The following is a review of diagnostics related medical research worldwide

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Researchers at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Los Angeles indicates that a novel enzyme present in pancreatic islet cells called, leukocyte 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO), may play a key role in the loss of pancreatic islet cell function, a hallmark of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This discovery may provide a novel molecular target that could lead to the development of a new class of drugs or gene therapy approaches for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

12-LO has been shown to lead to the production of highly lipid peroxides which have been implicated in developing resistance to the glucose lowering effects of insulin, and in contributing to the blood vessel damage that frequently complicates diabetes.

Viral load studies conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, have shown that HIV-1 levels in the blood, may not accurately reflect the amount of virus in semen. Researcher, Phalguni Gupta, Ph.D., emphasized that testing viral load levels in semen as well as targeting treatments to sites of seminal virus production may offer physicians a better way to monitor viral activity in HIV-infected patients and also stem transmission of HIV-1. Most of the HIV-infected men in the study had very high levels of virus present in their semen at certain time points and then at other times had a lower amount.

"These results, taken together with our new findings, indicate that virus found in the semen originates from a separate site, different from that of virus that circulates throughout the body," remarked Dr. Gupta. "If we locate the site where seminal virus is produced, we may be able to target treatments to this site and suppress replication of viral strains which may be different than the ones found circulating throughout the body. This is absolutely crucial to stemming transmission of the virus."

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