Neurology
Parkinson’s Disease Drug Might Work in Cancer Patients
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A study published in the March 13 online issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that dopamine, a drug currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses, also might work in cancer patients. The study, which was done in mouse and laboratory models, shows that dopamine could possibly prevent new blood vessels from growing and as a result, slow cancer progression.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates movement and affects behavior. In its synthetic form, dopamine is used to treat heart attack victims, Parkinson’s disease and pituitary tumors. But it wasn’t known until now that dopamine worked by blocking the growth of new blood vessels (a process called angiogenesis).
“Researchers now can test this concept in solid tumors where angiogenesis plays a critical role in the growth and progression of these cancers,” says Sujit Basu, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic scientist who conducted this study with Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, Ph.D., a scientist with the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in Calcutta, India.; and, Debanjan Chakroborty, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at Mayo Clinic and CNCI.
NIH scientists detect fatal copper disorder at birth
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A test developed by NIH scientists could greatly extend the survival of infants with Menkes disease, a rare, otherwise fatal disorder of copper metabolism. The test allows for early diagnosis of the condition, when the chance for successful treatment is greatest. Their work is described in the February 7 New England Journal of Medicine.
Untreated, Menkes disease results in irreparable harm to the brain and nervous system. Treatment consists of injections with a copper-containing drug. Children with Menkes disease typically die during the first decade of life. Previously, there was no blood test for early detection of Menkes disease.
“The study represents an important advance in the diagnosis and treatment of a rare but devastating genetic disorder,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the lead NIH institute that conducted the study. “The laboratory techniques the researchers used to detect Menkes disease eventually may provide the basis for a newborn screening test to identify children with Menkes at birth, so they have the greatest chance to benefit from treatment.”
High Blood Pressure Pill Cuts Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
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People taking a widely used group of drugs known as calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure also appear to be cutting their risk of Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the February 6, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study involved 7,374 men and women over age 40. Half of the group had Parkinson’s disease; the other half did not have Parkinson’s disease. Among both groups, nearly half used high blood pressure medications, such as calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists and beta blockers.
The study found people who were currently long-term users of calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure lowered their risk of Parkinson’s disease by 23 percent compared to people who didn’t take the drugs. There was no such effect among people taking ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists and beta blockers.
Ovary removal may raise Parkinson’s risk
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Women who undergo removal of one or both ovaries prior to menopause appear to be at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or similar conditions, investigators report.
Numerous animal studies have indicated that estrogen protects the brain’s neurons and thereby decreases the risk of Parkinson’s disease, Dr. W. A. Rocca and associates note in the medical journal Neurology—but clinical evidence has been inconclusive.
The researchers, at the at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, studied more than 2300 premenopausal women who had undergone single or double ovary removal, and 2368 age-matched “controls” with intact ovaries.
New therapeutic target for treatment of multiple sclerosis
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An international research team, led by a scientist from the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), has identified new therapeutic targets for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). In the February issue of Nature Immunology, the team provides fresh answers concerning the role of novel adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of MS, a chronic autoimmune disease of the nervous system that affects approximately 55,000 young adults in Canada.
Conducted by Dr. Alexandre Prat, a CHUM neurologist and researcher and a professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine, the study included collaborators from McGill University (Dr. S. David), the Université de Montréal (Dr. N. Arbour), the National Research Council of Canada (Dr. D. Stanimirovic) and University of Zürich (Dr. B. Becher). The team found that the adhesion molecule dubbed ALCAM (Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule), or CD166, plays a major role in the migration of certain types of leukocytes to the brain.
Evidence Found for Genes That Affect Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease
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Through one of the largest studies yet of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and their brothers, sisters, and children, researchers at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville have found strong evidence that genes other than the well-known susceptibility risk factor APOE4 influence who is at risk for developing the neurodegenerative disease later in life.
Studying 25 multigenerational families of individuals diagnosed with late onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), the most common form of the disorder, as well as hundreds of other participants, the research team found that blood levels of amyloid beta (Aß) proteins associated with AD were significantly elevated compared to protein found in non-blood relatives, such as spouses.
