News Releases - March 2012 Archives

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A recent Mayo Clinic study on yips, a condition that has baffled golfers and scientists for decades, will be a featured presentation ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic and partners from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Pharmacy, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and NeuroVista Corporation have been awarded a $7.5 million grant (U01) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research involves studying new ways to predict and control epileptic seizures in dogs and people. VIDEO ALERT: Journalists: video of a canine seizure is available at the Mayo Clinic News Blog. Epilepsy affects approximately 1 percent of the human population, with an estimated 50 million people worldwide currently suffering from the disorder. The hallmark of epilepsy is the seizure — a sudden and often violent event that strikes patients without warning. The goal of the research is to use information gleaned from real-time electroencephalograms (EEG) to consistently detect impending seizures, and develop methods of preventing these seizures through use of fast-acting drug therapies. The grant awards $1.5 million a year for up to five years. The principal investigators of the studies are Greg Worrell, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic; Ned Patterson, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine; Jim Cloyd, Pharm.D., University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy; Charles Vite, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine; Brian Litt, M.D., Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and Kent Leyde, chief technology officer of NeuroVista Corporation of Seattle, Washington. NeuroVista, a Seattle based company developing novel technologies for the management and treatment of epilepsy, has developed an implantable device system that continuously collects and analyzes EEG data to detect impending seizures. The system uses an external patient-carried device with a very simple interface—three colored lights—to indicate the risk of an impending seizure to the patient. The system is currently undergoing study in clinical trials in human patients being conducted in Australia. The NIH-funded research will involve applying the NeuroVista technology to dogs with naturally occurring epilepsy, and extending the technology by using it to guide the administration of fast-acting drugs to prevent seizures. It is hoped that this work will translate to a similar solution for human patients.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic today announced that Mayo Medical Laboratories has signed an agreement with A&G Pharmaceutical, Inc. and will receive a non-exclusive license to certain patent rights and proprietary antibody reagents for the detection and measurement of progranulin in blood. This agreement will let Mayo Clinic offer the first commercial blood test to predict progranulin mutation status in patients suspected to have frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The blood test will be available in late 2012 for all Mayo Clinic patients and will be offered through Mayo Medical Laboratories to hospitals and clinics worldwide. FTD accounts for at least 5 to 10 percent of dementia cases. It is common among patients with early-onset dementia. FTD affects the brain's frontal lobe, which regulates behavior, movement, mood and language. Most FTD patients are diagnosed when they show changes in personality, loss of memory and ability to use language. In 2006, researchers at Mayo Clinic published research in Nature that found the mutation of the progranulin gene (PGRN) causes a reduction of the protein progranulin in the brain. Along with other changes, this leads to neuronal death and atrophy of the frontal lobes of the brain, ultimately leading to dementia. Genetic testing is available to find the mutation, but it is costly. In 2009, Mayo Clinic researcher Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D., and colleagues discovered that FTD patients with PGRN mutations showed a reduction in blood progranulin levels compared to controls and FTD patients without PGRN mutations. Based on these findings and using A&G's proprietary antibody reagents, Mayo researchers developed an easy-to-use, cost-effective blood test for measuring the level of progranulin. "The progranulin blood test provides an inexpensive tool to identify progranulin mutation carriers in patients with early-onset dementia or asymptomatic relatives of FTD patients," says Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich, Ph.D., assistant professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic. Dr. Ginette Serrero, CEO of A&G Pharmaceutical, states, "A&G has pioneered and patented research investigating expression of progranulin in breast cancer and lung cancer. Research has shown that breast cancer patients have an elevated level of progranulin when compared to healthy individuals. We are delighted that our clinical studies with breast cancer patients and development of progranulin antibodies and assays also will help FTD patients."

