Effects of Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment on Peripheral and Central Markers of Aging

"Currently in France is running a trial with Pioglitazone . Although the subject matter of the article is not about the FA, get more information about this drug is interesting."

OPEN ACCES

PLoS ONE 5(4): e10405. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010405

Eric M. Blalock^1#, Jeremiah T. Phelps^1#, Tristano Pancani¹, James L. Searcy¹, Katie L. Anderson¹, John C. Gant¹, Jelena Popovic¹, Margarita G. Avdiushko², Don A. Cohen², Kuey-Chu Chen¹, Nada M. Porter¹, Olivier Thibault^1*

1 Department of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America, 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America

Abstract

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and are used clinically to help restore peripheral insulin sensitivity in Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Interestingly, long-term treatment of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with TZDs also has been shown to reduce several well-established brain biomarkers of AD including inflammation, oxidative stress and Aβ accumulation. While TZD's actions in AD models help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying their potentially beneficial effects in AD patients, little is known about the functional consequences of TZDs in animal models of normal aging. Because aging is a common risk factor for both AD and T2DM, we investigated whether the TZD, pioglitazone could alter brain aging under non-pathological conditions.

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Carbamylated erythropoietin increases frataxin independent from the erythropoietin receptor

European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Early View (Articles online in advance of print), Published Online: 28 Apr 2010
BRIEF COMMUNICATION

Brigitte Sturm*, Melissa Helminger*, Hannes Steinkellner*, Mohammad Mehdi Heidari*,†, Hans Goldenberg* and Barbara Scheiber-Mojdehkar*
*Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria , † Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

KEYWORDS: Carbamylated erythropoietin • erythropoietin receptor • frataxin • Friedreich's ataxia • nonerythropoietic erythropoietin • recombinant human erythropoietin

Dysarthria in Friedreich's Ataxia: A Perceptual Analysis.

Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2010;62(3):97-103. Epub 2010 Apr 29.

Folker J, Murdoch B, Cahill L, Delatycki M, Corben L, Vogel A.

The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld., Australia.

Keywords: speech intelligibility,  dysarthria severity,  Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), clinical factors.

'Epigenetic' Concepts Offer New Approach To Degenerative Disease

Medical News Today, Article Date: 28 Apr 2010 - 5:00 PDT

In studies on cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and other degenerative conditions, some scientists are moving away from the "nature versus nurture" debate, and are finding you're not a creature of either genetics or environment, but both - with enormous implications for a new approach to health.  read more

Molecular Perspective Review of Biochemical Role of Nucleobases Modified by Oxidative Stress

COMPUTATIONAL METHODS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 16(1), XX-XX (2010)

Piotr Cysewski1,2
1 Department of Physical Chemistry, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń,
ul. Kurpińskiego 5, 85-950 Bydgoszcz, Poland
2Department of General Chemistry, University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz,
ul. Seminaryjna 3, 85-326 Bydgoszcz, Poland

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"Examples of cancer and non-cancer diseases, for which elevated levels of hydroxyl radical nucleobases were reported [12-15]. : .../... Elevated level in chromatin hydrolysates  (GA) in Friedreich' ataxia"

Folate regulation of axonal regeneration in the rodent central nervous system through DNA methylation

J Clin Invest. doi:10.1172/JCI40000.

Bermans J. Iskandar¹, Elias Rizk¹, Brenton Meier¹, Nithya Hariharan¹, Teodoro Bottiglieri², Richard H. Finnell³, David F. Jarrard⁴, Ruma V. Banerjee⁵, J.H. Pate Skene⁶, Aaron Nelson¹, Nirav Patel¹, Carmen Gherasim⁵, Kathleen Simon¹, Thomas D. Cook⁷ and Kirk J. Hogan⁸

¹Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
²Baylor Research Institute, Institute of Metabolic Disease, Dallas, Texas, USA.
³Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
⁴Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁵Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁶Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
⁷Department of Biostatistics and
⁸Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. 

 Keywords: folate supplementation, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, afferent spinal neurons, DNA methylation, axonal regeneration, epigenetic mechanism contributing to neurorepair, promote regeneration.

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See the related Commentary:

J. Clin. Invest. doi:10.1172/JCI40764.

Neuronal injury: folate to the rescue?

Golo Kronenberg, Matthias Endres

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of Friedreich Ataxia to develop therapeutic approaches.

Hum Mol Genet. 2010 Apr 22.

Stéphane Schmucker^a,d,e and Hélène Puccio^{a,b,c,d,e,* a} IGBMC (Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire), 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, Illkirch, F-67400 France ; ^b Inserm, U596, Illkirch, F-67400 France ; ^c CNRS, UMR7104, Illkirch, F-67400 France ; ^d Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, F-67000, France ; ^e Collège de France, Chaire de génétique humaine, Illkirch, F-67400 France

Keywords:  Friedreich ataxia, neurodegenerative disease,  frataxin, iron sulfur cluster (ISC), cellular iron dysregulation, potential novel therapeutic approaches.

[Usefulness of electromyography in diagnostics of the neuro-muscular diseases]

Przegl Lek. 2009;66(11):913-9.

Kroczka S, Steczkowska M, Kaciński M.

Katedry Neurologii Dzieci i Młodziezy, Uniwersytet Jagielloński Collegium Medicum, Kraków. neupedkr@cm-uj.krakow.pl

[Article in Polish]

Keywords: Electrophysiological examinations, neuromuscular disorders, monitoring of the disease progress,  differential diagnosis.

Novel Strategy For Generating Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells For Clinical Use Is Safe And Efficient

Medical News Today,
Article Date: 17 Apr 2010 - 0:00 PDT

 A new technique for reprogramming human adult cells could greatly improve the safety and efficiency of producing patient-specific stem cells for use in a range of therapeutic applications to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues.

Original paper full text pdf

Structural basis for Fe-S cluster assembly and tRNA thiolation mediated by IscS protein-protein interactions.

PLoS Biol. 2010 Apr 13;8(4):e1000354.

Rong Shi¹, Ariane Proteau¹, Magda Villarroya², Ismaïl Moukadiri², Linhua Zhang³, Jean-François Trempe¹, Allan Matte³, M. Eugenia Armengod², Miroslaw Cygler^1,3*

1 Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2 Laboratorio de Genética Molecular, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain, 3 Biotechnology Research Institute, Montréal, Québec, Canada

OPEN ACCES

Highlight: "Our data support the role of frataxin as an iron donor for IscU to form the Fe-S clusters."

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