These first-degree relatives were cognitively normal and age 65 or less — many of them too young for symptoms of LOAD to show up.
Study Shows Link Between TCE Exposure, Parkinsonism
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Industrial workers who worked with trichloroethylene (TCE) may face a greater risk for parkinsonism, a study by a team of University of Kentucky researchers shows.
The team, led by Don M. Gash and John T. Slevin of the UK College of Medicine, identified a number of industrial workers who exhibited symptoms of parkinsonism, a group of nervous disorders with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. The workers had experienced long-term exposure to TCE, a degreasing agent widely used in industry that also has been found in drinking water, surface water and soil due to runoff from manufacturing sites where it has been used.
Reversal of Alzheimer’s Symptoms Within Minutes
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An extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents marked improvement in Alzheimer’s disease within minutes of administration of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
This new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called cytokines, in Alzheimer’s disease. The study focuses on one of these cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the brain’s immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer’s disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer’s.
Newer Meningitis Vaccine Appears Safe and Effective for Infants
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A vaccine not yet licensed in the United States produces immunity against four strains of meningococcal disease and is well tolerated when administered to infants, according to a study in the January 9/16 issue of JAMA.
It is estimated that 1,400 to 2,800 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur in the United States each year, and that ten to 14 percent of people who contract the disease will die. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now advises immunization with a tetravalent vaccine (serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y) for all 11- to 18-year-olds. However, the currently licensed vaccine is poorly immunogenic in infancy, when the highest rates of disease are observed, according to background information in the article.
Ten minutes of talking has a mental payoff
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Spending just 10 minutes talking to another person can help improve your memory and your performance on tests, according to a University of Michigan study to be published in the February 2008 issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
“In our study, socializing was just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance,” said Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and a lead author of the study with ISR psychologist Eugene Burnstein and psychologist Piotr Winkielman from the University of California, San Diego.
Diets of Alzheimer’s patients lack many nutrients
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People with Alzheimer’s disease eat less nutritiously than their peers without dementia, even in the early stages of the disease, new research from Canada shows.
This is particularly concerning given that adequate intakes of certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin K, and other antioxidants, could possibly help to preserve mental function, Dr. Bryna Shatenstein of the University of Montreal and her colleagues say.
Dementia raises death risk in oldest elderly
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Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia may have a particularly strong impact on life expectancy among the oldest elderly.
In a study published in the journal Neurology, researchers found that 95-year-olds with dementia were less likely to survive to their 100th birthday than those without dementia.
Sugary Beverages May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk
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Excess drinking of sugary beverages like soda may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, suggests new research in mice. Although the exact mechanisms aren’t known, obesity and diabetes are both associated with higher incidences of Alzheimer’s. Ling Li and her colleagues tested whether high sugar consumption in an otherwise normal diet would affect Alzheimer’s progression.
They used a genetic mouse model that develops Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in adulthood, and over a 25 week period supplemented the regular, balanced diet of half the animals with 10% sugar water. Afterwards, they compared the metabolism, memory skills (by means of various mazes) and brain composition of the regular and sugar-fed mice.
High blood pressure may heighten effects of Alzheimer’s disease
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Having hypertension, or high blood pressure, reduces blood flow in the brains of adults with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“While hypertension is not a cause of Alzheimer’s disease, our study shows that it is another hit on the brain that increases its vulnerability to the effects of the disease,” said study co-author Cyrus Raji, scientist and M.D. and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh where the study was conducted.
Cialis effective for men with spinal cord injury
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A long-acting drug for erectile dysfunction is safe and effective for men with spinal cord injuries who have difficulty achieving erections, a new study shows.
A total of 186 men were randomly assigned to receive treatment with Cialis or placebo for 12 weeks. The study was completed by 129 in the treatment group and by 34 in the placebo group. The subjects, who were an average of 38 years old, had experienced erectile dysfunction for six months or longer. They were instructed to take the drug when they planned to have sex.
