INCREASING FERTILITY THREEFOLD WITH DHEA ?

Increasing Fertility Threefold With DHEA?
Israel - A team of researcher from a Tel Aviv University has studied the effect of DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) on women trying to become pregnant.

DHEA is known by consumers as the hormone of youth. Some say it slows the aging of the skin. However, its effectiveness remains controversial. Following rumors, Professor Adrian Shulman and his team focused on its properties in terms of fertility. As part of a program of in vitro fertilization, they found that women who took DHEA in addition to standard treatment had 23% chance of getting pregnant while those who did not follow the usual treatment had only 4% opportunities. In addition, women in the first group lived a pregnancy and childbirth more serene.

These results are nonetheless viewed with caution. In effect , the experiment was performed on only 20 women. It would require a larger study to lead to conclusive results. In addition, researchers have not yet discovered what was the mechanism for DHEA to increase fertility.

Story Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University.
Link: http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=12457

ANTAGONIZING ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Antagonizing Atherosclerosis
France - Atherosclerosis or fatty plaque build up on the arterial wall is the source of most cardiovascular diseases. While B cells of the immune system were previously considered as elements of protection against the formation of these plaques, researchers from Inserm now refute this hypothesis. These findings were published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the arteries triggered by several factors, including increased cholesterol and characterized by an accumulation of lipids (fats) in the arterial wall in the form of plaques. The rupture of these plaques is responsible for the majority of cardiovascular diseases, like myocardial infarction or stroke. These diseases are the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. It is therefore essential to identify patients at risk and to understand the progression of the disease, to prevent and treat it.

The immune response (macrophages, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes) which varies among
individuals plays an important role in the progression of these plaques and thus in the development of complications of cardiovascular disease. To date, the role assigned to all B cells seemed protective of atherosclerosis.

However, the work led by Ziad Mallat now clearly refute this hypothesis. The researcher showed in fact that using an antibody against B cells and causing the disappearance of 96% of
them provides significant protection against development of atherosclerosis. This antibody is
used very effectively in humans, in the treatment of certain inflammatory diseases. The protective effect is due to decreased production of an immune system hormone, interferon gamma which promotes atherosclerosis and increased interleukin-17 a protective hormone.

These findings have important clinical implications. They suggest that treatments directed against B cells currently administered to patients suffering from inflammatory diseases such as
lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, may reduce cardiovascular risk. Clinical trials have been undertaken in this direction by the team and aim to assess the extent of atherosclerosis before and after treatment.

Journal Reference:
Ait-Oufella, H., et al. B cell depletion reduces the development of atherosclerosis in mice. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2010.
Link: http://jem.rupress.org/content/early/2010/06/30/jem.20100155

EARLY MENOPAUSE: RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Early Menopause: Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
United States - A more than doubled risk of developing cardiovascular disease was observed in postmenopausal women before age 46.

The results are being presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

A Menopause is considered premature when it occurs before the age of 46 years, either spontaneously or by the removal of both ovaries. For the women concerned, all ethnicities, the risk of cardiovascular disease after 55 years would be more than doubled.

Unfortunately, treatment with hormone replacement can reduce these risks. In addition, the researchers behind this study can not yet explain this phenomenon. Therefore, these women will act on other factors related to cardiovascular diseases like hypertension or obesity.

Story Source:
The Endocrine Society. "Early Menopause Linked to Higher Risk of Future Cardiovascular Disease, Study Finds."

ACCURATE WAY TO PREDICT THE AGE WHEN WOMEN WILL HIT THE MENOPAUSE DEVELOPED

Accurate Way to Predict the Age When Women Will Hit the Menopause Developed
Iran - Researchers have developed a way of accurately predicting when women will hit the menopause using a simple blood test. The average difference between the predicted age and the actual age that the women in their study reached the menopause was only a third of a year, and the maximum margin of error was between three and four years.

The project was presented at a conference in Rome on fertility and could be used outside laboratories, but if it proves effective on a wider panel. This would allow women to discover early on in their reproductive life what their expected age at menopause will be, so that they can plan when to start a family through the measurement of the rate of hormone anti-Mullerian (AMH) in the blood. In the trial, researchers at the University of Medical Sciences Shahid Beheshti have a blood test to a group of 266 women aged 20-49 years every three years to measure their hormone AMH.

Scientists have therefore established a statistical model to identify AMH levels at different ages that would predict if women were likely to have an early menopause (before the age of 45). She found that, for instance, AMH levels of 4.1 ng/ml or less predicted early menopause in 20-year-olds, AMH levels of 3.3 ng/ml predicted it in 25-year-olds, and AMH levels of 2.4 ng/ml predicted it in 30-year-olds.

