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Are developing heart valves sensitive to environmental chemicals?

Baltimore, MD — Exposure to environmental endocrine disrupters, such as bisphenol A, which mimic estrogen, is associated with adverse health effects. Bisphenol A is commonly found in plastic bottles and plastic food containers. New research from a team including Carnegie’s Daniel Gorelick and Marnie Halpern on the effects of these chemicals on zebrafish shows that embryonic heart valves could be particularly in danger. It is published by Environmental Health Perspectives.

Estrogen hormones are important in all stages of life. They work by binding to receptors inside a cell, which then travel to the nucleus and act on the DNA by turning select genes on and off. But some synthetic chemicals mimic these estrogen hormones by also binding to the receptors. Exposure to them during early development is associated with increased risk of cancers and abnormal formation of the reproductive tract. So detecting such chemicals and identifying their mechanisms of action is of great importance for developmental scientists. (more…)

Researchers Discover How Key Drug Kills Worms in Tropical Diseases

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2010Health, Scienceanti filarial drug, anti parasitic drug, black flies, breakthrough, charles mackenzie, elephantiasis, elephantitis, equatorial africa, filarial diseases, flubendazole, humans, immune system, ivermectin, key, lymphatic filariasis, merck & co, mosquitoes, onchocerciasis, parasitic worms, pharmaceutical firm, reproductive tract, river blindness, tim geary, veterinary, worms, yovany moreno

Charles Mackenzie, a professor of veterinary pathology, works with elephantiasis patients in Tanzania. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In a major breakthrough that comes after decades of research and nearly half a billion treatments in humans, scientists have finally unlocked how a key anti-parasitic drug kills the worms brought on by the filarial diseases river blindness and elephantitis.

Understanding how the drug ivermectin works has the potential to lead to new treatments for the diseases, in which the body is infected with parasitic worms, said Charles Mackenzie, a professor of veterinary pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and researcher on the project. The diseases afflict about 140 million people worldwide, doing much of their damage in equatorial Africa.

“Ivermectin is one of the most important veterinary and human anti-parasitic agents ever,” Mackenzie said. “Knowing specifically how it interacts with the body’s own immune system and kills parasitic worms opens up whole new treatment avenues.”

The research appears in the current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

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Are developing heart valves sensitive to environmental chemicals?

Researchers Discover How Key Drug Kills Worms in Tropical Diseases