Thursday, November 10, 2011

MR spectroscopy and atrophy in Gluten, Friedreich’s and SCA6 ataxias

Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, Article first published online: 10 NOV 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2011.01620.x

M. Hadjivassiliou, L. I. Wallis, N. Hoggard, R. A. Grünewald, P. D. Griffiths and I. D. Wilkinson

Keywords: movement disorders; neuroimaging; SCA6; gluten ataxia; Friedreich’s ataxia; MR spectroscopy

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Initial Experience in the Treatment of Inherited Mitochondrial Disease with EPI-743

Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, doi:10.1016/j.ymgme.2011.10.009

Gregory M. Enns a, Stephen L. Kinsman b, Susan L. Perlman c, Kenneth M. Spicer d, Jose E. Abdenur e, Bruce H. Cohen f, Akiko Amagata g, Adam Barnes g, Viktoria Kheifets g, William D. Shrader g, Martin Thoolen g, Francis Blankenberg h, Guy Miller g i.

a Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305–5208, USA
b Division of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
c Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
d Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
e Department of Pediatrics, Division of Metabolic Disorders, CHOC Children's Hospital, Orange County, CA 92868, USA
f Department of Neurology, NeuroDevelopmental Science Center, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron, OH 44308, USA
g Edison Pharmaceuticals, 350 North Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
h Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
i Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

"Data obtained herein suggest that EPI-743 may represent a new drug for the treatment of inherited mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders"


KEYWORDS: Mitochondrial disease; α-tocotrienol quinone; Leigh syndrome; polymerase γ deficiency; MELAS; mitochondrial DNA deletion syndrome, Friedreich ataxia,

Pathophysiology of Friedreich's Ataxia Includes Alterations of Thiol Antioxidants, and Screening Based On This Principle Identifies Small Molecule Drugs With Antioxidant and Frataxin Induction Mechanisms

Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 51, Supplement, 1 November 2011, Pages S85
SFRBM's 18th Annual Meeting: Program and abstracts. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2011.10.395

Gino Cortopassi, Robert Schoenfeld, Yuxi Shan, Sunil Sahdeo
University of California, Davis

No abstrac


You can find a similar paper of the same authors in the Strasbourg FARA conference summary.
http://www.curefa.org/_pdf/4thInternationalFAConferenceAbstracts.pdf

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Monosodium Luminol could be useful Friedreich’s Ataxia.

Bach Pharma, Inc. and Destum Partners, Inc.

NORTH ANDOVER, Massachusetts – October 31, 2011,

"Approvals are in place to annually treat over a half million cancer patients in the CIS countries alone, a very attractive market opportunity especially for an Eastern European partner. In CNS related diseases, GVT® is the subject of a phase I/II clinical study to treat ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a rare childhood genetic disorder, which currently has no effective treatment and leads to early complications of aging and death among its young patients. This study demonstrates strong pre-clinical support for its use in other CNS and/or Orphan diseases such as Parkinson’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Friedreich’s Ataxia."

"The Company intends to focus its clinical efforts through sponsored research!!."

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Stem cell. Transplant More Effective When Stem Cells Reprogrammed To A More Basic Form

Wiley-Blackwell. (2011, November 6). "Transplant More Effective When Stem Cells Reprogrammed To A More Basic Form." Medical News Today.

The results confirm that de-differentiation is a workable technique for reengineering cells to an earlier, more primitive state but reprogrammed to have increased cell survival rates and therefore their potential for clinical use.

References: Dedifferentiation-Reprogrammed Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Improved Therapeutic Potential
Yang Liu, Xiaohua Jiang, Xiaohu Zhang, Rui Chen, Tingting Sun, Kin Lam Fok, Jianda Dong, Lai Ling Tsang, Shaoqiong Yi, Yechun Ruan, Jinghui Guo, Mei Kuen Yu, Yuemin Tian, Yiu Wa Chung, Mo Yang, Wenming Xu, Chin Man Chung, Tingyu Li and Hsiao Chang Chan. Accepted manuscript online: 3 NOV 2011 08:50AM EST | DOI: 10.1002/stem.764

Saturday, November 5, 2011

A pilot trial of deferiprone for neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation

haematol November 1, 2011 vol. 96 no. 11 1708-1711, doi: 10.3324/haematol.2011.043018

Giovanni Abbruzzese,Giovanni Cossu, Manuela Balocco, Roberta Marchese, Daniela Murgia, Maurizio Melis, Renzo Galanello, Susanna Barella, Gildo Matta, Uberto Ruffinengo, Ubaldo Bonuccelli and
Gian Luca Forni.

FULL TEXT PDF

Pharmacology: New methods to permeabilize the blood–brain barrier

Nature Reviews Neurology 7, 597 (November 2011) | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2011.161

Katy Malpass.

Keywords: animal models, tight vascular endothelial junctions, blood–brain barrier (BBB), drug delivery to the brain, neurological disorders.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Systemic Gene Delivery in Large Species for Targeting Spinal Cord, Brain, and Peripheral Tissues for Pediatric Disorders

Molecular Therapy (2011); 19 11, 1971–1980. doi:10.1038/mt.2011.157

Adam K Bevan1,2, Sandra Duque3, Kevin D Foust1, Pablo R Morales4, Lyndsey Braun1, Leah Schmelzer1, Curtis M Chan5, Mary McCrate1,6, Louis G Chicoine1,6, Brian D Coley7, Paul N Porensky3,8, Stephen J Kolb3,9, Jerry R Mendell1,6,9, Arthur HM Burghes2,3 and Brian K Kaspar1,2,3,6,10

1Center for Gene Therapy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA
2Integrated Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
3Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
4The Mannheimer Foundation, Inc., Homestead, Florida, USA
5Special Pathology Services, Charles River, Preclinical Services, Reno, Nevada, USA
6Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University/Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA
7Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
8Department of Neurological Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
9Department of Neurology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
10Department of Neurosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Our findings support the use of AAV9 for gene transfer to the CNS for disorders in pediatric populations.

MT-OPEN FULL TEXT

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Specific Alterations of Carbohydrate Metabolism Are Associated With Hepatocarcinogenesis in Mitochondrially Impaired Mice

Hum. Mol. Genet. (2011) doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddr499

René Thierbach, Simone Florian, Katharina Wolfrum, Anja Voigt, Gunnar Drewes, Urte Blume, Peter Bannasch, Michael Ristow, Pablo Steinberg

Keywords: Friedreich's ataxia, AlbFxn-/- mice, ATP, carbohydrate metabolism, Frataxin, gene disruption, glucose-6-phosphate, glucose transport, glycogen, glycolysis, mitochondria.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Friedreich Ataxia - Pipeline Review, H2 2011

Published by Global Markets Direct on Oct 26, 2011 , 54 pages

This report provides an overview on the therapeutic development for Friedreich Ataxia, it show the Friedreich Ataxia therapeutic pipeline, with latest updates, and late-stage and discontinued projects.