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Bicycle Helmet Laws For Kids Effective But Not Yet The Norm
Studies have shown wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle reduces one"s risk of death by more than 50 percent, yet every three days, a child in the United States is killed while riding a bicycle, and every day at least 100 children are treated in emergency rooms due to bicycle-related head injuries.

New Advances On The Long Road To The Development Of An AIDS Vaccine
AIDS Vaccine Day, May 18, marks the occasion in 1997 when U.S. President Bill Clinton challenged researchers to come up with an AIDS vaccine within the following decade, stating that such a vaccine was the only way to eliminate the threat of AIDS. Twelve years later, the goal of an effective HIV vaccine remains unfulfilled, but the need for one remains urgent. AIDS is the number four killer in the world and number one in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite education and prevention campaigns, every day 7,500 people become infected with HIV. Antiretroviral drugs can prolong the lives of those who are infected, but they are not cures, and because of their cost and logistical difficulties, they reach only a minority of those who need them. And for every two individuals who go on antiretroviral treatment, five become HIV infected. As with any major viral pandemic, a vaccine remains the best hope of ending, and not just mitigating, AIDS.
News of the day
Promising Results With Aleglitazar, A New Treatment Drug For Type 2 Diabetes (SYNCHRONY Study)
The results from the phase II SYNCHRONY study are published in an article Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet. At the same time, the findings are presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans, USA. They suggest that aleglitazar, a treatment for type 2 diabetes, might be safe and effective and may perhaps be introduced into phase III trials.
Medical Devices

New Control System Of The Body Discovered - Important Modulator Of Immune Cell Entry Into The Brain - Perhaps New Target For The Therapy

Researchers in Berlin, Germany have ameliorated inflammation of the brain in mice caused by immune cells. A receptor they discovered on the surface of T cells in the central nervous system (CNS) plays the key role. The researchers showed that this bradykinin receptor 1 (B1) controls the infiltration of immune cells into the CNS. When they activated B1 in mice with encephalitis, they were able to slow down the crossing of the immune cells through the blood-brain-barrier into the CNS. As a result, the inflammation markedly decreased. The work by Dr. Ulf Schulze-Topphoff, Prof. Orhan Aktas, and Professor Frauke Zipp (Cecilie Vogt-Clinic, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and NeuroCure Research Center) together with researchers in Canada and the USA may unveil a new target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) (Nature Medicine, doi 10.1038/nm.1980)*. It has been known for a long time that T cells can attack the body"s own structures and, if they infiltrate the CNS, cause diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The T cells damage the myelin sheath, the material that surrounds and protects the fibers of nerve cells. This damage slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body, leading to various symptoms of MS such as impaired movements. The molecular analysis of damaged tissue from patients with MS led the researchers to the B1-receptor. The data they evaluated showed that two different pathways known to play a crucial role in the cardiovascular area also seem to play an important role in the CNS: namely, the renin-angiotensin-system, and the kallikrein-kinin-system, the latter of which the researchers in Berlin put their focus on. The B1-receptor is part of the kallikrein-kinin-system. Together with Professor Alexandre Prat from the Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, and Professor Lawrence Steinman from Stanford University in Stanford, California, USA, the researchers in Berlin detected the B1-receptor on T cells of MS patients as well as on T cells of mice with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. The disease got worse in those mice that lacked B1 on their T cells. Therefore, using a certain substance (Sar-[D-Phe]desArg9-bradykinin), they activated the receptor in mice which had B1 on their T cells. As a result, the entry of T cells into the CNS slowed down and the clinical symptoms of the inflammation markedly decreased. "We have discovered a control mechanism, which reduces inflammation caused by the immune system" neurologist and MDC research group leader Professor Zipp explains. "It remains to be seen if we succeed in developing a new therapy for chronic inflammation in the CNS, such as MS, in the future." *Activation of kinin receptor B1 limits encephalitogenic T lymphocyte recruitment to the central nervous system Ulf Schulze-Topphoff1, Alexandre Prat2, Timour Prozorovski1Âý, Volker Siffrin1, Magdalena Paterka1, Josephine Herz1, Ivo Bendix1, Igal Ifergan2, Ines Schadock3, Marcelo A. Mori3, Jack Van Horssen2, Friederike Schröter1#, May Htwe Han4, Michael Bader3,Lawrence Steinman4, Orhan Aktas1Âý* & Frauke Zipp1* (1) Cecilie Vogt Clinic, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine and NeuroCure Research Center, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany (2) Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory, CHUM - Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada (3) Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany (4) Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA * OA and FZ contributed equally to this work Barbara Bachtler Press and Public Affairs Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch Robert-Rössle-StraÃÿe 10; 13125 Berlin; Germany


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