UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
July 25, 2007
U.S. scientists have moved closer to producing faster acting antidepressants than exist today by using the experimental medication ketamine.
The research, conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, focused on how ketamine, when used experimentally for depression, relieves symptoms in hours instead of the weeks or months it takes for current antidepressants to work.
While ketamine itself probably won’t be used as an antidepressant because of its side effects, researchers said the new finding moves scientists considerably closer to understanding how to develop faster-acting antidepressant medications.
“In any other illness of depression’s magnitude, patients aren’t expected to just accept that their treatments won’t start helping them for weeks or months,” said Dr. Thomas Insel, NIMH director. “The value of our research on compounds like ketamine is that it tells us where to look for more precise targets for new kinds of medications that can close the gap.”
The study is reported online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Algorithm selects best cancer treatment
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 24 (UPI) — U.S. medical scientists have created an algorithm that can sort molecular information about a tumor, helping select the best drug treatment.
University of Virginia researchers, led by Dr. Dan Theodorescu and computational biologist Jae Lee, used a panel of 60 diverse human cancer cell lines from the National Cancer Institute to devise an algorithm designed to match the best potential treatments for a particular tumor in a specific patient.
“Even though this NCI cell set wasn’t an exhaustive encyclopedia of cancer cells, we found we could use the available data to draw conclusions about other cell types we were exploring,” said Theodorescu. “We believe we have found an effective way to personalize cancer therapy.”
In addition to predicting patient responses to therapy, the researchers said their algorithm can be used to discover effective compounds in any form of cancer.
The study, which involved scientists at GeneLogic Inc., appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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New method found to combat HIV
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., July 24 (UPI) — U.S. medical researchers have developed a method of fighting the human immunodeficiency virus that might replace the drug cocktail approach.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Drug Design said their new approach combines the features of two antiviral agents into one drug, achieving the same effect as when two or more drugs are taken separately.
The scientists said the new concept — called Portmanteau Inhibitors –involves one drug that does the same thing as two independent drugs.
Besides remedying cost and toxicity problems, a Portmanteau Inhibitor is less likely to develop resistance from the virus because of its multi-faceted approach, said study leader Robert Vance, director of the center and a professor of medicinal chemistry. Most importantly, he said, the separate components of the drug do not interfere with each other while attacking HIV — the cause of AIDS.
The research appeared in the July 4 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
New color-changing technology created
SOUTHAMPTON, England, July 24 (UPI) — A team of British and German scientists has created a new type of flexible plastic film that allows objects to precisely change color.
The technology has many potential applications, said the scientists from the University of Southampton and the Kunststoff-Institute in Darmstadt, Germany. For example, a person could tell at a glance whether perishable food items in a refrigerator have spoiled, or whether a dollar bill is counterfeit simply by stretching it to see if it changes hue.
The researchers said their film combines the best of natural and manmade optical effects, essentially representing a new way for objects to precisely change their color depending upon various conditions.
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