Natural killer cells_islet cell transplants

there are 2 big problems in islet cell transplants for curing (see the word CURE)diabetes .
1) lack of sufficent donor islet cells .
2)destruction of transplanted cells.
may be we are finding ways and means of combating the second problem

It is a proud moment for us to see an Indian (NAGENDRA SINGE) working with the japanese in USA

The natural killer T-cell ligand -galactosylceramideprevents autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice
SEOKMANN HONG1, MICHAEL T. WILSON1, ISAO SERIZAWA2, LAN WU3, NAGENDRA SINGH1,
OLGA V. NAIDENKO4, TORU MIURA2, TOMOKU HABA2, DAVID C. SCHERER1, JIE WEI1,
MITCHELL KRONENBERG4, YASUHIKO KOEZUKA2 & LUC VAN KAER1
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
2Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory, Kirin Brewery Co, Ltd., Gunma, Japan
3Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
4La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego, California, USA
S.H., M.T.W. and I.S. contributed equally to this study.
Correspondence should be addressed to L.V.K.; e-mail: vankael@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu

base on this .
the same chemical is found to help protect transplanted islet cells .
Discovery Could Boost Type 1 Diabetes Care
Researchers spot key player in success of transplanted insulin-producing cells
TUESDAY, Sept. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The survival of transplanted insulin-producing cells is improved when activation of "natural killer T" immune cells is blocked, Japanese researchers report.
They believe the finding could help boost the effectiveness of islet cell transplants for the treatment of insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes. This form of the disease (affecting about 5 percent of diabetics) is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas by the body's own immune T-cells.
Transplantation of these "islet cells" requires patientto continue lifelong immunosuppression therapy.Even with immunosuppression treatment, up to half the transplanted islet cells are quickly destroyed by the patient's own T-cells, however.
In their research with mice, the Japanese team showed that natural killer T (NTK) cells instigate this rapid destruction of transplanted islet cells. When the NKT cells become activated -- most likely in response to the stress of the transplant procedure -- they produce an inflammatory molecule called interferon (IFN)-gamma.
It's this molecule that helps activate immune T-cells to destroy islet cells, the researchers report in the Oct. 3 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Transplanted islet cells survived in mice that lacked NKT cells or were unable to produce IFN-gamma, the researchers found. They also found that multiple doses of the drug alpha-galactosylceramide caused NKT cells to produce less IFN-gamma. Decreased production of IFN-gamma greatly improved the survival of transplanted islet cells, the study found.
According to the Japanese team, multiple doses of the drug -- currently in human clinical trials -- may help prevent the early loss of transplanted islet cells in humans.


In an extension of the same anology
this same chemical may prove to be useful in preventing rejection of other transplanted organs .

getting serious about telugu Diabetes educational site

Ihave been collecting content for the last 1 year to stsart this web site but hasnt had enough spare time to up load articles

it will be set up at daibetiisu.com
unless we educate evry one about theses diseases and how to take care of them properly we are going to see a major portion of GDP of India being wasted on treating complications and in wasted man hours .

broadband?slowband?

if you thought you ordered DSL and think you will have service mayb in 24 or 48 hours with Verizon ,you wont hear anything from them for one week and after a week when you try to call the elusive customer service number,you will spend 2 hours before hearing it will be 1 week more before the service may start?
talk of customer disservice .
would verizon say this upfront NO!
wish I could find the fellow who wrote the advt and wring his neck .

the "PROPHESY" of general Satish Nambiar

in 1999 general satish nambiar who was the first UN force commander wrote teh following
"The United Nations has been made totally redundant, ineffective, and
impotent. The Western world, led by the USA, will lay down the moral
values that the rest of the world must adhere to; it does not matter
that they themselves do not adhere to the same values when it does not
suit them. National sovereignty and territorial integrity have no
sanctity. And finally, secessionist movements, which often start wit
terrorist activity, will get greater encouragement. One can only hope
that good sense will prevail, hopefully sooner rather than later"

so which soverign nation is next on US list to be attacked ?
IRAN ?North Korea? SYRIA ?Uzbekistan ?

I think no one else was as prophetic as Gen Nambiar.
I dont know if he wrote any thing about the ongoing IRAQ DRAMA .

superjumbo_BOEING IS GOING TO EAT ITS WORDS

read to day the following
Yesterday the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, made its first flight which lasted about 4 hours.

The A380 took off from and landed inToulouse, France with about 30,000 people watching.

Airbus rival, Boeing acknowledges the accomplishment Airbus has made, but doesn't see the A380 as very practical.

It is ''a very large airplane for a very small market,'' said Boeing spokesman Jim Condelles.

''First flights are always very interesting and exciting. It's an engineering accomplishment that Airbus should be very proud of,'' he added. ''We just don't see a market for 1,250 of these airplanes over the next 20 years.''

A Chicago Sun-Times article says, "Condelles was referring to Airbus' global market forecast for very large jets. Boeing sees demand for just 400 jets with 450 seats or more. If Airbus is right, it could enjoy a near-monopoly in that market while Boeing scrambles to produce a competitor."

The A380 will only fly into 25 airports at first, but that number will grow over the next 20 years.

Airbus has received orders for 154 of the planes so far. No American carriers have ordered any.

will it be another concorde airplane which was a technical marvel but acommercial disaster .
or will it be a fuel efficient machine and the only one to fly in the future with the way oil prices are soaring .

MY BET IS THIS TIME BOEING IS GOING TO EAT ITS WORDS>

Deadly flu virus

Apr 16, 2005, 13:45



"The World Health Organization says two samples of a deadly flu virus shipped to Mexico and Lebanon remain unaccounted for.

The virus, known as H2N2 , a strain of "Asian Flu," responsible for up to 4 million deaths worldwide in 1957 was shipped to 18 nations in the form of test kits, numbering close to 5000.

WHO influenza expert, Klaus Stohr, said the specimens were never received in Lebanon and Mexico, despite being on the distribution list.

The test kits containing the virus, distributed by Ohio's Meridian Bioscience Inc., were designed to test the ability of labs to identify virus strains."

the question no one seems to be asking is how come such a deadly viral specimen were stored by
"meridian Bioscience "?

what other deadly viruses are stored by different bio companies all over the world and specially in USA ?

what about ebola does CDC have any guidelines rules and precautions for such viral research ?

oxytocin and orgasm _yawning

Oxytocin receptor antagonists prevent apomorphine induced yawning .(orgasm )this suggests that dopamine (d3) receptor agonists induce yawning (erection/orgasm )by activating oxytocinergic neurons .

anxiety, drug abuse, sexual dysfunctions, eating disorders, or autism. treatment of theses disorders may be improved by elucidating all the neuropeptide actions of oxytocin .
the normal milk lettig reflex which is essentially breast/nipple stimulation causing oxytocin release and contraction of smooth muscle may be a reflex acting in female orgasm .
is this one of the rerasons for orgasms in breast stimulated women ?