Canada: Butter Chicken Lasagna recalled due to Bone Fragments

Loblaw Companies Limited is recalling President's Choice brand Butter Chicken Lasagna from the marketplace due to possible presence of bone fragments. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

Recalled products

Brand Name	Common Name	Size	Code(s) on Product	UPC
President's Choice	Butter Chicken Lasagna	1 kg	Best before dates 2015 OC 26 2015 DE 25 2016 MR 11 2016 MA 20	0 60383 04640 8

What you should do

Check to see if you have recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.

Cancer Research: Antibody to save cancerous bones ♦ Better understanding of cancer-spreading enzymes ♦ Survival has improved for stage IV breast cancer

New studies create better understanding of cancer-spreading enzymes A detailed structural view of an enzyme, called MMP7, has been revealed as it binds to the membranes, or surfaces, of cancer cells. This understanding could lead to better treatments.

Survival has improved for women with stage IV breast cancer  study that included more than 20,000 women with stage IV breast cancer finds that survival has improved and is increasingly of prolonged duration, particularly for some women undergoing initial breast surgery.

Antibody developed to save cancerous bones Osteosarcoma (OS) is a rare cancer most often affecting adolescents and children. While most bone cancers have their origin in other body tissues and spread to the bones through metastases, OS originates in the bone tissue. Researchers now show that OS cells degrade the bone tissue through a completely different process than metastasized bone cancer. Through treatment with a specific antibody, the researchers blocked the process and reduced up to 80 percent of bone degradation in a cancer model

False-positive mammograms may indicate increased risk of breast cancer later Women with a history of a false-positive mammogram result may be at increased risk of developing breast cancer for up to 10 years after the false-positive result.

Health News: Repairing neurons with light, ♦ Self-healing sensor brings 'electronic skin' closer to reality ♦ Obesity and type 2 diabetes harm bone healt

Vitamin D deficiency may limit immune recovery in HIV-positive adults Low levels of vitamin D may limit the effectiveness of HIV treatment in adults, a researcher has found. An 18-month longitudinal study was conducted in which the immune status of 398 HIV-positive adults The researchers, through observation, related the rise in immune function to whether or not individuals had adequate levels of vitamin D

Self-healing sensor brings 'electronic skin' closer to reality Scientists have developed a self-healing, flexible sensor that mimics the self-healing properties of human skin. Incidental scratches or cuts to the sensors "heal" themselves in less than one day.

Repairing neurons with light Scientists have succeeded in stimulating the regeneration of injured neurons in living fish by the use of light. To this end, they employed so-called Optogenetics, i.e. light inducible protein activation.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes harm bone health In a new animal study, researchers examined how the development of obesity and insulin resistance contribute to bone-fracture risk and whether exercise prevents weight gain and diabetes and protects bone health. They found obesity and type 2 diabetes negatively affected bone, but exercise prevented weight gain and diabetes and increased bone strength. These findings could inform interventions to improve bone health among individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Drug used to treat HIV linked to lower bone mass in newborns

NIH study finds mothers’ use of tenofovir tied to lower bone mineral content in babies

Infants exposed in the womb to a drug used to treat HIV and reduce the transmission of HIV from mother to child, may have lower bone mineral content than those exposed to other anti-HIV drugs, according to a National Institutes of Health study.

Researchers found that pregnant women who received the drug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in their third trimester gave birth to babies whose bone mineral content was 12 percent lower than that of infants who were not exposed to the drug in the uterus. Proper mineral content helps strengthen normal bones. The Study appears in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

“At this point, we can say that those who care for pregnant women with HIV and their children should be aware that prescribing tenofovir to pregnant women could be a concern for their infants’ bones,” said George K. Siberry, M.D., the first author of the study and medical officer with NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Although the study authors described the results as concerning, they cautioned against any changes in the use of tenofovir in pregnant women. The drug has proved successful as part of drug regimens that treat HIV in pregnant women, and often is used to prevent HIV transmission to infants. The researchers called for additional studies to understand bone health and development among children born to women who took tenofovir during their pregnancies.

“Families should keep in close touch with their physicians to monitor their child’s bone development,” Dr. Siberry added.

In the study, researchers enrolled a total of 143 infants at 14 sites across the United States from 2011 to 2013. Of these participants, 74 were exposed to tenofovir in the uterus, while 69 were given other anti-HIV drugs. Researchers used special, low-radiation X-ray scans, called DXA scans to measure bone mineral content within the first four weeks of birth.

