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Environment and exercise may affect research results, UA study shows

In the study, Knockout Mice: Is it Just Genetics? Effects of Enriched Housing on Fibulin-4+/- Mice, lead researcher Ann Baldwin, PhD, suggests that environmental factors may play a large part in research findings that investigators assume are due simply to genetic differences. Further, the study research indicates that appropriate environments may counteract the effects of some genetic deficiencies.

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Keywords: environment, exercise, affect, research, results, study, shows, result, show

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1. 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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2. Stress triggers relapse in meth abuse, OHSU study finds
   10-18-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Oregon Health & Science University research showing stress triggers relapse of methamphetamine abuse in mice could be a step toward developing a drug to curb this frustrating obstacle to recovery. Results of the study not only validate earlier studies on the effects of stress on drug relapse in humans, they also show a compound researchers used to mimic metabolic changes that occur during stress creates a useful model for studying this effect in the laboratory.
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3. Second SPORT Study Shows Surgery Advantage for Spinal Stenosis and Slipped Vertebra
   05-30-2007 · EurekAlert!
   In one of the three most common back conditions for which patients seek treatment, surgery proved to have substantially better results than non-surgical remedies, according to Dartmouth-led research published in the May 31 New England Journal of Medicine. The paper is the second in a series detailing the findings of the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), a seven-year, $21 million national study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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4. Nothing personal -- Study shows how caring sentiments can affect business sense
   12-05-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Imagine you are selling a used car on eBay. You will demand a higher price for the car if your toddler is sitting on your lap, says surprising new research from the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Researchers from the University of Toronto found that simply thinking about a personal relationship causes sellers to set a higher price, even if the relationship is not directly related to the transaction.
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5. Delayed treatment of childhood-onset bipolar disorder results in negative outcome in adults
   05-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Bipolar disorder is estimated to affect approximately 1-3 percent of adults, but also can affect children and adolescents. Untreated, this disorder is associated with greater risk of drug and alcohol addiction, interpersonal relationship difficulties, school and, later, work problems, engaging in risky behaviors, and suicide. A study published in the May issue of the Journal of Pediatrics shows that childhood-onset bipolar disorder is more common than believed and often goes unrecognized and untreated for long periods of time.
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6. Dragons of hope: Boat racing improves lives of breast cancer survivors
   02-01-2008 · EurekAlert!
   Breast cancer survivors who participated in dragon boat racing reported significantly improved physical and mental health and coped better with post-recovery trauma, according to a study conducted by Dr. Catherine Sabiston of McGill's Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. The results of her research -- conducted in Vancouver while she was a PhD student at the University of British Columbia -- were published in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology at the end of 2007.
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7. Largest study to evaluate PSA 'bounce' shows overall survival is not affected
   11-08-2006 · EurekAlert!
   A study involving more than 7,500 men with prostate cancer treated with radiation concludes that a rise in the PSA level after treatment -- called PSA bounce -- does not have clinical relevance and does not affect survival. The results of this multi-institutional study will be presented today.
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8. Study confirms the risk of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke outdoors
   05-02-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from secondhand tobacco smoke. While the health risks associated with indoor secondhand smoke are well documented, little research has been done on exposure to toxic tobacco fumes outdoors. Now, Stanford University researchers have conducted the first in-depth study on how outdoor smoking affects air quality. The results show that a non-smoker a few feet downwind from a smoldering cigarette is likely to be exposed to substantial levels of contaminated air.
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9. Just keep moving, ladies
   03-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Women in their 70s who keep active could be dodging painful arthritis symptoms, according to research published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy. The study is the first to show that the more you exercise, the better your chances of preventing the onset of stiff and painful joints.
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10. Study finds a high rate of asthma in college athletes
    09-05-2007 · EurekAlert!
    More than a third of college athletes assessed for breathing problems had test results suggesting exercise-induced asthma, even in those athletes who had no previous history of asthma, a new study shows. The findings paralleled earlier findings of a high prevalence of exercise-induced asthma among Olympic athletes. The work also underscores the need to develop more routine diagnosis and management tools in athletes to detect the potentially serious condition among athletes.
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