Drugs affecting clock genes could help tackle diabetes and obesity By John von Radowitz Friday, March 30, 2012 Drugs that affect the brains "biological clock" may help combat obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes, research suggests. Two synthetic molecules were used to alter the activity of "clock" genes that control night-and-day based body functions. Most living things, including humans, possess circadian rhythms that respond to 24-hour cycles of light and dark. When the new compounds were given to obese mice, they reduced their fat and cholesterol levels. The mice also became less prone to the high blood sugar condition hyperglycaemia, which can lead to diabetes. "The idea behind this research is that our circadian rhythms are coupled with metabolic processes and that can you modulate them pharmacologically," said lead scientist Professor Thomas Burris, from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida. "As it turns out, the effect of that modulation is surprisingly positive everything has been beneficial so far." The injected compounds, known as SR9011 and SR9009, were administered to the animals twice a day for 12 days. They targeted the hypothalamus, which houses the brains "master clock" that controls circadian rhythms. The drugs activated certain proteins which play a key role … Continue reading →

A DRUGS gang which supplied a serving police officer with cocaine were yesterday given prison sentences totalling 30 years. Det Sgt Paul Thompson was among the customers of a Ponteland-based crime gang headed by Stephen Wood and his brother David Wood. Trusted lieutenant Brian Thompson, a childhood friend of Stephen Wood, provided his brother, police officer Paul Thompson, with drugs. The former detective was cleared of corruption and conspiracy to supply drugs but was convicted of possessing cocaine and making illegal checks on the police database about tenants at properties owned by him and his wife. Now Stephen Wood has been jailed for 12 years, David Wood for eight years, Brian Thompson for six years and courier Stephen Burdett was given four years. When police raided David Woods home they found diaries which showed receipts of just under 1m from drug dealing, while Stephen Wood had invested almost 250,000 with a stockbroker in Leeds. The drugs ring was cracked after an investigation began into Paul Thompson in 2010 in relation to his obtaining of cocaine for his own use. When police put the Thompsons and Woods under surveillance they uncovered a large scale supply chain. Tim Gittins, prosecuting, said: The … Continue reading →