Page 1,611«..1020..1,6101,6111,6121,613..1,6201,630..»

Peptide targeting senescent cells restores stamina, fur, and kidney function in old mice – Medical Xpress

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm

March 23, 2017 Two fast-aging mice. The mouse on the left was treated with a FOXO4 peptide, which targets senescent cells and leads to hair regrowth in ten days. The mouse on the right was not treated with the peptide. Credit: Peter L.J. de Keizer

Regular infusions of a peptide that can selectively seek out and destroy broken-down cells that hamper proper tissue renewal, called senescent cells, showed evidence of improving healthspan in naturally-aged mice and mice genetically engineered to rapidly age. The proof-of-concept study, published March 23 in Cell, found that an anti-senescent cell therapy could reverse age-related loss of fur, poor kidney function, and frailty. It is currently being tested whether the approach also extends lifespan, and human safety studies are being planned.

The peptide took over four years of trial and error to develop and builds on nearly a decade of research investigating vulnerabilities in senescent cells as a therapeutic option to combat some aspects of aging (Trends in Molecular Medicine, 10.1016/j.molmed.2016.11.006). It works by blocking the ability of a protein implicated in senescence, FOXO4, to tell another protein, p53, not to cause the cell to self-destruct. By interfering with the FOXO4-p53 crosstalk, the peptide causes senescent cells to go through apoptosis, or cell suicide.

"Only in senescent cells does this peptide cause cell death," says senior author Peter de Keizer, a researcher of aging at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "We treated mice for over 10 months, giving them infusions of the peptide three times a week, and we didn't see any obvious side effects. FOXO4 is barely expressed in non-senescent cells, so that makes the peptide interesting as the FOXO4-p53 interaction is especially relevant to senescent cells, but not normal cells."

Results appeared at different times over the course of treatment. Fast-aging mice with patches of missing fur began to recover their coats after 10 days. After about three weeks, fitness benefits began to show, with older mice running double the distance of their counterparts who did not receive the peptide. A month after treatment, aged mice showed an increase in markers indicating healthy kidney function.

Senescent cell therapy is one of several strategies being tested in mice aimed at reversing aging or lengthening healthspan. In 2015, the Valter Longo laboratory at the University of Southern California reported that mice on a calorie-restricted diet that mimics fasting benefited from a longer life, a reduction in inflammatory disease, and improved memory (Cell Metabolism, 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.012). And last December, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte at the Salk Institute of Biological Science and colleagues made headlines with their discovery that cellular reprogramming of epigenetic marks could extend lifespan and improve health in fast-aging mice (Cell, 10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.052).

"This wave of research on how we can fight aging is complementary, and not in competition," says de Keizer. "The common thread I see for the future of anti-aging research is that there are three fronts in which we can improve: The prevention of cellular damage and senescence, safe therapeutic removal of senescent cells, to stimulate stem cellsno matter the strategyto improve tissue regeneration once senescence is removed."

de Keizer aims to start a company based on these findings, but in the short term, he and his group want to show that their peptide is non-toxic in humans with no unforeseen side effects. They plan to offer a safety clinical trial in people with Glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, which also shows high levels of the biomarkers needed for this FOXO4 peptide to be effective.

Explore further: Anti-aging therapies targeting senescent cells: Facts and fiction

More information: Cell, Baar et al.: "Targeted Apoptosis of Senescent Cells Restores Tissue Homeostasis in Response to Chemotoxicity and Aging" http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30246-5 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.02.031

Sebastian Brandhorst et al. A Periodic Diet that Mimics Fasting Promotes Multi-System Regeneration, Enhanced Cognitive Performance, and Healthspan, Cell Metabolism (2015). DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.012

Alejandro Ocampo et al. In Vivo Amelioration of Age-Associated Hallmarks by Partial Reprogramming, Cell (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.052

Journal reference: Cell Cell Metabolism

Provided by: Cell Press

It's an exciting time to be an elderly mouse. Researchers believe that by removing senescent cells (cells with a persistent damage response), which naturally accumulate with age, senior rodents can regrow hair, run faster, ...

Most cells can divide only a limited number of times and eventually undergo permanent cell cycle arrest, a state known as cellular senescence. Cellular senescence is mediated by activation of specific cellular signaling pathways ...

An enzyme that blocks cellular senescence and its mechanisms has been discovered by a research team from Kumamoto University, Japan. They found that a reduction of the enzyme SETD8, which regulates cell proliferation and ...

Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered three new agents to add to the emerging repertoire of drugs that aim to delay the onset of aging by targeting senescent cells - cells that contribute to frailty and other age-related ...

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that senescent cells - cells that no longer divide and accumulate with age - negatively impact health and shorten lifespan by as much as 35 percent in normal mice. The results, which ...

A Mayo Clinic study has shown evidence linking the biology of aging with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that impairs lung function and causes shortness of breath, fatigue, declining quality of life, and, ultimately, ...

McMaster University researchers have discovered that while survivors of childhood brain tumours have a similar Body Mass Index (BMI) to healthy children with no cancer, they have more fat tissue overall, and especially around ...

