Study first to pinpoint why analgesic drugs may be less potent in females than in males

Investigators at Georgia State University's Neuroscience Institute and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience are the first to identify the most likely reason analgesic drug treatment is usually less potent in females than males. This discovery is a major step toward finding more effective treatments for females suffering from persistent pain. more  

Honey bees on cocaine dance more, changing ideas about the insect brain

In a study that challenges current ideas about the insect brain, researchers have found that honey bees on cocaine tend to exaggerate. more

Hormones increase frequency of inherited form of migraine in women

Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is an inherited form of severe migraine that is accompanied by visual disturbances known as aura. As with other types of migraine, it affects women more frequently than men. Most cases of FHM are caused by mutations in the CACNA1A gene, but whether these lead to spreading depression, the event in the brain that suppresses nerve cell activity and that has been linked to nongenetic forms of migraine with aura, has not been determined. more  

Potential autoimmunity-inducing cells found in healthy adults

It's not just patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that have self-attacking immune cells—healthy people have them too, according to a new report in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. In healthy adults, however, these cells are maintained in an 'off' state, perhaps explaining their innocuous nature. Whether these cells are the true predecessors of the self-attacking cells prevalent in lupus and RA and, if so, what prevents them from causing disease in everyone is not yet known. The new study will appear online on December 22nd. more

A new light on tumor immunotherapy for gastric cancer  

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) that both initiate and modulate the immune response. DCs are cells in the pathway of antigen capture and presentation to T cells, with the unique ability to directly prime naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers. Although gastric cancer therapy has made great progress, it is still difficult to treat advanced gastric cancer, as it has spread to the lymph glands and metastasized. Currently, tumor immunotherapy for gastric cancer has potential. DCs are believed to be essential for stimulating tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and inducing the protective and therapeutic anti-tumor immunity. more

Cold fingers and toes? It might be Raynaud’s  

When the temperature drops this winter, it’s normal to feel it most in your fingers, toes, ears and nose. But if your fingers and toes regularly turn bluish or white when the temperature dips even slightly, or if they often feel numb or painful or turn red and tingle when you’re stressed or cold, it may be a sign you have something called Raynaud’s disease. more

Researchers uncover gene for melanoma of the eye

If ever a cancer gene were discovered in the right place and at the right time, GNAQ may be it. The gene has been known for years but not linked to cancer. Now researchers say that it is mutated in patients with uveal melanoma and may be an important cause of this rare cancer, which arises from cells that give color to the eye. more

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