Lithium Profoundly Prevents Brain Damage Associated with Parkinson's Disease

Featured In: Academia News | Neuroscience

Friday, June 24, 2024

See today's top life science stories and headlines - Sign up now!

newsvine diigo google
slashdot
Share
Loading...

Lithium profoundly prevents the aggregation of toxic proteins and cell loss associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a mouse model of the condition. Preclinical research is now underway at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging to determine correct dosages for a drug that continues to be the gold standard for the treatment of bipolar disorder. The Buck is currently working toward initiating a Phase IIa clinical studies of lithium in humans in conjunction with standard PD drug therapy. The research appears in the June 24 online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience Research.

“This is the first time lithium has been tested in an animal model of PD,” said lead author and Buck Professor Julie Andersen, PhD. “The fact that lithium’s safety profile in humans is well understood greatly reduces trial risk and lowers a significant hurdle to getting it into the clinic.”

According to Andersen, lithium has recently been suggested to be neuroprotective in relation to several neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and has been touted for its anti-aging properties in simple animals. “We fed our mice levels of lithium that were at the low end of the therapeutic range,” said Andersen. “The possibility that lithium could be effective in PD patients at subclinical levels is exciting, because it would avoid many side effects associated at the higher dose range.” Overuse of lithium has been linked to hyperthyroidism and kidney toxicity.

PD is a progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disorder that affects 1 million Americans and results in tremor, slowness of movement and rigidity. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s. Between 50,000 and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Age is the largest risk factor for the PD. Onset usually begins between the ages of 45 and 70 years.

Andersen’s research focuses on lithium as a potential treatment for PD as well as its efficacy in combination with drugs currently used to control the symptoms of the disease. An internet search reveals stories from PD patients who are using lithium “off label” as part of their treatment regime; others report benefits from low dose lithium salts which are available as a supplement in some health food stores. “This finding gives us an opportunity to explore lithium as a recognized therapeutic for PD, in doses that are safe and effective” said Andersen.

Source: Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Join the Discussion
Rate Article: Average 0 out of 5
register or log in to comment on this article!

0 Comments

Add Comment

Text Only 2000 character limit

Page 1 of 1

Research Exchange

Bringing the Cell Image into Focus

Nov 2 2010

Improvements in transmission electron microscope (TEM) technology increase the power of this imaging tool for the study of cell biology.

Finding a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury with On-Demand LIMS

Oct 25 2010

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis finds an on-demand laboratory information management system (LIMS) helps to accelerate discovery in its HCS projects.

Saving Cells: Image Processing for Improved Viability, Part II: Iterative Deconvolution

Oct 25 2010

3D light microscopy and deconvolution provide a means to investigate 3D structure, providing near-confocal quality images without the temporal requirements or potentially damaging phototoxicity associated with other 3D imaging technologies. This article is Part II in a series regarding viability, resolution improvement, and measurement in fluorescence imaging. Part I focused on spectral unmixing.

Saving Cells: Image Processing for Improved Viability

Sep 22 2010

This article is Part I of a two-part series regarding viability, resolution improvement, and measurement in fluorescence imaging. Part II will focus on deconvolution.

Evaluation of a New Nano-Type UV-Vis Spectrophotometer

Mar 3

Analysis of one- to four-microliter size samples for nucleic acids has become routine in many life science laboratories. However, until now, available instruments require considerable manipulation of the instrument and sample; some require manually recording the data. The user must typically lower and raise the arm manually, then wipe the sample manually from the target after each analysis. And fiberoptics used in some of these instruments are subject to deterioration.

Production of Recombinant Proteins and Monoclonal Antibodies in Hollow Fiber Bioreactors

Jan 25

While well-understood, robust and convenient, classical batch-style 2-D culture on non-porous supports or 3-D suspension culture in other devices are really not very biologically relevant models. Cell culture conditions can affect the quality of the antibody or protein produced.

Selecting Robots for Use in Drug Discovery and Testing

Dec 6 2010

Drug discovery and testing, with their need for speed, repeatability and verification, are ideally suited to benefit from robot automation. It is therefore not surprising that robots have been at the forefront of automation developments in both these areas.

