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Researchers have found that molecules in vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower help to maintain a healthy barrier in the lung and ease infection. The AHR—aryl hydrocarbon receptor—is a protein found at barrier sites like the gut and the lung. Natural molecules in cruciferous vegetables—for example, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, or cabbage—are dietary 'ligands' for AHR, which means, once eaten, they activate AHR. This research now shows that AHR is highly active in endothelial cells lining blood vessels in the lung. The researchers conducted a series of experiments in mice to show how AHR impacts lung barriers. When mice were infected with...

Not just the eating but also the actual position of “couch potatoes” is harmful, new research shows. It has been known for some time that people who watch hours of TV a day tend to be at higher risk of becoming overweight or obese. The connection was thought to be because of munching junk food while watching. But Tel Aviv University researchers have found that not just the eating but also the actual position of “couch potatoes” is harmful. Being stretched out in front of the TV is considered to be “active inactivity” and causes viewers to gain weight. Such...

New findings from a landmark research study led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) -- a collaborative program between Scripps Health and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) -- shows a promising new blood test may be useful in helping doctors predict who is at risk for an imminent heart attack. Results of the study, titled "Characterization of Circulating Endothelial Cells in Acute Myocardial Infarction," were published this week in Science Translational Medicine. The study concludes that circulating endothelial cells (CEC) from heart attack patients were abnormally large and misshapen and often appeared with multiple nuclei, which indicates that CECs are...

Promises broad clinical benefits, from bone marrow transplantation to therapies for heart, brain, skin and lungsNEW YORK (March 4, 2010) -- In a leap toward making stem cell therapy widely available, researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that endothelial cells, the most basic building blocks of the vascular system, produce growth factors that can grow copious amounts of adult stem cells and their progeny over the course of weeks. Until now, adult stem cell cultures would die within four or five days despite best efforts to grow them. "This is groundbreaking research...