Health Highlights: Oct. 27, 2009

Oct. 28 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Antibody May Benefit Trauma Patients

An antibody that could help control major internal bleeding in patients with major trauma injuries from car crashes, bullets and other causes has been identified by U.S. researchers.

A protein called histone is responsible for much of the internal bleeding in trauma patients, according to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation team. They also found that a certain type of antibody blocks the ability of histone to cause damage, BBC News reported.

In experiments in mice with sepsis, the antibody stopped the toxic effects of histones, and the mice recovered. The findings appear in the journal Nature Medicine. The researchers want to conduct studies in primates and eventually humans.

"These findings offer some clues as to why people suffering from one traumatic injury often experience a catastrophic 'cascade' of secondary traumatic events," said Dr. Stephen Prescott, president of OMRF, BBC News reported. "If we can figure out how to control the initial injury, perhaps that will stop the domino effect that so often follows."

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Enzyme May Be Key in Nerve Fiber Regeneration

An enzyme that plays a critical role in regenerating damaged nerve fibers has been identified by U.S. researchers, a finding that could lead to new treatments for brain and spinal cord injuries.

In experiments with rats, the team at Children's Hospital Boston found that the enzyme Mst3b appears to be an important regulator of a cell-signaling pathway that controls nerve fiber (axon) growth, United Press International reported.

When Mst3b was absent, damaged optic nerves in the rats showed little regeneration, said the study, which appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.