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists and their collaborators at the University of Cambridge have created a new technique that simplifies the production of human brain and muscle cells - allowing millions of functional ...

Regular infusions of a peptide that can selectively seek out and destroy broken-down cells that hamper proper tissue renewal, called senescent cells, showed evidence of improving healthspan in naturally-aged mice and mice ...

Scientists at The Rockefeller University have mapped the three-dimensional structure for one of the more notorious disease-causing molecules in the human body: the protein responsible for the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis. ...

A new study from the University of South Carolina has found a gastrointestinal link that could help explain many of the health issues facing those with Gulf War Illness (GWI) as well as opening new pathways to treatment options ...

People with cystic fibrosis (CF) suffer repeated lung infections because their airway mucus is too thick and sticky to keep bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens from causing chronic infection. How mucus becomes abnormal ...

Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank

Display comments: newest first

This -- if true -- is one of the most important scientific reports ever!

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Read more from the original source:
Peptide targeting senescent cells restores stamina, fur, and kidney function in old mice - Medical Xpress

Posted in Cell Medicine | Comments Off on Peptide targeting senescent cells restores stamina, fur, and kidney function in old mice – Medical Xpress

Measuring Heart Toxicity of Cancer Drugs – Technology Networks

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm

A stem cell-derived heart muscle cell. Proteins that are important for muscle cell contraction are highlighted in red and green, and cell nuclei are blue. Credit: Joseph C. Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford Cardiovascular Institute

Using human heart cells generated from adult stem cells, researchers have developed an index that may be used to determine how toxic a group of cancer drugs, called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), are to human cells. While 26 TKIs are currently used to treat a variety of cancers, some can severely damage patients hearts, causing problems such as an irregular heartbeat or heart failure.

For the study, reported February 15 in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers used stem cell-derived heart cells from 13 volunteers to develop a cardiac safety index that measures the extent to which TKIs kill or alter the function of heart cells. They found that the TKIs' toxicity score on the index was generally consistent with what is known about each drug's heart-related side effects.

This work follows on the heels of an earlier study from the same research team, published in Nature Medicine, in which they assessed the heart cell toxicity of doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug that also causes heart-related side effects, including heart failure. In that study, the researchers used stem cell-derived heart cells from women with breast cancer to correctly predict how sensitive each womans heart cells were to doxorubicin.

Such tests could ultimately help the pharmaceutical industry identify drugs that cause heart-related side effects earlier in the drug development process and help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the drug review and approval process, said the study's senior author Joseph C. Wu, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.

I hope this research will be helpful for individual patients, once we further implement precision medicine approaches, he added.

Ranking Heart Toxicity

To assess the potential risk of heart toxicity for drugs in development, pharmaceutical companies use laboratory tests involving animals (usually rats or mice) or cells from animals or humans that are engineered to artificially express heart-related genes. Drug candidates that appear to have an acceptable balance of benefits and risks typically proceed to testing in human clinical trials.

But there can be biological differences between these existing models and humans, so non-clinical lab tests can have significant limitations, explained Dr. Wu.

Currently, the first time humans are exposed to a new drug is during clinical trials, he said. We think it would be great if you could actually expose patients heart, brain, liver, or kidney cells to a drug in the lab, prior to clinical treatment, allowing researchers to determine whether the drug has any toxic effects.

Dr. Wu, a cardiologist by training, studies toxicities cancer drugs cause in heart cells. Human heart muscle cells (called cardiomyocytes), however, are hard to obtainrequiring risky heart surgery that may be of no direct benefit to the patientand are notoriously difficult to grow in the lab.

As an alternative, researchers have developed a method to produce heart cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). hiPSCs are created by genetically engineering normal human skin or blood cells to express four specific genes that induce them to act like stem cells. Chemical treatments can prompt hiPSCs to develop into mature cell types, such as heart muscle cells.

A large body of research has established that human adult stem cell-derived heart cells, which function and grow in cell culture, can be used as an initial model to screen drug compounds for toxic effects on the heart, said Myrtle Davis, Ph.D., chief of the Toxicology and Pharmacology Branch of NCIs Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, who was not involved in the studies.

For the Science Translational Medicine study, Dr. Wu and his colleagues set out to determine if a panel of human stem cell-derived heart cells could be used to evaluate the heart toxicity of 21 different FDA-approved TKIs.

They generated hiPSC-derived heart endothelial, fibroblast, and muscle cells from 13 volunteers: 11 healthy individuals and 2 people with kidney cancer who were being treated with a TKI. Using drug concentrations equivalent to what patients receive, the investigators next determined how lethal each TKI was to the heart cells.

They found that several TKIs were very lethal to endothelial, fibroblast, and heart muscle cells from all 13 individuals, while others were more benign.

Stem cell-derived heart muscle cells grown in a dish spontaneously contract as a beating heart does, so the researchers also analyzed the effects of TKIs on the cells beat rate, or contractility. They found that several TKIs altered the cells beat rate before they were killed by the drug treatment. If severe enough, an irregular heartbeat (called an arrhythmia), can disrupt normal heart function.

