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Researchers at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix,Arizona, in collaboration with Amgen Inc. and several academicinstitutions, have discovered a way to block the body's response tocold using a drug. This finding could have significant implicationsin treating conditions such as stroke and cardiac arrest. The research, led by Andrej Romanovsky, MD, PhD, Director of theSystemic Inflammation Laboratory (FeverLab), which is a part of St.Joseph's Trauma Research program, was published in the Journal of Neuroscience . The groundbreaking discovery has also been highlighted inScientific American. Lowering the body's temperature is an effective way to treatcertain conditions because of the body's decreased need for oxygenat low temperatures. However, natural defense mechanisms tomaintain a steady temperature - such as shivering, vasoconstrictionand heat generation by brown adipose tissue - can make it difficultto lower body temperature in unanesthetized patients. Dr.Romanovsky and his team believe they have discovered apharmacological method to inhibit these natural defense mechanisms. Their research focuses on the TRPM8 (transient receptor potentialmelastatin-8 channel) receptor, a protein responsible for thesensation of feeling cold, and on M8-B, a drug that acts as a TRPM8antagonist. Dr. Romanovsky's team discovered that M8-B inhibitedmultiple cold-defense mechanisms in mice and rat models. ThisTRPM8-antagonist-induced hypothermia is the first example of a change in the deep body temperature ofan animal occurring as a result of the documented pharmacologicalblockade of temperature signals at the thermoreceptor level. "Humans have used the same mechanisms to defend themselves againstcold since the days of the caveman," says Dr. Romanovsky. "Ourstudy is significant because it is the first time we have been ableto block the body's natural defense mechanisms using a selectivepharmacological antagonist. We believe that this approach will beused in the future to induce mild therapeutic hypothermia inunanesthetized patients, as well as to maintain deep bodytemperature, and perhaps the activity of some thermoeffectors, atdesired levels." Dr. Romanovsky also believes that this finding is the beginning ofthermopharmacology, a new discipline that uses drugs to blocktemperature signals that the body receives from the environment andthus to alter body temperature for treating specific conditions. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from portablebluetoothkeyboards.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Portable Bluetooth Keyboards Manufacturer , Portable Digital Microscope, Samsung Galaxy Tab Bluetooth Keyboard,and more.
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