ANALIZE MEDICALE DE LABORATOR
Aici gasiti analizele medicale grupate pe categorii precum si detalii generale si specifice pentru categoriile respective.
Selectati o categorie din lista de mai jos:
Solutie antistress!
Construieste poduri :)
Prinde pisica neagra :)
MIT: 'Cocktail' Of Compounds Improves Brain Function In Rodents -- Treatment Undergoing A Clinical Study In Alzheimer's Patients
MIT researchers have shown that a cocktail containing three compounds normally in the blood stream promotes growth of new brain
connections and improves cognitive function in rodents. The treatment is
now being tested in Alzheimer's patients and could hold promise for other
brain diseases and injuries.
The mixture, which includes a type of omega-3 fatty acid, is part of a
new approach to attacking Alzheimer's. That approach focuses on
correcting the loss of synapses, or connections between neurons, which
characterizes the disease.
For the past 30 years, researchers have tried targeting the clumps of
misfolded proteins, known as amyloid beta plaques, found in the brains of
Alzheimer's patients. However, that approach has not yielded any
effective treatments for the disease, which affects an estimated four
million to five million Americans.
"It's been very frustrating," said Richard Wurtman, the Cecil H. Green
Distinguished Professor of Neuropharmacology and senior author of a paper
on the new work published in the November issue of Brain Research.
"Nobody has demonstrated that if you prevent formation of the amyloid,
people get better."
In December, a group of Alzheimer's researchers, including Wurtman, will
participate in a symposium with the goal of developing a public policy to
promote new approaches to Alzheimer's research. Organizers of the
symposium believe that the current system of dementia research is
"broken" and needs to be fixed.
Alzheimer's researchers agree that the cognitive decline seen in
Alzheimer's patients is caused by loss of brain synapses. Wurtman and
others theorize that restoring some of those synapses could provide an
effective treatment, analogous to giving L-dopa to Parkinson's patients.
Such treatments don't cure the disease but can restore significant brain
function, said Wurtman.
Synapses, where information is passed between neurons, play a critical
role in learning and memory. Messages travel from a presynaptic neuron to
a postsynaptic cell.
In the Brain Research paper, the MIT team reported that rodents given a
cocktail of DHA (a type of omega-3 fatty acid), uridine and choline
showed a greatly increased concentration of dendritic spines, which
receive messages in the postsynaptic neuron. That indicates that synapse
regeneration has occurred, which is unusual, Wurtman said.
Synapse regrowth could also prove an effective treatment for other brain
diseases, such as Parkinson's, or for brain injuries, he said.
The researchers found that rodents who received the treatment performed
much better on tests of cognitive ability (specifically, navigating a
water maze). Sarah Holguin, an MIT graduate student in brain and
cognitive sciences, presented those results at the Society for
Neuroscience annual meeting earlier this month.
Some of the rats in the studies received all three compounds and some
received only one. The improvements in synapse growth and cognitive
ability were greatest in the rats given all three.
Omega-3 fatty acids are not produced in the body but are found in a
variety of sources, including fish, eggs, flaxseed and meat from
grass-fed animals. Choline can be synthesized in the body and obtained
through the diet; it is found in meats, nuts and eggs. Uridine cannot be
obtained from food sources, but is a component of human breast milk and
can be produced in the body.
The cocktail of compounds is now in clinical studies in Europe.
Other authors of the Brain Research paper were Toshimasa Sakamoto, the
first author and a research affiliate in the Department of Brain and
Cognitive Sciences (BCS), and Mehmet Cansev, a BCS postdoctoral
associate.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the
Center for Brain Sciences and Metabolism Charitable Trust.
http://www.mit.edu
MIT: "Cocktail" de compuºi Îmbunãtãþeºte Brain Funcþia la rozãtoare - Tratamentul printr-un studiu clinic În Alzheimer, pacienþii - MIT: 'Cocktail' Of Compounds Improves Brain Function In Rodents -- Treatment Undergoing A Clinical Study In Alzheimer's Patients - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate