Fruits and Vegetables Containing Anthocyanins (purple and red pigments) Slow the Growth of Colon Cancers

This study was conducted by Dr. Monica Giusti and associates at Ohio State University and reported in a paper given by her at the American Chemical Society meeting in Boston on August 19, 2007.

Fruits and vegetable anthocyanins were extracted from such fruits and vegetables as purple corn, chokeberries, bilberries, purple carrots, elderberries, grapes and radishes. The first three of the list showed the greatest potency and the least potent of this selection was that of radishes.

Dr. Giusti suggests that making some small changes in the chemical structures of these pigments could improve these results. She is a proponent of using such natural food coloring agents by the food industry.

Hyperthyroidism: Cats Are Canaries for PBDE Exposure

A study showing a possible link of hyperthyroidism in cats (FH) to polybromated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was released by the American Chemical Society on August 15, 2007. Some of the sources for contamination by this chemical are from fire retardants used in fabrics such as those on mattresses, carpets and furniture. Canned cat foods are another source.

I presume, though it was not stated, that the route of it into the cat food is mainly from fish, as other information has shown that fish off the coast of CA have higher than average levels of PBDEs. Other animals also have this chemical, though not at comparable levels.

Humans are also being exposed to some of these same sources for PBDEs. Some well known examples are former President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush, who developed this disorder. Their dog, Millie, also was affected.

And as the article stated, “…hyperthyroid cats could serve as modern-day versions of the canaries in the cage that alerted coal miners to poisonous gas.”

Dr. Janice A. Dye and colleagues from Indiana University and the University of Georgia conducted this research.

The article can be found at http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm?PressReleaseID=2834&categoryid=21

A New Way to Inherit Diabetes 2

A study by Pravenec, et al has shown that there can be a variation in mitochondrial genes which codes for metabolic changes resulting in Diabetes 2. Virtually always, you receive your mitochondria only from you mother. Thus, if your mother has the mitochondrial gene for Diabetes 2, you will inherit the tendency to have it. This means that in at least some cases, you may inherit the tendency to develop Diabetes 2 from your mother – not your father.

Please note that this new information does not indicate that there are no nuclear genes that code for Diabetes 2, but that there is a separate genetic component for inheriting this, and other disorders.

This article was released on August 10, 2007 by the online journal, Genome Research (www.genome.org), a division of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

A fuller summary of this study can be found at <http://www.Eurekalert.org - Scientists show that mitochondrial DNA variants are linked to risk factors for type 2 diabetes>.

My thought on this matter; I need to follow my doctor’s advice: increase my exercise and keep my weight under control. Not the easiest advice to follow, is it? But it decreases the likelihood of getting Diabetes 2 as well as other degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis and Alzheimer’s.

Nile Tilapia Reduce Malaria Vectors by Over 94 Percent

By stocking abandoned fish ponds in western Kenya with Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) the Anopheles mosquito larvae (main carriers of malaria) in those ponds were reduced by upwards of 94%. In addition to the reduced mosquito population, these fish provide an important protein source for the endemic people.

Though malaria is not a widespread threat in the United States, there are some of us who nevertheless are not fond of mosquito bites. One way of reducing mosquito larvae would be to stock ponds with minnows such as Gambusia. If interested, you should be able to check your computer search engine to locate a stock near you.

The reference for the article on the Kenyan fish ponds stocked with tilapia fish can be found after August 8, 2007 in BMC Public Health, an online public access journal.

A fuller summary of the article can be found at .

Intact DNA in Dieing Cells Leads to Autoimmune Disorder, Lupus

A mutation in a gene discovered in 1998 by Dr. Fred Perrino at Wake Forest University, has now been characterized as a cause of the serious autoimmune disorder, systemic lupus erythematosus.

This gene, called TREX1, forms the pattern for a protein, called TREX1 protein, which is involved in the disassembly of DNA in dieing cells. If a mutation in this gene causes it to form an incorrect TREX1 protein unable to degrade the DNA, the immune system of the body treats this DNA as foreign to itself and makes antibodies which attack it and also other undamaged cells in its own body.

Having the gene and its protein characterized will enable researchers to search more effectively for a treatment for this disorder.

A fuller summary of this information can be found at http://www.Eurekalert.org - Research links genetic mutations to lupus

You can find the article in: Nature Genetics. Current issue.
Another article with additional data is found in: Journal of Biological Chemistry. April 2007 issue

Reversing Heart Failure

Stiffening of the wall of the heart (fibrosis) can cause damage to its pumping ability and may lead to heart failure as the heart becomes unable to supply enough blood to the tissues of the body.

A team of scientists from Harvard Medical School and the Division of Matrix Biology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has completed a study in genetically modified mice, where an ongoing process in fibrosis of their hearts was not only halted, but was reversed so that their hearts could better pump blood. The miracle agent was a bone morphogenic molecule known as rhBMP7.

These researchers have halted fibrosis in several other organs such as the kidneys, lungs and livers by this same pathway, but this research confirms its usefulness in cases of heart failure.

This study was published on July 29, 2007 in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine.

A more detailed summary can be found at http://www.Eurekalert.org – Study helps explain origins of cardiac fibrosis in patients with heart disease

Restoration of Vision to Rats with Glaucoma

There are estimated to be three million people in the United States with glaucoma. Without consistent good treatment, many of these people will become blind.

A research team at Iowa State University led by Dr. Sinisa Grozdanic has successfully completed a study of a treatment for glaucoma in rats.

Bone marrow stem cells from these rats had been treated so that they produced nerve protective proteins. When these stem cells were injected into the rats' eyes they continued to make this healing protein, vastly improved vision and prevented further deterioration.

The team of researchers plans to begin a similar study next year on dogs suffering from glaucoma. If successful, it will be followed by human clinical trials.

A more detailed summary of this article can be found at:

http://www.Eurekalert.org – New treatment for glaucoma shows promise in laboratory, say Iowa State researchers

This work was originally presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference.