Category Biology/Biotechnology

Dietary PUFA regulation of contralateral mammary gland metastasis.

Omega-3 fatty acids, such as those typically contained in fish oil, may suppress the growth and spread of breast cancer cells in mice. This is according to a new study in the journal Clinical & Experimental Metastasis, which is published under the Springer imprint. According to lead author, Saraswoti Khadge of the University of Nebraska Medical Centre in the US, fatty acids stopped further delayed tumors from forming, and blocked the cancerous cells from spreading to other organs in mice. The researchers speculate that this might be because of the way in which omega-3 fatty acids support the body’s immune and anti-inflammatory systems.

Two groups of adult female mice were fed a liquid diet for which the calorie count and pe...

Six-Week Endurance Exercise Alters Gut Metagenome That Is not Reflected in Systemic Metabolism in Over-weight Women. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2018; 9 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02323

According to recent research, endurance exercise training beneficially modifies gut microbiota composition. After six weeks of training, potentially inflammation causing microbes (Proteobacteria) decreased and microbes that are linked to enhanced metabolism (Akkermansia) increased. Even though there was no significant drop in the weight of the subjects, exercise had other beneficial health effects, says Academy of Finland research fellow Satu Pekkala from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä.

“We found that phospholipids and cholesterol in VLDL particles decreased in respons...

After 11 months of dupilumab treatment, significant pigmented hair has grown across the patient’s scalp.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) physicians are reporting an unexpected side-effect from treatment with dupilumab, which is FDA approved for the treatment of moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis. In their case report published in JAMA Dermatology, the physicians describe how their 13-year-old patient, who has alopecia totalis – a total lack of scalp hair – along with eczema, experienced significant hair regrowth while being treated with dupilumab, a drug marketed under the brand name Dupixent.

“We were quite surprised since this patient hadn’t grown scalp hair since the age of 2, and other treatments that can help with hair loss did not in her case,” says Marya...

Protein Kinase C Epsilon Deletion in Adipose Tissue, but Not in Liver, Improves Glucose Tolerance

A new study by Australian researchers, out today, is challenging what we know about the causes of diabetes. The new research points to fat tissue as a source of disease, and widens our understanding beyond the traditional focus on liver and pancreas as the main culprits. The findings, uncovered in mice, are published in the high-impact journal Cell Metabolism.

The new research is centred around the surprising finding that protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε), known to be involved in diabetes, isn’t acting in the liver or the pancreas as was once assumed. Researchers have long known that PKCε is important for the development of diabetes...