|
MONDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) – A team of American and Japanese scientists
has found a way to induce nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to release
natural antioxidants that protect the cells from the damage that stress and
free radicals can cause.
The finding may help in the development of new treatments for stroke,
Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative disorders,
the researchers said.
“This is the first reported evidence that this protective response can be
activated directly in nerve cells to release antioxidants and counter oxidative
stress,” senior author Dr. Stuart Lipton, director of the Del E. Webb Center
for Neurosciences and Aging at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La
Jolla, Calif., said in a prepared statement.
He and his colleagues found that compounds called NEurite outgrowth-Promoting
Prostaglandins (NEPPs) can activate a pathway in nerve cells that’s designed to
protect the cells against oxidative and nitrosative stress and excitotoxicity
(overstimulatoin of nerve cells).
This pathway is called Keap1/NrF2. It regulates production of natural
antioxidants that can protect nerve cells against oxidative stress resulting
from ischemic stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
“These findings provide support for further investigation of NEPP drugs to
potentially treat ischemic stroke, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou
Gehrig’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders,” Lipton said.
© 2005 The Canadian Press
|
