BreakThrough Digest Medical News |
- Allergy Vaccine Successful
- Hidden vitamin in milk yields remarkable health benefits
- Virtual colonoscopy without laxative equals standard in identifying clinically significant polyps
- Mindful multitasking: Meditation first can calm stress, aid concentration
| Posted: 13 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT A novel vaccine for grass pollen allergy has shown significant improvements for patients in a Phase IIa trial. The vaccine BM32 is based on an innovative recombinant peptide carrier technology that allows for fewer injections and shows fewer side effects compared with other immunotherapy treatments for allergy sufferers. BM32 has been developed by Biomay AG, an Austrian biopharmaceutical company specialized in the discovery and development of innovative allergy therapeutics. The company has already initiated a Phase IIb trial for BM32 with 180 allergic patients.
Biomay AG announced today promising results from a First-in-Man Phase IIa trial with its innovative allergy vaccine BM32. The vaccine significantly reduced allergy-related nasal symptoms in a study group of 70 patients suffering from grass pollen allergy. The environmental challenge study also showed that BM32 significantly reduced skin reactivity to grass pollen as demonstrated by skin prick testing. The treatment was shown to be safe and was generally well tolerated, despite the fact that a full dose of the vaccine was given from the first day of treatment. All in all, patients were given three doses of BM32 or a placebo by subcutaneous injections over a period of two months. This dosing regimen offers a dramatic improvement over conventional immunotherapy, which requires multiple injections. Dr. Rainer Henning, CEO of Biomay AG, commented: “We are very encouraged by these exciting data. They validate our scientific hypothesis that Biomay´s proprietary recombinant peptide carrier technology can form the basis of vaccines that induce the production of protective antibodies against allergenic proteins contained in grass pollen, which are the root cause of the disease. At the same time, this technology reduces the risk of side effects and the need for multiple injections.” RECOMBINANT PEPTIDES Biomay´s recombinant peptide carrier technology has been developed in close cooperation with Prof. Rudolf Valenta, Head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Research at the Medical University Vienna. He explains the success of the technology: “Our technology enables an efficient production of IgG antibodies, which are specific for the allergy causing epitopes of allergen proteins. In order to achieve this we fuse allergen derived B-cell peptides, which lack IgE reactivity to an immunogenic carrier protein, which provides the requisite T-cell help.” In fact, a team lead by Prof. Valenta is already developing similar vaccines for the other major causes of allergies in partnership with Biomay. This project includes vaccines against allergies caused by house dust mites, other pollen, mold and pets. Currently BM32 remains Biomay´s lead product as Dr. Henning explains: “We are aggressively pushing forward in our development of BM32, to make this new treatment available to patients as quickly as possible. In fact, Biomay has already initiated a Phase IIb trial, where BM32 will be tested in 180 allergic patients under natural pollen exposure over two pollen seasons. Eleven leading allergy centers across Europe have agreed to participate in this new trial and more than 60 patients have already been enrolled. Results are expected in the fall of 2014.” About allergies and immunotherapy Immunotherapy (desensitization) is the only causal treatment for allergies, not only alleviating symptoms, but changing the course of the disease. First invented more than a hundred years ago, the treatment as practiced today continues to have low acceptance due to inconvenient dosing and a poor side effect profile. About BM32 About Biomay Contact Biomay AG: Copy Editing & Distribution:
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| Hidden vitamin in milk yields remarkable health benefits Posted: 13 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT
A novel form of vitamin B3 found in milk in small quantities produces remarkable health benefits in mice when high doses are administered, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The findings, recently reported in the June 2012 issue of the journal, Cell Metabolism, reveal that high doses of the vitamin precursor, nicotinamide riboside (NR) ? a cousin of niacin ? prevent obesity in mice that are fed a fatty diet, and also increase muscle performance, improve energy expenditure and prevent diabetes development, all without side effects. The Swiss researchers, led by Dr. Johan Auwerx, performed the mouse experiments, while the ability to give the animals sufficient doses of NR was made possible by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers, who played key roles in uncovering the biological story of NR. “This study is very important. It shows that in animals, the use of NR offers the health benefits of a low-calorie diet and exercise ? without doing either one,” says Dr. Anthony Sauve, associate professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Sauve is the pharmacologist and organic chemist who has invented a simple method for efficiently synthesizing NR in large scale. He was first to show that NR increases nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels in mammalian cells. NAD is a central player in energy metabolism. He has pioneered research into the compound, and he is a leader in investigating how NAD can signal adaptation in cells and in physiology. “The research also suggests that the effects of NR could be even broader,” Dr. Sauve says. “The bottom line is that NR improves the function of mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories. Mitochondrial decline is the hallmark of many diseases associated with aging, such as cancer and neurodegeneration, and NR supplementation boosts mitochondrial functioning.” The Swiss researchers call NR a “hidden vitamin” that is believed to also be present in many other foods, although levels are low and difficult to measure. Nevertheless, the effects of NR on metabolism “are nothing short of astonishing.” Got nicotinamide riboside?
