University of California, San Diego: External Relations: ER Departments

UCSD DISCOVERIES, CREATIONS & APPLICATIONS

WINTER 2000

A team of researchers lead by UCSD bioengineer Geert Schmid-Schoenbein have succeeded in blocking the fundamental mechanism that causes major organ shutdown following shock. In experiments, the researchers prevented shock and organ failure in laboratory rats with a drug that blocks digestive enzymes in the intestines. When a body goes into shock, enzymes normally used for digestion of food set off a string of chemical reactions that quickly damage organs. The discovery of this inhibitor drug, which the researchers will soon begin testing on humans, represents a major breakthrough that could lead to new life-saving treatments for trauma and other shock victims.

Alcohol abuse among adolescents may lead to brain damage, according to a new UCSD study examining brain function in 15 and 16-year-old adolescents. The study, directed by psychologist Sandra Brown, found that heavy drinking during the teen years of 15-16 can cause damage to thinking abilities, especially memory functions, at a time when certain brain developments are at a critical stage. Researchers suspect, however, that some of the damage may be reversible if drinking is curtailed, since adolescent brains are still developing.

The AIDS virus may date back to 1930, when it most likely crossed over from chimpanzees to humans in central West Africa. While some studies have claimed that HIV spread from contaminated oral polio vaccines used in the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s, most recently a few researchers, including UCSD anthropologist Jim Moore, have traced the virus back to 1930, a time -- under colonial rule -- of great turbulence in Africa, when people were driven out of their villages and forced to subsist in a jungle environment, where the butchering and consuming of chimpanzees was common practice.

Calendar effects in the stock market are just wishful thinking, according to a new study lead by UCSD economist Halbert White. While some investors think there is a "Monday effect" or an "October effect" in the stock market – some of the largest stock market crashes have fallen on Mondays, Black Monday in 1927 and the big crash in 1987, and both crashes occurred in October – White argues that following these rules will not lead to greater gains for the investor. The study, which examined stock market patterns over the last century, found that the "Monday effect" was the most prominent calendar pattern exhibited, but no real predictable effects exist over time.

UCSD cardiac researchers have pinpointed a gene that causes a type of heart failure and, by blocking the gene, have stopped the disease dead in its tracks. While the research, led by Dr. Ken Chien, was done on genetically-engineered mice, the discovery could lead to the development of drugs that block the progression of heart failure, a disease that affects 3.5 million Americans and is the leading cause of hospitalization in developed nations. The discovery also opens the door for gene therapy for prevention of the disease.

Orthopedic researchers and physicians at the School of Medicine are working with NASA to examine how micro-gravity, as experienced by astronauts and by patients in extended bedrest, effects the body. Orthopedics professor Alan Hargens and a team of researchers are testing a treadmill "chamber" which simulates changes in gravity, reducing or adding to a person’s weight, while that person is running. The device is being evaluated for its potential to enhance rehabilitation after injury, stroke, surgery, or prolonged inactivity, as well as for athletes in training.

Scientists have developed the first mouse model genetically programmed to simulate motor deficits and brain alterations found in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. According to UCSD neuroscientist Eliezer Masliah, who is leading the project, the development of symptoms in genetically altered mice resembles disease progression in humans. The development of the model will shed new light on the role of human protein in the brain cells of Parkinson’s patients and will be useful in the development and testing of new drugs for this and related conditions.