From these lethality and contractility experiments, the team developed a cardiac safety index, a 0-to-1 scale that identifies how toxic a TKI is to heart cells (with 0 being the most toxic). They then used the index to rank the 21 TKIs. The control treatment scored a 1, while a few TKIs that are labeled by the FDA with boxed warnings for severe heart toxicity scored close to 0.

Safety indices like this one can be very useful during drug discovery, said Dr. Davis, and the applicability of the index developed by Dr. Wu and his colleagues will become clear when they evaluate its performance with more compounds.

And for the safety index to be applicable to more patients, the panel of cells used to develop it would need to be gathered from a sufficiently representative population of people reflecting different ages, races/ethnicities, health statuses, and other characteristics, said Lori Minasian, M.D., deputy director of NCIs Division of Cancer Prevention, who was not involved in either study.

For example, the study did not include cells derived from patients with [pre-existing] cardiac disease, said Dr. Davis.

A Personalized Approach

In addition to their potential application during drug development, Dr. Wu believes that stem cell-derived heart cells could potentially be used to predict toxicity risk for individual patients. He and his colleagues explored this possibility in their Nature Medicine study.

Doxorubicin, used on its own or in combination with other drugs, is an effective treatment for breast cancer and several other types of cancer. Like TKIs, however, it is known to cause heart toxicities, such as arrhythmias and heart failure, in a small proportion of patients. But there has been no way to predict which patients will experience these side effects.

The researchers developed stem cell-derived heart cells from eight women with breast cancer who had been treated with doxorubicinhalf of whom experienced cardiotoxicity from the treatment and half who did not.

In several different lab tests, the heart cells from women who had experienced cardiotoxicity were more sensitive to doxorubicin than those from women who had not. More specifically, in heart cells from women who had experienced cardiotoxicity, doxorubicin treatment caused more severe irregularities in cell contractility, and even low concentrations of the drug killed the cells.

An Improved Model

While the stem cell-derived heart cell model may be an improvement over the current [drug testing] system, its not perfect, said Dr. Minasian. For example, the model does not capture contributions of other organs and cells to the toxic effects of a drug, she explained. The drug may be broken down in the liver, for instance, and side products (called metabolites) may also cause toxic effects.

In addition, the lab-grown stem cell-derived version of someones heart cells are not going to be exactly the same as the cells found in that persons heart, Dr. Wu noted. Nevertheless, they reflect the same genetics and they are pretty good at predicting drug response, he said.

Looking forward, Dr. Minasian said, figuring out how to best use this approach is going to take more work, but being able to better predict human response [to cancer drugs] is important.

The research teams next steps include conducting prospective studies to determine whether they can use a patients stem cell-derived heart cells to potentially predict if that person will develop heart toxicity before they actually receive cancer treatment.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided byNCI. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference

Sharma, A., Burridge, P. W., McKeithan, W. L., Serrano, R., Shukla, P., Sayed, N., ... & Matsa, E. (2017). High-throughput screening of tyrosine kinase inhibitor cardiotoxicity with human induced pluripotent stem cells. Science translational medicine, 9(377), eaaf2584.

Visit link:
Measuring Heart Toxicity of Cancer Drugs - Technology Networks

Posted in Cell Medicine | Comments Off on Measuring Heart Toxicity of Cancer Drugs – Technology Networks

Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market (2017-2027): Near-Term Demand Driven by Clincial Candidates – Research and … – PR Newswire (press release)

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm

The Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market, 2017-2027 report provides an extensive study of the rapidly growing market of cell therapy manufacturing and focuses both on contract manufacturers and cell therapy developers with in-house manufacturing facilities. These therapies are anticipated to emerge as viable alternatives to conventional treatment options.

The scope of this report primarily includes manufacturing of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) that involve the use of immune cells such as T-cells, Tregs, dendritic cells, tumor cells and NK cells, and stem cells such as adult stem cells, human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

Several players, including cell therapy developers, research institutes, contract manufacturing organizations, and government and non-profit organizations, are playing a critical role in the development and manufacturing of these cell therapies. In fact, a number of these players have made heavy investments to expand their existing capabilities and establish new facilities for cell therapy products in order to meet the increasing demand.

Additionally, stakeholders have received significant support from governments worldwide, in terms of funding and establishment of consortiums to accelerate the transition of these therapies from laboratories to clinics. It is important to highlight that companies that offer logistics and operational services have developed systems / tools for safer and quicker delivery of therapies from manufacturing sites to patients; this has been identified as one of the key challenges in the overall development process.

The near-term demand for manufacturing of cell-based therapies will primarily be driven by clinical candidates. In the longer term, the currently approved therapies and late-stage therapies (that are likely to get commercialized in future) will act as key drivers of the market. Our outlook is highly promising; we expect the market for cell therapy manufacturing to grow at an annualized growth rate of -42% over the course of next ten years and be worth over USD 4 billion in 2027.

Companies Mentioned

Key Topics Covered:

1. PREFACE

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3. CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING: INTRODUCTION

4. MARKET OVERVIEW

5. ROADMAPS: POTENTIAL STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME EXISTING CHALLENGES

6. CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING: IN-HOUSE MANUFACTURERS

7. CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING: INDUSTRY PLAYERS

8. CELL THERAPY MANUFACTURING: NON-INDUSTRY PLAYERS

9. ROLE OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

10. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

11. MARKET SIZING AND FORECAST

12. SWOT ANALYSIS

13. CONCLUSION

14. SURVEY ANALYSIS

15. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/z9w7mt/cell_therapy

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cell-therapy-manufacturing-market-2017-2027-near-term-demand-driven-by-clincial-candidates---research-and-markets-300429018.html

SOURCE Research and Markets

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

Go here to read the rest:
Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market (2017-2027): Near-Term Demand Driven by Clincial Candidates - Research and ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Posted in Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market (2017-2027): Near-Term Demand Driven by Clincial Candidates – Research and … – PR Newswire (press release)

Strong Progress for Paralyzed Patients After Stem Cell Therapy, Company Says – KQED

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm

A small stem cell trial in which patients with severe spinal injuriesappeared to make remarkable progress is still showing excellent results, according to the company conductingthe research.

One of the patients in the trial is 21-year-old Kris Boesen, from Bakersfield, California, whose story we reported on last year.A car crash had left theBakersfield, California native with three crushed vertebrae, almost no feeling below his neck, and a grimprognosis. Doctors believed he would live the rest of his life as a paraplegic.

Enter stem cell therapy. Most treatments for serious spinal injuries concentrate on physical therapy to expand the range of the patients remainingmotor skills and to limit further injury, not to reverse the actual damage. But last April, as part of an experimental phase 2 clinical trial called SCiStar, researchers injected Boesen with 10 million stem cells. By July, hehad recovered use of his hands to the point where he could use a wheelchair, a computer and a cellphone, and could take care of most of his daily living needs.In recent months his progress has continued, says his father.

Boesen is not the only patient to have improved in the trial, according toAsterias Biotherapeutics, which is conducting the research. Boesen is part of a cohort of six patients who were experiencing various levels of paralysis and were injected with the 10 million stem cell dose. In a Jan. 24update, the company saidfive of those patientshad improved either one or twolevels on a widely used scale to measuremotor function in spinal injury patients.

On Tuesday, Asterias issued a newupdate, announcingthat the sixth patient in the cohort has experienced a similar improvement.

While spontaneous recovery for spinal injury patients does occur,the likelihood of all six patients recovering to the degree they haveis less likely, researchers say.

This is as good as you could hope at this point, said Charles Liu, Boesens neurosurgeon and director of the USC Neurorestoration Center. So far all the evidence is pointing in the right direction.

To measure improvement in spinal injury patients, researchers use two yardsticks: the Upper Extremity Motor Scale, or UEMS, and the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury, or ISNCSCI. On the UEMS scale,patients are scored from 0 to 5 on theirability to use five key muscles in the wrists, elbows and fingers. The ISNCSCI scale assesses where damage has occurred along the different levels of the cervical vertebrae, which generally determines the scope of impairment to the body and the level of care needed.

For instance, if a patient has sustained damage at the fourth cervical vertebra down, known as C-4, at the base of the neck, it generally means that person is paralyzed from the neck down, requiring round-the-clock care and a ventilator to breathe.A patient with a C-5 injury may not be able to move her arms or hands, requiring about 6 to 12 hours per day of assisted care; and at the C-6 level, better motor function mayallow a patient to take care of most of herdaily living needs on her own.

Which is all to say that even one level of recovery could substantially improve the daily life ofa spinal injury patient.

According to Asterias, all six patients in the 10million-cell cohort have improved their general UEMS scores, and jumped at least one motor level on the ISNCSCI scale on one or both sides of their body.

Two patients have improvedtwo motor levels on one side; and one patient,Boesen, has improved two motor levels on both sides.

Steve Cartt, president and CEO of Asterias, said anotherpatient, Jake Javier of Danville, California, has gonefrom partial paralysis to being able to use his hands well enough to considerpursuing a computer science career.

Throws Like a Regular Throw

In September, Boesens father, Rod Boesen, told us how excited he wasthat his son had regained some feeling in one of his feet. Last week, at11 months post-injection, the elder Boesensaid Kris has continued to improve.

Now he can move his toe and his knee together at the same time, Boesen said. Theyre about to give him a manual wheelchair now [instead of a motorized one]. He can grip with his hands enough to use a manual one.

Boesen said the movement in his sons arms and hands has greatlyimproved since September.Kris, a formerhigh school pitcher, had beenflinging a ball to his dog like people throw hand grenades, Boesen said. They kind of cradle them and thats how Kris would do it. But now he throws like a regular throw, tosses that ball down the hall, has that release point down, and just wings it.

Asterias is currently recruiting patients for a trial in which theyll receive 20 million stem cells, the optimal dose, according to company researchers. Two patients have already started the 20 million stem cell therapy, and six-month results from those patients will be released in the fall, Cartt said.

Patients who received 2 million stem cells in an earlier phase of the study have not shown much change in their condition, according to the Jan. 24 update.

