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Nurses Welcome News That Infection Rates Are Decreasing
Welcoming the publication of the National Audit Office report, Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections in Hospitals in England, Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said:
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Advanced Technologies Pump Growth Into European Cardiac Rhythm Management Market, Affirms Frost & Sullivan, UK
The incidence of cardiovascular disease is rising due to factors such as ageing, obesity, smoking and other cardiac ailments. Each year cardiovascular diseases cause over 4.3 million deaths, accounting for 48 per cent of all mortalities in Europe.
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Inflammatory Molecules Promote Liver Scarring
Scarring of the liver, which can progress to cirrhosis and/or cancer of the liver, is caused by persistent liver damage, such as occurs in those with untreated hepatitis C or alcoholism. Although such scarring (fibrosis) develops in an inflammatory environment, the role of inflammatory molecules has not been well defined. However, a team of researchers at Columbia University, New York, and UCSD, La Jolla, has established that the proteins CCR1 and CCR5 and the soluble inflammatory molecules that bind to them promote the development of liver fibrosis in mice.
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Could Hormones Explain Gender Differences In Neurological Disease?

Neurological diseases including Parkinson"s, Tourette"s, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer"s, and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter (DAT). Research published recently in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience suggests that a number of estrogens acting through their receptors affect the DAT, which may explain trends in timing of women"s susceptibility to these diseases. Rebecca Alyea and Cheryl Watson from the University of Texas Medical Branch investigated how physiological estrogen levels might influence neurochemical pathways including dopamine signalling. The authors tested the rapid nongenomic effects of several physiological estrogens (estradiol, estrone, and estriol) on dopamine efflux via the DAT in a non-transfected rat neuronal cell culture model that expresses the three membrane estrogen receptors ERí±, ERöź, and GPR30. The authors found that estradiol-mediated dopamine efflux is DAT-specific and not dependent on extracellular Ca2+-mediated vesicular release of dopamine. Using kinase inhibitors they also showed that estradiol-mediated dopamine efflux is dependent on specific signaling kinases (protein kinase C and MEK, but not on PI3K or protein kinase A). While inhibiting dopamine efflux, estrone and estriol caused DAT to leave the plasma membrane. Previous work by Alyea and Watson indicated that the suppression of efflux occurs mainly via ERí±, and in this new study they show a physical association of ERí± and ERöź with DAT before and during estrogen action, and trafficking of all three estrogen receptors in and out of the plasma membrane during dopamine efflux. "The significance of estrogen-coupled regulation of the DAT by both direct and indirect (kinase-mediated) interactions between estrogen receptors and the DAT should provide insights into how neurological diseases which involve the DAT are related to developmental, gender, and life stage issues," says Watson. "Such regulation may suggest new ideas about treatment and prevention of diseases associated with extreme hormonal fluctuations such as in postpartum depression." Women experience significant estrogen level changes at various life stages such as adolescence, menopause and as a result of monthly cycles. Women are also most likely to experience the onset or exacerbations of some neurological diseases at these times. Notes: Nongenomic mechanisms of physiological estrogen-mediated dopamine efflux Rebecca A Alyea and Cheryl S Watson BMC Neuroscience (in press) Article available at journal website: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcneurosci/. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central"s open access policy. Charlotte Webber BioMed Central


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