Antidepressants In Irritable Bowel: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$227,546.00
Summary
Irritable bowel syndrome is a common costly disorder in Australia; one in six Australians suffer with the condition. IBS can cause very substantial disability; some become housebound because of the need to have toilet facilities nearby. The currently available treatments for irritable bowel syndrome only provide at best partial relief or are completely ineffective. The literature suggests that individuals who suffer from an irritable bowel may benefit from the use of an antidepressant medication ....Irritable bowel syndrome is a common costly disorder in Australia; one in six Australians suffer with the condition. IBS can cause very substantial disability; some become housebound because of the need to have toilet facilities nearby. The currently available treatments for irritable bowel syndrome only provide at best partial relief or are completely ineffective. The literature suggests that individuals who suffer from an irritable bowel may benefit from the use of an antidepressant medication. Antidepressant medications have been shown to affect the function of the gastrointestinal system, in addition to relieving some of the psychological symptoms, such as depression and anxiety that are common in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome. To date, there have been no proper controlled trials of antidepressant medications in IBS, and there have been no studies at all into the new class of antidepressant medications, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, in treating IBS. In this study we aim to investigate whether antidepressant medications are effective in treating irritable bowel syndrome by directly comparing a tricyclic (older class of antidepressant) with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (new class of antidepressant) and with a placebo. All study participants will be closely monitored during the study. Patients will have their gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological symptoms, disability, quality of life and tolerance to the medication assessed. This will be the first comprehensive study of antidepressant medications assessed and the irritable bowel syndrome to be undertaken. The study will be conducted at the Nepean Hospital and the Royal North Shore Hospital; both of these centres have a well established treatment and research programs into the irritable bowel syndrome.Read moreRead less
How Regular Exercise Protects The Heart From Psychological Stresses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$357,699.00
Summary
Regular exercise helps to protect the heart from the harmful effects of psychological stress. The present project seeks to discover the mechanisms that underpin this beneficial effect. The results will help to design new treatments that can augment the health benefits of exercise and provide an alternative for physically impaired individuals. The project may also allow to identify biochemical markers that can be used to optimise exercise program design for individuals and clinical populations.
Purinergic P2X7 Receptor As A Target For Antidepressant Drug Discovery
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$567,760.00
Summary
Depression is the most common mental disease. Around one million Australian adults and 100,000 young people live with depression each year resulting in significant economic, social and personal costs. Despite multiple treatments of depression, there are still several serious unmet needs with most current antidepressants showing limited effectiveness. We have identified a novel protein in the brain that represents an innovative approach to providing a platform for antidepressant drug discovery.
Effectiveness Of Training Somatosensation In The Hand After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,660.00
Summary
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, requiring provision of rehabilitation services to help minimize impairment and its impact on the ability to resume daily activities. The ability to feel textures and objects through touch and to know where one s limbs are in space are impaired in up to 85% of people who have suffered a stroke. People with this loss are handicapped by difficulties in exploring objects through touch and in performing everyday tasks that require grasp and manipulat ....Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, requiring provision of rehabilitation services to help minimize impairment and its impact on the ability to resume daily activities. The ability to feel textures and objects through touch and to know where one s limbs are in space are impaired in up to 85% of people who have suffered a stroke. People with this loss are handicapped by difficulties in exploring objects through touch and in performing everyday tasks that require grasp and manipulation of objects. Yet clinicians are either not treating the problem or are using methods without a sound theoretical basis and controlled evidence to support their application. We have systematically investigated optimal methods of sensory training across different sensory abilities using a series of single-subject experiments. Marked improvement in the ability to discriminate trained and related untrained texture stimuli and limb positions was achieved and maintained in most participants. These findings have provided the foundation for development a scientifically based and clinically focused sensory retraining program that has apparently excellent therapeutic potential. The purpose of the proposed study is to test the effectiveness of this scientifically based, clinical sensory retraining program in a broad group of stroke clients using the internationally recommended randomized controlled group design. The program will train a range of functionally important sensory discrimination tasks, i.e. texture discrimination, limb position sense and tactual object recognition, in clinical and home environments. Demonstration of clinically important and statistically significant training effects will provide the evidence necessary to recommend the introduction of the program into routine health service delivery. Investigation of patient characteristics that may impact on the ability to benefit from training will assist in the targeting of services to appropriate individuals.Read moreRead less
An Integrated Approach For The Efffective Adoptive Immunotherapy Of Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$468,119.00
Summary
Killer T lymphocytes can penetrate tumors and their transfer into cancer patients has demonstrated some encouraging results, but this form of immunotherapy remain ineffective in most cancer patients. We propose to improve the tumor trafficking and anti-tumor activities of killer cells by genetically engineering them with proteins that will enable them to recognise and destroy cancer cells. The outcomes of this project will validate this novel approach for treatment of cancer patients.
GENETIC MANIPULATION OF TUMOURS TO INDUCE IMMUNE REJECTION
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,342.00
Summary
The ability to be able to modify tumour growth and bring about tumour rejection by activating the host immune system is a prime objective in many laboratories throughout the world. Our aim is to take advantage of the considerable advances in molecular technology of recent years to develop effective approaches to the modification of tumour cells so that their growth can be inhibited in vivo. The project has three main aims: (i) to identify combinations of genes which, when administered to or expr ....The ability to be able to modify tumour growth and bring about tumour rejection by activating the host immune system is a prime objective in many laboratories throughout the world. Our aim is to take advantage of the considerable advances in molecular technology of recent years to develop effective approaches to the modification of tumour cells so that their growth can be inhibited in vivo. The project has three main aims: (i) to identify combinations of genes which, when administered to or expressed in tumour cells will induce protective immune responses against the tumour (ii) to investigate the effectiveness of combination approaches to gene therapy whereby genetic manipulations which cause destruction of tumour cells, or inhibition of blood vessel growth in tumours can be combined with administration of immunologically relevant genes to enhance tumour destruction (iii) to identify molecules which can act as target tumour antigens for the immune response or which are involved in promoting tumour survival so that these genes may be manipulated to enhance the development of anti-tumour immunity. The model we will use to investigate these issues will be malignant mesothelioma (MM). This tumour type is currently untreatable and is resistant to all available forms of therapy. Achievement of the aims described above would lead to the capacity for early treatment of MM. The identification of suitable target antigens has the potential to lead to vaccination protocols for therapy or as a preventative measure. Furthermore, the principles defined in this project will be applicable to the treatment of a variety of other solid tumours which are currently resistant to conventional therapy.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Aire In Immunological Tolerance And Autoimmunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$434,134.00
Summary
The immune system is designed to protect us from foreign pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. This is achieved through lymphocytes which recognise foreign pathogens. However in 5-6% of the population the immune system attacks the host and induces autoimmunity. We aim to understand the mechanisms which control the production of self-reacting lymphocytes and how we may reduce the incidence of autoimmunity.
Processes Underlying Establishment And Maintenance Of The Latent HIV Resevoir And Potential Impact Of Integrase Inhibitors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,044.00
Summary
Therapy for HIV-infected individuals is currently able to control the growth of the virus, but cannot eradicate the viral infection. This is due to a pool of CD4+ T lymphocytes which contain HIV DNA in a latent state, ready to reactivate as soon as therapy is interrupted. This project aims to better understand how this pool of latently infected CD4+ T lymphocytes is established and maintained, particularly how it is linked to the essential T cell survival signal from interleukin 7.