UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Appetite hormone works in two brain areas

LONDON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- British scientists have discovered that a major hormone regulating appetite in humans operates through two areas of the brain.

University College London researchers determined brain activity in the hypothalamus and the orbitofrontal cortex, measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, successfully predicted how much food would be eaten by the eight normal-weight men who participated in the study.

The men without food for 14 hours and then were given an intravenous dose of a hormone called peptide YY, or a placebo, while their brains were being scanned. The researchers then measured how much the men ate.

Each participant ate less after the peptide YY infusion. However, after the placebo, activity within the hypothalamus predicted how much the men ate. After the peptide YY infusion, brain activity within the orbitofrontal cortex predicted the amount eaten. Study leader Rachel Batterham, a clinician scientist for Britain's Medical Research Council at UCL, said the findings might lead to treatment for obesity, which she said is "one of the biggest health burdens western societies face today."

The study appears in the journal Nature.

NASA honors Apollo astronaut Donn Eisele

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The late U.S. astronaut Donn Eisele is to be honored with an "Ambassador of Exploration Award" for his work in the nation's space program.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will honor the late U.S. Air Force colonel by presenting the award to his widow, Susan Eisele-Black, during a Tuesday ceremony in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Eisele-Black selected the Broward County Library as the presentation site.

NASA is awarding Ambassador of Exploration awards to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America's vision of going to the moon.

The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. The moon rocks used for the awards are part of 842 pounds of samples collected during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972.

In 1968, Eisele was the command module pilot for the 11-day flight of Apollo VII with fellow astronauts Walter Schirra Jr. and Walter Cunningham. Cunningham is expected to attend Tuesday's ceremony, NASA said.

Tolerance of inhalant abuse may be genetic

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined genetic changes might cause some people who abuse inhalants, such as spray paint or glue, to develop a tolerance.

University of Texas at Austin biologists, led by graduate student Yan Wang, used the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model to determine how the nervous system becomes tolerant to sedation with organic solvent inhalants.

"Drug tolerance causes the user to consume more of the drug, speeding them down the path of addiction," said Associate Professor Nigel Atkinson, who supervised the study.

The researchers said their findings are the first to show a single drug experience alters the response of an animal to future doses by epigenetically modifying a single gene. They said that lays the groundwork for understanding mechanisms of inhalant addiction in humans and possibly the development of methods of treatment and recovery.

Also, since the effects of organic solvent inhalants and alcohol on animals are similar, the research might also be relevant to understanding the response of the brain to alcohol, the scientists said.

The research is reported in the journal PLoS-Biology.

FDA OKs urinary infection injectable drug

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval Thursday of doripenem (Doribax) injections for the treatment of complex urinary tract infections.

The 500 mg intravenous infusion, also used to treat intra-abdominal infections, have been shown to be active against several strains of bacteria, the FDA said.

"This is a significant new drug in the treatment of hospitalized patients with serious bacterial infections," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for scientific and medical programs.

Officials said doripenem, in several multi-center, multinational studies, was shown to have a cure rate comparable to the currently prescribed medications levofloxacin, used for complicated urinary tract infections, and meropenem, indicated for complicated intra-abdominal infections.

However, the FDA said the safety and effectiveness of doripenem injection in pediatric patients and pregnant women has not been established.

Doripenem injection is manufactured under the brand name Doribax by Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development LLC of Raritan, N.J.