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    Category Health/Medical

    Light Exposure during Sleep may Increase Insulin Resistance

    June 5, 2018, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    Image result for Light Exposure during Sleep may Increase Insulin Resistance
     
    Chronic overnight light exposure could have long-term effects on metabolic function. According to preliminary results from a new study, nighttime light exposure during sleep may affect metabolic function. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that light exposure at night during sleep adversely impacts metabolic outcomes.
     
    “Our preliminary findings show that a single night of light exposure during sleep acutely impacts measures of insulin resistance,” said lead author Ivy Cheung Mason, PhD, who was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine when this study was conducted. “Light exposure overnight during sleep has been shown to disrupt sleep, but these data indicate that it may also have the potential to influence metabolism.”
     
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    Secret to Longevity may Lie in the Microbiome and the Gut

    June 3, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Model of mechanisms of gut microbiota-host communication influencing aging factors. The gut microbiota communicates with the metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways via direct and indirect mechanisms. As the physiological changes in all three of these axes are cross-regulatory, the simultaneous action implemented by the gut microbiota makes it a powerful influence in aging and age-related chronic disease development. Abbreviations: glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, insulin receptor (IR), insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt), target of rapamycin (TOR), Forkhead Box O protein (FOXO), sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP), acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthase (FAS), tight junction proteins (TJPs), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), toll-like receptor (TLR)4, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB), activator protein (AP)-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, T helper (Th)17, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator (PGC)-1α, sirtuin (SIRT), reactive oxygen species (ROS).

    Model of mechanisms of gut microbiota-host communication influencing aging factors. The gut microbiota communicates with the metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways via direct and indirect mechanisms. As the physiological changes in all three of these axes are cross-regulatory, the simultaneous action implemented by the gut microbiota makes it a powerful influence in aging and age-related chronic disease development...

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    Soy Lecithin NSAID combo drug Protects against Cancer with Fewer Side Effects, UTHealth reports

    May 31, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Fighting colorectal cancer at UTHealth are Lenard Lichtenberger, Ph.D., (right) and Dexing Fang, Ph.D. Credit: Rob Cahill, UTHealth

    Fighting colorectal cancer at UTHealth are Lenard Lichtenberger, Ph.D., (right) and Dexing Fang, Ph.D. Credit: Rob Cahill, UTHealth

    When scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) applied a chemical found in soybeans to a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), they increased its anticancer properties and reduced its side effects. Findings of the preclinical study of phosphatidylcholine, also called lecithin, appear in the journal Oncology Letters. “The results support the potential use of NSAIDs associated with phosphatidylcholine for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer,” said Lenard Lichtenberger, Ph.D., the study’s lead investigator and a professor of integrative biology and pharmacology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

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    Novel RNA-Modifying Tool Corrects Genetic Diseases

    May 31, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Professor Matthew Disney of The Scripps Research Institute led the new study. Credit: The Scripps Research Institute

    Professor Matthew Disney of The Scripps Research Institute led the new study. Credit: The Scripps Research Institute

    A new tool opens the possibility of creating drugs that can be taken conveniently as pills to correct genetic diseases. As scientists gain insights into which genes drive diseases, they are pursuing the next logical question: Can gene editing technologies be developed to treat or even cure those diseases? Much of that effort has focused on developing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9, a protein-based system.

    At The Scripps Research Institute campus in Florida, chemist Matthew D. Disney, PhD, has taken a different approach, developing a small-molecule-based tool that acts on RNA to selectively delete certain gene products...

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