The study depended on a series of crucial discoveries by Dr. Sauve and his laboratory colleagues. NR, related to niacin and other common forms of vitamin B3, was first investigated more than 60 years ago by a Stanford researcher and 1959 Nobel Laureate, Arthur Kornberg. But little more was known about its effects in mammals until Dr. Sauve discovered the effect NR had in stimulating levels of NAD in mammalian cells ? work he published in 2007. NAD allows sugars, fats, and proteins to be converted into energy. Dr. Sauve’s research provided the first evidence that NR enhances NAD levels in the mitochondria in mammalian cells in culture. These findings are published in the current study. These cell-based observations were key to the demonstration that NR could stimulate tissue NAD levels in animals, and that it could stimulate NAD-dependent sirtuins, which adapt physiology to the low calorie diets that are known to extend the lifespan of many organisms. Dr. Sauve invented a relatively simple method for efficiently synthesizing NR in large scale so that its health benefits can be studied. This methodology, which makes it possible to make NR commercially available, was patented by Cornell’s Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization and subsequently licensed to ChromaDex Corporation. The development of a means to synthesize NR in adequate quantities was crucial to the current research, and the Sauve lab provided methods and NR to make the study possible. In addition, the biological observations on the effects of NR on NAD levels in cells and on mitochondria were key to the study. Finally, the Sauve laboratory has developed state of the art analytical methods to determine NAD levels in cells, tissues and organelles, and the laboratory provided several key metabolic measurements highlighted in the study. “Our published scientific work has verified that NR is perhaps the most potent NAD enhancing agent ever identified,” he says. His laboratory is also widely recognized for developing an expertise in the measurement of NAD metabolism in cell tissues. With this compound, the Swiss researchers found that mice on a high-fat diet supplemented with NR gained significantly less weight (60 percent) than mice fed the same diet without NR, even though the mice supplemented with NR ate the same amount of food as mice on the high fat diet not treated with NR. They had improved energy. They were in better shape than the untreated mice, with significantly better endurance and stronger muscles. Additionally, none of the treated mice developed diabetes, as seen in the untreated mice on the high fat diet. And when fed a normal diet, NR treated mice had improved sensitivity to insulin. The NR treated mice also showed lower cholesterol levels. All of these benefits came without toxicity. While the new study demonstrates that high doses of NR can largely prevent the negative health consequences of a poor diet in mice, Dr. Sauve stresses that the effects of high doses of the vitamin in humans have not been evaluated. “It is important to keep in mind that the amount of NR in milk and other foods appears to be small. We don’t know what effects NR would have in humans at relatively high doses,” he says. “Still, we have very encouraging evidence of benefits of NR and NAD augmentation in general from this animal study ? and much more work to do,” he says. ### The study’s senior investigator Dr. Auwerx is head of Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology at the Polytechnic School in Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne or EPFL) and the first author is Dr. Carles Cantó, also of EPFL. Other co-authors include Dou Y. Youn and Dr. Yana Cen from Weill Cornell Medical College; Dr. Riekelt H. Houtkooper, Dr. Eija Pirinen, Dr. Maaike H. Oosterveer, Dr. Pablo J. Fernandez-Marcos, Dr. Hiroyasu Yamamoto, Dr. Pénélope A. Andreux, Dr. Philippe Cettour-Rose, Dr. Kristina Schoonjans and Dr. Chris Rinsch from EPFL; Dr. Karl Gademann from the University of Basel in Switzerland. The Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award and the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Board funded study contributions by the Weill Cornell Medical College researchers. Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University’s medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances ? including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, and most recently, the world’s first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu. Contact: Lauren Woods |
| Virtual colonoscopy without laxative equals standard in identifying clinically significant polyps Posted: 13 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT
Computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, administered without laxatives is as accurate as conventional colonoscopy in detecting clinically significant, potentially cancerous polyps, according to a study performed jointly at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the University of California, San Francisco and Massachusetts General Hospital.
