University of Pittsburgh
A nerve agent sensor developed by a Pennsylvania company was named one of the 10 ''Greatest Army Inventions'' of the past year by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. The Sensor is a hand-held device that rapidly changes color in the presence of a contaminant such as sarin, one of many nerve agents that are feared to be used in chemical warfare or terrorist attack.
According to results reported at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), only half of the delivered dose of a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent may be activated in cancer patients. The study, presented in a poster discussion session by Jason Fisher, a student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, analyzed data from 31 cancer patients given 30-minute infusions of gemcitabine to determine what percentage of the drug dose was associated with concentrations that exceeded the body's ability to activate the drug. He found that while approximately 50 percent of the gemcitabine dose was likely to be converted to active metabolites, the other 50 percent was likely to be inactivated, and as a result, possibly not contribute to a therapeutic effect.
Results from a phase I study to evaluate the toxicity of a potential therapeutic vaccine for pancreatic cancer have demonstrated that patients can safely tolerate multiple doses of the vaccine. Preliminary evidence indicates that the vaccine, a synthetic version of a molecule MUC1 expressed on pancreatic tumor cells, in combination with patient's own antigen presenting cells, known as dendritic cells, boosts immune activity in pancreatic cancer patients.
An overwhelming number of people surveyed would trade a longer life span in order to receive better end-of-life care, according to University of Pittsburgh researchers. The study, published in the May issue of the journal Medical Care, used a sampling of 104 persons who took a survey based on six scenarios involving an 80-year old man who died after a one month stay in an intensive care unit (ICU). "From our research, we found that people care a great deal about the quality of the death experience," said lead author Cindy L. Bryce, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and a researcher at the Center for Research on Health Care at Pitt.
Paroxetine, a drug commonly used to treat depression, can improve symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a study in the May issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. In a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that the drug relieved some symptoms of IBS and improved the well-being of people with IBS.
Using technology borrowed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), scientists have taken the first steps toward successfully preserving ovarian tissue from rats and mice in culture, including immature egg follicles. Such techniques may prove to be valuable in protecting the fertility of a woman with cancer whose future childbearing potential is threatened by the very chemotherapy or radiation treatments necessary to save her life.
A staged approach to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, in which high-risk, morbidly obese patients first undergo a procedure called laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), greatly reduces operative risk and results in significant short-term weight loss, according to a University of Pittsburgh study presented today at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons in Denver.
Findings published in this month's issue of the Journal of Urology indicate that prostate cancer could be detected as many as five years earlier than it is currently being diagnosed by testing for a protein in tissue that indicates the presence of early disease. The researchers suggest that testing for the protein, EPCA, could serve as an adjunct to the current diagnostic approach to patients with elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, who undergo repeat needle biopsies. PSA, a substance in the blood released by the prostate gland, is commonly used to check for signs of prostate cancer and other prostate problems.
A recent investigation from has found an apparent link between a common gynecological disorder called bacterial vaginosis (BV) and an increased risk for the acquisition of herpes. "We found that women with BV were nearly twice as likely to get herpes as women who did not have BV," said Thomas L. Cherpes, M.D., a University of Pittsburgh infectious disease fellow and the study's first author. "The presence of BV seems to increase susceptibility to herpes infection in women."
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have completed the first survey of the entire human genome for genes that affect the susceptibility of individuals to developing clinical depression. George S. Zubenko, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and adjunct professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University and his team have located a number of chromosomal regions they say hold the genetic keys to a variety of mental illnesses, including major depression and certain addictions. The survey was done in 81 families identified by individuals with recurrent, early-onset, major depressive disorder (RE-MDD), a severe form of depression that runs in families. The Pitt team's findings are published today in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.
Surgeons at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) have instituted a new clinical protocol that has the potential to redefine the standard of care for lung transplant patients. Bucking conventional thought that successful lung transplantation can only be achieved with a three-punch assault on the immune system, the new protocol is a departure from the triple-drug therapy in place at nearly every other transplant center.
Cooling body temperature to levels consistent with hypothermia improves survival when induced after cardiac arrest and also promotes growth factors important for the brain's recovery, suggests a study performed by researchers in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Preliminary results of their study were reported today at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) in Boston.
It is well known that adults who respond to life events with anger are more at risk for developing cardiovascular disease than those who do not. And now, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Helsinki, children and adolescents with similar hostile responses are also putting themselves at increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome -a precursor to adult heart disease, according to a study in the May issue of Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
According to a new study, 97 percent of patients who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery for obesity had resolution or improvement of their type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study examined 1,150 patients over a five-year period following their LGBP surgeries. Of those patients in the study, 240 (21 percent) had type 2 diabetes mellitus and 192 of the 240 patients (80 percent) were available for follow-up.
Millions of people suffering from diabetes mellitus may be spared the ordeal of pricking their fingers several times a day to test blood sugar levels, thanks to a breakthrough by University of Pittsburgh researchers who have developed a non-invasive method to measure the glucose level in bodily fluids.
