EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 22-May-2012

mBio
Genomes show how Staph bacteria gain resistance to last-line drug
National Institutes of Health-funded scientists have determined the genome sequences of a dozen strains of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria known to be resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic of last resort. The researchers demonstrated that resistance arose independently in each strain, and identified shared features among the strains that may have helped them acquire vancomycin resistance and evade human immune defenses.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 21-May-2012
NIH selects 11 Centers of Excellence in Pain Education
The National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium has selected 11 health professional schools as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs). The CoEPEs will act as hubs for the development, evaluation, and distribution of pain management curriculum resources for medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy schools to enhance and improve how health care professionals are taught about pain and its treatment. 20 institutes, centers and offices at NIH are involved in the consortium.

Public Release: 21-May-2012
Optogenetics project takes top NIDA Addiction Science Award
A project that maps dopamine circuits in the prefrontal cortex through optogenetic manipulation was given top honors in this year's annual Addiction Science Awards at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair -- the world's largest science competition for high school students.

Public Release: 21-May-2012

Lancet Infectious Diseases
NIH study shows poor quality malaria drugs pose threat
Poor quality antimalarial drugs lead to drug resistance and inadequate treatment that pose an urgent threat to vulnerable populations, according to a National Institutes of Health study published May 22 in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. Emergence of malaria strains that are resistant to artemisinin drugs on the Thailand-Cambodia border make it imperative to improve the drug supply, stressed the authors.

NIH/Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 21-May-2012

Digestive Disease Week

New England Journal of Medicine
NIH study finds sigmoidoscopy reduces colorectal cancer rates
Flexible sigmoidoscopy, a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side effects than colonoscopy, is effective in reducing the rates of new cases and deaths due to colorectal cancer, according to research sponsored by the NCI. In a study that spanned almost 20 years, researchers found that overall colorectal cancer mortality was reduced by 26 percent and incidence was reduced by 21 percent as a result of screening with sigmoidoscopy.

NIH/National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 20-May-2012

American Thoracic Society International Conference

JAMA
Concentrated saline therapy not effective in young children with cystic fibrosis
Inhaling concentrated saline (salt water) mist does not reduce how often infants and young children with cystic fibrosis need antibiotics for respiratory symptoms, according to findings from a clinical trial sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. This trial is the largest study of concentrated, or hypertonic, saline therapy in infants and preschoolers.

National Institutes of Health, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Public Release: 17-May-2012

Genetics in Medicine
NIH-led study finds genetic test results do not trigger increased use of health services
People have increasing opportunities to participate in genetic testing that can indicate their range of risk for developing a disease. Receiving these results does not appreciably drive up or diminish test recipients' demand for potentially costly follow-up health services, according to a study performed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and colleagues at other institutions.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 16-May-2012

Nature
NIH-funded research provides new clues on how ApoE4 affects Alzheimer's risk
Common variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease, but the gene's role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 16-May-2012

Nature
Paralyzed individuals use thought-controlled robotic arm to reach and grasp
In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own -- for the first time in nearly 15 years -- by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system, which is intended to put robotics and other assistive technology under the brain's control.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 3-May-2012

Science
Awake mental replay of past experiences critical for learning
Awake mental replay of past experiences is essential for making informed choices, suggests a study in rats. Without it, the animals' memory-based decision-making faltered. Scientists blocked learning from, and acting on, past experience by selectively suppressing replay -- encoded as split-second bursts of neuronal activity in the memory hubs of rats performing a maze task. Similar patterns of brain activity have been detected in humans during similar situations.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 2-May-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
Bladder tests before urinary incontinence surgery in women may be unnecessary
An invasive and costly test commonly done in women before surgery for stress urinary incontinence may not be necessary, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study compared results after both a pre-operative check-up in a doctor's office and bladder function tests to results after only the office check-up. Women who had only the office check-up had equally successful outcomes after surgery.

Public Release: 1-May-2012

AIDS
Anti-HIV drug use during pregnancy does not affect infant size, birth weight
Infants born to women who used the anti-HIV drug tenofovir as part of an anti-HIV drug regimen during pregnancy do not weigh less at birth and are not of shorter length than infants born to women who used anti-HIV drug regimens that do not include tenofovir during pregnancy, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health network study. However, at 1 year of age, children born to the tenofovir-treated mothers were slightly shorter and had slightly smaller head circumference.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 30-Apr-2012

2012 ARVO Annual Meeting

Ophthalmology
Avastin and Lucentis are equivalent in treating age-related macular degeneration
At two years, Avastin (bevacizumab) and Lucentis (ranibizumab injection), two widely used drugs to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), improve vision when administered monthly or on an as needed basis, although greater improvements in vision were seen with monthly administration for this common, debilitating eye disease, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

NIH/National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 29-Apr-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
2 drugs better than 1 to treat youth with type 2 diabetes
A combination of two diabetes drugs, metformin and rosiglitazone, was more effective in treating youth with recent-onset type 2 diabetes than metformin alone, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found. Adding an intensive lifestyle intervention to metformin provided no more benefit than metformin therapy alone.

