic mice

CHICAGO -- The body's immune system hates strangers. When its security patrol spots a foreign cell, it annihilates it. This is the problem when people with type 1 diabetes undergo human islet cell transplantation. The islet cells from a donor pancreas produce robust amounts of insulin for the r...

Moderate use averts failure of type 2 diabetes drugs in animal model

Drugs widely used to treat type 2 diabetes may be more likely to keep working if they are used in moderation, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found in a study using an animal model. The drugs, sulfonylureas, help type 2 diabetics make more insulin, impr...

European researchers harness unique properties of boron to develop new drugs and diagnostics

Researchers are on the verge of unleashing the power of the element boron in a new generation of drugs and therapies, as decades of research begins to bear fruit. Boron has to date far been one of biology's best kept secrets, but is now attracting fast growing research interest and investment from...

Cholesterol-lowering drugs and the effect on muscle repair and regeneration

HILTON HEAD, SCStatins are powerful drugs that reduce "bad" cholesterol and thus cut the risk of a heart attack. While these medications offer tremendous benefits to millions, they can carry side effects for some. The most frequently reported consequence is fatigue, and about nine percent of patie...

NIST trumps the clumps: Making biologic drugs safer

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a technique to measure the formation of clumps of proteins in protein-based pharmaceuticals. This first systematic study* clarifies the conditions under which scientists can be assured that their instruments are...

Indiana U scientists uncover potential key to better drugs to fight toxoplasmosis parasite

INDIANAPOLIS Discoveries by Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have opened a promising door to new drugs for toxoplasmosis and other parasites that now can evade treatments by turning dormant in the body. Their findings help explain how the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis tran...

USC School of Dentistry researchers uncover link between osteoporosis drugs and jaw infection

A group of University of Southern California School of Dentistry researchers says it has identified the slimy culprits killing the jawbones of some people taking drugs that treat osteoporosis. Microbial biofilms, a mix of bacteria and sticky extracellular material, are causing jaw tissue infect...

Your baby's brain on drugs (and alcohol and tobacco)

Although behavioral studies clearly indicate that exposure to drugs, alcohol and tobacco in utero is bad for a babys developing brain, specific anatomic brain effects have been hard to tease out in humans. Often users dont limit themselves to one substance, and demographic factors like poverty can...

Pharmaceutical breakthrough may make a range of drugs cheaper and more available

A new study published in the February 2008 print edition of The FASEB Journal ( www.fasebj.org ) describes a scientific advance that should reduce the cost and increase the availability of a wide range of drugs. In the report, University of Pennsylvania researchers describe how they used gene ther...

Cheaper drugs now closer to realization with new DropArray technology

A standard laboratory tool for measuring pharmacological activity of biological substances and performing other related tests may soon be replaced by a new miniaturized bioassay that will be faster, cheaper and more efficient for scientists to use, with new technology developed by Singapores Insti...

Club drugs inflict damage similar to traumatic brain injury

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- What do suffering a traumatic brain injury and using club drugs have in common" University of Florida researchers say both may trigger a similar chemical chain reaction in the brain, leading to cell death, memory loss and potentially irreversible brain damage. A series...

MIT: Remote-control nanoparticles deliver drugs directly into tumors

CAMBRIDGE, MA--MIT scientists have devised remotely controlled nanoparticles that, when pulsed with an electromagnetic field, release drugs to attack tumors. The innovation, reported in the Nov. 15 online issue of Advanced Materials, could lead to the improved diagnosis and targeted treatment of c...

Market testing of dietary supplements and drugs underscores value of USP's public health programs

Rockville, Md., November 12, 2007 On September 10, 2007, ConsumerLab.com issued a report stating that several multivitamin supplements did not contain label amounts of folic acid. One of these products, B-50 Tablets, manufactured by IVC, Industries, Inc., is part of U. S. Pharmacopeias (USP) Di...

Insulin's brain impact links drugs and diabetes

Insulin, long known as an important regulator of blood glucose levels, now has a newly appreciated role in the brain. Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers, working with colleagues in Texas, have found that insulin levels affect the brains dopamine systems, which are involved in dru...