In contrast, AMH levels of at least 4.5 ng/ml at the age of 20, 3.8 ngl/ml at 25 and 2.9 ng/ml at 30 all predicted an age at menopause of over 50 years old. The researchers found that the average age at menopause for the women in their study was approximately 52.

They concluded: "Our findings indicate that AMH is capable of specifying a woman's reproductive status more realistically than chronological age per se. Considering that this is a small study that has looked at women over a period of time, larger studies starting with women in their twenties and following them for several years are needed to validate the accuracy of serum AMH concentration for the prediction of menopause in young women."

Story Source:
Provided by European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

ANDROGEN RECEPTOR MAY EXPLAIN MALE DOMINANCE IN LIVER CANCER

Androgen Receptor May Explain Male Dominance in Liver Cancer

Hepatitis B and liver cancer: why men are more exposed?
Sex hormones play a role in liver cancer associated with hepatitis B, which could finally explain why men infected with the virus are much more likely than women to say the cancer according to a new study published in the journal "Translational Medicine". These findings open new perspectives for treatment of skin cancer including drugs targeting the androgen receptor tumors.

The liver cancer, which affects the largest organ in the body, is the fifth most common cancer and the third in terms of mortality worldwide. Infections due to hepatitis B virus, endemic in many Asian countries including China, are responsible for about half the cases of liver cancer worldwide.

The virus interacts with the androgen receptor:
In this study, researchers have discovered why men with hepatitis B are more likely to develop liver cancer than women. The answer lies in the genome of the virus: it contains a particular sequence of DNA that specifically interacts with the receptor to male sex hormones, androgens. In liver cells, a cascade of reactions harmful to the liver tissue is triggered when the receptor binds to this sequence.

Researchers have discovered that targeting the androgen receptor, rather than hormones themselves, they could inhibit tumor growth in mice significantly. They also produced, for their experiments, the first genetically modified mouse with hepatitis B can develop

liver tumors following exposure to low doses of carcinogen. They then showed the androgen receptor could be removed with a chemical causing the arrest of tumor growth. The treatment had no influence on circulating levels of androgens in the body and showed no apparent toxicity in mice.

These results suggest that drugs capable of targeting the androgen receptor rather that these hormones could be a promising therapy against liver cancer.

References:
Androgen Receptor Promotes Hepatitis B Virus-Induced Through Modulation hepatocarcinogenesis of Hepatitis B Virus RNA Transcript . Ming-Heng Wu, Wen-Lung Ma, Cheng-Lung Hsu, Yuh-Ling Chen, Jing-Hsiung James Or, Charlotte Kathryn Ryan, Yao-Ching Hung, Shuyuan Yeh, Chang Chawnshang. Translational Medicine
Link: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/32/32ra35.abstract

Story Source:
The above story is from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center.
Link: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2863

WOMEN HAVE A MORE POWERFUL IMMUNE SYSTEM THAN MEN ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY

Women Have A More Powerful Immune System Than Men According To A New Study.
Men and women are not equal before biology: the latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the University Health Center McGill and the McGill University (Canada), shows that women have a more powerful immune systems than men. Indeed, the production of estrogen in females would have a positive effect on the innate inflammatory response against bacterial pathogens. These surprising results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today.

More specifically, estrogen produced naturally by women could block the secretion of the enzyme Caspase-12 that blocks the inflammatory process. Thus the presence of estrogen would have a positive effect on innate immunity, which represents the body's first defense against pathogens.

"These results demonstrate that the inflammatory response in women is more powerful than men,"

According to Dr. Saleh.

This study was conducted on mice with the gene for caspase-12 was inactivated, ie mice highly resistant to infection. The human gene for caspase-12 has been implanted in some of them, male and female .... or only males have become more susceptible to infections.

"We were very surprised by this result, and we determined that the estrogen produced by female mice blocked the actions of the human gene for caspase-12 gene",

says Dr. Saleh.

"We could also show which part of the gene binds estrogen to block, which calls for direct action."

Since these experiments were made with a human gene, researchers believe that these results are also applicable to men. This characteristic of female innate immune system could have developed during evolution to better protect individuals which breed.

The positive effect of estrogen on our natural resistance to infection is also with synthetic hormones such as 17-beta estradiol. This finding may open the door to new therapeutic applications for enhancing the immune system. A question remains: men will accept they take an exclusively female hormone to treat?
--
Source: McGill University