Public Release: 25-Apr-2012

Science Translational Medicine
Agent reduces autism-like behaviors in mice
Researchers have reversed behaviors in mice resembling two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. An experimental agent increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice that normally display such autism-like behaviors. Since the same class of agents is being tested in patients with a related syndrome, the findings suggest a strategy for developing a single treatment that could target multiple diagnostic symptoms of ASDs.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 22-Apr-2012

Nature Medicine
NIH scientists link quickly spreading gene to Asian MRSA epidemic
NIH scientists and their colleagues in China have described a rapidly emerging Staphylococcus aureus gene, called sasX, which plays a pivotal role in establishing methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) epidemics in most of Asia. Senior author Michael Otto, Ph.D., of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says these findings illustrate at the molecular level how MRSA epidemics may emerge and spread. Moreover, their study identifies a potential target for novel therapeutics.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 18-Apr-2012

Nature
Brain-activated muscle stimulation restores monkeys' hand movement after paralysis
An artificial connection between the brain and muscles can restore complex hand movements in monkeys following paralysis, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The neuroprosthesis uses a brain-computer interface to control electrical stimulation of muscles and restore hand movement after temporary paralysis.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Health Research Fund of Quebec

Public Release: 16-Apr-2012

Blending Initiative: Accelerating Knowledge Exchange in Substance Abuse Treatment
Blending conference translates substance abuse research into practice
Experts will share the latest clinical research with addiction treatment professionals, healthcare providers, policy makers, and others during the April 19 Blending Conference in Atlanta, Ga. The program is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the American Society of Addiction Medicine Annual Medical-Scientific Conference as part of an ongoing initiative to accelerate research findings into practice.

Public Release: 12-Apr-2012

Clinical Infectious Diseases
Test links strains of common parasite to severe illness in US newborns
Scientists have identified which strains of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, the cause of toxoplasmosis, are most strongly associated with premature births and severe birth defects in the United States. The researchers used a new blood test developed by scientists at NIAID to pinpoint T. gondii strains that children acquire from their acutely infected mothers while in the womb.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 4-Apr-2012

Nature
Spontaneous gene glitches linked to autism risk with older dads
Researchers have turned up a new clue to the workings of a possible environmental factor in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): fathers were four times more likely than mothers to transmit tiny, spontaneous mutations to their children with the disorders. Moreover, the number of such transmitted genetic glitches increased with paternal age. The discovery may help to explain earlier evidence linking autism risk to older fathers.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 4-Apr-2012

Environmental Health Perspectives
Arsenic turns stem cells cancerous, spurring tumor growth
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered how exposure to arsenic can turn normal stem cells into cancer stem cells and spur tumor growth.

NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 4-Apr-2012
NIH awards $20 million over 5 years to train next generation of global health researchers
To help foster the next generation of global health scientists, Fogarty International Center and its partners at the National Institutes of Health are building a network of US academic institutions to provide early-career physicians, veterinarians, dentists and scientists with a significant mentored research experience in a developing country. About $20.3 million will be awarded over the next five years to support 400 early-career scientists on year-long research fellowships in 27 countries.

Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 4-Apr-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
Possible clues found to why HIV vaccine showed modest protection
Insights into how the first vaccine ever reported to modestly prevent HIV infection in people might have worked were published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 4-Apr-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
A new MCAT for tomorrow's physician
Dr. Robert M. Kaplan, NIH, on 'The Case for the New Medical College Admission Test: Why the MCAT must reflect physicians' current public health challenges,' a perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Public Release: 3-Apr-2012

PEERx Campaign for Teens
NIH's 'PEERx' for teens to be showcased at Rx Drug Abuse Summit
A unique, new campaign targeting teens will be on exhibit at the first national summit addressing the prescription drug abuse epidemic. The National Institute on Drug Abuse will showcase "PEERx," a NIDA initiative that uses interactive videos and other tools to educate teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and help them to spread the word.