Breakthrough genetic procedure could treat birth defects in embryos

Researchers say they've made a breakthrough in gene editing. For the first time, researchers have successfully repaired a genetic mutation in human embryos, which has the potential to prevent a birth defect. CBS chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook weighs in.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/breakthrough-genetic-procedure-could-treat-birth-defects-in-embryos/

Sessions announces new DOJ opioid fraud and abuse detection unit

Sessions announced new efforts to combat ongoing opioid crisis in Ohio

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sessions-announces-new-doj-opioid-fraud-and-abuse-detection-unit/

Gene editing fixes harmful mutation in human embryos

Researchers say the first successful experiment is a big step toward one day preventing a list of inherited diseases

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gene-editing-crispr-fixes-dangerous-mutation-in-human-embryos/

Geneticists Repair Mutation in Human Embryo

In 'first-of-its kind' procedure, scientists converted to normal a mutant gene involved in heart threat

From: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20170802/geneticists-repair-mutation-in-human-embryo?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Scientists Track Cells That Spur Allergies

Screening for certain immune cells might help doctors assess reactions to treatment, researchers say

From: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/20170802/scientists-track-cells-that-spur-allergies?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Committee chair sought for instruments-related standards development

The ADA Standards Committee on Dental Products is seeking a dental professional who knows a lot about or is interested in standards development and dental instruments to chair a subcommittee focused on dental instruments.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/committee-chair-sought-for-instruments-related-standards-development

Dr. Kathryn Kell to assume FDI presidency

According to Dr. Kathyrn Kell, residents of her home state have marvelous qualities.

From: By David Burger http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/dr-kathryn-kell-to-assume-fdi-presidency

Shortage of primary care physicians could threaten patient care

How one medical school is working to address the shortage

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shortage-of-primary-care-physicians-could-threaten-patient-care/

Shortage of primary care doctors could threaten care

A medical school in Connecticut is doing its best to reverse a shortage of doctors in some critical fields. CBS News' Kenneth Craig reports.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/shortage-of-primary-care-doctors-could-threaten-care/

Florida Confirms Sexually Transmitted Zika Case

It's the first confirmed case in Florida in 2017.

From: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20170802/florida-confirms-sexually-transmitted-zika-case?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Wellness Wednesday: Dynamic Lunge and Press

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_o_ebM835M

iPhone Cases Recalled; Liquid Inside Can Burn Skin

More than 260,000 cases recalled after two dozen cases of injuries reported worldwide.

From: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20170802/iphone-cases-recalled-liquid-inside-can-burn-skin?src=RSS_PUBLIC

ADA asks FDA to update OTC process

Washington — The ADA is asking the Food and Drug Administration to begin the public rulemaking process for updating several over-the-counter oral health drug products.

From: By Jennifer Garvin http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/august/ada-asks-fda-to-update-otc-process

Liquid glitter iPhone cases recalled over burns

The iPhone 6, 6s, and 7 cases were sold by retailers including Victoria's Secret, Nordstrom Rack and Amazon

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/liquid-glitter-iphone-cases-recalled-after-reports-of-burns/

Elderly doctor gets 10 years in opioid pill mill conspiracy

93-year-old Vegas doctor was accused of prescribing large amounts of drugs​ to people for no legitimate medical purpose

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vegas-doctor-gets-10-years-in-opioid-pill-mill-conspiracy/

iPhone Cases Recalled; Liquid Inside Can Burn Skin

More than 260,000 cases recalled after two dozen cases of injuries reported worldwide.

From: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20170802/iphone-cases-recalled-liquid-inside-can-burn-skin?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Mayo Clinic Minute: Cruciferous finds at the farmers market

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj6M0TVe6oM

Founders of Amy's Kitchen on inspiring the organic food movement

In our Real Food series, we explore the rise of the organic food industry. More people are willing to pay premium prices for food grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers despite the fact the science behind the purported health benefits remains unsettled. John Blackstone speaks to the founders of Amy's Kitchen, one of the pioneers of the organic food movement.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/founders-of-amys-kitchen-on-inspiring-the-organic-food-movement/

Making Mayo's Recipes: Butternut Squash Risotto

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo4b6sm-Fqs

Making Mayo's Recipes: 5 weekend tasks for healthy eating all week

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKHYPUAtJFY

Making Mayo's Recipes: Craving fried food? Bake instead!

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_EyKClGEt8

Making Mayo's Recipes: How to roast any vegetable

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ub0z6bzEg

Making Mayo's Recipes: Shrimp can save your weeknight dinners

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-PqsjCyhQM

Making Mayo's Recipes: Stock your freezer with homemade meatballs

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQeQdISL06A

Making Mayo's Recipes: Snack smarter with homemade hummus

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpcEyT0xxGA

Making Mayo's Recipes: How to make soup without a recipe

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTkgGJPNwIs

Making Mayo's Recipes: Make-ahead pancakes for busy school mornings

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xijsapxkgc

Making Mayo's Recipes: 5 meals you can freeze

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bidc4xiNhtI

Making Mayo's Recipes: 5 resons to plan for leftover chicken

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07B9O7PAF0

Making Mayo's Recipes: Cakes for dinner

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6ilcQQ1So

Making Mayo's Recipes: Upgrade classic potato dishes with cauliflower

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HcoRqHBBnc

Deadly accidents hitting older workers at higher clip than colleagues: AP

Trend happening even as rate of such accidents in general is declining, AP survey shows

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-workplace-accidents-hitting-older-workers-higher-rate-ap/

Senate Republicans turn the page on Obamacare repeal efforts

Many view bipartisan negotiations as their only viable option on health care and in the meantime, they'll shift toward tax reform

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-republicans-turn-the-page-on-obamacare-repeal-efforts/

The emerging role of mast cells in liver disease

The depth of our knowledge regarding mast cells has widened exponentially in the last 20 years. Once thought to be only important for allergy-mediated events, mast cells are now recognized to be important regulators of a number of pathological processes. The revelation that mast cells can influence organs, tissues, and cells has increased interest in mast cell research during liver disease. The purpose of this review is to refresh the reader’s knowledge of the development, type, and location of mast cells and to review recent work that demonstrates the role of hepatic mast cells during diseased states. This review focuses primarily on liver diseases and mast cells during autoimmune disease, hepatitis, fatty liver disease, liver cancer, and aging in the liver. Overall, these studies demonstrate the potential role of mast cells in disease progression.

From: Jarido, V., Kennedy, L., Hargrove, L., Demieville, J., Thomson, J., Stephenson, K., Francis, H. http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/2/G89?rss=1

Emerging concepts in biliary repair and fibrosis

Chronic diseases of the biliary tree (cholangiopathies) represent one of the major unmet needs in clinical hepatology and a significant knowledge gap in liver pathophysiology. The common theme in cholangiopathies is that the target of the disease is the biliary tree. After damage to the biliary epithelium, inflammatory changes stimulate a reparative response with proliferation of cholangiocytes and restoration of the biliary architecture, owing to the reactivation of a variety of morphogenetic signals. Chronic damage and inflammation will ultimately result in pathological repair with generation of biliary fibrosis and clinical progression of the disease. The hallmark of pathological biliary repair is the appearance of reactive ductular cells, a population of cholangiocyte-like epithelial cells of unclear and likely mixed origin that are able to orchestrate a complex process that involves a number of different cell types, under joint control of inflammatory and morphogenetic signals. Several questions remain open concerning the histogenesis of reactive ductular cells, their role in liver repair, their mechanism of activation, and the signals exchanged with the other cellular elements cooperating in the reparative process. This review contributes to the current debate by highlighting a number of new concepts derived from the study of the pathophysiology of chronic cholangiopathies, such as congenital hepatic fibrosis, biliary atresia, and Alagille syndrome.

From: Fabris, L., Spirli, C., Cadamuro, M., Fiorotto, R., Strazzabosco, M. http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/2/G102?rss=1

FFA2 activation combined with ulcerogenic COX inhibition induces duodenal mucosal injury via the 5-HT pathway in rats