Guarded Optimism

While Boesens father is impressed with the results, the optimism of researchers inside and outside the studyhas been guarded.The trial is still in its early stages, and the sample size is small, said Paul Knoepfler, a cell biology professor and stem cell researcher at UC Davis, who is not involved in the SCiStar study.

As a scientist, I still would want to wait for more data, Knoepfler said. Its certainly interesting, but its still early. Its a phase 2 trial.

To address the issue of small sample size, Asterias islooking at historical data to determinethe level of improvement for patients in similar circumstances who did not receive stem cell therapy. The company has said it found a meaningful difference in the recovery of its study patients compared to the norm.

Liu said one of the most importantresults is the lack of significant side effects or other negative outcomes resulting from the treatment to date.

Thats very significant to me, Liu said. Thats the first thing you look for, is anyone hurt from this therapy.

There was also a concern, he said, that some patients might regress over time, once the initial injection of stem cells wore off. Thathasyet to occur.

No one has lost anything theyve gained, Liu said. We were very happy to see that. This is all very promising.

The next step for the SCiStartrial will be to establish a control group, Cartt said.

Follow this link:
Strong Progress for Paralyzed Patients After Stem Cell Therapy, Company Says - KQED

Posted in Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Strong Progress for Paralyzed Patients After Stem Cell Therapy, Company Says – KQED

Failed cell therapy study offers positives, raises new questions – ModernMedicine

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm

Patients with a history of frequent anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may not be the best potential candidates for encapsulated cell technology (ECT).

ECT contains human cell lines that are capable of producing a variety of proteins. After a single surgical implantation, they can produce proteins for up to two years or more, according to Szilard Kiss, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology; director of clinical research at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York.

These cell lines survive even after being inside the human eye for six months, Dr. Kiss said.

A phase II study was initiated to compare the third generation of ECT (Neurotech, Cumberland, RI) to aflibercept (Eylea, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals). The study planned to enroll 90 subjects, with a primary outcome of non-inferiority to aflibercept alone after 108 weeks. Among the patient entry criteria, all patients had to have shown a response to aflibercept before randomization.

The patient profile was similar to other anti-VEGF treatment studies, with a best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between 80 letters (20/25) and 35 letters (20/200) at baseline; limited pathology (such as fibrosis, scarring, or atrophy); good optical coherence tomography (OCT) response to injections; and having gone through at least three previous injections, with the last injection no more than four months before study enrollment.

The goal was to have fewer than 20% of patients needing a rescue injection during the follow-up period, Dr. Kiss said.

Study particulars

Unfortunately, there was not a significant difference between the implanted patients and those that received aflibercept. Those subjects that went on to 24 weeks may appear to have gained a little bit of vision, and one subject seemed to benefit, Dr. Kiss said. The OCT results show a saw-toothed pattern that we can see in patients who are treated with aflibercept every 8 weeks.

Although the responses look impressive, most subjects underwent rescue injections of aflibercept, Dr. Kiss said.

The time to rescue injections actually occurred as soon as 4 weeks after the implantation. And as such, there was early termination of the study, because it was not going to meet the primary endpoint of fewer than 20% needing injections, Dr. Kiss said.

However, the implantation itself was deemed successful, as the cells survived and produced the anti-VEGF molecule, but the amount that was produced was significantly below the 12 g/mL necessary.

There were two outlier subjects who had received an aflibercept injection alone about 10 days before the explant, and before measuring anti-VEGF activity. Dr. Kiss believes that to be the cause of the higher numbers compared to other subjects in the study.

None of the explants who did not receive aflibercept right before the explant produced enough anti-VEGF activity, he said.

Positive take-home

However, there had been indications the technology would be successful for this indicationa patient who had undergone six aflibercept injections during the previous year before enrollment did not need any injections (rescue therapy) during the 28 weeks before the AMD study terminated.

On the positive side, Dr. Kiss said the study results created new questions for the technologyincluding whether the approach could achieve better outcomes compared to real-world experience with other patient populations since the cell viability and stability was good.

The third generation ECT (NCT-503-3) did achieve the goal of improved VEGF-receptor production by at least 2-fold compared to double ECT (NT-503-2) implants. Further, while VEGF levels were not detectable, a complex formation was observed in the preliminary native gel.

While the AMD study has been halted, the company is investigating the technology in an ongoing phase II study in conjunction with the MacTel Project to investigate the long-term delivery of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in people with macular telangiectasia (MacTel). A pilot study of neuro-enhancement in subjects with early visual impairment in collaboration with clinicians at Stanford University is also under way.

Most promising is that ECT is a unique and versatile drug delivery platform, with more than 1,000 patient years of safety data, Dr. Kiss added. The long-term continuous release of therapeutic proteins via ECT remains a viable and effective way to treat chronic ocular conditions.

Szilard Kiss, MD

E:[emailprotected]

This article is adapted from a presentation that Dr. Kiss presented at the Retina Subspecialty Day, prior to the 2016 American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.

