Preliminary Trial: Stem Cell Patch Heals a Broken Heart

When a person has a heart attack the heart muscle is damaged and scarred, cells die off and the heart's ability to pump blood is reduced. Until now there hasn't been much anyone can do about that beyond containing the damage and hoping the heart can limp along and continue to do its business with perhaps less vigor. So one can only imagine the intense interest at the annual American Heart Association convention today when researchers from the University of Cincinnati presented the results of an ingenious experiment conducted using a stem-cell infused patch to help repair damage to the heart.

The researchers fashioned the patch with cardiac progenitor cells (stem cells that differentiate into heart muscle cells as they grow) and a couple of other heart-tissue-promoting substances only molecular biologists can fathom. They placed it on (PETA members avert eyes now) lab animals hearts' three days after a heart-attack. One month after the cell patch implantation, echocardiograms were performed to evaluate heart function.

What they found was quite remarkable: The number of heart tissue cells and heart function as a whole significantly increased in animals that received the patch. "Hopefully, one day such treatments will restore cardiac function in patients who have experienced a heart attack, leading to a longer and better quality of life," said lead researcher, Yi-Gang Wang, PhD.

This leads to our latest maxim: Where there's good science, there's always hope for better health.

A Gene that Magnifies the Pain of Getting Bullied

A new study finds that bullied children who have inherited a gene sequence called the 5-HTT short alele--a stress-related gene that codes for seratonin transport and is associated with low seratonin levels in the brain--develop the most emotional problems from bullying. Symptoms of anxiety, depression and social withdrawal appeared most often in regularly bullied kids with two copies of a short version of the 5-HTT gene, says a team led by psychologist Karen Sugden of Duke University in Durham, NC. One-third of bullied children who had two short copies of the gene displayed emotional problems severe enough to merit mental health treatment. In another study, Stanford University researchers found that teenage girls who were socially excluded or lied about by peers showed more signs of depression if they had two copies of the short 5-HTT gene. 

This is not the first time researchers have found traits of concern in connection with this particular sequence of short aleles. (An alele is a form of the DNA sequence of a particular gene that sets a genetic trait like eye color, hair color and even stress coping styles: researchers commonly divide the gene sequence into two variations, short and long, but there can be multiple variations.) Previous research links greater risk of depression after stressful events, alcoholism, obesity, methamphetine addiction and even suicide to one or two short aleles in the 5-HTT region of the seratonin transport gene known as SLC6A4. (Could scientists be required to take poetry so they can better name stuff?)

An underlying genetic vulnerability to stress makes sense in light of recent events in which we've seen some young people crack more easily from cyber-bullying than others. And it gives counselors ample justification to intervene early when signs of sensitivity to bullying emerge. The short alele genetic trait's association with lower seratonin levels in the brain provides a therapeutic target. For example, the supplement SAMe provides more of the raw material for making seratonin, and can increase seratonin levels in the brain. Regular exercise has also been shown to up seratonin levels, and other studies have identified the alkaloids in chocolate as seratonin boosters.  

Read the Science News article.

Research Breakthrough: Brain Scans Accurately Identify Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

After measuring the magnetic fields in the brain, a research team at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a local VA hospital say they have found a biomarker that can be routinely used to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder.

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology, the researchers were able to determine that increased activity on the right side of the mind was linked to the flashbacks, nightmares and anger associated with PTSD. And by measuring the activity, they thought they were able to determine signposts for the severity of the case.

Practice makes perfect, in this biomarker case. The researchers improved their accuracy on a healthy diagnosis from 88 percent to 95 percent over the course of the year. And they earned a 96 percent accuracy rate for spotting PTSD. Now they want to see more of the MEG devices in use in other VA hospitals around the country as physicians struggle to correctly diagnose the illness and move toward early treatment.

"Having a diagnostic exam capable of confirming post-traumatic stress disorder is critical in treating these patients properly," Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos, the study leader, says in a statement.

Read the source article.

HPV and Non-Cervical Cancers

A new study reiterates mounting evidence that HPV (human papillomavirus) is involved in more than just cervical cancer. The recent study, looking at detection methods for HPV virus, confirms, "HPV is detectable in approximately a quarter of all squamous cell head and neck cancers, and is particularly prevalent in the oropharynx [back of the mouth] in which the positivity rates approach 40%." In previous studies, HPV has been established as a cause of 70%-76% of cervical cancers, 90%-93% of anal cancers and about half of penile cancers. The current public health recommendation that the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) be given only to girls is very much the subject of heated debate among adolescent physicians and policy makers.Should the HPV vaccine be given to boys too?

The good news from previous studies, the viral form of head and neck cancer is more curable.  People with HPV-specific head and neck cancers had much greater survival rates (a 60% better chance) than people whose cancers did not test positive for the HPV virus. While smoking and alcohol consumption are considered risk factors for head and neck cancer, researchers are beginning to take a look at associations between sexual practices and head and neck cancers. 

Researchers from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, writing in the Journal of Adolescent Health this past spring had this to say: "The high proportion of cervical and noncervical cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18, that is, 70%-76% for cervical cancers and 63%-95% for noncervical cancers, underscores the potential for prevention of a majority of cervical as well as noncervical HPV-related cancers through prophylactic HPV vaccination."

Researchers in Europe have begun to calculate the cost-benefits of giving the vaccine to boys in light of new associations between HPV and non-cervical cancers. Similar research in the U.S. can't be far behind.

Tendon Pain: Cortisone Injections Could Make It Worse

A review of 41 trials of the use of corticosteroid injections for non-inflammatory tendon pain like tennis elbow found that while cortisone injections help in the short-term, they can make it worse in the long term. Overall, data from the 28 studies comparing corticosteroids to other interventions found that corticosteroid benefits were short-lived. In the case of the three studies comparing corticosteroids to no treatment for tennis elbow, for instance, corticosteroids were associated with pain relief for up to eight weeks, but with greater pain at six months and one year. It's unclear why corticosteroids might cause long-term pain, but the researchers suggested the injection could weaken tendons' internal structure. There's also a potential for corticosteroids to mask the pain, enabling a person to inflict further damage on an already painful tendon.

Read the abstract in The Lancet.