Doc Blog

A Swedish research group, partly financed by NWO, has discovered a new mechanism for cell division in a microorganism found in extremely hot and acidic conditions. The results of the research offer insights into evolution, but also into the functioning of the human body. The research has been recently published in PNAS, the magazine [...]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Selzentry (maraviroc) full (traditional) approval for use in treatment-experienced adults with CCR5-tropic HIV-1 in combination with other antiretrovirals. Selzentry was originally granted accelerated conditional approval in August 2007 based on 24-week data from pivotal Phase 3 studies. Selzentry now becomes the latest fully approved treatment for [...]

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent Number No. 7,455,833, which includes broad claims covering anti-viral applications of antibodies that directly bind to aminophospholipids. The aminophospholipid family of phospholipids, including phosphatidylserine (PS), represents a novel target for anti-viral therapies. The new patent follows publication this week [...]

Patients with type 2 diabetes who have poor glycemic control and a certain genetic variation have an increased risk of coronary artery disease, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among the known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus ranks as one of [...]

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S., announced today that the Arthritis Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that the FDA approve febuxostat for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with gout. The vote was 12 to zero in favor of [...]

As World AIDS Day 2008 approaches, a coalition of hundreds of HIV/AIDS medical care providers and advocates, representing dozens of organizations, today sent a letter to Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), urging an end to harmful single-dose HIV/AIDS treatment as a recommended treatment for expectant mothers and infants worldwide. [...]

You see it in movies or while viewing your favorite sitcom; a scene at the doctor’s office where the character inevitably gets a little woozy which leads to a fainting spell. It may seem funny when watching it all unfold on television, but according to a study in the May/June 2008 issue of General Dentistry, [...]

Lung disease experts at Johns Hopkins are calling for physicians to show much greater caution in prescribing inhaled corticosteroid drugs for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after finding evidence that the widely used anti-inflammatory medications increase the risk of pneumonia by a full third. More than 11 million Americans, the vast majority former or [...]

Older people who spent at least 14 hours a week taking care of a disabled spouse lived longer than others. That is the unexpected finding of a University of Michigan study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study supports earlier research showing that in terms of health and [...]

Our immune system plays an essential role in protecting us from diseases, but how does it do this exactly? Dutch biologist Suzanne van Helden discovered that before dendritic cells move to the lymph nodes they lose their sticky feet. This helps them to move much faster. Immature dendritic cells patrol the tissues in search of [...]