Read the rest here:
Failed cell therapy study offers positives, raises new questions - ModernMedicine

Posted in Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Failed cell therapy study offers positives, raises new questions – ModernMedicine

Diabetes: Heart attack risk due to loss of small blood vessels around the heart – Medical News Today

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm

People with diabetes have a significantly higher risk for heart attack. Now, new research suggests that diabetes damages the small blood vessels around the heart, and this might explain the link to heart attack. In a study reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers also propose a solution may lie in gene therapy.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that arises either because the body does not produce enough insulin (typical of type 1 diabetes) or because it cannot effectively use the insulin it produces (typical of type 2 diabetes). Around 90 percent of people with diabetes have type 2.

Insulin is a hormone that helps keep blood sugar (glucose) under control. Uncontrolled diabetes results in high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, which, over time, damages many parts of the body, including nerves and blood vessels.

The number of people with diabetes worldwide was estimated to be 422 million in 2014, up from 108 million in 1980. The disease is a major cause of blindness, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and lower limb amputation

In the United States, there are now more than 29 million people with diabetes, up from 26 million in 2010.

Another 86 million people have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar is higher than normal but not yet in the range for type 2 diabetes.

Fast facts about diabetes

Learn more about diabetes

The new study - led by researchers at Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany - investigates the effect of diabetes on the small blood vessels, or capillaries, that surround the heart. Damage to these can affect the whole of the heart muscle.

The heart's network of veins and arteries and small offshoots into capillaries can be compared to a road traffic network. If one small minor road is blocked, it has little effect on the whole network.

However, if more and more small side roads come to a halt, the traffic on the main roads and highways becomes denser and denser, and eventually the whole system seizes up and a heart attack ensues.

The researchers suggest their findings show how diabetes can have this effect.

They compared samples of heart tissue taken from patients with and without diabetes who underwent heart transplants. The samples from patients with diabetes showed that their hearts had significantly fewer small blood vessels around them.

After running tests in the laboratory, the team also found high levels of blood sugar are linked to loss of pericytes - a type of cell that forms a protective layer around small blood vessels.

The team believes this layer stabilizes the blood vessel and causes the blood vessels to break up when damaged.

The researchers also studied the effect of blood vessel loss in pigs genetically engineered to develop type 1 diabetes that is like the human form. They found the same damage occurred in their hearts.

However, with the help of gene therapy, the team was able to increase production of a protein that stimulates growth of pericytes. This led to new growth of lasting and functioning small blood vessels.

It will be some time before such a treatment is available for use in humans, note the researchers, who also point out how the findings reinforce the importance of diagnosing diabetes early.

One in four people with diabetes do not know they have the disease. First author Dr. Rabea Hinkel, a cardiologist at TUM's university hospital, concludes:

"Diabetes often remains undetected in patients for years or even decades. Over that long period, massive damage can occur."

Learn how taking statins is linked to higher risk of diabetes in older women.

Read the rest here:
Diabetes: Heart attack risk due to loss of small blood vessels around the heart - Medical News Today

Posted in Diabetes | Comments Off on Diabetes: Heart attack risk due to loss of small blood vessels around the heart – Medical News Today

Learn how to fight diabetes and obesity in Pomona Saturday – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm

POMONA >> Healthy eating and healthy living in Pomona will be topics of a forum taking place Saturday morning at Western University of Health Sciences.

The program, organized by Pomonas Health Promoters, will include topics such as diabetes prevention, obesity and the effects of drinking beverages with high sugar content, said Alejandra Martinez, program director of Pomonas Health Promoters.

Pomonas Health Promoters is a group of volunteers who have trained to assist fellow Pomona residents with a variety of issues, particularly health questions.

There are people in the community who are worried about diabetes, Martinez said. But we should be talking about the prevention of diabetes.

Promoters have brought together a group that includes health care professionals, representatives of health policy groups and others to talk about steps to a healthier life. Among the participants are representatives of the Universitys Western Diabetes Institute, City of Hope, Day One and Mt. San Antonio College.

Promoters have heard people talk about exercise and safety. People are interested in getting out of their houses, being more active and engaging in physical activity at local parks, Martinez said.

Some people say, Were going to go the park, but we dont feel safe there, she said. Local officials will be on hand Saturday to hear such concerns.

One of the panelists participating in the program will be Alfredo Camacho-Gonzalez, a healthy communities initiative project coordinator with Day One. The nonprofit works on quality, culturally sensitive public health education, intervention and policy development, according to the organizations website. Specifically, it seeks to increase access to healthy foods, make it easier for people to exercise and offer nutrition education, he said.

Such work is positive but cant end there, he said.

We back it up with policy change, Camacho-Gonzalez said.

The more people take part in activities that are healthy, the more it leads to policy that supports and continues to foster healthy behavior, he said.

Were trying to make healthy behavior the norm through policies and environmental changes, he said.

Pomona is a city where many people grow fruits and vegetables in their gardens, Martinez said. Rather than allowing the fruits and vegetables to go to waste, people can exchange produce, giving people greater access to healthy foods, she said.

Advertisement

Its about sharing ideas and creating new pathways to healthier eating practices, Martinez said.

Program registration begins at 8 a.m., with a healthy breakfast served at 8:30. The program will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at noon.

Translation services will be available at the event.

The free event will take place at Western Universitys Veterinary Care Center, 611 E. Second St. Parking is available in Lot E on First and Palomares streets.