When it comes to brain damage, blankets take the place of drugs

Have you ever covered yourself with a blanket to stave off the shivers? A new study shows that a blanket can also help alleviate shivering in patients who have been cooled to prevent brain damage. Patients with brain injuries or dangerously high fevers are often cooled to reduce their core body...

Discovery of the cell's water gate may lead to new cancer drugs

The flow of water into and out from the cell may play a crucial role in several types of cancer. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now found the gate that regulates the flow of water into yeast cells. The discovery, which will be published in the journal PLoS Biology , rais...

New light on bipolar treatment drugs

Lithium has been established for more than 50 years as one of the most effective treatments for bipolar mood disorder. However, scientists have never been entirely sure exactly how it operates in the human brain. Now, new research from Cardiff University scientists suggests a mechanism for h...

UC Davis researchers identify a protein that may help breast cancer spread, beat cancer drugs

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) New research from UC Davis Cancer Center shows that a protein called Muc4 may be the essential ingredient that allows breast cancer to spread to other organs and resist therapeutic treatment. The study, which appears in the April 1 issue of Cancer Research , is one of the fi...

Breaking the barrier: Discovery of anti-resistance factors and novel ocean drugs

Investigations into coral disease, red tides and other marine environmental issues have led to discoveries of new chemicals as a source for pharmaceuticals. These chemicals function as antibiotics for microorganism providing survival advantages and may be usable in human health care. Research ...

Compounds could be new class of cancer drugs

A team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators has developed a group of chemical compounds that could represent a new class of drugs for treating cancer. The compounds are the first selective inhibitors of the protein phospholipase D (PLD), an enzyme that has been implicated in mult...

In India: A search for more effective tuberculosis drugs

Rajesh Gokhale has created a compound in his lab in India that stops tuberculosis in its tracks. In a test tube, the molecule hits four of the bacterium's crucial metabolic pathways at the same time, weakening and ultimately destroying the pathogen. The problem is that Gokhale's compound will no...

New discovery may lead to new class of allergy drugs

If you've ever wondered why some allergic reactions progress quickly and may even become fatal, a new research report published in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology ( http://www.jleukbio.org ) provides an important part of the answer. In the report, scientists from Quee...

REGiMMUNE receives $12 million in grants to develop transplant and allergy drugs

Mountain View, CA and TOKYO December 8, 2008 REGiMMUNE Corporation, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing technologies and products for immune disorders, today announced that it has received two separate grants totaling more than $12 million from the Japan Science and ...

Montana State University researchers find gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State University scientists concerned about lethal mold infections have found a gene that regulates the mold's resistance to drugs. The gene, called srbA, allows molds to thrive during infections even when inflammation reduces its oxygen supply, said Robert Cramer, se...

Self-assembling nano-fiber gel delivers high concentrations of clinically approved drugs

BOSTON, Mass. (Oct. 20, 2008) -- Two teams of scientists from Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology (HST) at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed a new self-assembling hydrogel drug delivery system that is biocompatible, efficient at drug release, and easy to tailor. Importa...

Vitamin C supplements may reduce benefit from wide range of anti-cancer drugs

PHILADELPHIA In pre-clinical studies, vitamin C appears to substantially reduce the effectiveness of anticancer drugs, say researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. These new findings, published in the October 1 issue of Cancer Research , a publication of the American Association...

Research exposes new target for malaria drugs

The malaria parasite has waged a successful guerrilla war against the human immune system for eons, but a study in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry has exposed one of the tricks malaria uses to hide from the immune proteins, which may aid in future drug development. Malaria parasit...

Test of bacteria toxin delivery system could pave way for new antibiotic drugs

Jerusalem, June 16, 2008 Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have achieved a breakthrough in monitoring the toxin-delivery system of highly pathogenic bacteria an accomplishment that could help pave the way for new drugs that will be capable of neutralizing those germs. Most b...

Compound has potential for new class of AIDS drugs

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Researchers have developed what they believe is the first new mechanism in nearly 20 years for inhibiting a common target used to treat all HIV patients, which could eventually lead to a new class of AIDS drugs. Researchers at the University of Michigan used computer models t...

UF scientists discover compound that could lead to new blood pressure drugs

GAINESVILLE, Fla. University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and in a remarkable finding prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension. The findings, which appear in todays...