A new study has come up with “an innovative strategy” for reversing the symptoms of “neurodegenerative” ailments such as Parkinson and Alzheimer in fruit flies. The subjects were “genetically altered” for modelling the diseases.
The said disorders are quite common and cause millions of patients to suffer in an “untold” manner, while their families are left helpless, as there is a limited scope for treating these ailments, while there are “no cures”.
In the words of Robert Schwarcz, one of the lead researchers:
"The novel approach we used has significant translational implications”.
"If we can duplicate these effects in patients, we could benefit a lot of people”.
Schwarcz teamed up with Flaviano Giorgini, a geneticist from the University of Leicester, to scrutinise the “metabolites related to the amino acid tryptophan”.
Tryptophan degrading in the body starts to break down into “several compounds”. These compounds trigger “biological activities in the nervous system”. One such compound, namely 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK), possesses “neurotoxic properties”, while another one, kynurenic acid (KYNA), can stop the degeneration of the neurons.
It is the “relative abundance” of these two above mentioned compounds in the brain which may prove critical in the case Alzheimer, Parkinson and even Huntington.
However, the next step of the study will test the “new concept” in a human case to determine whether the treatment can be applicable in humans for “neurodegenerative diseases”. The detailed of the study can be found in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
References:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
The said disorders are quite common and cause millions of patients to suffer in an “untold” manner, while their families are left helpless, as there is a limited scope for treating these ailments, while there are “no cures”.
In the words of Robert Schwarcz, one of the lead researchers:
"The novel approach we used has significant translational implications”.
"If we can duplicate these effects in patients, we could benefit a lot of people”.
Schwarcz teamed up with Flaviano Giorgini, a geneticist from the University of Leicester, to scrutinise the “metabolites related to the amino acid tryptophan”.
Tryptophan degrading in the body starts to break down into “several compounds”. These compounds trigger “biological activities in the nervous system”. One such compound, namely 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK), possesses “neurotoxic properties”, while another one, kynurenic acid (KYNA), can stop the degeneration of the neurons.
It is the “relative abundance” of these two above mentioned compounds in the brain which may prove critical in the case Alzheimer, Parkinson and even Huntington.
However, the next step of the study will test the “new concept” in a human case to determine whether the treatment can be applicable in humans for “neurodegenerative diseases”. The detailed of the study can be found in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
References:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
