Immune system defect may cause ME

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24 October 2011 Last updated at 07:46 GMT By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News Chronic fatigue syndrome may be due to the immune system, researchers think. Researchers in Norway believe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as ME, may be caused by a wayward immune system attacking the body.

The illness, the cause of which is uncertain and has no known cure, has attracted significant controversy.

A small study, reported in PLoS One, showed a cancer drug, which inhibited the immune system, relieved symptoms in some patients.

The ME Association said the findings were "very encouraging news".

Doctors in Norway stumbled across their first clue in 2004 when treating a patient with both Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells, and CFS.

When she received cancer treatment, her fatigue symptoms improved for five months.

'Dramatic'

The latest study, carried out at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, built on the previous discovery by testing 30 patients with CFS.

Half were given two doses of Rituximab, a cancer drug which eliminates a type of white blood cell, while the other half were given a fake treatment.

In those patients receiving the drug, 67% reported an improvement in a score of their fatigue levels. Just 13% showed any improvement in the sham group.

Øystein Fluge, an oncology consultant at the hospital, told the BBC: "There was a varied response: none, moderate, dramatic relief of all symptoms.

"Two had no recurrence [of their symptoms], their life was turned completely around very dramatically."

Their theory is that a type of white blood cell, B lymphocytes, are producing an antibody which attacks the body.

The drug wipes out the lymphocytes which in some cases may "reset the immune system", however, in other patients the fatigue symptoms would return when more B lymphocytes were made.

Caution Continue reading the main story The disease is thought to affect some 250,000 people in the UKSymptoms include extreme tiredness, problems with memory and concentration, sleep disturbances and mood swingsThere is currently no accepted cure and no universally effective treatmentThe cause is not clear either, with many doctors thinking the term CFS/ME is being used for several different diseases.Some patients have sent death threats to researchers after disagreements over a cause or cureMr Fluge said: "I think the fact that patients responded to treatment, improved cognitive function, fatigue and pain makes us believe we're touching one of the central mechanisms.

"But we're scratching at the surface, I would not characterise this as a major breakthrough."

The researchers are now investigating the effect of giving more doses over a longer period of time.

If their hunch is right it will throw up more questions, such as what is the immune system actually attacking and whether or not an actual test for CFS/ME be developed.

Dr Charles Shepherd, the UK ME Association's medical adviser, said: "The results of this clinical trial are very encouraging news for people with ME.

"Firstly, they help to confirm that there is a significant abnormality in immune system function in this disease.

"Secondly, they indicate that altering the immune system response in ME could be an effective form of treatment for at least a subset of patients.

"We now need further clinical trials of such anti-cancer agents to see if other research groups can replicate these findings."

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Cultivating A Wastewater Treatment System

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The New York Department of Environmental Protection installed a prototype "algal turf scrubber" at one of its wastewater treatment plants in Queens. The scrubber—two 350-foot metal ramps coated with algae that grows naturally—is designed to use algae to remove nutrients and boost dissolved oxygen in the water that passes through it.

Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, host: Up next: Flora Lichtman's here with our Video Pick of the Week. Hi, Flora.

FLORA LICHTMAN: Hi, Ira.

FLATOW: And we're into an alternative fuel mode. You've got some alternative something else there.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: Yes. Actually, it has a biofuel component, but it's really mostly about my favorite beat, which is wastewater processing and remediation.

FLATOW: Is that - it's your favorite.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: I think it's becoming my favorite.

FLATOW: It was mine at one point.

LICHTMAN: I'm really interested in it right now.

FLATOW: I almost went to graduate school on wastewater engineering, because I thought it was really fascinating.

LICHTMAN: It is. And there are all these different types of solutions. So the one that we looked at in this video this week was - it's in Rockaway, Queens, in New York. And the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has installed this sort of prototype system where they're using pond scum to purify water, basically.

FLATOW: Pond scum. That'd be...

LICHTMAN: I'll be more specific for - I know our listeners will want to know exactly: so, green algae.

FLATOW: Green algae. Why didn't you just say so?

LICHTMAN: Yeah, right. Exactly.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: So there's this filament - basically, the way it looks is that there are these two long ramps. They're kind of like little slides, and they're 350 feet long, and it's all flowing downhill. And they take this water from the sewage treatment plant across the street, pump it over to these slides and let it go down this bed of mesh. And then algae sort of naturally grows, and then the algae seems to remediate the water in some ways.

So basically, the algae takes out phosphorous and nitrogen and uses it to grow. And then, also, the dissolved oxygen content goes up a lot as it goes down this little chute. So - and then the water gets pumped, sort of chlorinated, and then pumped back into Jamaica Bay. So this is a little - a very tiny, you know...

