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Two-Year Data Reinforce Effect Of ACTEMRA(R) (tocilizumab) In Inhibiting Progression Of Joint Damage And Improving Physical Function In Arthritis
Roche announced that two-year data from the LITHE (TociLIzumab Safety and THE Prevention of Structural Joint Damage) study demonstrated that ACTEMRA(R) (tocilizumab) continued to inhibit the progression of structural damage to joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study also showed that patients receiving ACTEMRA experienced improved physical function, as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) scores(1). The LITHE study is the fifth international Phase III study in the extensive ACTEMRA clinical development program to successfully meet its primary endpoints in patients with moderately to severely active RA.

Data Suggests Proton Pump Inhibitors Can Induce Acid-Related Symptoms In Healthy Adults
Treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for eight weeks induces acid-related symptoms like heartburn, acid regurgitation and dyspepsia once treatment is withdrawn in healthy individuals, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
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Increased Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression In Patients With Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis
UroToday.com - Angiogenesis is thought to be important in many chronic inflammatory disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. It has also been suggested that the angiogenic components of these diseases contribute to and exacerbate disease conditions. Increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have been detected in patients with asthma and have been shown to be correlated with the severity of the disease. Anti-VEGF therapy has been shown to ameliorate inflammation in animal models of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. This background forms the prelude to a very interested study by Kiuchi and colleagues from Osaka, Japan.
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Important Symbol Of Pollution Is Broken Down By Microbes

Immobilized microbes can break down potentially harmful phthalates, according to researchers in China, writing in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution. The microbes might be used to treat industrial waste water and so prevent these materials from entering the environment. Phthalic Acid Esters (PAEs), commonly known as phthalates, are widely used as additives in polymer manufacture as plasticizers. They do not readily degrade in the environment and so have become widely distributed in natural water, wastewater, soils, and sediment. Concerns about their suspected ability to cause genetic mutations and cancer have led to their listing as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the European Union, the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, and other regulatory authorities. Weizhong Wu of the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, at Peking University, in Beijing, and Xianlin Meng of Harbin Institute of Technology, in Nangang District, have identified and isolated a microbe that can digest one of the most common PAEs, d-n-butyl phthalate. This compound is widely used and is one of the most frequently found in diverse environmental samples including groundwater, river water, drinking water, open ocean water, soil humates, lake sediments and marine sediments, the researchers say. They have now used acclimation and enrichment techniques to ferment adequate quantities of the active microbe, which was obtained from the activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant. It was enriched and acclimated by incubating activated sludge. This involves cultivating the microbes in a solution containing phthalate as the only of carbon for the microbes. Successive divisions of microbial cells quickly leads to the evolution of a strain that can quickly metabolize the phthalate and convert it into the raw materials for microbial growth and reproduction. The researchers then tested this phthalate-digesting microbe by immobilizing cells on a new type of ceramic honeycomb support. They then measured the before and after concentration of phthalate in a simulated wastewater sample. Initial concentration was 100 milligrams per liter which fell to less than 1.0 milligram per liter within two days of treatment with the microbial honeycomb. The team points out that the rate of degradation was two and a half times faster with immobilized microbes than with microbes floating free in the sample. "Biodegradation of plasticiser di-n-butyl phthalate by immobilised microbial cells" in Int. J. Environment and Pollution, 2009, 38, 203-211 Weizhong Wu Inderscience Publishers


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