Novel bacteria species with cholesterol-busting properties discovered

Scientists at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain have been able to discover a novel species of bacteria with cholesterol-busting properties. The bug is called Gordonia cholesterolivorans, from sewage sludge and discovered by Dr. Oliver Drzyzga and colleagues.
The findings were reported in an issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
From Sciencedaily.com:
A steroid [...]

Male and female differentiation facilitated by protein modifier SUMO

A new mechanism has been identified by Walter Wahli and colleagues at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, which underlies the differential expression of proteins in male and female mice.
The difference is in relation to the expression of liver proteins that control a large amount of whole-body processes such as energy generation and steroid hormone production.
From [...]

Nutrient cocktail can promote remission in children with Crohn’s disease

Children may not be as responsive as adults to steroid medications when it comes to treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to associated side effects.
It was remarked by Dr. Raanan Shamir of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and Schneider Children’s Medical Centre that a nutritional formula on the lines of diet of astronauts [...]

Luke Troy faces ban for two years

Luke Troy, the Australian club rugby prop, will face a two year ban for placing an order for two types of steroid drugs.
The orders were related to 21 packets of testosterone-1 a mixture of Androstenes in February 2006 and 100 capsules of DHEA 200 containing 200 mg dehydropepiandrosterone per capsule in August 2006.
The Newcastle Waratahs [...]

Texas will soon cut down steroid testing

Young sportsmen will soon get a big relief as Texas is about to stop testing high school athletes for steroids.
This move will come after two years of steroid test sampling in which only 19 out of more than 45,000 tests were positive.
Presently, Texas is one of the three states in the United States of America [...]

Capsaicin can be used to treat prostate cancer

Capsaicin, which is presently used to turn up heat in jalapeqos, may be good in one more thing.
The pepper component may have the ability of driving and killing prostate cancer cells, as per a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in collaboration with colleagues from UCLA.
From [...]

Rejection incidence likely to get increased in early steroid withdrawal cases

Canakinumab holds promise for treating children with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

A new interleukin-1 (IL-1)-beta blocking monoclonal antibody, Canakinumab (ACZ885), holds enough promise suggesting efficacy and toleration in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), as per a new phase II study presented at PReS 2009, a joint congress with the 2009 Congress of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Dr Nicolino Ruperto, Senior [...]

Steroids do not hold any promise for young children with wheezing

According to a research, steroid tablets are not effective for relieving pre-school children with symptoms of virus-induced wheezing.
This research was carried out by Dr Alan Smyth, Associate Professor and Reader in Child Health, and Terence Stephenson, Professor of Child Health, at The University of Nottingham in collaboration with Dr Monica Lakhanpaul, Senior Lecturer from the [...]

Women with higher DHEAs levels are likely to benefit from better cognitive function

According to a study appearing in an issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), women with naturally increased levels of DHEAs are likely to have better cognitive function than their counterparts with lower levels.
It was revealed by the study that cognitively intact women with higher circulating levels of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), in the [...]