Atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, is a very common heart rhythm disturbance that increases the risk of stroke and death. It is usually treated with warfarin, where the dose is calculated by measuring the coagulation of the blood. The dose is increased if coagulation is too quick, and decreased if it is too slow. Patients with unsatisfactory samples are tested more frequently, while satisfactory samples mean that the test interval can be extended.
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have now devised a new method that improves the accuracy of risk assessment. In a study involving 20,000 patients in Sweden, a new measurement method was tested that assesses far more reliably who is at risk of serious complications and admission to hospital. The method takes into account how blood viscosity fluctuates and also takes account of the values’ extremes to establish far more reliably which patients are at risk of a stroke, haemorrhage or death. The new method improves the chances of understanding which patients are at risk of complications, and is therefore an indicator for stepping up checks and probably reducing the risks. It also helps in the decision to discontinue warfarin in favour of other drugs in at-risk patients.

Binding Site, the Birmingham-based healthcare manufacturer, develops and produces laboratory-based tests for the diagnosis and monitoring of blood cancers and immunodeficiency diseases. The company recently won the EEF Midlands Outstanding Export Award, sponsored by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), and will go on to compete in the National Awards final in January. The annual awards are hosted by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and recognise excellence in enterprise, innovation, environmental performance and skills development among UK manufacturers.
Binding Site’s export strategy has been developed and refined for more than ten years to become integral to all aspects of the business. Initially, the export initiative was led by the sales and marketing team, but as overseas expansion gathered pace, the company drew on the support of technical, R&D, HR and finance departments.As a result of this highly successful multi-disciplinary approach, Binding Site currently exports around 90% of its products, with the United States accounting for 47% of total sales. The judging panel, led by Cranfield University, praised Binding Site’s achievements, stating that it was extremely impressed by the challenging target market featured in the story, the United States. Despite tough regulations, Binding Site had broken through and was now experiencing progressive growth.

As well as announcing the launch of a new global diagnostics business unit at Medica last month, Avantor Performance Materials also announced the creation of a new diagnostics product brand: BeneSpheradiagnostics solutions, which will include a broad and expanding range of reliable, affordable diagnostic technologies and easy-to-use products, focused on three segments: in vitro reagents and instruments for clinical chemistry, immunology, haematology, microbiology, histology and cytology and genetic testing; instruments for in vivo diagnostics, currently sold under the Diagnova name in India; and consumables and instruments for life sciences research in academia, government and pharmaceutical labs, also currently sold under the Diagnova name in India.
At the moment Avantor’s performance diagnostics solutions include J.T.Baker clinical reagents, which have provided world-class solutions for haematology and histology applications for over 30 years, and BeneSphera diagnostics solutions built on Diagnova, the company’s Indian-based diagnostics business with a 25-year legacy offering products, engineering and application support for immunology, clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, endoscopy and life science needs.
Avantor’s plans are to grow the new global diagnostics business through organic development and the strategic acquisition of R&D-backed manufacturing and distribution companies in targeted locations to support a strong global brand and supply chain.

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute study results suggest that more patients than initially thought could potentially be treated with a new class of drugs, PARP inhibitors
A constellation of defective proteins suspected in causing a malfunction in the body’s ability to repair its own DNA could be the link scientists need to prove a new class of drugs will be effective in treating a broad range of ovarian cancer patients, an Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute study found.
These research results have prompted additional exploration into whether the patient population included in clinical trials for drugs that target the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) should be expanded. Several forms of cancer are more dependent on PARP for their growth than regular cells, which means that targeting these enzymes when they go haywire is a potentially effective way to treat ovarian cancer. Currently PARP inhibitors are being tested with patients who have two types of malfunctioning proteins, BRCA1 or BRCA2. But, the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute study of additional proteins, beyond BRCA proteins, suggests that they too are playing a role in driving ovarian cancer.
Tapping into the potential of PARP inhibitors could change the dynamics of ovarian cancer treatment. There has not been a substantial increase in treatment options for ovarian cancer in the past two decades, said Tanja Pejovic, M.D., Ph.D., gynaecologic oncologist at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. Pejovic, who led the study of these additional defective proteins, added that the results provide evidence that further research into the role of multiple proteins is warranted.
Only about 10 to 15 percent of women with ovarian cancer have BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations. Pejovic’s study of 186 patients with nonhereditary cancer found that 41 percent who had an early recurrence of the disease also had abnormal levels of the other proteins tracked. In contrast, only 19.5 percent of patients who hadn’t yet had a recurrence of the disease in three years had abnormal levels of these proteins.
‘If we are able to identify the proteins that differentiate these patients at risk for early recurrence, this would open up a new direction in ovarian cancer treatment,’ Pejovic said.
The study — which was supported by the Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer (SHOC) Foundation — focused on proteins that are supposed to assist cells in repairing harmful breaks in DNA strands, a process called homologous recombination (HR). The malfunctioning of HR is not well understood in ovarian cancers where there is no family history of the disease. However, there is evidence that these proteins influence a patient’s ability to respond to drugs and their survival rates after treatment. Oregon Health & Science University

‘The overactive bladder syndrome has become an accepted way to simplify a complex array of symptoms and leads people to believe that an overactive bladder is an independent disease in itself. However, the truth is not as simple as this, as there are usually several factors at work explaining the symptoms. This is also one of the reasons why so called overactive bladder medications often do not bring the hoped result,’ says Kari Tikkinen, MD, PhD, from the HUCS Department of Urology.
The article on overactive bladder syndrome, which was co-written by Tikkinen, who currently holds a senior researcher post at the McMaster University in Canada, and Anssi Auvinen, Professor of Epidemiology from the University of Tampere, was recently published. For the article, the researchers systematically reviewed the studies on overactive bladder and the channels through which these studies have been funded.
The authors argue that the symptoms of an ‘overactive bladder’ ought to be studied individually and not as an ambiguous constellation of symptoms. This way the underlying causes of the symptoms can be better understood and more effective treatments can be developed.
The expression ‘overactive bladder’ was coined at an industry-sponsored symposium held in 1997. The following year, the FDA approved the first drug for the treatment of ‘symptoms of overactive bladder’, after which the pharmaceutical industry launched high-profile, worldwide promotional campaigns for drugs aimed at treatment of the syndrome.
According to the current definition, overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is defined as the presence of urinary urgency with or without urgency incontinence, usually with increased daytime frequency and nocturia in the absence of infection or other obvious pathology.
‘The definition is vague and ambiguous because it includes unspecific terms, such as ‘usually’ and ‘with or without’, and the unclear expression ‘other obvious pathology’,’ Tikkinen says and continues, ‘For the pharmaceutical industry this definition is probably quite useful, as it is partly the reason why one medicine can be prescribed to a large number of patients.’
Research into overactive bladder has increased significantly over the past ten years and the pharmaceutical industry has invested heavily in it. ‘It has previously been shown that research funded by commercial actors often ends up unpublished if the results don’t serve the interests of the company,’ Tikkinen points out.
Tikkinen and Auvinen also bring to the fore that in many studies on prevalence of overactive bladder, very mild symptoms have been classified as abnormal.
‘More independent, non-commercially funded research on the subject is needed. There are, in the end, a huge number of people who suffer from urinary urgency and increased urinary frequency, and current treatments are not bringing sufficient relief,’ Tikkinen says. EurekAlert