For information, call Martinez at 909-927-2345.

Follow this link:
Learn how to fight diabetes and obesity in Pomona Saturday - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Posted in Diabetes | Comments Off on Learn how to fight diabetes and obesity in Pomona Saturday – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

HealthWatch: Diabetes Is A Growing Problem In Pets – CBS Chicago

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm

CHICAGO (CBS) On the health watch: Diabetes. It is a growing problem in our country, and you may be surprised to know your pet can suffer from diabetes just like you.

CBS 2s Roseanne Tellez has more on the growing incidence of diabetes in pets.

First a kiss, then a tiny pin prick in the ear a pet owner uses a meter specially calibrated for pets to test blood glucose levels.

Chelsea the cat was diagnosed with diabetes.

Cat owner, Eric Ravenstein was surprised to find out his cat, Chelsea, has diabetes.

We were a little shocked as well, and were a little scared because we did not know what it entailed, he said.

Dr. Ruth MacPete said Chelsea is one of a growing number of cats and dogs with diabetes.

Why the increase? Just like with humans, genetics, age and weight all play a role.

We are seeing much more obesity, not just with people, but with pets and with the rise in obesity were seeing an increase in diabetes, said Veterinarian, Dr. Ruth MacPete.

Left untreated, it can be dangerous.

It can lead to nerve damage, kidney disease and also death, Dr. MacPete said.

What are the signs? -increased thirst -increased urination including accidents in the house -increase in appetite even as they lose weight -lethargy

Dr. MacPete said the earlier the diagnosis, the easier it is to treat. Your veterinarian will give you instructions about giving insulin at home.

Diabetes is a manageable condition in dogs and cats just like it is in people, Dr. MacPete said. Pets can live a long happy healthy life. Chelsea is an example of that.

Diet is also very important keeping your pet trim and healthy. You will want to talk to your vet about that and all aspects of dealing with diabetes.

Here is the original post:
HealthWatch: Diabetes Is A Growing Problem In Pets - CBS Chicago

Posted in Diabetes | Comments Off on HealthWatch: Diabetes Is A Growing Problem In Pets – CBS Chicago

UPDATE: Lilly to invest $85M in Indy as part of diabetes expansion – Indianapolis Business Journal

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm

Citing a brisk demand for products and a full pipeline of potential new medicines, Eli Lilly and Co. plans to pour $850 million this year into its U.S. research labs, manufacturing plants and other operations, an increase of about $100 million from last year.

About $85 million of that will go to expand a manufacturing operation at the Lilly Technology Center southwest of downtown that assembles Trulicity injection pens for diabetes patients, the company said Friday.

Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said the total investment will fund projects that are already underway, as well as new projects.

As we have for our entire 140-year history, we continue to see Indiana and the United States as attractive places to research and make the medicines that we sell around the world, Ricks said.

The investment is the latest sign that Lilly, one of the largest employers in Indianapolis with about 11,500 jobs, remains bullish on its ability to roll out new products. In the past two years, the drugmaker has launched medicines for cancer, diabetes, psoriasis and other maladies. Company leaders have announced ambitious goals to launch 20 products in 10 years.

The company said the expanded Trulicity plant will be operating using current Lilly manufacturing employees, some of whom might come from elsewhere in the organization. Over the past five years, the company has added about 400 jobs in the city in U.S. diabetes manufacturing.

Ricks said Lilly plans to continue investing in its U.S. facilities, especially if the federal government adopts a more favorable tax environment. That would include lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate, adding certain innovation incentives, and an equitable treatment of foreign earnings, the company said.

Lilly had $28 billion of unremitted foreign earnings stashed overseas as of Dec. 31.

We consider these unremitted earnings to be indefinitely invested for continued use in our foreign operations, the company said in a footnote in its annual report. Additional tax provisions will be required if these earnings are repatriated in the future to the U.S.

Ricks made his comments at a press conference in front of the technology center, where a bright red banner draped across the building at least 30 feet high proclaimed Lilly invested in America.

For more than 140 years, Lilly has believed that investing in the U.S. and hiring U.S. workersincluding right here in our hometownmakes good business sense, Ricks said. Its no different now. What wed really love, however, is to do even more. And with a little help from Congress, I know we can.

Republicans in Congress have proposed a tax overhaul that would give companies more incentives to keep jobs in the United States, lowering the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, and to stop taxing the income that U.S. companies make in other countries. The debate over the proposal is expected later this year.

Last year, Lilly paid $636.4 million in income taxes, at a tax rate of 18.9 percent, according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That was up from $381.6 million a year earlier, at a tax rate of 13.7 percent.

Ricks called the current corporate tax system antiquated, saying the U.S. is the only country that double-taxes the sales of products made here and exported to other countries. He said the system has encouraged companies to expand production overseas.

Mayor Joe Hogsett, a Democrat, applauded Lillys investment but, in an interview afterward, declined to say whether he shared Ricks support of Republican tax reform.

Im staying away from the Washington partisan divide, he said.

Gov. Eric Holcomb called Lillys investment the latest sign that Indianas low-tax, low-regulation business environment is working.