The researchers then compared the bone mineral content of the two groups and found that the group of infants whose mothers took tenofovir, on average, had lower bone mineral content than the group of infants whose mothers were given other kinds of anti-HIV drugs. However, the researchers do not know whether the lower bone mineral content of the children in the tenofovir group is abnormal and will increase the risk of fractures. Dr. Siberry added that it is also unknown whether children can regain bone mineral content as they get older.

The study authors point out that tenofovir use has been associated with bone loss in adults and older children. A few NIH-funded studies have found that adults who used tenofovir were at increased risk for bone fracture.

Information on how to promote healthy bone development in children is available from NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/bone/bone_health/juvenile/default.asp#3.

Health News: Mexican cilantro sickened 546 people ♦ Company owner faces life sentence for food poisoning outbreak ♦ Alzheimer's drug could prevent bone fractures

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Health News: CDC 181 People infected with salmonella from contact with live poultry ♦ Working out in artificial gravity ♦ Supercharging stem cells to create new therapies

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Working out in artificial gravity Engineers have built a compact human centrifuge with an exercise component: a cycle ergometer that a person can pedal as the centrifuge spins. The centrifuge was sized to just fit inside a module of the ISS. After testing the setup on healthy participants, the team found the combination of exercise and artificial gravity could significantly lessen the effects of extended weightlessness in space -- more so than exercise alone.

Make no bones about it: Female athlete triad can lead to problems with bone health Participation in sports by women and girls has increased from 310,000 individuals in 1971 to 3.37 million in 2010. At the same time, sports-related injuries among female athletes have skyrocketed. According to a new study, women with symptoms known as the 'female athlete triad' are at greater risk of bone stress injuries and fractures.

Novel DNA repair mechanism brings new horizons The DNA molecule is chemically unstable giving rise to DNA lesions of different nature. That is why DNA damage detection, signaling and repair, collectively known as the DNA damage response, are needed. A group of researchers has discovered a new mechanism of DNA repair, which opens up new perspectives for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.

Supercharging stem cells to create new therapies A new method for culturing stem cells has been developed, which sees the highly therapeutic cells grow faster and stronger. Stem cell therapy is showing promising signs for transplant patients, and the IL-17 treated stem cells should be even more effective at preventing and treating inflammation in transplant recipients -- particularly controlling rejection in transplant patients.

1/15/15 Health News:One punch to knock out flu ♦ Contracting human muscle grown in lab ♦ Head & neck cancer screening ♦ Space station worms help battle muscle & bone loss

One punch to knock out flu

When comparing the potency of an isolated strain-specific flu antibody (the type that current vaccines generate) with an isolated broadly-neutralizing flu antibody (the type generated by universal vaccines) in a lab setting, the latter have much weaker neutralization activity than the strain-specific antibodies, researchers report. Continue Reading

First contracting human muscle grown in laboratory

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Coupling head and neck cancer screening, lung cancer scans could improve survival

Adding head and neck cancer screenings to newly recommended lung cancer screenings would likely improve early detection and survival, according to a multidisciplinary team led by scientists. Head and neck cancer is the world's sixth-most common type of cancer. Worldwide every year, 600,000 people are diagnosed with it and about 350,000 die. Tobacco use and alcohol consumption are the major risk factors for developing the cancer. Continue Reading

Nothing to squirm about: Space station worms help battle muscle, bone loss

Two investigations on the space station help researchers seek clues to physiological problems found in astronauts by studying C. elegans -- a millimeter-long roundworm that is widely used as a model organism. This simple, tiny roundworm could lead to a cure for symptoms affecting millions of the aging and infirm population of Earth, and the astronauts orbiting it, potentially offering a solution to a major problem in an extremely small package, scientists say. Continue reading

Adult Stem Cell Research Shows Promise

Scientists sporting white coats and safety gloves are working in a bright Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab on an incredible project.

They are part of FDA’s MSC Consortium, a large team of FDA scientists studying adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)—cells that could eventually be used to repair, replace, restore or regenerate cells in the body, including those needed for heart and bone repair.

The scientists’ investigational work is unprecedented: Seven labs at FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research formed the consortium to fill in gaps in knowledge about how stem cells function.

“This research aims to facilitate development of this important class of innovative medical products,” explains Carolyn A. Wilson, Ph.D., associate director for research at the center. “It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this, and it’s proven to be a very useful approach. It’s worked so well because this is a huge, complicated project that requires expertise in many different technologies and methods.”

