I was looking on YouTube and saw quite a few videos about Michael J. Fox. One of them was an ad he had about his support for stem cell research and Parkinson's. So I looked up any studies with the use of stem cells and came across xcell-center.com. They specialize in regenerative medicine.
There was a specific stem cell study which involved collecting stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, specifically the iliac crest, then re-implanting the cells in the body days later. Stem cells are used as a type of self-healing for they have the potential to change into many different types of cells and regenerate damaged tissue.
Results:
Two out of 11 patients reported an overall improvement, with improved mobility (legs, arms) and/or improved strength. Some patients reported a regaining of muscle strength and/or an improvement of balance. There was some improvement of speech and/or a reduction of pain and spasms.
Eight out of 11 patients reported a strong improvement, with a marked improvement of mobility, speech and significantly reduced pain and spasms.
**Stem cell treatment studies were also used for Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoarthritis, and Stroke patients.
I found some other interesting info on Parkinson’s Disease. I remember hearing about this in PSIO 480 and wanted to learn more about it. There was a study done about the effects of caffeine on PD.It was a longitudinal study over a period of 30 years where 8,004 Japanese-American men (aged 45-68) drank different amounts of coffee each day. It turns out that only 102 of these men developed PD.The ones who drank the most coffee (more than 28oz/day) were least likely to develop PD and the ones who did not drink any coffee were five time more likely to get PD than those who drank more than 28oz/day.Drinking other caffeine sources such as black tea, green tea, chocolate, and soda were also associated with a lower risk of PD.Other nutrients in coffee, including niacin, wereunrelated to PD incidence. The relationship between caffeineand PD was not affected by sugar or milk that was added in the coffee.
Caffeine belongs to the xanthine chemical group. A naturally occurring xanthine in the brain called adenosine is used as a neurotransmitter at some synapses. When adenosine receptors are blocked, levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine increase. Caffeine may protect against Parkinson's disease by blocking adenosine receptors, thus increasing the amount of dopamine in the brain.
Although the new research is suggestive of a link between caffeine and Parkinson's disease, it is too early to say that caffeine will prevent Parkinson's disease. Perhaps the brains of people who like and dislike coffee are different. It may be that this difference results in the different incidence of Parkinson's disease and in the consumption of coffee. Also, the study included older, Japanese-American men. It is unknown if the caffeine/Parkinson disease relationship holds for other ethnic groups, women and younger people. As with many preliminary studies, this research requires further experiments to establish a causal link between caffeine and reduced incidence of Parkinson's disease.Overall, caffeine can be thought of as a preventative for PD, but not necessarily a treatment or cure. Now don't go drinking high amounts of caffeine to prevent PD because too much caffeine has been linked to developing schizophrenia.
I know there were a couple more questions about the Nun Study that came up in class on Monday. I haven't been able to find anything about the differences in lesions but something I found was interesting...
In my other research of the Nun Study I didn't see the references to early cognitive ability that this review talks about. It basically says that early linguistic skills can be markers for later cognitive issues. The Nuns with lower linguistic skills earlier in life showed more cognitive issues later in life. Here is the article:
The last few lectures Dr. Cohen had talked about the use of helmith (worms) to treat certain inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease. I thought this was very interesting and decided to do a little more research and expand on it.
There’s a vast amount of literature of the use of helminth as a therapeutic approach to autoimmune diseases causing chronic inflammation and allergies. Helminths are multicellular parasites that have typically co-existed with humans. Most are infectious and are found to be in two phyla, Platyhelminths (includes tapeworms and digenean flukes) and Nemotoda (roundworms). In well established populations with modern care helminthes infection is rare; however, about one million people worldwide are infected with most victims living in sub-Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Recent studies have found a correlation in the decrease of infectious diseases and an increase incidence of other diseases such as allergies and autoimmune diseases in westernized countries. It is thought that because we have naturally co-evolved with helminthes humans have adapted and relied on helminthes to regulate our immune system.
Helminth infection is characterized by its ability to induce a regulatory T cell response and a strong Th2 response (driving the immune system to produce antibodies). In order for helminth to survive, it must escape its host immune system by secreting chemokines to block neutrophil migration and down regulate T and B cell response by activating Treg or induce anti-inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, one hypothesis is that with improved hygiene the rate of helminthes infection decreases increasing the rate of allergies and autoimmune diseases, and is thought to be due to an over production of Th1 immune response. It can be concluded that having some sort of helminth infection at one point in life helps to teach the immune system to balance its immune response.
