How The Body’s Clot-Busting System Speeds Up Atherosclerosis
Sometimes it’s hard to tell friends from foes, biologically speaking. Naturally produced in the body, urokinase plasminogen activator and plasminogen interact to break up blood clots and recruit clean-up cells to clear away debris related to inflammation. In fact, urokinase manufactured as a drug effectively clears clogged arteries by generating clot-busting plasmin from blood-derived plasminogen.
Progressing Towards Stem Cell Therapies For Heart Disease
New research from the University of Bristol brings stem cell therapies for heart disease one step closer. The findings reveal that our bodies’ ability to respond to an internal ‘mayday’ signal may hold the key to success for long-awaited regenerative medicine.
Raynaud’s Disease - MediQuest Receives NDA Response From FDA
MediQuest Therapeutics, Inc. received a Complete Response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Products for its New Drug Application (NDA) 22-241 (covering Vascana® [MQX-503], a proposed topical therapy for Raynaud’s Disease). The application received priority review and the letter was received one day prior to the six-month PDUFA date of Oct. 25, 2008.
2.4 Million Euros Awarded For Promotion Of The Healing Process After A Heart Attack
Prof. Stefanie Dimmeler, a researcher and director of the Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration at Frankfurt’s University Hospital has been awarded an ‘ERC Advanced Grant’ from the European Research Council to support her research work over the next five years. She will be investigating how to improve the healing process following a heart attack by promoting cardiovascular regeneration and the repair of heart tissue.
First Implant Of DuraHeart(TM) Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) In Japanese Clinical Trial
Terumo Heart Inc. announced that the first DuraHeart(TM) Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) was implanted in October at the University of Tokyo Hospital in Japan. Terumo Corporation will continue efforts toward an early application for approval for manufacture and sales in Japan. Terumo’s LVAS is the world’s first third generation left ventricular assist system combining a centrifugal pump with a magnetically levitated impeller.
Metformin For Diabetes Associated With Lower Death Risk From Cardiovascular Events
Researchers conducting a meta-analysis of studies related to the diabetes medication metformin have found that the drug may be linked to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The study, which appears in the October 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, did not find any other associations between diabetes medications and positive or negative cardiovascular effects - but frequently because the necessary data were unavailable.
OSA’s ISP Launches With Research On Breathing Disorders And Congenital Heart Defects
Two groups of researchers, one in the United States and one in Australia, are announcing the development of new optical techniques for visualizing the invisible processes at work in several human diseases.
TCT2008 Concludes With Presentation Of Positive Data For The CYPHER(R) Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent
This year’s Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual meeting, also known as TCT2008, concluded recently with two important data presentations on studies that resulted in significant clinical differences between the CYPHER® Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent and Medtronic’s Endeavor® Stent.
Discovery Of A Motor Protein That Rewinds DNA
Two biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered the first of a new class of cellular motor proteins that “rewind” sections of the double-stranded DNA molecule that become unwound, like the tangled ribbons from a cassette tape, in “bubbles” that prevent critical genes from being expressed.
Israel’s CorAssist Keeps A Weak Heart Pumping
CorAssist has already started human clinical trials using a small device that restores power to weakened heart muscles. According to Loshakove, there are two major conditions related to heart failure, namely, systolic and diastolic heart failure. First to market While some devices to treat systolic heart failure (SHF) are already in clinical trials, no devices to treat diastolic heart failure (DHF) are available.
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