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The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) studies environmental effects on health. "The Human Proteome Organization, or HUPO, was formed to promote research and large-scale analysis of the human proteome," scientists in the U.S. report. "Consideration of three major issue areas may help develop HUPO's strategy for human proteome study. First is the need to distinguish the value of high throughput platforms from discovery platforms in proteomics," the researchers stated.

Discusses research being done on environmental health with reference to a study by B.A. Merrick et al, published in a 2003 issue of "Environmental Health Perspectives."

Dextromethorphan inhibits microglial activation and thus neurotoxicity. Inflammation mediated neurodegeneration involves activation of the brain's resident immune cells, the microglia, which produce pro-inflammatory and neurotoxic factors including cytokines, reactive oxygen intermediates, nitric oxide, and eicosanoids that impact on neurons to induce neurodegeneration. Hence, identification of compounds that prevent microglial activation may be highly desirable in the search for therapeutic agents for inflammation mediated neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, researchers report that dextromethorphan (DM), an ingredient widely used in anti-tussive remedies, reduced the inflammation mediated degeneration of dopaminergic neurons through inhibition of microglial activation. The neuroprotective effect of DM was attributed to inhibition of LPS stimulated microglial activation because DM significantly inhibited the LPS induced production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, nitric oxide, and superoxide free radicals. Researcher Y.X. Liu and coauthors published their study in the 'Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.'