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Discovery Of Relationship Between Napping, Hyperactivity, Depression And Anxiety In Young Children
Napping may have a significant influence on young children"s daytime functioning, according to a research abstract presented on Monday, June 8 at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

In Vitro Antibody Production Enables HIV Infection Detection In Window Period -- Key To Safer Blood
Researchers in Israel and Kenya have shown that the contribution of variable degrees of immune suppression, either due to existing chronic infections such as parasitemias and/or nutrition, in different populations may influence and prolong the serological-diagnostic window period of HIV. However, the immunosuppression can be overcome, by in-vitro enhancement of antibody production (termed- Stimmunology). The results, which appear in the August 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that pre-treating the whole blood sample in the SMARTube™ containing immune potentiating agents promoted the synthesis and release of antibodies against HIV-1 prior to their detection in corresponding plasma samples in a group of donors who would otherwise be classified as HIV-1 seronegative blood donors. The identification of techniques that can lead to detection of HIV infection during this window period is of obvious public health importance especially in re poor settings highlighting the importance of these findings. Overcoming the suppression, in-vitro, led to the production of detectable levels of anti-HIV antibodies in the whole blood sample and to the detection of potentially infectious blood units which were missed by regular HIV serology. Interestingly, the ratio of missed infections among the total HIV infected blood donors was higher among the younger (high-school) donors versus adult donors.
News of the day
Prevalence Of Painful Bladder Syndrome (PBS) Symptoms In Adult Women In The General Population In Japan
UroToday.com - In the only survey of BPS/IC conducted in Japan, done in urology clinics, the prevalence was estimated at 4.5/100,000 women.[Ito et al. 2000] Studies in Finland, Austria, and Taiwan using O"Leary-Sant questionnaires to identify persons with symptoms of BPS/IC have arrived at figures around 300/100,000 women.[Yu 2006;Leppilahti . 2005;Temml et al. 2007]
Oncology

Brain Molecule Reduces Food Intake

Researchers at Imperial College London have identified a new appetite suppressant for promoting weight loss that they say works in rodents and may one day be used to develop an effective anti-obesity treatment. Results of the new study were presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The experimental treatment, prokineticin 2, is a recently discovered signaling molecule that occurs naturally in the part of the brain that helps control hunger. Both lean and obese mice treated with PK2 for 5 days lost almost 5 percent of their body weight, the authors reported. "This is a greater weight loss than people achieve with current nonsurgical weight loss therapies," said study co-author Waljit Dhillo, a clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London. The researchers first dissolved a commercially available form of PK2 (from PeproTech Ltd.) in saline and injected it into the brain of 12 rats, which were allowed to eat as much as they wanted for 24 hours. Compared with 12 control rats that received only saline injections, the treated rats ate much less food; in the first hour alone, their food intake was 86 percent less. PK2 did not affect movement, behavior or the ability to burn off calories, the authors reported. To establish whether PK2 could be a potential anti-obesity treatment, the investigators changed the route of drug administration to be similar to the way patients with diabetes inject insulin - into the stomach. For 5 days, 10 lean mice and 10 obese mice received two PK2 injections a day into the abdomen. Again, the treated mice ate much less than did the control mice, which resulted in weight loss of almost 5 percent of their body weight. "Our research shows that PK2 reduces hunger," Dhillo said. "The results hold the promise that PK2 may be developed as a drug to treat obesity, which could help the millions of people suffering from obesity and its consequences." Dhillo and co-workers plan to conduct longer-term studies of PK2 in animals before proceeding to human studies. Aaron Lohr The Endocrine Society


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