Biomedical / Therapeutics

Recent advances in therapeutics at UVM include a method for protecting tissues against ischemic injury, a neural approach to obesity prevention, and a simple assay for determining risk of heart attack.

Title	Inventors	Case #	Description	Podcasts
Antioxidant prevents organ damage from contrast agents	Meyer	258	Simultaneous administration of NAC with a contrast agent simplifies patient care while preventing or reducing organ damage. (Also in Diagnostics)
Use of inhibitors of PACAP receptor activity for treatment of overactive bladder & pelvic floor pain syndrome	Vizzard Zvara	123	Inhibition of PACAP receptor activity may be the basis for the first effective treatment for pelvic floor pain & overactive bladder.
Anti-fungal agents & assay	Johnson	126	Development of effective treatment for fungal infections may be based on several small molecules that inhibit the budded-to-hyphal transition required for pathogenicity.
Inhibitors of transitions & biofilms cause yeast cells to lose virulence	Johnson	176	Small molecules may be used to treat yeast infections and added to medical supplies to prevent biofilm formation.
Emergence of a R-Type Ca2+ channel contributes to cerebral artery constriction following subarachnoid hemorrhage	Wellman	188	Unique peptide may reverse subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced vasospasm.
Therapeutic treatment of oxidative stress	Janssen-Heininger	284	Method for monitoring oxidative stress levels in the clinical diagnosis & management of major diseases.
Regulation of GSK3ß activity may offer disease treatments	Rincon	335	Abnormal levels of GSK3ß activity have been associated with a wide range of diseases, including neurological conditions, diabetes, & cancer. Effective treatments for these diseases may be based on the newly-discovered ability of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) to phosphorylate GSK3ß activity.
Secreted factors from stem cells protect against tissue injury	Spees	356	Treatment may protect cardiac & cerebral tissues from damage through oxygen or nutrient deprivation. Defined populations of multipotent stromal cells are expanded in culture. If injected within 24 hours, the cells release biologically active agents that can rescue almost 50 percent of ischemic tissue & prevent damage to surrounding tissues.