The research could ultimately be key to the advancement of personalized medicine, the practice in which medical treatment is tailored to the needs of an individual patient. “It’s not science fiction,” says Steven R. Bauer, Ph.D., chief of the Cellular and Tissue Therapy Branch in FDA’s Office of Cellular Tissue and Gene Therapies. “For me, regenerative medicine is the most exciting part of what we regulate in our office.”

So What Are Stem Cells?

There are two basic kinds of stem cells that are currently useful in the field of regenerative medicine: multipotent and pluripotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells are generally taken from adults and can divide and develop into many different cell types. Pluripotent stem cells can develop into any type of cell in the body. Both types could divide to replenish cells damaged by injury, illness or normal wear. When stem cells divide, the new cells can either remain stem cells or develop into a new type of cell with a more specific function.

Two types of pluripotent stem cells exist: human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, which are created by reprogramming adult cells that had already changed into a mature type of cell.

FDA’s MSC Consortium is not studying stem cells taken from embryos. “We’re looking at a particular kind of multipotent adult stem cell—the MSC—which is being used in a lot of regenerative medicine clinical trials,” adds Bauer.

The group is currently studying eight unique cell lines, each acquired from commercial sources and sourced to one of eight distinct, adult donors. (Males and females age 22 to 47 donated stem cells from bone marrow.)

The cells under study are multipotent: “They can differentiate (mature into) at least three cell types: bone, fat and cartilage, primarily,” Bauer explains. “They can also differentiate into nerve cells, liver cells and a kind of cell called ‘stroma’ that is in the bone marrow and supports blood forming cells. Then, for investigational clinical uses, they’ve been used for repairing hearts, repairing bone and repairing cartilage.”

Why Is FDA Studying These Cells?

In addition to differentiating into a variety of replacement cell types, MSCs can limit a patient’s immune response. So they can potentially be taken from one human donor and placed into a different recipient with less possibility of rejection.

But growing stem cells and making sure they are safe and effective is challenging, which is one reason why stem-cell based clinical trials have not yet resulted in a marketed product.

“The major challenge is that cells are much more complex than traditional products that FDA regulates. And they have the ability to respond to their environment,” Bauer explains. “Taking them out of the body and manufacturing them—that is, growing large numbers of them—or isolating them can change their biology. And it can change the way they behave if they are put back into the patient.”

For instance, if cells are manufactured in large quantities outside their natural environment, they may become ineffective or develop harmful characteristics. For example, they can produce tumors, severe immune reactions or growth of unwanted tissue. So FDA is trying to develop methods that would predict with more certainty how manufactured or isolated adult stem cells will behave in patients.

What's Being Done?

In the labs, cells are suspended in a nutrient liquid solution and grown in sterile containers called tissue culture flasks. Cells then multiply and go through three, five or seven generations of growth.

FDA scientists are using a variety of cutting-edge methods to characterize cells and then determine if any of these characteristics can predict the behavior of the cells in biological assays or in animal models. The next step will be to determine if any characteristics they measure will predict the safety or effectiveness of stem-cell based products in patients.

Specifically, scientists will continue studying whether factors such as different methods of growing the cells, donor age or gender affects the cells’ quality and performance. This research will ultimately provide new tools to the community of academic and private industry scientists who are interested in evaluating and developing stem cells into new clinical treatments.

“The consortium has shown that widely accepted ways to identify and characterize MSCs do not reveal some important biological differences between batches of these cells,” Bauer says. So the consortium seeks to demonstrate ways to better characterize MSCs that will be used in clinical trials. That’s important because, if investigators can improve the tools used to characterize MSCs used for clinical trials, the data generated from their studies could also improve because their MSC products will be more predictable, he adds.

And the improved predictability of their products will, in turn, allow FDA scientists to more easily evaluate the safety and effectiveness of new stem cell technologies—a key part of the regulatory science that is the foundation of FDA decisions.

Stem cells, like other medical products intended to treat, cure or prevent disease, require FDA approval before they can be marketed. “It is important for FDA to maintain a sound regulatory science research program to promote the development of safe and effective products in emerging areas that hold great promise,” Bauer says.

“My colleagues and I hope our scientific findings will be helpful in the field of regenerative medicine, including the ability to repair or even replace organs and tissues more safely and effectively than traditional means,” he adds. “Although there are many scientific hurdles to overcome before the use of stem cells reaches its full potential, I think this medicine will eventually have the capacity to do that.”