Placebos clearly have an effect on patient’s subjective feelings of illness. Many a rueful drug developer, especially of antidepressants, can attest to that. But whether they have a physical effect has not been studied. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have compared three different treatments for asthma; they reported their results in the July 13, 2011, online edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. The treatments were inhaled Albuterol, which is the standard treatment for asthma attacks; two different forms of placebo (an inactive inhaler and sham acupuncture); and no treatment at all. The researchers found that neither...
By encapsulating human liver cells, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been able to make an artificial liver that can evade immune detection for a week after it is implanted into mice. The work could greatly improve preclinical metabolic and toxicity testing of drug candidates in the near term – and could one day improve human liver transplants, as well.
Two papers published this week described a novel target for fighting mixed-lineage leukemia. By inhibiting the histone methyltransferase DOT1L, scientists were able to kill mixed lineage leukemia cells both in cell culture and in animal models.
The thiazolidinediones are a class of diabetes drugs which include Avandia (rosiglitazone, GlaxoSmithKline plc) and Actos (pioglitazone, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.). Their intended effect is to sensitize tissues to insulin. But they are not without their drawbacks; Avandia's label, in fact, was revised last year to reflect concerns about the drug's cardiovascular side effects, and the drug is no longer on the market in Europe. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 24, 2010.)
Cancer genetics is a notoriously shifting ground. Having developed into a problem through mutations in the first place, cancer cells continue to mutate as the disease progresses. The most obvious problem from a clinical standpoint is that such mutations can render them resistant to therapy – a problem that plagues now-stalwarts like Gleevec (imatinib, Novartis AG) and new stars like Vemurafenib (PLX4032/RG7204, Plexxikon Inc./Roche AG) alike.
Myelin damage is at the heart of multiple sclerosis (MS), and encouraging the regeneration of oligodendrocytes may be one therapeutic avenue to treat the disease. (See BioWorld Today, July 6, 2011.)
Damage to myelin – the insulating fatty sheath that allows long-range neuronal communication – is at the root of multiple sclerosis (MS). But it is also behind other forms of brain injury – notably, developing oligodendrocytes are very sensitive to conditions of low oxygen, and problems at birth can lead to permanent damage that shows itself as cerebral palsy or cognitive deficits.
Pundits may complain that ours is a society of instant gratification, but few would argue that there's at least one group of people who could use a bit more instant gratification: patients with major depression. Antidepressants are notorious for taking weeks to work, if they are going to work at all, making finding the right drug and dose for patients an often months-long ordeal – for patients who may well be at risk of suicide.