Super-sized Cisplatin molecule effective against cancer while being less toxic

Using chemistry and nanotechnology, researchers at Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital designed a super-sized Cisplatin molecule able to deliver toxic platinum atoms to tumors while proving nontoxic to kidneys.  The research was conducted on laboratory animals.
Cisplatin is a powerful anti-cancer drug used in first-line chemotherapy but with limited use because of its toxicity. The team designed a polymer what would bind to Cisplatin, making it wrap itself into a 100 nanometers ball, too large to enter the kidneys, lungs, liver and spleen.  Once the molecule reached the tumor it falls apart dumping its toxic load on the cancerous tissue.
The new compound has been found to be effective against lung and breast cancers and outperformed Cisplatin in a transgenic ovarian cancer model that mimics the disease in humans


source: http://www.healthyfeeds.com

Minocycline could be a cheap and safe treatment for stroke

Minocycline, an old anti-inflammatory drug, could be a safe and cheap treatment for stroke, with no adverse effects if the dose is between 200 and 700 milligrams. According to researchers from the Medical College of Georgia and the University of Georgia the drug is easy to administer and can be given with tPA.
Minocycline “is an old drug that has been studied extensively in healthy young people,” said Dr. Susan C. Fagan, professor of pharmacy at UGA, assistant dean for the MCG program of the UGA College of Pharmacy and the study’s first author. “Now that we know it’s also safe in a predominantly older stroke population, we can look more closely to identify the dose necessary to give us the pharmacologic effect we need.”
The early-stage clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health, opens the door to a much larger clinical trial assessing the antibiotic’s efficacy. The researchers are pursuing federal funding for a 2,000-patient international trial.

source: http://www.healthyfeeds.com