EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Jan-2013

Molecular Psychiatry
Prenatal inflammation linked to autism risk
Maternal inflammation during early pregnancy may be related to an increased risk of autism in children, according to new findings supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found this in children of mothers with elevated C-reactive protein, a well-established marker of systemic inflammation.

NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 23-Jan-2013
NIH clinical trial begins for treatment of rare, fatal neurological disorder
A clinical trial to evaluate a drug candidate called cyclodextrin as a possible treatment for Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC), a rare and fatal genetic disease, will start today, researchers announced. Scientists from the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) will conduct the clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center. Reaching this trial stage required collaboration among government, industry, patient advocacy groups and academic researchers.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 23-Jan-2013

NIH Evidence-based Methodology Workshop on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Panel recommends changing name of common disorder in women
An independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health has issued a final report regarding future research and clinical priorities for polycystic ovary syndrome.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 23-Jan-2013

Journal of Infectious Diseases
NIH-developed candidate dengue vaccine shows promise in early-stage trial
A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online on Jan. 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 16-Jan-2013

New England Journal of Medicine
H1N1 flu shots are safe for pregnant women
Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss.

NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Public Release: 15-Jan-2013
NIH launches collaborative effort to find biomarkers for Parkinson's
The National Institutes of Health has launched a new initiative to help researchers investigate biomarkers for Parkinson's disease, and to help patients learn about and participate in such studies. So far, the NINDS Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program has funded nine research teams taking a variety of unique approaches to discover new biomarkers. To support collaboration across these projects and others, the PDBP is introducing a new online platform for investigators to share their data.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 15-Jan-2013

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Study documents that some children lose autism diagnosis
Some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has confirmed. The research team made the finding by carefully documenting a prior diagnosis of autism in a small group of school-age children and young adults with no current symptoms of the disorder.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 14-Jan-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
NIH scientists identify protective role for antibodies in Ebola vaccine study
Researchers at NIH and Oregon Health & Science University have found that an experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect nonhuman primates from Ebola virus infection. Ebola virus causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates, meaning that infection may lead to shock, bleeding and multi-organ failure. According to the World Health Organization, Ebola hemorrhagic fever has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola virus infection.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 7-Jan-2013

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Peanut therapy shows promise in treating peanut allergy
A new study suggests that sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) can reduce the allergic response to peanut in adolescents and adults. SLIT is a treatment approach in which, under medical supervision, people place a small amount of allergen under the tongue to decrease their sensitivity to the allergen.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 6-Jan-2013

Nature Genetics
Genetic mystery of Behcet's disease unfolds along the ancient Silk Road
Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road. National Institutes of Health researchers and their Turkish and Japanese collaborators published their findings in the Jan. 6, 2013, advance online issue of Nature Genetics.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 26-Dec-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
Benefits of higher oxygen, breathing device persist after infancy
By the time they reached toddlerhood, very preterm infants originally treated with higher oxygen levels continued to show benefits when compared to a group treated with lower oxygen levels, according to a follow-up study by a research network of the National Institutes of Health that confirms earlier network findings.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Public Release: 19-Dec-2012
Regular marijuana use by teens continues to be a concern
Continued high use of marijuana by the nation's eighth, 10th and 12th graders combined with a drop in perceptions of its potential harms was revealed in this year's Monitoring the Future survey, an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan. The survey was carried out in classrooms around the country earlier this year, under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

Public Release: 12-Dec-2012

Biological Psychology
Experimental agent briefly eases depression rapidly in test
A drug that works through the same brain mechanism as the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine briefly improved treatment-resistant patients' depression symptoms in minutes, with minimal untoward side effects, in a clinical trial. The experimental agent, called AZD6765, acts through the brain's glutamate chemical messenger system. The findings serve as a proof of concept that targeting this system holds promise for development of a new generation of rapid antidepressants with fewer side effects than ketamine.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 12-Dec-2012

Nature
Stress-resilience/susceptibility traced to neurons in reward circuit
A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress. The same firing pattern had the opposite effect when the depression-like behaviors were induced by chronic mild stress. Split-second control of the implicated circuit, via optogenetics, showed that context -- stressor type and intensity -- is pivotal to the workings of brain rapid antidepressant mechanisms.

NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Biotechnology, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 11-Dec-2012
NIH-funded trial launched to assess experimental TB drug
A clinical trial will examine an investigational drug's early bacteria-killing activity in patients newly diagnosed with drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis. The clinical trial--sponsored by the NIAID)--is being led by researchers at the Tuberculosis Research Unit at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. The study to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, will enroll 75 men and women with TB ages 18 to 65, including individuals who are also infected with HIV but not yet taking antiretroviral treatment.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 11-Dec-2012

mBio
NIH scientists reflect on gains in emerging infectious disease awareness, research and response
In a new essay, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and David Morens, M.D., reflect on what has been learned about emerging infectious diseases in the two decades since a major report from the US Institute of Medicine rekindled interest in this important topic.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 29-Nov-2012

PLOS ONE
Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice
Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 28-Nov-2012

New England Journal of Medicine
HIV treatment reduces risk of malaria recurrence in children, NIH funded study shows
A combination of anti-HIV drugs has been found to also reduce the risk of recurrent malaria by nearly half among HIV-positive children, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Cell Reports
NIH study suggests immune system could play a central role in AMD
Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. The findings are epigenetic in nature, meaning that the underlying DNA is normal but gene expression has been modified, likely by environmental factors, in an adverse way. Environmental factors associated with AMD include smoking, diet, and aging. This is the first epigenetic study revealing the molecular mechanisms for any eye disease.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nature Communications
NIH-funded researchers show possible trigger for MS nerve damage
High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.

National Institutes of Health