Companies like Eli Lilly can go anywhere in the world, he said. We are a low-tax state and we are benefiting from it.

Lillys expansion is part of a five-year, $1.1 billion investment to expand diabetes products manufacturing in the United States. The company announced in 2012 it would build a $140 million facility for insulin cartridge production in Indianapolis. A year later, it announced it would spend another $180 million to more than double the size of the facility.

More than 400 million people around the world have diabetes, including about 30 million Americans.

Continue reading here:
UPDATE: Lilly to invest $85M in Indy as part of diabetes expansion - Indianapolis Business Journal

Posted in Diabetes | Comments Off on UPDATE: Lilly to invest $85M in Indy as part of diabetes expansion – Indianapolis Business Journal

Lauren Cox juggles Type 1 diabetes in first season at Baylor – ESPN

Posted: March 24, 2017 at 3:41 pm

WACO, Texas -- Trying to please the demanding Kim Mulkey and adjusting from high school to elite college basketball at Baylor could lead to a breakdown for any freshman. But Lauren Cox's major freshman issue had nothing to do with any of that. Her misery before Baylor faced Tennessee on Dec. 4 was all because the biggest challenge of her life -- Type 1 diabetes -- threatened to keep her from playing in the game. Her blood sugar levels were dangerously high.

Cox ended up taking the floor in the Baylor win. Her blood sugar returned to the necessary level to allow her to play. Still, she admits it's been incredibly challenging -- dealing with her condition, working to succeed on the court for a top program and trying to be a freshman in college all at the same time.

"It's been pretty tough," Cox said this week, before Baylor faces Louisville in the Sweet 16 on Friday night (ESPN2/WatchESPN, 9 p.m. ET). "Not having my parents there (at Baylor) is definitely a big challenge. Just managing my levels has been pretty tough but I've had a pretty good handle on it."

As Louisville and Baylor prepare to clash again in the Sweet 16, you can't help but look back at the Cardinals' epic upset in 2013. So much has changed, but the Lady Bears remain the favorite.

Natalie Chou can't help the comparisons to Linsanity as she attempts to shatter stereotypes. From pro-style workouts with Jason Terry to navigating her first year at Baylor, this is her story.

1 Related

On the court, Cox has flashed the potential that made her the top recruit in the country. She has been a key reserve for Mulkey, earning the Big 12 Sixth Man Award while being named to the All-Freshman team after averaging 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

That is even more impressive considering Cox has to watch and count every carb she eats. The 6-foot-4 power forward, who has dealt with her condition since she was 7, pricks her finger up to 12 times a day to watch her blood sugar. She takes insulin before she eats and has to test her levels before, during and after practices and games. She will check her levels every hour in practice, with the Baylor trainers keeping an eye on her.

Otherwise, the consequences of playing with high blood sugar levels can be devastating.

"It is really bad on my body," Cox said. "In the long term, I can lose limbs, lose my eyesight -- that kind of stuff; if it gets really bad, it can take years off of my life, and I have to make sure I have a good handle on it."

That is why Mulkey vowed to Cox's parents that she wouldn't play their daughter with high blood sugar and risk her health. Before that Tennessee game, Mulkey was prepared not to play Cox in Baylor's first game on ESPN2 this season.

"Initially when I found out that it was too high, she was a basket case," Mulkey said. "She had a meltdown and wanted to play and I had to be stern with her and tell her, 'While you may have played like this throughout your career, I made a commitment to your parents that your health is most important. And you are not going to play until [your numbers] get to a reasonable level.'"

Cox played a total of seven minutes while battling foul trouble in Baylor's 88-66 win over Tennessee.

"I can get really frustrated just with myself, and it is really hard not being able to play and not being able to contribute," Cox said. "And if my team needs me, just not being able to be out there."

So far in her first NCAA tournament, Cox has posted a total of 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks in 41 combined minutes through Baylor's first two wins.

Entering the season, Cox said she hoped to use the visibility that comes with playing for a premier women's program such as Baylor to help educate and inspire others who live with Type 1 diabetes.

Baylor hosted a Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Night earlier this season, and Cox hopes to be a role model as her career goes on in college and beyond.

"That's a big thing," Cox said. "I feel like doctors may say, 'Oh, you have to cut down on this sport' or something like that -- 'just because you have diabetes.' I just want to show them that you can do anything that you set your mind to."

Mulkey has had to learn how to handle her coveted freshman's emotions when it comes to dealing with daily ups and downs that can come with Type 1 diabetes.

"I realize she is tender when it comes to her diabetes and yet she is tough because it is something she has had to cope with since she was 7 years old," Mulkey said. "It has not affected her ability; it has not affected how great of a player she is and will continue to be.

"It's kind of, in her words, a nuisance. It's our job as leaders of this program to make sure that she understands: Your health and safety come first, and make sure your levels are where they are supposed to be when you play."

View original post here:
Lauren Cox juggles Type 1 diabetes in first season at Baylor - ESPN

Posted in Diabetes | Comments Off on Lauren Cox juggles Type 1 diabetes in first season at Baylor – ESPN

Page 1,611«..1020..1,6101,6111,6121,613..1,6201,630..»