“I think we have demonstrated that laxative-free CTC is a valid tool for detecting polyps that are clinically significant,” said co-author and site principal investigator Judy Yee, MD, chief of radiology at SFVAMC and professor and vice chair of radiology at UCSF. The study was published in the May 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Virtual colonoscopy, which has been approved by the American Cancer Society as a valid screening test for colorectal cancer, uses a CT scanner to screen for cancers and polyps in the colon non-invasively. In standard optical colonoscopy (OC), a physician inserts a six-foot-long scope into the entire colon. Currently, both methods call for patients to take a bowel-cleansing laxative before the procedure. With laxative-free CTC, explained Yee, patients do not have to go through bowel cleansing before the exam, but instead begin a low fiber diet two days before the test. They also ingest a tagging agent the day before the exam, which mixes with residual material in the colon and can then be identified and removed digitally when radiologists interpret the scans. “The use of laxatives is often viewed as the worse aspect of having not only a virtual colonoscopy but an optical colonoscopy,” said Yee, who has pioneered the use of virtual colonoscopy within the VA health care system and at UCSF. “I hope that this research will encourage patients who have delayed screening for colon cancer to be examined with this less invasive method.” The study of 605 patients, aged 50 to 85, assessed the accuracy of laxative-free CTC in detecting lesions 6 millimeters or larger in size compared with standard optical colonoscopy. The authors found that laxative-free CTC exams detected clinically significant polyps 10 mm or larger with 91 percent accuracy compared to OC exams, which were 95 percent accurate. Statistically, there is no difference between these two numbers, said Yee. Scan sensitivity using laxative-free CT colonography decreases with polyp size, as it does for regular CT colonography, she said. With polyps measuring 6 mm, sensitivity for CTC was 59 percent, compared with standard colonoscopy at 76 percent. The smaller the polyp, the less likely it is to harbor malignancy. For diminutive polyps 5 mm or less, there is an extremely low risk of cancer, and these polyps may not need to be removed. For polyps between 6 and 9 mm in size, the decision about whether to remove them depends on the patient’s risk factors and how many are found, said Yee. “Polyps 10 millimeters or larger unquestionably come out,” she said. During the study, three of the 605 subjects were found to have cancerous polyps. The cancers were identified by both the laxative-free virtual colonoscopy and the standard OC exam. The researchers also surveyed the research participants about their experiences while preparing for the examinations. They found that laxative-free virtual colonoscopy scored higher on all survey questions, and was indicated by more participants to be their exam type of choice. Yee noted that the current study is one of the first and largest to measure the effectiveness of the new, laxative-free procedure. Because the procedure is still in the early stages of development, additional studies still need to be conducted, she said. She predicts that once radiologists are trained in reading the new images and gain experience with the exam process, laxative-free CTC exams will be available wherever virtual colonoscopies are performed. ### Co-authors of the study are Michael E. Zalis, MD, Michael A. Blake, MB, BCh, Wenli Cai, PhD, Peter F. Hahn, MD, PhD, Elkan F. Halpern, PhD, Imarana G. Kazam, PhD, Myles Keroack, MD, Cordula Magee, PhD, Janne J. Nappi, PhD, Rocio Perez-Johnston, MD, Abhinav Vij, MD and Hiroyuki Yoshida, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and John R. Saltzman, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. The authors had no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by funds from GE Healthcare and the American Cancer Society, some of which were administered by the Northern California Institute for Research and Education. NCIRE ? The Veterans Health Research Institute ? is the largest research based institute associated with a VA medical center. Its mission is to improve the health and well-being of veterans and the general public by supporting a world-class biomedical research program conducted by the UCSF faculty at SFVAMC. SFVAMC has the largest medical research program in the national VA system, with more than 200 research scientists, all of whom are faculty members at UCSF. UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. Contact: Steve Tokar |
| Mindful multitasking: Meditation first can calm stress, aid concentration Posted: 12 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT
Need to do some serious multitasking? Some training in meditation beforehand could make the work smoother and less stressful, new research from the University of Washington shows. Work by UW Information School professors David Levy and Jacob Wobbrock suggests that meditation training can help people working with information stay on tasks longer with fewer distractions and also improves memory and reduces stress.
Their paper was published in the May edition of Proceedings of Graphics Interface. Levy, a computer scientist, and Wobbrock, a researcher in human-computer interaction, conducted the study together with Information School doctoral candidate Marilyn Ostergren and Alfred Kaszniak, a neuropsychologist at the University of Arizona. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore how meditation might affect multitasking in a realistic work setting,” Levy said. The researchers recruited three groups of 12-15 human resource managers for the study. One group received eight weeks of mindfulness-based meditation training; another received eight weeks of body relaxation training. Members of the third, a control group, received no training at first, then after eight weeks were given the same training as the first group. Before and after each eight-week period, the participants were given a stressful test of their multitasking abilities, requiring them to use email, calendars, instant-messaging, telephone and word-processing tools to perform common office tasks. Researchers measured the participants’ speed, accuracy and the extent to which they switched tasks. The participants’ self-reported levels of stress and memory while performing the tasks were also noted. The results were significant: The meditation group reported lower levels of stress during the multitasking test while those in the control group or who received only relaxation training did not. When the control group was given meditation training, however, its members reported lower stress during the test just as had the original meditation group. The meditation training seemed to help participants concentrate longer without their attention being diverted. Those who meditated beforehand spent more time on tasks and switched tasks less often, but took no longer to complete the overall job than the others, the researchers learned. No such change occurred with those who took body relaxation training only, or with the control group. After the control group’s members underwent meditation training, however, they too spent longer on their tasks with less task switching and no overall increase in job completion time. After training, both the meditators and those trained in relaxation techniques showed improved memory for the tasks they were performing. The control group did not, until it too underwent the meditation training. “Many research efforts at the human-technology boundary have attempted to create technologies that augment human abilities,” Wobbrock said. “This meditation work is unusual in that it attempts to augment human abilities not through technology but because of technology ? because of the demands technology places on us and our need to cope with those demands.” Levy added: “We are encouraged by these first results. While there is increasing scientific evidence that certain forms of meditation increase concentration and reduce emotional volatility and stress, until now there has been little direct evidence that meditation may impart such benefits for those in stressful, information-intensive environments.” ### For more information, contact Levy at 206-616-2545 or dmlevy@u.washington.edu; or Wobbrock at 206-616-2541 or wobbrock@uw.edu. Contact: Peter Kelley |
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