HP Scalable Network Storage Systems for Life Sciences

Sep 13 2010

Life sciences research today is advancing exponentially, each step bringing us closer to the realization of truly personalized medicine–preventive care and treatments designed specifically for each individual. In the near future, PCPGM healthcare researchers expect to be able to use predictive genetic testing to create custom treatment plans for individuals and deliver dramatic improvements over today’s one-size-fits-all approach. But research capabilities are only part of the equation; current storage and operating capacities must also evolve to accommodate ever-expanding amounts of data before the goal of personalized medicine can be realized.

Using the Tecan Genesis Workstation to Automate a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) Immunoassay

Mar 11 2010

The poster describe the process involved in automating a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) immunoassay developed to measure relative concentrations of serum antibodies against Tetanus (TT), Sperm Whale Myoglobin (SWM) and Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) in KLH-immunized volunteers.

Ensuring Quality in Assays Performed with Automated Liquid Handlers

Feb 2 2010

The focus of this presentation is to highlight the need of ensuring quality in important assays performed with automated liquid handlers. Nearly all assays performed within a laboratory are volume-dependent. In turn, all concentrations of biological and chemical components in these assays, as well as the associated dilution protocols, are volume-dependent. Because analyte concentration is volume-dependent, an assay’s results might be falsely interpreted if liquid handler variability and inaccuracies are unknown or if the system(s) go unchecked for a long period.

Inkjet System for Protein Crystallography

Feb 1 2010

X-ray crystallography is used routinely by scientists to obtain the three dimensional structure of a biological molecule of interest.Such information can be used to determine how a pharmaceutical interacts with a protein target and what changes might improve functionality. However, the crystallization of macromolecules still remains a serious hindrance in structural determination despite impressive advances in screening methods and technologies.

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Nov 9 2009

Action selection is modulated by external stimuli either directly or via memory retrieval. In a constantly changing environment, animals have evolved attention-like processes to effectively filter the incoming sensory stream. These attention-like processes, in turn, are modulated by memory. The neurobiological nature of how attention, action selection and memory are inter-connected is unknown. We describe here new phenotypes of the memory mutant radish in the fruit fly Drosophila.

Modulation of chop-dependent DR5 expression by nelfinavir sensitizes glioblastoma multiforme cells to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)

17 hours ago

Human glioblastoma multiforme cells demonstrate varying levels of sensitivity to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been shown to trigger cell death through apoptosis. We...

Enhanced epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like phenotype in N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V transgenic mouse skin promotes wound healing

Jun 24

N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase-V (GnT-V) catalyzes the β1,6 branching of N-acetylglucosamine on N-glycans. GnT-V expression is elevated during malignant transformation in various types of cancer; however, the mechanism by which GnT-V promotes cancer progression...

Assembly and Sorting of the Tonoplast Potassium Channel AtTPK1 and Its Turnover by Internalization into the Vacuole

Jun 24

The assembly, sorting signals and turnover of the tonoplast potassium channel AtTPK1 of Arabidopsis thaliana were studied. We used transgenic Arabidopsis expressing a TPK1-GFP fusion or protoplasts transiently transformed with chimeric constructs based on domain...

Prokariotic Cell Collection in Denmark

Nov 6 2009

I would like to know about a prokariotic cell collection in Denmark. Is there a cell bank in this country? I need a Lactobacillus strain for a fermentation assay and this information about the bank is very helpful for me.

Request for Entries

Oct 16 2009

Ask the Experts is your chance to get the answers to questions on applications, materials, methods, processes, and technologies. Email you question to bst_web@advantagemedia.com, and the editors of Bioscience Technology will find an appropriate expert to answer it. Watch this space in the future to see the questions your colleagues are posting.

STAY INFORMED: SUBSCRIBE TO

Magazine and E-mail Newsletters

Loading...
E-mail:   
Loading...

Free Life Science Industry
Subscriptions

Magazine

wireless week

Newsletters

newsletters

Sign up now



MULTIMEDIA

Video:

Viewing SureFocus Slides

Jun 11 2010

A demonstration of SureFocus Microscope Slides in the review of AFB Smears. SureFocus Slides are a patent-pending breakthrough in tuberculosis detection, as their fluorescent staining circle remains visible during review, Fluorescence Microscopy.

Podcasts:

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Oct 14 2009

Discussed in this interview are both the mouse brain project and the human cortex project with an emphasis on the importance of these projects to neuroscience research.

Top Stories and Headlines
EVERY DAY!

FREE Email Newsletter

Information: