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New Insights Into The Mystery Of "High Risk Platelets" From Diabetic Donors
Amid emerging concerns that blood platelets donated for transfusion by individuals with Type 2 diabetes may be unsafe, scientists are reporting the first detailed identification and analysis of a group of abnormal proteins in platelets from diabetic donors. The study could lead to screening tests to detect and monitor these so-called "high risk platelets," the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the June 5 issue of ACS" Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication. About 18 million people in the United States have Type 2 diabetes, and the disease is spreading with the epidemic of obesity.
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150 Days: Obama's Silence On AIDS Remains Deafening
On the observation of President Obama"s first 150 days in office, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation"s largest AIDS organization, is continuing its "Change AIDS Obama" campaign with the release of a new online advocacy video chastising the president for his ongoing-and baffling-silence on AIDS.
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Ad Wars Over Health Care Overhaul Heat Up
"The ad wars over the health care campaign are heating up once [again] this week," The New York Times reports. At a speech on Monday, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, released a party television ad "which its spokeswoman says will first be broadcast in Arkansas, North Dakota and Nevada." The ad "opens with a tiny infant, and spools out with a narrator"s voice saying: "They"ve loaned Barack Obama their future, without even knowing it. Trillions for rushed government bailouts and takeovers, banks, the auto industry." And then it continues, as children appear on the screen: "The biggest spending spree in our nation"s in history. And they"ll have to pay. The next big ticket item? A risky experiment with our health care. Barack Obama"s massive spending experiment hasn"t healed our economy. His new experiment risks their future and our health.""
Cardiovascular

SAMe Is Effective In Preventing Formation Of Primary Liver Cancer In Rats

A new study investigated the effectiveness of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in the prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer. SAMe, a widely available nutritional supplement, with little known side effects, was found to be effective in preventing the formation of HCC in rats. However, high enough levels of SAMe were not attainable to successfully treat established HCC. The findings are available in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. HCC is the fifth most common cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. Risk factors for HCC include chronic infection with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), dietary aflatoxin, excessive alcohol use, cigarette smoking, diabetes and obesity. The overall 5-year survival for HCC patients is less than 10% and the disease rate is expected to rise due to the high prevalence of HCV in many areas of the world. Shelly Lu, M.D., of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and colleagues studied the effects of SAMe on chemoprevention and treatment of HCC. In the U.S. the incidence of HCC doubled from 1979 to 1995 and the number of HCC cases for the following 20 to 30 years is projected to increase. "Given these projections, there is a tremendous interest in developing effective chemoprevention strategies," said Dr. Lu. "And an important property of SAMe that makes it an attractive agent for chemoprevention and treatment of HCC is its ability to selectively kill liver cancer cells," she added. During the study researchers injected H4IIE cells into rats and found a 1cm tumor developed in the liver two weeks after injection. A regimen of IV SAMe was started one day after injecting the cells and continued for ten days. The researchers monitored the animals using MRI, ultrasound, and visual inspection to assess the liver tumors. "Treatment with IV SAMe by continuous infusion significantly reduced the tumor size and significantly prevented tumor development after 11 days," researchers discovered. Researchers found that if SAMe infusion was started after sizable tumors had already formed it failed to reduce the rate of tumor growth after 24 days of treatment. This is because of a compensatory response of the liver to metabolize SAMe and prevent its accumulation. "The observation that SAMe failed to exert any therapeutic effect in already established HCC is disappointing," said Dr. Lu. "But whether SAMe can be effective in treating HCC in man remains unclear because this compensatory mechanism may not work properly in human HCC. Nevertheless, effectiveness of SAMe in chemoprevention of human HCC deserves study now." Citation: "S-Adenosylmethionine in the Chemoprevention and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Rat Model," Shelly Lu, Komal Ramani, Xiaopeng Ou, Mark Lin, Victor Yu, Kwangsuk Ko, Ryan Park, Teodoro Bottiglieri, Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Gary Kanel, Samuel French, Josç© Mato, Rex Moats, Edward Grant Hepatology August 2009 Hepatology


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