FLATOW: Sort of demonstration project.

LICHTMAN: It is a demonstration project, for sure. I mean, that was the thing. New York is such a - everything in New York is so big. I was surprised. But it is neat, because they're actually harvesting the algae for biofuel.

FLATOW: Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting, as you look at your video - it's up on our Video Pick of the Week site up there on our website at sciencefriday.com. And it's a 300-foot, what I'd call a rain gutter, right?

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: Something like that.

LICHTMAN: It's a little low-tech. OK.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: But it's long, and there's water flowing down. There's algae growing in it, right?

LICHTMAN: As the DEP person who we spoke with said: Gravity works. What can I say?

FLATOW: Make the best use out of it. And they're very - and this is a serious project, to see, you know, as I was saying, I know aquarists - if you have an aquarium at home and you have something called a refugium - you'll know what I'm talking about if you know what I'm talking about - where you clean the water, and they have algae in it. Yeah.

LICHTMAN: Yeah. It's the same concept. And I think then the other thing that is neat is they're trying to maximize algae growth, and they actually have these little squeegees to harvest the algae, because they're hoping that it could be used for something else.

So they made their first little test bottle of biobutanol from this algae, which, you know, it's not - they have one bottle so far. So it's not going to run the plant yet, but that's the idea. Maybe you can turn this wastewater into something useful.

FLATOW: Well, you can make - you make a decision for yourself by going over to our website at sciencefriday.com. That's Flora's Video Pick of the Week. Thank you, Flora.

LICHTMAN: Thanks, Ira.

FLATOW: And Flora and I will be out at the Maker Faire this week. Come see us.

LICHTMAN: Yeah.

FLATOW: I'll be there tomorrow. Flora will be there on Sunday.

LICHTMAN: Sunday.

FLATOW: We have a - SCIENCE FRIDAY has a booth at the Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science out there in Queens. So we want to see you all there. Come and drop by our booth.

LICHTMAN: Say hello.

FLATOW: Say hello, and maybe you'll get a little prize or something out there for dropping by. That's about all the time we have for this week.

Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

View the original article here

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Cultivating A Wastewater Treatment System

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

The New York Department of Environmental Protection installed a prototype "algal turf scrubber" at one of its wastewater treatment plants in Queens. The scrubber—two 350-foot metal ramps coated with algae that grows naturally—is designed to use algae to remove nutrients and boost dissolved oxygen in the water that passes through it.

Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, host: Up next: Flora Lichtman's here with our Video Pick of the Week. Hi, Flora.

FLORA LICHTMAN: Hi, Ira.

FLATOW: And we're into an alternative fuel mode. You've got some alternative something else there.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: Yes. Actually, it has a biofuel component, but it's really mostly about my favorite beat, which is wastewater processing and remediation.

FLATOW: Is that - it's your favorite.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: I think it's becoming my favorite.

FLATOW: It was mine at one point.

LICHTMAN: I'm really interested in it right now.

FLATOW: I almost went to graduate school on wastewater engineering, because I thought it was really fascinating.

LICHTMAN: It is. And there are all these different types of solutions. So the one that we looked at in this video this week was - it's in Rockaway, Queens, in New York. And the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has installed this sort of prototype system where they're using pond scum to purify water, basically.

FLATOW: Pond scum. That'd be...

LICHTMAN: I'll be more specific for - I know our listeners will want to know exactly: so, green algae.

FLATOW: Green algae. Why didn't you just say so?

LICHTMAN: Yeah, right. Exactly.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

LICHTMAN: So there's this filament - basically, the way it looks is that there are these two long ramps. They're kind of like little slides, and they're 350 feet long, and it's all flowing downhill. And they take this water from the sewage treatment plant across the street, pump it over to these slides and let it go down this bed of mesh. And then algae sort of naturally grows, and then the algae seems to remediate the water in some ways.

So basically, the algae takes out phosphorous and nitrogen and uses it to grow. And then, also, the dissolved oxygen content goes up a lot as it goes down this little chute. So - and then the water gets pumped, sort of chlorinated, and then pumped back into Jamaica Bay. So this is a little - a very tiny, you know...

FLATOW: Sort of demonstration project.

LICHTMAN: It is a demonstration project, for sure. I mean, that was the thing. New York is such a - everything in New York is so big. I was surprised. But it is neat, because they're actually harvesting the algae for biofuel.

FLATOW: Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting, as you look at your video - it's up on our Video Pick of the Week site up there on our website at sciencefriday.com. And it's a 300-foot, what I'd call a rain gutter, right?

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: Something like that.

LICHTMAN: It's a little low-tech. OK.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: But it's long, and there's water flowing down. There's algae growing in it, right?

LICHTMAN: As the DEP person who we spoke with said: Gravity works. What can I say?

