Brain
Scientists make leap forward in early detection for Alzheimer’s and cancer
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Scientists at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory have developed a new strategy for quicker and more precise detection of biomarkers – proteins which indicate disease. The work could pave the way for new tools to detect early stages of Alzheimer’s and cancer at the molecular level.
All diseases have proteins specifically linked to them called biomarkers. Identifying these in body fluid such as blood can be a powerful tool in identifying diseases in their early stages. This would help doctors increase the success rate of treatment through early intervention and help drug companies develop more effective drugs for these diseases.
The search for new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to underpin targeted medicines is of growing priority. However the potential of biomarkers is currently hampered by technical difficulties in detecting them. They are often present at very low levels, in amongst many other different proteins. Reducing a sample down to a concentration where they could be identified is difficult and time-consuming.
Protein Must Exist in Specific Brain Cells to Prevent Diet-Induced Obesity
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A protein found in cells throughout the body must be present in a specific set of neurons in the brain to prevent weight gain after chronic feeding on high-calorie meals, new findings from UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggest.
Nicknamed the “longevity” protein because of its apparent role in mediating the effects of dietary restriction on life span, SIRT1 has been studied as a potential target for anti-aging drugs. Prior research also has shown that this metabolic sensor protein in peripheral tissues plays an important role in regulating metabolism, but its physiological relevance in brain neurons remained unclear.
“This is the first study to show that SIRT1 in hypothalamic neurons, specifically POMC neurons, is required for preventing diet-induced obesity and maintaining normal body weight,” said Dr. Roberto Coppari, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the mouse study, available online and in the July 7 issue of Cell Metabolism.
Brain scan study confirms role of Alzheimer’s genes
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A study of brain scans has confirmed the role of several genes linked with Alzheimer’s disease, and turned up two others that are worth exploring, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
A team at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston used magnetic resonance imaging or MRI scans to study changes in brain structures—such as the size of the hippocampus and amygdala—in 700 healthy volunteers and Alzheimer’s patients.
They used computer programs to sort through the genetic sequences of the 700 volunteers to see which gene mutations are most linked with these changes.
Protein Regulates Enzyme Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease
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Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine have zeroed in on a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The team found that increasing levels of the protein (called GGA3) prevented the accumulation of an enzyme linked to Alzheimer’s. The strategy may lead to new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease. The findings were published online May 18 in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
People with Alzheimer’s disease typically have higher levels of an enzyme called BACE1 in their brains. BACE1 produces a toxin that researchers have pinpointed as a cause of Alzheimer’s, and now, researchers have found a way to prevent BACE1 from accumulating in the brain.
“We have identified the protein that takes this enzyme to the cell’s garbage disposal for removal. Increasing levels of the protein allows more of the enzyme to be eliminated, possibly preventing the high levels seen in people with Alzheimer’s disease,” said senior author Giuseppina Tesco, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the department of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM).
Can a Mother’s Voice Spur Recovery From a Coma?
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Karen Schroeder’s voice, recorded on a CD, reminded her son, Ryan, of his 4-H project when he was 10 and decided to raise pigs. “You bid on three beautiful squealing black and white piglets at the auction,” she said softly. “We took them home in the trunk of our Lincoln Town Car, because we didn’t have a truck.”
Recordings from Ryan’s mother, father or sister were played through headphones for him four times a day. They were part of a new clinical trial investigating whether repeated stimulation with familiar voices can help repair a coma victim’s injured brain networks and spur his recovery.
In January 2009, Ryan, a 21-year-old college student from Huntley, Ill., was in a coma after he had been flung from his snowmobile into a tree during an ice storm. He had a traumatic brain injury; the fibers of his brain had been twisted and stretched from the impact.
Researchers Develop Technique to Visualize ‘Your Brain on Drugs’
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Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed an imaging protocol that allows them to visualize the activity of the brain’s reward circuitry in both normal individuals and those addicted to drugs. The technique could lead to better insight into why people take recreational drugs as well as help determine which treatment strategies might be most effective.
Drug addiction is a complex process that involves numerous biological and environmental factors, but a central element is how the drugs affect the activity of dopamine, the chemical that regulates pleasure and reward in the brain.
To get a real-time sense of dopamine activity, Joanna Fowler and her colleague Gene-Jack Wang at Brookhaven, along with Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, combined positron emission tomography (PET), a medical imaging technology useful for identifying brain diseases, with special radioactive tracers that bind to dopamine receptors.
Bret Michaels’ speech slurred after brain hemorrhage
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Rock singer and TV reality star Bret Michaels remained in critical condition, but was conscious and talking with slurred speech after suffering a brain hemorrhage, his publicist said on Sunday.
The front man of glam rock band Poison was rushed to an undisclosed hospital on Friday with a severe headache. Doctors diagnosed a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding at the base of his brain stem.
A statement issued on Sunday by publicists for the 47-year-old singer said he was still under 24-hour supervision and in critical condition and that doctors were trying to locate the source of the bleeding.
Assisting Alzheimer’s Caregivers Online
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It is estimated that Alzheimer’s disease affects 5.3 million Americans and that number is expected to double by 2050. Caregivers shoulder a particularly heavy burden as the illness alters the dementia patient’s behavior, mood and judgment, impeding his or her ability to engage in normal, everyday activities.
In response to this mounting public health challenge, experts at Weill Cornell Medical College have spent four years creating ThisCaringHome.org, an interactive, multimedia Web site for caregivers of Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients. The Web site, which received the 2009 e-Healthcare Leadership Award, helps caregivers learn strategies to better care for people with dementia, especially how to adapt the home environment to meet the behavioral and physical needs of people with Alzheimer’s.
