Pharmacology

If we told you that men in the morning had a better response to vaccinations for hepatitis A and influenza, you might think there was some biology bias at work, but that's what a study led by Anna Catriona Phillips of the University of Birmingham found. They assessed the response to a hepatitis A vaccine in young healthy adults and also examined responses to the annual influenza vaccination in older community-based adults. In the first study, participants consisted of 75 University of Birmingham students who were vaccinated with the hepatitis A vaccine during a morning session (10 am to 12…

Poor tomatoes. They've overtaken spinach as the organic food we most worry about and they've been in the middle of the genetically modified foods debate for years. Yet tomatoes have their proponents as well, like HyunSoon Kim from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) and colleagues from Digital Biotech Inc. and the Department of Biological Science at Wonkwang University. They say this humble fruit could be a suitable carrier for an oral vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and it progresses over a long…

Vaginal microbicides currently in clinical trials may be the only weapon that will protect women against infection from HIV but they may actually be of more benefit to men than women, according to a new UCLA AIDS Institute study. Microbicides are compounds that can be applied inside the vagina to protect against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Pharmaceutical companies are currently conducting trials of second-generation microbicides that are based on antiretroviral, or ARV, drugs. The study, which used novel mathematical models to simulate clinical trials and population-level…

Tabebuia impetiginosa, commonly known as Pink Ipê, is a deciduous tree, native to Central and South America, and is related to magnolias. With obesity levels rising (and people apparently unwilling to eat moderately) scientists have been searching for ways to mitigate obesity and the related conditions it brings, such as diabetes and heart disease. Scientists from Germany have recently discovered that extracts of Tabebuia impetiginosa, a traditional herbal remedy, can act to delay the absorption of dietary fat in animal models. They believe that the extract could be incorporated into a food…

Six of every 100 patients who die in hospital do so as a consequence of an adverse drug reaction or, in other words, a fatal reaction to medicines, according to research carried out at the Department of Medicine of the University of Granada, in collaboration with the Clinical Hospital San Cecilio of Granada, by Alfredo José Pardo Cabello and directed by Professors Emilio Puche Cañas (Department of Pharmacology) and Francisco Javier Gómez Jiménez (Department of Medicine). A adverse drug reaction to medicines (ADR) has been defined as any harmful and unwanted effect of a drug, at doses used for…

The French like their artichokes fried, the Italians like them on pizza, in Spain they are used in frittata and the best artichokes are supposedly found in Greece. Meanwhile, at the University of Reading, a research University in Great Britain, the flower is being used for medicinal purposes connected to reducing cholesterol. High cholesterol levels related to cardiovascular disease have been shown to improve with the help of Artichoke Leaf Extract, or ALE, therefore minimizing the need for prescription drugs. By stabilizing cholesterol before it becomes a problem, researchers at University…

Scientists from Hungary, Germany and the U.K. have discovered that our own body not only makes chemical compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana (THC), but these play an important part in maintaining healthy skin. This finding on "endocannabinoids" just published in The FASEB Journal could lead to new drugs that treat skin conditions ranging from acne to dry skin, and even skin-related tumors. "Our preclinical data encourage one to explore whether endocannabinoid system-acting agents can be exploited in the management of common skin disorders," said Tamás Biró, MD, PhD, a…

More evidence for the beneficial effect of green tea on risk factors for heart disease has emerged in a new study reported in the latest issue of European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.(1) The study found that the consumption of green tea rapidly improves the function of (endothelial) cells lining the circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the progression of atherosclerosis. The study, performed by Dr Nikolaos Alexopoulos and colleagues at the 1st Cardiology Department, Athens Medical School in Greece, was a randomised trial involving the…

Almonds, as well as being high in vitamin E and other minerals, are also thought to have other health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol. Recently published work by the Institute of Food Research has identified potential prebiotic properties of almonds that could help improve our digestive health by increasing levels of beneficial gut bacteria. Our digestive system maintains large population of bacteria that live in the colon. Prebiotics are non-digestible parts of foods that these bacteria can use to fuel their growth and activity. These 'good' bacteria form part of our body's defence…

Researchers at Bonn University and the ETH Zürich have discovered that oregano, with its active ingredient beta-caryophyllin (E-BCP, docks on specific receptor structures in the cell membrane - the so-called cannabinoid-CB2 receptors, and produces a change in cell behavior: for example, it will inhibit the cell´s production of phlogogenic signal substances. E-BCP is a typical ingredient of many spices and food plants. Hence it is also found in plants such as basil, rosemary, cinnamon, and black pepper. Every day, we consume up to 200 milligrams of this annular molecule. The researchers…