Edmund's Newsletter June 3, 2008 Issue: #23 Volume 8 Join Our List In This Issue Inflammation, Depression And Antidepressant Response: Common Mechanisms Researchers Find Many Stomach Cancer Patients Not Receiving Best Treatment Medication Shows Promise for Patients with Severe Chronic Constipation Dehydrated Tomatoes Show Promise for Preventing Prostate Cancer Fireflies' Glow Helps Researchers Track Cancer Drug's Effectiveness Intestinal Bacteria Promote and Prevent - Inflammatory Bowel Disease FDA Advises Patients to Switch to HFA-Propelled Albuterol Inhalers Now - CFC-propelled inhalers no longer available as of Dec. 31, 2008 Believe It Or Not News From MedWatch Recently Approved Drugs/Indications FDA Recalls and Safety Alerts in the Past 60 Days Drug Shortages Quick Links Edmund's Blog Edmund's Newsletter Edmund's Web Page Past Issues SPECIAL THANKS TO Michael R. Cohen President The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Dr. Stephen Barrett Quackwatch Some links in Edmund's Newsletter will point to a page that requires registration.  In all cases the most you will have to do is fill out a simple form to enroll as a member.  In no case will I point you to a site that requires payment to view the page. PRAY FOR PEACE © 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Join Our List Inflammation, Depression And Antidepressant Response: Common Mechanisms Major depressive disorder is a common and complex condition that impacts about 15% of the population of the United States, yet very little is known about the mechanisms behind the psychiatric disorder. What is known is that there are clinical parallels between depressive symptoms and the symptoms of certain inflammatory disorders. In findings published electronically in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from University of Miami found polymorphisms in inflammation-related genes that are associated with susceptibility to major depression and antidepressant response. Two genes critical for T-cell function in the immune system have been associated with susceptibility for major depressive disorder and antidepressant treatment response: PSMB4 (proteasome beta 4 subunit) and TBX21 (T-bet). The study population was made up of 284 depressed Mexican-Americans from Los Angeles who were already enrolled in a pharmacogenetic study of antidepressant treatment response. The control group was made up of 331 individuals from the same community. Read more..... Researchers Find Many Stomach Cancer Patients Not Receiving Best Treatment New findings from Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute show a significant numbers of patients nationwide who are not getting the recommended therapy after surgery to remove stomach cancer. "We were surprised to learn that there are still many patients who are not receiving the gold standard of chemotherapy and radiation after surgery - despite compelling clinical data available since 2001. However, it is encouraging to see there has been a significant increase in the use of chemo-radiotherapy since it became the standard of care," said Kristian Enestvedt, M.D., principal investigator, Department of Surgery, OHSU School of Medicine, OHSU Cancer Institute. One million people die of stomach cancer worldwide each year. This study by Enestvedt and his colleagues will be presented Sunday, June 1, at 8 a.m. during the annual American Association of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. Read more..... Medication Shows Promise for Patients with Severe Chronic ConstipationMedication Shows Promise for Patients with Severe Chronic Constipation A new medication appears to offer significant relief to patients with severe chronic constipation while minimizing the likelihood of cardiac-related side effects, according to results of a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial involved 38 medical centers and was led by Michael Camilleri, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. Patients who met the study criteria were randomly assigned to receive either of two dosage levels of prucalopride, a medication that stimulates protein receptors involved in contraction of the colon, or a placebo. "Many more of the patients taking prucalopride were able to have spontaneous bowel movements without having enemas or taking laxatives, as compared to those who were given placebo," says Dr. Camilleri. "The time it took to have a first bowel movement was much shorter, and quality of life and other abdominal symptoms also were improved for those taking the study drug." Read more..... Dehydrated Tomatoes Show Promise for Preventing Prostate Cancer New research suggests that the form of tomato product one eats could be the key to unlocking its prostate cancer-fighting potential, according to a report in the June 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Processing of many edible plants through heating, grinding, mixing or drying dramatically increases their nutrition value, including their cancer prevention potential. It appears that the greatest protective effect from tomatoes comes by rehydrating tomato powder into tomato paste," said Valeri V. Mossine, Ph.D., research assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Missouri. The protective effect of tomato products against prostate cancer has been suggested in many studies, but researchers remain uncertain about the exact mechanisms. Mossine and colleagues demonstrated that FruHis, an organic carbohydrate present in dehydrated tomato products, exerts a strong protective effect. Researchers divided rats into groups of 20 and fed them a control diet or a diet that included tomato paste, tomato powder or tomato paste plus additional FruHis. All animals were then injected with prostate cancer-causing chemicals. Read more..... Fireflies' Glow Helps Researchers Track Cancer Drug's EffectivenessFireflies' Glow Helps Researchers Track Cancer Drug's Effectiveness The gene that allows fireflies to flash is helping researchers track the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs over time. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are among the first to show that a technique called bioluminescence imaging (BLI) can be used to determine the effectiveness of cancer drugs that choke off a tumor's blood supply. The technique requires a substrate called luciferin to be added to the bloodstream, which carries it to cells throughout the body. When luciferin reaches cells that have been altered to carry the firefly gene, those cells emit light. Some cancer drugs, however, work by cutting off the blood supply to tumor cells. Given that luciferin is delivered via the vasculature, the researchers set out to determine the kinetics of luciferin delivery and whether BLI techniques could be used to gauge the effectiveness of drugs that destroy blood vessels that feed tumors. They tested their theory in mice bearing human breast-cancer tumors. Before being introduced to the animals, the tumor cells had been transfected with the firefly gene, which becomes part of the cells as they divide and grow just like genetically modified, herbicide-resistant food crops. Read more..... Intestinal Bacteria Promote and Prevent - Inflammatory Bowel Disease A sugar molecule produced by a beneficial bacterium in the intestinal microflora appears to have anti-inflammatory effects that can mitigate symptoms of colitis in experimental animals. When the molecule is administered to animal models of colitis, disease symptoms did not develop. Between 1 and 2 million Americans suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. This is the first time in the literature that a naturally evolved molecule produced by intestinal bacteria has been shown to work to prevent colitis in an animal model. These findings suggest new ways to begin thinking about developing therapies for preventing or even treating IBD. Our intestinal microflora make up a biosphere that may be teeming with potential drug candidates. Scientists search for drug candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but they also scour coral reefs and scrape tree bark in the hope of stumbling upon an unsuspecting molecule that just might turn into next year's big block buster. But one region that scientists have not been searching is their guts. Literally. Now, a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated that a molecule produced by bacteria in the gut's intestinal microflora can eliminate symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition that includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, in animal models. "Given the sheer number of bacteria in the gut, the potential for discovering new molecules that can treat a whole range of these diseases is promising," says Dennis Kasper, co-lead author on the study, professor of medicine and microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The study will appear as the cover story in the May 29 issue of Nature. Read more..... FDA Advises Patients to Switch to HFA-Propelled Albuterol Inhalers Now - CFC-propelled inhalers no longer available as of Dec. 31, 2008 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a public health advisory to alert patients, caregivers and health care professionals to switch to hydrofluoroalkane (HFA)-propelled albuterol inhalers because chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-propelled inhalers will not be available in the United States after Dec. 31, 2008. CFC-propelled albuterol inhalers are being phased out because they are harmful to the environment by contributing to depletion of the ozone layer above the Earth's surface. Three HFA-propelled albuterol inhalers have been approved by the FDA: Proair HFA Inhalation Aerosol, Proventil HFA Inhalation Aerosol, and Ventolin HFA Inhalation Aerosol. In addition, an HFA-propelled inhaler containing levalbuterol, a medicine similar to albuterol, is available as Xopenex HFA Inhalation Aerosol. "Concern about the environment stimulated the need to phase out CFCs," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "The FDA wants to emphasize that HFA-propelled albuterol inhalers are safe and effective replacements for CFC-propelled albuterol inhalers." Read more..... Believe it or not Mexico drug smugglers make Jesus statue of cocaine U.S. customs officials have seized a statue of Jesus Christ made from plaster mixed with cocaine -- the latest sophisticated attempt to smuggle drugs from Mexico. Sniffer dogs at the border crossing in Laredo, Texas, alerted officials to the smell of narcotics in the 6.6 pound (3 kilo) statue, which was in the trunk of a car being driven by a Mexican woman into the United States last week. "The statue tested positive for cocaine," Nancy Herrera, an official at the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Texas said on Friday. U.S. border police arrested a 61-year-old Mexican man accused of offering the woman $80 to carry the statue to the bus station in downtown Laredo. The woman escaped back to Mexico, Herrera said. Tighter U.S. security and Mexico's deployment of thousands of soldiers along the border are pushing smugglers to try increasingly sophisticated techniques like hiding drugs in sealed beer cans, U.S. officials say. The average price of a gram of pure cocaine in the United States is around $130, according to U.S. government data. 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