http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A new comprehensive review by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and the University of Cambridge, England provides vital insights into the neurological basis of addiction by investigating Parkinson's disease patients, who in some instances develop various addictions when undergoing medical treatment. The review, published in this week's (February 25) issue of the scientific journal Neuron, illustrates that persistently elevated levels of dopamine in the brain promote the development and maintenance of addictive behaviours. http://www.physorg.com/news154787820.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:37:49 EST news154787820 By blocking PD-1 (programmed death-1), an immune receptor molecule known to inhibit the immune response to chronic viral infections, scientists have safely and significantly reduced the plasma viral load and also prolonged survival of rhesus macaque monkeys severely infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the nonhuman primate version of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The therapeutic strategy worked by boosting the function of anti-viral killer cells (CD8 T cells) and improving antibody response to the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news148138372.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:32:52 EST news148138372 Molecular targets identified by a Spanish research team may hold the key to freedom for some sufferers of kidney disease. A new study published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), dmm.biologists.org, reveals the cellular signals which cause one treatment for kidney failure to lose its usefulness over time. http://www.physorg.com/news144393448.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:17:28 EST news144393448 The level of PD-1 expression has been proved by recent studies to be positively correlated with the extent of HBV-specific T cell impairments. However, the degree of T cell exhaustion which affects the disease statuses of hepatitis B patients has so far been only evaluated in restricted and small groups of patients between those with established chronicity and subjects with acute HBV infection. Besides, whether levels of PD-1 expression on T cells differ between acute exacerbation of hepatitis B and chronic HBV infected patients is still unknown. http://www.physorg.com/news143205045.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:10:45 EST news143205045 In battles against chronic infections, the body's key immune cells often become exhausted and ineffective. Researchers at The Wistar Institute have found a way to restore vigor to these killer T cells by blocking a key receptor on their surface, findings that may advance the development of new therapies for diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, and cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news140715558.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:39:18 EST news140715558 Parkinson disease (PD) is a debilitating and lethal neurodegenerative disease, for which there is currently no cure. It is caused by the progressive loss of nerve cells that produce the chemical dopamine and is characterized by the accumulation of abnormal aggregates of a protein called alpha-syn in these dopaminergic nerve cells. http://www.physorg.com/news137953299.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:21:39 EST news137953299