Serotonin (5-HT), predominantly synthesized and released by enterochromaffin cells, is implicated in gastrointestinal symptoms such as emesis, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Because luminal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) release 5-HT from enterochromaffin cells, which express the SCFA receptor free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFA2) in rat duodenum, we examined the effects of the selective FFA2 agonist phenylacetamide-1 (PA1) on duodenal 5-HT release with consequent bicarbonate secretion [duodenal bicarbonate secretion (DBS)] and on indomethacin (IND)-induced enteropathy. Intestinal injury was induced by IND (10 mg/kg sc) with or without PA1. We measured DBS in vivo in a duodenal loop perfused with PA1 while measuring 5-HT released in the portal vein. Duodenal blood flow was measured by laser-Doppler flowmetry. IND induced small intestinal ulcers with duodenal sparing. PA1 given with IND (IND + PA1) dose dependently induced duodenal erosions. IND + PA1-induced duodenal lesions were inhibited by the FFA2 antagonist GLPG-0974, ondansetron, or omeprazole but not by RS-23597 or atropine. Luminal perfusion of PA1 augmented DBS accompanied by increased portal blood 5-HT concentrations with approximately eight times more release at 0.1 mM than at 1 µM, with the effects inhibited by coperfusion of GLPG-0974. Luminal PA1 at 1 µM increased, but at 0.1 mM diminished, duodenal blood flow. Cosuperfusion of PA1 (0.1 mM) decreased acid-induced hyperemia, further reduced by IND pretreatment but restored by ondansetron. These results suggest that, although FFA2 activation enhances duodenal mucosal defenses, FFA2 overactivation during ulcerogenic cyclooxygenase inhibition may increase the vulnerability of the duodenal mucosa to gastric acid via excessive 5-HT release and 5-HT₃ receptor activation, implicated in foregut-related symptoms such as emesis and epigastralgia.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Luminal free fatty acid receptor 2 agonists stimulate enterochromaffin cells and release serotonin, which enhances mucosal defenses in rat duodenum. However, overdriving serotonin release with high luminal concentrations of free fatty acid 2 ligands such as short-chain fatty acids injures the mucosa by decreasing mucosal blood flow. These results are likely implicated in serotonin-related dyspeptic symptom generation because of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which is hypothesized to generate excess SCFAs in the foregut, overdriving serotonin release from enterochromaffin cells.

From: Akiba, Y., Maruta, K., Narimatsu, K., Said, H., Kaji, I., Kuri, A., Iwamoto, K.-i., Kuwahara, A., Kaunitz, J. D. http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/2/G117?rss=1

A common NHE3 single-nucleotide polymorphism has normal function and sensitivity to regulatory ligands

Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger NHE3 mediates the majority of intestinal and renal electroneutral sodium absorption. Dysfunction of NHE3 is associated with a variety of diarrheal diseases. We previously reported that the NHE3 gene (SLC9A3) has more than 400 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) but few nonsynonymous polymorphisms. Among the latter, one polymorphism (rs2247114-G>A), which causes a substitution from arginine to cysteine at amino acid position 799 (p.R799C), is common in Asian populations. To improve our understanding of the population distribution and potential clinical significance of the NHE3-799C variant, we investigated the frequency of this polymorphism in different ethnic groups using bioinformatics analyses and in a cohort of Japanese patients with cardiovascular or renal disease. We also characterized the function of human NHE3-799C and its sensitivity to regulatory ligands in an in vitro model. NHE3-799C had an allele frequency of 29.5–57.6% in Asian populations, 11.1–23.6% in European populations, and 10.2–22.7% in African populations. PS120/FLAG-NHERF2 fibroblasts stably expressing NHE3-799C had lower total protein expression but a higher percentage of surface expression than those expressing NHE3-799R. NHE3-799C had similar basal activity to NHE3-799R and was similarly stimulated or inhibited, by serum or forskolin, respectively. Tenapanor, a small-molecule NHE3 inhibitor, dose-dependently inhibited NHE3-799R and NHE3-799C activities. The IC₅₀ values of tenapanor for NHE3-799C and NHE3-799R were significantly different, but both were in the nanomolar range. These results suggest that NHE3-799C is a common variant enriched in Asian populations, is not associated with compromised function or abnormal regulation, and is unlikely to contribute to clinical disease.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study reports results on the functional significance of human NHE3-799C under basal conditions and in response to regulatory ligands, including a novel NHE3 inhibitor called tenapanor. We demonstrate that NHE3-799C is a common variant of NHE3 that is enriched in Asian populations; however, in contrast to our previous studies using rabbit NHE3, its presence seems to have limited clinical significance in humans and is not associated with compromised function or abnormal transport regulation.

From: Yin, J., Tse, C.-M., Cha, B., Sarker, R., Zhu, X. C., Walentinsson, A., Greasley, P. J., Donowitz, M. http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/2/G129?rss=1