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Research aims to identify markers for menopausal women at risk for deadly blood clot

08-08-2007 · EurekAlert!

In women, hormone therapy is a risk factor for venous thrombosis, a blood clot forming deep inside the vein. Although the disorder is rare, it increases exponentially during menopause and can be deadly. Hormone trials conducted thus far, focusing on proteins in blood coagulation, have not yet led to a risk profile, precluding identification of women at risk. Mayo Clinic researchers have now developed a novel concept that uses blood platelets to define thrombotic risk.

Keywords: research, aims, identify, markers, menopausal, women, risk, deadly, blood, clot, aim, marker

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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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Blood markers predict risk for recurrent stroke and mortality
10-24-2006 · EurekAlert!
People who have just suffered their first ischemic stroke, a blood clot in the brain, often have elevated inflammatory biomarkers in their blood that indicate their likelihood of having another stroke or an increased risk of dying, according to Columbia University Medical Center researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
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Sex, sugar and metabolic disease
11-08-2007 · EurekAlert!
Overweight children and adults have low blood levels of the protein SHGB, which transports sex steroids and regulates their tissue entry. Low levels of SHGB are a marker of the metabolic syndrome, a medical disorder that increases an individual's risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. New research in mice and in vitro using human cells provides an explanation as to why low SHGB levels are a good marker of the metabolic syndrome.
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Monitoring of a common epilepsy drug during pregnancy reduces seizure risk
11-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research at Emory University shows that monitoring the level of an epilepsy drug, called lamotrigine, in the blood helps reduce increased seizure activity and improve the overall health of pregnant women and their fetuses. The findings are published Nov. 28 in the online edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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Feinstein researchers develop new genetic method and identify novel genes for schizophrenia
12-03-2007 · EurekAlert!
Scientists at the Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have identified nine genetic markers that can increase a person's risk for schizophrenia. In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research team uncovered original evidence that this disabling brain disease can be inherited in a recessive manner. A recessive trait is one that is inherited from both parents.
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Apple consumers reap heart-health benefits thanks to flavonoid content, says new research
03-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study of more than 34,000 women, published in the March 2007 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found flavonoid-rich apples were found to be one of three foods that decrease the risk of mortality for both coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among post-menopausal women.
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Drug monitoring reduces seizures in pregnant women with epilepsy
11-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
A popular epilepsy drug taken by pregnant women with epilepsy because of its mild risk of birth defects has been linked to increased seizure activity in up to 75 percent of pregnancies. Now, new research shows that monitoring the level of the drug in the blood helps to reduce the increased seizure activity associated with the drug lamotrigine and improve the overall health of pregnant women and their fetuses.
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Research team identifies new Alzheimer's gene
06-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
A study comparing more genetic markers in the DNA of people with and without Alzheimer's disease than ever before enabled researchers to identify a common gene that appears to increase one's risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. The finding by researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Kronos Science Laboratory and their collaborative partners, suggests that the gene -- called GAB2 -- modifies an individual's risk when associated with other genes, including APOE4.
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New doctors' test kit to help prevent debilitating osteoporosis
05-22-2007 · EurekAlert!
Men and women at risk of developing osteoporosis will soon be working closely with their doctors to prevent the onset of this debilitating and often deadly disease thanks to a new Garvan research project funded by MBF Foundation.
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Grapes, soy and kudzu blunt some menopausal side effects
08-08-2007 · EurekAlert!
Menopausal women are at relatively high risk for memory loss, hypertension and diabetes. A decade ago, the standard treatment for these problems was long-term hormone replacement therapy. Since then, studies have shown that extensive use of HRT is associated with significant adverse effects. As a result, alternatives have been sought. One research lab investigating grape, soy and kudzu has found they can blunt cognitive loss, hypertension and insulin resistance in an experimental model.
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