Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In order to obtain information on the mechanisms of neurotoxicity of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, rats maintained artificially ventilated on N2O:O2 (70:30) were exposed to a concentration of 1,1,1-trichloroethane of 8000 ppm, 43.7 mg L-1, that induces moderate ataxia in awake, spontaneously breathing animals. After 5 and 60 min of exposure, as well as after a 60-min recovery period following 60 min of exposure, the brain was frozen in situ and cortical tissue was assayed for phosphocreatine (PCr), + ATP, ADP, AMP, glycogen, glucose, pyruvate, lactate, citric acid cycle intermediates, associated amino acids, and cyclic nucleotides; in addition, purine nucleotides, nucleosides, and bases were assayed by HPLC techniques. Exposure of animals to 1,1,1-trichloroethane failed to alter blood glucose, lactate, and pyruvate concentrations. However, the solvent induced highly significant increases in tissue lactate and pyruvate concentrations that were also reflected in cisternal CSF. Associated with these changes were increases in all citric acid cycle intermediates except succinate, an increase in alanine concentration, and a rise in the glutamate/aspartate ratio. After 5 min, a small decrease in glycogen concentration also occurred. All these changes were reversed when the exposure was terminated. No changes were observed in tissue concentrations of purine nucleotides, nucleosides, and bases except for a small reduction of ATP concentration after 60 min of exposure, still noticeable after 60 min of recovery. Apart from a small reduction in cAMP concentration after 5 min of exposure, cyclic nucleotide concentrations did not change.
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PMID:Cerebral metabolic and circulatory effects of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, a neurotoxic industrial solvent. 2. Tissue concentrations of labile phosphates, glycolytic metabolites, citric acid cycle intermediates, amino acids, and cyclic nucleotides. 653 82

Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) was used to study in vivo the energy metabolism of brain and skeletal muscle in two members of an Italian pedigree with NARP syndrome due to a point mutation at bp 8993 of mtDNA. In the youngest patient, a 13 year old girl with retinitis pigmentosa, ataxia, and psychomotor retardation, there was an alteration of brain energy metabolism shown by a decreased phosphocreatine content, increased [ADP] and decreased phosphorylation potential. The energy metabolism of her skeletal muscle was also abnormal, as shown by resting higher inorganic phosphate and lower phosphocreatine concentrations than in normal subjects. Her mother, a 41 year old woman with minimal clinical involvement, showed a milder derangement of brain energy metabolism and normal skeletal muscle. Findings with MRS showed that this point mutation of mtDNA is responsible for a derangement of energy metabolism in skeletal muscle and even more so in the brain.
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PMID:Brain and muscle energy metabolism studied in vivo by 31P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy in NARP syndrome. 779 79

The effect of benidipine on experimental cerebral ischemia was investigated in rats subjected to occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries. Benidipine (30 micrograms/kg, i.p.) improved neurological symptoms such as ataxia, convulsion and loss of righting reflex, and prolonged survival time after occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries. In the nicardipine (100 micrograms/kg, i.p.)-treated group, a similar effect was observed, whereas nifedipine (100, 300 micrograms/kg, i.p.) and verapamil (300 micrograms/kg, i.p.) did not show any beneficial effect in this model. Furthermore, pretreatment with benidipine (30 micrograms/kg, i.p.) suppressed the increase in cerebral water content 3 h after the occlusion. Nicardipine (100 micrograms/kg, i.p.) showed a tendency to reduce the increase in cerebral water content, though the effect was not statistically significant. Nifedipine (100 micrograms/kg, i.p.) produced no improvement. After occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries, depletion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (CP) and an accumulation of lactate occurred in a time-dependent manner. Prophylactic administration of benidipine (30 micrograms/kg, i.p.), 20 min before occlusion, attenuated the depletion of ATP and CP and the accumulation of lactate 3h after the occlusion. Furthermore, post-treatment with benidipine 30 min after occlusion also suppressed these metabolic disorders. In conclusion, the beneficial effects of benidipine in this severe cerebral ischemia model show that the compound has advantages over nicardipine, nifedipine and verapamil. Thus, these results suggest that benidipine may be useful in the treatment of acute ischemic cerebral damage.
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PMID:Effect of benidipine hydrochloride (KW-3049), on cerebral ischemia induced by bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries in rats. 836 94

It is not known why expression of a protein with an expanded polyglutamine region is pathogenic in spinocerebellar ataxia, Huntington's disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases. Dietary supplementation with creatine improves survival and motor performance and delays neuronal atrophy in the R6/2 transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease. These effects may be due to improved energy and calcium homeostasis, enhanced presynaptic glutamate uptake, or protection of mitochondria from the mitochondrial permeability transition. We tested the effects of a 2% creatine-supplemented diet and treatment with taurine-conjugated ursodeoxycholic acid, a bile constituent that can inhibit the mitochondrial permeability transition, on ataxia and Purkinje cell survival in a transgenic model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. After 24 weeks, transgenic mice on the 2% creatine diet had cerebellar phosphocreatine levels that were 72.5% of wildtype controls, compared to 26.8% in transgenic mice fed a control diet. The creatine diet resulted in maintenance of Purkinje cell numbers in these transgenic mice at levels comparable to wildtype controls, while transgenic mice fed a control diet lost over 25% of their Purkinje cell population. Nevertheless, the ataxic phenotype was neither improved nor delayed. Repeated s.c. ursodeoxycholic acid injections markedly elevated ursodeoxycholic acid levels in the brain without adverse effects, but provided no improvement in phenotype or cell survival in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 mice. These results demonstrate that preserving neurons from degeneration is insufficient to prevent a behavioral phenotype in this transgenic model of polyglutamine disease. In addition, we suggest that the means by which creatine mitigates against the neurodegenerative effects of an ataxin-1 protein containing an expanded polyglutamine region is through mechanisms other than stabilization of mitochondrial membranes.
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PMID:Creatine-supplemented diet extends Purkinje cell survival in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 transgenic mice but does not prevent the ataxic phenotype. 1127 90

Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is the most common form of autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia and is often associated with a cardiomyopathy. The disease is caused by an expanded intronic GAA repeat, which results in deficiency of a mitochondrial protein called frataxin. In the yeast YFH1 knockout model of the disease there is evidence that frataxin deficiency leads to a severe defect of mitochondrial respiration, intramitochondrial iron accumulation, and associated production of oxygen free radicals. Recently, the analysis of FA cardiac and skeletal muscle samples and in vivo phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) has confirmed the deficits of respiratory chain complexes in these tissues. The role of oxidative stress in FA is further supported by the accumulation of iron and decreased aconitase activities in cardiac muscle. We used 31P-MRS to evaluate the effect of 6 months of antioxidant treatment (Coenzyme Q10 400 mg/day, vitamin E 2,100 IU/day) on cardiac and calf muscle energy metabolism in 10 FA patients. After only 3 months of treatment, the cardiac phosphocreatine to ATP ratio showed a mean relative increase to 178% (p = 0.03) and the maximum rate of skeletal muscle mitochondrial ATP production increased to 139% (p = 0.01) of their respective baseline values in the FA patients. These improvements, greater in prehypertrophic hearts and in the muscle of patients with longer GAA repeats, were sustained after 6 months of therapy. The neurological and echocardiographic evaluations did not show any consistent benefits of the therapy after 6 months. This study demonstrates partial reversal of a surrogate biochemical marker in FA with antioxidant therapy and supports the evaluation of such therapy as a disease-modifying strategy in this neurodegenerative disorder.
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PMID:Antioxidant treatment improves in vivo cardiac and skeletal muscle bioenergetics in patients with Friedreich's ataxia. 1135 49

Impaired oxidative phosphorylation is a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of Friedreich's ataxia (FA). L-carnitine and creatine are natural compounds that can enhance cellular energy transduction. We performed a placebo-controlled triple-phase crossover trial of L-carnitine (3 g/d) and creatine (6.75 g/d) in 16 patients with genetically confirmed FA. Primary outcome measures were mitochondrial ATP production measured as phosphocreatine recovery by 31Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy, neurological deficits assessed by the international co-operative ataxia rating scale and cardiac hypertrophy in echocardiography. After 4 months on L-carnitine phosphocreatine recovery was improved compared to baseline (p<0.03, t-test) but comparison to placebo and creatine effects did not reach significance (p=0.06, F-test). Ataxia rating scale and echocardiographic parameters remained unchanged. Creatine had no effect in FA patients. L-carnitine is a promising substance for the treatment of FA patients, and larger trials are warranted.
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PMID:L-carnitine and creatine in Friedreich's ataxia. A randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial. 1548 Aug 52

Robust biomarkers of neurodegeneration are critical for testing of neuroprotective therapies. The clinical applicability of such biomarkers requires sufficient sensitivity to detect disease in individuals. Here we tested the sensitivity of high field (4 tesla) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) to neurochemical alterations in the cerebellum and brainstem in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). We measured neurochemical profiles that consisted of 10 to 15 metabolite concentrations in the vermis, cerebellar hemispheres and pons of patients with SCA1 (N = 9) and healthy controls (N = 15). Total NAA (N-acetylaspartate + N-acetylaspartylglutamate, tNAA) and glutamate were lower and glutamine, myo-inositol and total creatine (creatine + phosphocreatine, tCr) were higher in patients relative to controls, consistent with neuronal dysfunction/loss, gliotic activity, and alterations in glutamate-glutamine cycling and energy metabolism. Changes in tNAA, tCr, myo-inositol, and glutamate levels were discernible in individual spectra and the tNAA/myo-inositol ratio in the cerebellar hemispheres and pons differentiated the patients from controls with 100% specificity and sensitivity. In addition, tNAA, myo-inositol, and glutamate levels in the cerebellar hemispheres and the tNAA and myo-inositol levels in the pons correlated with ataxia scores (Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia, SARA). Two other biomarkers measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a subset of the volunteers (F(2)-isoprostanes asa marker of oxidative stress and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as a marker of gliosis) were not different between patients and controls. These data demonstrate that (1)H MRS biomarkers can be utilized to noninvasively assess neuronal and glial status in individual ataxia patients.
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PMID:Neurochemical alterations in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 and their correlations with clinical status. 2031 29