FLATOW: Make the best use out of it. And they're very - and this is a serious project, to see, you know, as I was saying, I know aquarists - if you have an aquarium at home and you have something called a refugium - you'll know what I'm talking about if you know what I'm talking about - where you clean the water, and they have algae in it. Yeah.

LICHTMAN: Yeah. It's the same concept. And I think then the other thing that is neat is they're trying to maximize algae growth, and they actually have these little squeegees to harvest the algae, because they're hoping that it could be used for something else.

So they made their first little test bottle of biobutanol from this algae, which, you know, it's not - they have one bottle so far. So it's not going to run the plant yet, but that's the idea. Maybe you can turn this wastewater into something useful.

FLATOW: Well, you can make - you make a decision for yourself by going over to our website at sciencefriday.com. That's Flora's Video Pick of the Week. Thank you, Flora.

LICHTMAN: Thanks, Ira.

FLATOW: And Flora and I will be out at the Maker Faire this week. Come see us.

LICHTMAN: Yeah.

FLATOW: I'll be there tomorrow. Flora will be there on Sunday.

LICHTMAN: Sunday.

FLATOW: We have a - SCIENCE FRIDAY has a booth at the Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science out there in Queens. So we want to see you all there. Come and drop by our booth.

LICHTMAN: Say hello.

FLATOW: Say hello, and maybe you'll get a little prize or something out there for dropping by. That's about all the time we have for this week.

Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

View the original article here

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. China's existing system of the reserves keeps getting not wild plants, valuable future could be sources of food and medicines

China needs to change, where it its pages nature reserves, and draw people from the cities to protect of their resources valuable but endangered wild plants according to an article in the September issue of Bioscience published remote villages in the direction.
The article by Weiguo sang and Keping Ma of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany and Jan C. Axmacher of University College, London, lists the seven strategic steps that are required, the future of China's wild plants, secure, who say the authors cannot effectively by the country's existing preserves are protected areas. Many of these areas only on paper and are far from provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, where rare species in the largest numbers, sang, and his coauthors are found.
Protected area managers in many cases currently missing basic data about the plant species on their reserves and even the exact scope and extent of reserves are present. Consequently, rapid economic development, which related spread of invasive species and the development of tourism of species become extinct could drive the impact of China's, which could be sources of future crops and medicine.
In addition to creating competition rules reserves in relevant areas and develop specific management and monitoring plans for that at the most threatened and promote sustainable eco tourism, the plants, not damaged, argue the authors BioScience promoting the rural poor, who often move accurate data about threats to their species, China should develop resources, predatory in cities. It should also consider temporary protection very rare species in botanical gardens and expand, financing and training for traditional taxonomy, and experimental ecosystem laboratories and management.

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Protective protein prevents joints ravaged immune system from and bones in rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg have discovered School of medicine, why the immune cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are hyperactive and attack the joints and bones. The immune cells have lost their bouncer, burly protein, which is the same way keeps them in line, that noisy patrons controls a bouncer at a nightclub.
The Feinberg School team has this bouncer, a protein called P21, which prevents the immune cells are start in their destructive rampage through the cartilage and bone. If she developed scientists and injected an imitation of the protein in an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis, the disease process was stopped.
"The doorman molecule immune cells of crazy, not more", said lead author Harris Perlman, Associate Professor of Rheumatology at the Northwestern Feinberg School. "Imagine destructive customers in a bar and Bouncer says: 'You're going to behave!'" P21 is. "This discovery opens up a new avenue for future therapies, heavily used against rheumatoid arthritis."
Feinberg team in P21 showed previous studies on patients with rheumatoid arthritis were low, but the protein role was unknown. The new study, published in the journal Arthritis & rheumatism, shows role crucial protein, to keep the immune cells in check.
Currently said to stop, Perlman hyperactive immune cells can be not effective, non toxic.
To develop the new approach, tested share five different Perlman and his team, peptides, called by P21. He slipped each peptide in a "ghostly" molecule, which he injected into mice with rheumatoid arthritis-like disease. The molecule secretly infiltrated the immune cells. After the seven day trial, one of the tested peptides had reassured the overactive immune cells without toxic effects. Next, Perlman plans a 30-day trial of the same peptide to monitor effectiveness and toxicity over a long period.
Existing treatments for rheumatoid arthritis are low-level chemotherapy and corticosteroids. These are not always effective, however, and they are often accompanied by side effects. A newer class of therapy, sometimes used in combination with chemotherapy and steroids, is a biological response modifier. These are the antibody or other proteins that are produced from the hyperactive immune cells to reduce the inflammation. These Biologics work not for everyone, however, and can be associated with side effects, including the risk of infection.

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