Aurora magazine

A study-Biomedical Campus University of Rome has identified a possible new Alzheimer's origin. According to the study, at the base there would be the death of neurons that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter of memory. The phenomenon could partly explain the progressive loss of memory, the main symptom of the disease.

Most of the research focused on the hippocampus. It is the area of ​​the brain encodes new memories and, where necessary, recall old ones. The new study, however, examines the midbrain, located deep in the brain. Here there is an area called the ventral tegmental area, where there are the cells that produce dopamine. The disease cause the death of these cells, reducing the hippocampus dopamine intake. This would explain not only the loss of memory, but also their mood disorders of the disease.

The researchers analyzed the morphological and behavioral aspects of guinea pigs with the disease. In particular, they performed the counting of neurons as the disease progressed. At the same time, they evaluated the behavioral changes in mice. This identified a deficit in dopamine-producing neurons, and consequently, in the neurotransmitter levels.

To confirm the theory, the researchers administered an inhibitor of dopamine degradation of the guinea pigs. The mice thus treated recovered lost functions: they recovered the memory and also vitality. Nevertheless, it worked only in those in the early stages of the disease.

The Roman study is in contrast with the theory to more widespread now. According to this, Alzheimer's is linked to the accumulation of a protein produced in brain cells, beta amyloid. The Roman team, however, has shown that only 5% of cases are relatable to an alteration in the amyloid gene.

Source: corriere.it

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and the Perlmutter Cancer Center have created a genetic test for the diagnosis of skin cancer. The DNA test analyzes the person's blood, to confirm or refute the presence of the disease. This makes it easier to early detection and intervention for time against the disease. For the moment it is only available for research, but in the future may open the clinical setting.

The new genetic test gives results in just 48 hours and is meant for early diagnosis. The anomalies of the BRAF and NRAS genes increase the risk of melanoma and are responsible for 50% of cases. Are there any DNA tests to detect the presence of mutations, which are useful for subjects with familiarity. They can, however little for those suffering from sporadic forms of melanoma. The test in question is designed precisely to these people.

The test identifies your melanoma DNA in the blood of patients. This allows you to monitor the levels of DNA fragments, or any changes in the gene that controls the TERT. The latter is the telomerase reverse transcriptase, which is a protein that helps cancer cells to maintain the physical structure of the chromosomes. Where present, the mutation helps cancer cells to multiply and hinders treatment.

The goal of researchers is to facilitate the search for effective treatments. The tests also help to understand whether current treatments are working or if the cancer is expanding. The monitoring would be faster and healthier than the traditional one and would allow for time to change therapy. Nevertheless, for the moment the research is still ongoing and will require additional trials to validate the test.

Source: eurekalert.org

An Athens of Genesis Clinic team has developed a treatment to rejuvenate the ovaries of menopausal women. As reported by physicians, the experimental therapy would have already been successful on two women. If the news found further confirmation, you could say goodbye to menopause.

Doctors have taken blood from barren women or menopausal, so I have centrifuged. In this way they put aside the red blood cells and the plasma obtained. Plasma is the blood based and contains a large number of platelets. The doctors have injected this plasma directly into the uterus and ovaries, imitating an already used treatment for tendon injuries. Kostantinos Sfakianoudis, head of the team, has applied the treatment to 180 women.

The treatment would work on a German forties with fertility problems. He had tried six times in vitro fertilization, with no results. After undergoing the treatment, he did the seventh attempt and this time has conceived. It is currently the 5th month of pregnancy. Another positive case presented is that of a Dutch woman suffering from early menopause. After treatment, the cycle is started again and became pregnant by artificial insemination. Unfortunately pregnancy was interrupted with a miscarriage. During pregnancy it is important to undergo prenatal screening tests as noninvasive fetal DNA test.

It is still early to put an end to menopause. It will take more cases to confirm the goodness of treatment and further studies. If the new trials were successful, however, there would be an ideal therapy for women with early menopause problems.

Source: ansa.it

Drinking too much is bad in general, more so if you are looking for a child. A Rutgers University study reveals that it is best to avoid too drunk before conception. In fact, increase the risk for the fetus to have high levels of blood sugar and becoming diabetic as an adult.

They are well known negative effects of alcohol during pregnancy, ranging from birth defects to mental deficiency. Instead, they know little about the effects of alcohol on the female body and the possible effects of a future pregnancy. Professor Dipak Sarkar and his team have therefore conducted a study about it, using rats as test subjects. Rats, in fact, process glucose in a manner very similar to humans.

For four weeks, the researchers subjected the female rats a diet with 6.7% alcohol. They have so raised the levels of alcohol in the blood, reproducing the effect of human alcohol excesses. Later, they eliminated all the alcohol from the diet and after 3 weeks have made pregnant.

Once the females have given birth, the researchers compared the children with those never exposed rats to alcohol. The control group included a subgroup of females fed equal calories of the first group, but without alcohol. In this way the team has excluded the effects caused only by the rise in calories and fat.
Once they become adults, the rats born to females exposed to alcohol showed abnormal glucose homeostasis. This phenomenon increases the level of glucose in the blood and reduces the insulin. The rats in this group were therefore more at risk for diabetes, partly because of some inflammation of the pancreas. This means that the exposure to alcohol was found to be detrimental to the fetus even before conception.

Because this research is so important? In the US, 15% of women who drink having 18-44 years has made "binge drinking" last month. The expression indicates the uptake of large quantities of alcohol in a short time to get drunk. For a woman, this is equivalent to 2-4 cocktails in a couple of hours. The study shows that this habit could be harmful not only for the person but also for his future offspring.

During pregnancy it should therefore not take alcohol and practicing a regular exercise program. Doctors also advise pregnant women to undergo periodically to prenatal screening tests such as fetal DNA test.

Source: medicalxpress.com