Sunday, June 26, 2011

Case Report : Massive uterine leiomyoma in a patient with Friedreich’s ataxia: Is there a possible association?

Case Reports in Medicine, Received 26 May 2011; Accepted 24 June 2011

Evangelos Misiakos, Elli Siama, Dimitrios Schizas, Constantinos Petropoulos, Nick Zavras, Nikos Economopoulos, Alexandros Charalabopoulos, and Anastasios N. Macheras
University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.

KEYWORDS: Friedreich’s ataxia, leiomyoma, intestinal obstruction, tumor excision, adhesionlysis, "neoplasms uncommon for their young age".

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Echocardiography: A Requisite Friend of the Cardiac Geneticist

Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography
Volume 24, Issue 7 , Pages 790-791, July 2011

Keywords: role of echocardiography in the early detection, frataxin, Friedreich's ataxia, noninvasive application.

To Be Targeted: Is the Magic Bullet Concept a Viable Option for Synthetic Nucleic Acid Therapeutics?

Human Gene Therapy. Ahead of print. doi:10.1089/hum.2011.065.

Manfred Ogris and Ernst Wagner.
Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich 81377, Germany.

Keywords: Nucleic acids, genetic disorders, infectious diseases, cancer, viral vectors, synthetic delivery systems, receptor targeting of synthetic vectors, improve the specificity, increase the efficiency of nucleic acid delivery.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Correlation of frataxin content in blood and skeletal muscle endorses frataxin as a biomarker in Friedreich ataxia

Movement Disorders, 26: n/a. doi: 10.1002/mds.23789
Article first published online: 20 JUN 2011

Nachbauer, W., Wanschitz, J., Steinkellner, H., Eigentler, A., Sturm, B., Hufler, K., Scheiber-Mojdehkar, B., Poewe, W., Reindl, M. and Boesch, S

Keywords: Friedreich ataxia; frataxin; skeletal muscle; erythropoietin

Brain Implant Uses The Body's Skin Like A Conductor To Wirelessly Transmit The Brain's Neural Signals To Control A Computer

Medical News Today, Article Date: 17 Jun 2011
A brain implant developed at the University of Michigan uses the body's skin like a conductor to wirelessly transmit the brain's neural signals to control a computer, and may eventually be used to reactivate paralyzed limbs. Read more ....

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Pricing and reimbursement of orphan drugs: the need for more transparency

Steven Simoens
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2011, 6:42doi:10.1186/1750-1172-6-42
Published: 17 June 2011

OPEN ACCES

Abstract (provisional)

Pricing and reimbursement of orphan drugs are an issue of high priority for policy makers, legislators, health care professionals, industry leaders, academics and patients. This study aims to conduct a literature review to provide insight into the drivers of orphan drug pricing and reimbursement. Although orphan drug pricing follows the same economic logic as drug pricing in general, the monopolistic power of orphan drugs results in high prices: a) orphan drugs benefit from a period of marketing exclusivity; b) few alternative health technologies are available; c) third-party payers and patients have limited negotiating power; d) manufacturers attempt to maximise orphan drug prices within the constraints of domestic pricing and reimbursement policies; and e) substantial R&D costs need to be recouped from a small number of patients. Although these conditions apply to some orphan drugs, they do not apply to all orphan drugs. Indeed, the small number of patients treated with an orphan drug and the limited economic viability of orphan drugs can be questioned in a number of cases. Additionally, manufacturers have an incentive to game the system by artificially creating monopolistic market conditions. Given their high price for an often modest effectiveness, orphan drugs are unlikely to provide value for money. However, additional criteria are used to inform reimbursement decisions in some countries. These criteria may include: the seriousness of the disease; the availability of other therapies to treat the disease; and the cost to the patient if the medicine is not reimbursed. Therefore, the maximum cost per unit of outcome that a health care payer is willing to pay for a drug could be set higher for orphan drugs to which society attaches a high social value. There is a need for a transparent and evidence-based approach towards orphan drug pricing and reimbursement. Such an approach should be targeted at demonstrating the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and economic viability of orphan drugs with a view to informing pricing and reimbursement decisions.

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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Neurodegeneration in friedreich's ataxia is associated with a mixed activation pattern of the brain. A fMRI study.

Hum Brain Mapp. 2011 Jun 14. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21319. [Epub ahead of print]

Ginestroni A, Diciotti S, Cecchi P, Pesaresi I, Tessa C, Giannelli M, Nave RD, Salvatore E, Salvi F, Dotti MT, Piacentini S, Soricelli A, Cosottini M, De Stefano N, Mascalchi M.
Department of Clinical Physiopathology, Radiodiagnostic Section, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Keywords: Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), neurodegeneration, spinal cord, brain, MR Imaging (fMRI), left primary sensory-motor cortex, right cerebellum, left thalamus, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, globus pallidus, anterior cingulum, globus pallidus, regional neuronal damage, compensatory significance.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Friedreich’s ataxia variants I154F and W155R diminish frataxin-based activation of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly complex

Biochemistry, Just Accepted Manuscript, DOI: 10.1021/bi200666h
Publication Date (Web): June 14, 2011

Chi-Lin Tsai , Jennifer Bridwell-Rabb , and David P. Barondeau

Keywords: Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), frataxin (Fxn), GAA expansion, missense mutation, FRDA I154F, W155R variants, Nfs1, Isd11, Isu2, Fe-S cluster assembly machine, Fxn triggers sulfur transfer from Nfs1 to Isu.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

New project: Identification of the E3 ligase that ubiquitinates frataxin

Principal researcher: Dr Roberto Testi, Department of Experimental Medicine,
University of Rome, ‘Tor Vergata,’ Italy

Keywods: frataxin, ubiquitin-proteasome system, ubiquitination, E3 ligase.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Sherman ku PhD working with friedreich's ataxia and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)

Sigma bioblogs (3 Jun 2011)
Sherman Ku PhD interview
The Scripps Research Institute, Member of the Gottesfeld Lab

What is the focus of your research?
My research has focused on developing an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) model of Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), which is ..... read more....