Created by Rosemary Bakker, M.S., A.S.I.D., research associate in gerontologic design in medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at Weill Cornell Medical College, the site features videos, animations and photographs, as well as expert reviews of home furnishings and smart technologies. Ms. Bakker, a former caregiver to her mother, has put her first-hand knowledge to use in the creation of this Web site.
Parkinson’s disease research uncovers social barrier
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People with Parkinson’s disease suffer social difficulties simply because of the way they talk, a McGill University researcher has discovered. Marc Pell, at McGill’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, has learned that many people develop negative impressions about individuals with Parkinson’s disease, based solely on how they communicate. These perceptions limit opportunities for social interaction and full participation in society for those with the disease, reducing their quality of life. Pell’s research offers the public a better understanding of the difficulties these patients face – as well as an opportunity to promote greater inclusiveness.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Abhishek Jaywant, a research trainee in McGill’s Neuropragmatics and Emotion Lab, and with financial support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.
Aging adults both with and without Parkinson’s were recorded as they described visual scenes. Their voices were then played to listeners who were unaware of the speaker’s health status. Those with Parkinson’s disease were perceived as less interested, less involved, less happy and less friendly than aging speakers without the disease. Negative impressions of their personality were specifically related to changes in the speaking voices caused by the disease, not the ability to describe the scenes.
Genetic Risk Factor Identified for Parkinson’s Disease: Gene Variant Influences Vitamin B6 Met
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Munich, January 11, 2010. An international team of doctors and human geneticists has identified a new genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. The institutions involved in the study were the Institute of Human Genetics of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München, the Neurological Clinic of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU) and the Mitochondrial Research Group of Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
“Our study reveals the interaction of genetic and environmental factors such as dietary habits in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease,” explained Dr. Matthias Elstner of the Neurological Clinic of LMU and Helmholtz Zentrum München, lead author of the study. In addition, this genome-wide expression and association study confirms that vitamin B6 status and metabolism significantly influence both disease risk and therapy response (Annals of Neurology, January, 2010).
Scientists of the two Munich universities and Helmholtz Zentrum München investigated neurons in the brain to determine which genes modify their activity in Parkinson’s disease. Among other findings, the research group detected increased activity of the pyridoxal kinase gene.
Gene variant protects against Alzheimer’s
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People with a gene linked to long life and good health are also less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said people with two copies of a certain version of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein or CETP gene had significantly slower memory declines compared with people who had different versions of the gene.
“We’ve known for a long time that genetic factors matter in Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Richard Lipton of Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Why some brains are more vulnerable to stress and resistant to antidepressants
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A new study provides insight into the molecular characteristics that make a brain susceptible to anxiety and depression and less likely to respond to treatment with antidepressant medication. The research, published by Cell Press in the January 14th issue of the journal Neuron, may lead to more effective strategies for treating depression, a major health concern throughout the world.
Although brain mechanisms associated with depression and anxiety are not completely clear, recent research has implicated a combination of stressful life events and predisposing biological factors as playing a causal role in depressive disorders. The most popular antidepressant medications, such as the commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), increase serotonin levels in the brain.
“Unfortunately, more than half of all depressed patients fail to respond to their first drug treatment,” explains senior study author Dr. Rene Hen, from Columbia University. “The reasons for this treatment resistance remain enigmatic. Elucidating the exact nature of both the factors predisposing to depression and the mechanisms underlying treatment resistance remains an important and unmet need.”
New approach to fighting Alzheimer’s shows potential in clinical trial
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In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, patients typically suffer a major loss of the brain connections necessary for memory and information processing. Now, a combination of nutrients that was developed at MIT has shown the potential to improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients by stimulating growth of new brain connections.
In a clinical trial of 225 Alzheimer’s patients, researchers found that a cocktail of three naturally occurring nutrients believed to promote growth of those connections, known as synapses, plus other ingredients (B vitamins, phosopholipids and antioxidants), improved verbal memory in patients with mild Alzheimer’s.
“If you can increase the number of synapses by enhancing their production, you might to some extent avoid that loss of cognitive ability,” says Richard Wurtman, the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, who did the basic research that led to the new experimental treatment. He is an author of a paper describing the new results in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Alzheimer’s protein may be early risk factor
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Imaging tests may be able to detect the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease long before it begins to affect memory, a finding that may lead to earlier, more effective treatments, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They said healthy people who have an abnormal buildup of a protein in the brain linked with Alzheimer’s disease have a higher risk of developing the disease.
“Our paper shows for the time that people who during life are known to have amyloid plaques in the brain - the plaques of Alzheimer’s disease - have a very high risk of developing dementia in just a few years,” said John Morris, director of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, whose study appears in the journal Archives of Neurology.
Surgery Not Linked to Memory Problems in Older Patients
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For years, it has been widely assumed that older adults may experience memory loss and other cognitive problems following surgery. But a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis questions those assumptions. In fact, the researchers were not able to detect any long-term cognitive declines attributable to surgery in a group of 575 patients they studied.
“There’s a perception that people go in for surgery, and they aren’t quite the same afterward,” says first author Michael S. Avidan, M.D. “The reports of cognitive deterioration have varied, but several studies have suggested it affects many elderly people. In my experience as an anesthesiologist, I’ve found this is a very common concern.”
But Avidan, associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery, and fellow investigator Alex S. Evers, M.D., the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the Department of Anesthesiology, questioned those conclusions.