Interestingly, helminth Trichuris suis (pig whipworm) therapy has been found to decrease disease activity in people with Chrohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Because T. suis does not infect humans, its eggs are eliminated after several weeks of colonizing. Other helminth may have therapeutic benefits, but are found to infect humans and cause mild to severe infection or raise public health concerns. Patients who were given T. suis found either temporary relief or decreased disease activity. The skewing of a Th2 response reduces Th1 (the inflammation and cytoxtic killer T cell response). Treating patients with chronic intestinal inflammation with helminth may be beneficial; however, the disadvantage of helminth infection is the difficulty in not only treating or fighting diseases that require Th1 response (example: HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria), but stimulating vaccines requiring an efficient Th1 response.
There are still debates and studies conducted to see if there is a relationship between helminthes and allergies. Some state that infection reduces allergies while others find the opposite. It is possible that age, genetics, and helminth species is the cause to the inconsistencies. Therapy with helminth in gastric autoimmune diseases by far seem to be consistent; however, further studies are being conducted to test whether other autoimmune diseases such as lupus and arthritis can also be treated.
Source: World J Gastroenterol (2008) 14(33): 5125-5132 Parasitol Res (2007) 100:921–927 Immunobiology (2007) 212:475-490
Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that we haven't really discussed in class. It is caused by a defective gene that triggers certain nerve cells in the brain to die and symptoms may include uncontrolled movements, mood swings, cognitive decline, balance problems, and eventually losing the ability to walk, talk or swallow. I found an article that was published in May 2008 discussing the development of the first transgenic monkey model of Huntington's disease, which allows scientists to advance beyond the mouse model in hopes of better understanding the disease, develop more effective therapies, and even introduce using similar models for other genetic dieseases. It's a really enlightening article and illustrates the advances that are presently being achieved in medical technology and neurodegenerative diseases.
Fibrin is the subject of one of the papers for this week. I found a review through Pub Med that discusses the way fibrin activates different pathways and its receptors, the way that ancrod is able to deplete fibrinogen, and its effects on the peripheral and central nervous systems. It's a very well written and easy to read article.
Parkinson's disease affects nerve cells in many parts of the brain, particularly those that use the chemical messenger dopamine to control movement. The most common symptoms are Tremor, Rigidity, Akinesia and Postural instability, also known as TRAP. Although, patients with PD have been being treated with oral replacement of dopamine.
It is thought that an insufficiency in Vitamin D can lead to Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases, or that it is an outcome of having these diseases. A study at Emory University School of Medicine showed that people with PD are more likely to be Vitamin D deficient when compared to healthy adults or people with Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin D insufficiency can be determined from a blood test. Insufficiency is defined as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood of the 25-hydroxy form, while a deficiency is defined as less than 20 nanograms per milliliter. People usually get their dose of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight or by dietary supplements, but with increasing age it is harder for older individuals to absorb Vitamin D from the sun. This can also be a problem for people with PD due to lack of activity or exposure to the sun. Studies have also shown that people have lower levels of Vitamin D in the fall and winter when compared to the spring and summer. But, that is again related to the amount of sun exposure and activity during those seasons. It is known that the part of the brain most affected by Parkinson's is the substantia nigra. This area has high levels of the vitamin D receptor, which could be where the lack of vitamin D could be important for normal functions of these cells. Further research is necessary to determine at what stage the deficiency in vitamin D levels occurs in the brains of people with PD. It is still not known if taking a dietary supplement, or increased exposure to the sun could help alleviate symptoms or have an affect on the rate of the condition's progression.
Here's the video about the Nun study done by researcher David Snowdon:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6c4_1226747631
These nuns have agreed to donate their brains to science to study more about how brain diseases develop. I found it amazing that 6 of the nuns were over 100 years old and still in very good shape. Their brains showed signs of Alzheimer's but they don't have any physical or mental characteristics of the disease. In addition, higher educated nuns have lived longer. This just shows the importance of keeping your mind active. As they say... "Use it or lose it.
Inflammablog 2 is the second Blog made specially to be shared by two courses at two schools: PSIO 495 at University of Arizona in Tucson, and IMMU 7630 at University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. PSIO is a colloquium on inflammation and IMMU is a lecture course on immunology for graduate students. You can visit the Original Inflammablog.
Inflammablog 2 is the place to post short reviews about selected subjects in immunology, inflammation, and infection, and have them commented on (and possibly even improved) by friends and colleagues. It is managed by John Cohen in Denver, and Zoë Cohen in Tucson. We invite students in either course to comment on the postings by their classmates and by the students in the other course.
We particularly want this to be a place to practice clear, friendly communication to people who have a background in science, but are not experts in this particular area. Sort of the Café Scientifique crowd.
