GOOD NEWS

Antacids for gums

Chemicals commonly used to treat heartburn also display fighting power against the oral bacteria linked with gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Göteborg University in Sweden. The team studied a compound known as lansoprazole, part of a family of compounds known as benzimidazoles that already have a range of uses, primarily controlling stomach hyperacidity and killing Helicobacter pylori (the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers). The researchers report in the journal Archives of Oral Biology that lansoprazole brandishes potent anti-microbial actions that interfere with the dirty work of other types of bacteria that cause plaque build-up and gingivitis (a disease of the gums).

Lung repair

The lungs of adult patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) attempt to repair damaged elastic fibres, say a team of researchers from the US and British Columbia. The researchers found that synthesis of elastin, a gene linked to elastic fibre growth, increases in the air sacs (alveoli) and airways of the lungs of COPD patients. Elastic fibres allow the lung to expand and contract with breathing. “This shows that the lung may be attempting to repair itself,” the researchers told a recent conference of the American Physiological Society.

BAD NEWS

Prostate cancer

US researchers have for the first time implicated the muscle protein myosin VI in the development of prostate cancer and its spread. In a series of lab studies with human prostate cancer cells, scientists found over production of myosin VI in both prostate tumour cells and pre-cancerous lesions. When they genetically altered the cells to “silence” myosin VI, they discovered the cells were less able to invade in a test tube. The results suggest that myosin VI may be critical in starting and maintaining the malignant properties of the majority of human prostate cancers, the American Journal of Pathology reports.

Heart failure

Difficulties in the heart’s ability to fill with blood are common causes of heart failure — and appear to be as significant in placing a heart patient at risk of death as are deficiencies in the heart’s ability to pump blood, according to a new study by researchers at Mayo Clinic. The researchers’ report appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.