MINNEAPOLIS — Researchers from the University of Minnesota (U of M) in Minneapolis and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have been awarded $1.35 million by ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Center for Humanities in Medicine invites the public to attend a free concert by jazz ensemble RDW Trio. WHAT: ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Mayo Clinic's Cardiorenal Research Laboratory to conduct a highly innovative research project, "Cardiovascular Peptides and Myocardial Infarction." The research will seek to further understand the potential of a novel, engineered guanylyl cyclase (GC) activator, cenderitide, to reduce the level of cardiac and renal injury following a myocardial infarction, or heart attack. Researchers will try to determine whether the therapy could help prevent deterioration of cardiac and renal function following a heart attack, and potentially reduce further heart failure in the future in treated patients. Mayo researchers invented cenderitide to activate two different subtypes of GC receptors, which uniquely differentiates cenderitide from other GC stimulating peptides. Cenderitide, a designer peptide derived from the venom of the green mamba snake, may aid in the preservation of cardiac and renal function following serious cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and acute decompensated heart failure. At the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in November 2011, Fernando Martin, M.D., a research fellow in the Cardiorenal Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, presented key research data demonstrating the ability of cenderitide to prevent the death of heart cells. The NHLBI grant will support basic research in the laboratory and a small proof-of-concept clinical study. Mayo plans to enroll 60 patients into the study at Mayo Clinic sites in Rochester, Minn., and Jacksonville, Fla. The endpoints of the study include safety, 30-day cardiac function, circulating hormones levels and other cardiorenal biomarkers. To learn more about the clinical study, physicians can call 507-284-4838.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers have identified a gene that causes adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, an often-painful condition in which patients' necks twist involuntarily. The discovery by a team from the Jacksonville, Fla., campus of Mayo Clinic and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center sheds light on a movement disorder that physicians previously could seldom explain. Their research appears in the Annals of Neurology. In 1990, a man with a crooked neck came to see Ryan Uitti, M.D., a neurologist then at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Uitti knew about adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, which results in involuntary twisting of the neck to the left or right, backward or forward. Most people who have it suffer from muscle pain and abnormalities in head position. Some don't think it is all that unusual and may not seek medical help, Dr. Uitti says. "They think they slept wrong at some point, or, because the twisting might straighten out with another maneuver, such as walking backwards, they might actually be accused of being a little crazy," Dr. Uitti says. Dr. Uitti had been taught that there is usually no explanation for the disorder, when it shows up in adulthood. But working with a team of neurologists who have found the genetic causes of other rare conditions, Dr. Uitti began to investigate.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center today announced the sports physicals schedule for high school athletes wishing to participate in athletic programs. The physicals will be performed from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday, March 3 at the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, Charlton Building, Desk LC. The cost of the exam is $20 per student. No appointments are necessary. Staff includes physicians and residents from Mayo's Departments of Orthopedic Surgery, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. In addition, athletic trainers and physical therapists provide assistance during the exams. Participating schools are: Century, Lourdes, John Marshall, and Mayo High Schools; Schaeffer Academy, John Adams, Kellogg, Willow Creek, and Friedell Middle Schools; Byron, Cannon Falls, Chatfield, Dover-Eyota, Fillmore Central, Goodhue, Grand Meadow, Hayfield, Kasson-Mantorville, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Kingsland, Lanesboro, LeRoy-Ostrander, Lewiston-Altura, Pine Island, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Randolph, St. Charles, Southland, Stewartville, Triton, and Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers will present findings on childhood allergies and asthma at the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting, held March 2–6 in Orlando, Fla. The AAAAI event brings together allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists and allied health professionals worldwide who have a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic and immunologic diseases. Mayo Clinic studies that will be presented and their embargo dates include: Mayo Clinic Finds Asthma Increases the Risk of Shingles in Children American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting ROCHESTER, Minn. — Children with asthma face a higher risk of developing shingles from the herpes zoster virus, new research from Mayo Clinic found. There are an estimated 1 million cases of herpes zoster virus infections in the United States each year, and the virus frequently affects men and women 60 and older. "It had previously been unknown whether asthma status poses an increased risk of shingles among children," says lead author Young Juhn, M.D., a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic Children's Center. "These results suggest that asthma significantly increases the risk for shingles in children."