News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

Researchers have developed a quality control method to evaluate the pharmacological activity and potential effectiveness of different preparations of the therapeutic agent methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD).

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds beta blockers are not needed after a heart attack if heart-attack survivors are taking ACE inhibitors and statins. The study is the first to challenge the current clinical guideline that heart-attack survivors should take all three drugs -- beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins -- for the rest of their lives.

Researchers at Houston Methodist have solved a 100-year-old mystery, providing them a possible key to unlock a pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria. Muthiah Kumaraswami and his team at Houston Methodist Research Institute found a critical target on which to focus for developing a potential Group A Streptococcus vaccine or antibiotic to fight it. By manipulating this target, they hope to either reduce the severity of these infections or clear them up faster.

MIT engineers have developed a new 3-D fabrication method that can create a new type of drug-carrying particle that could allow several doses of a drug or vaccine to be delivered over an extended time period with just one injection.

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine's September supplement shines a spotlight on theranostics and its increasingly important role in delivering precision medicine. Theranostics refers to the combination of a predictive biomarker, identified through diagnostic imaging using radiolabeled ligands (which lock onto the specific cancer cell receptor/biomarker), with precise therapy targeted on the now-marked cancer cells. The cancer cells are destroyed, while healthy cells are unharmed -- minimizing side effects and improving quality of life for patients.

A UK charity backs a pioneering new project to prevent childhood deafness following treatment with life-saving cancer drugs.