Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P47989 (xanthine oxidase)
 8,633 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adenosine is now widely accepted as the major inhibitory neuromodulator in the central nervous system besides GABA. It has been suggested to be an endogenous neuroprotective metabolite. In situations of metabolic stress, e.g. ischemia adenosine decreases energy demand and increases energy supply. Of particular relevance in this context is its modulation of glutamate release. A shift of this adenosine-glutamate balance in favor of adenosine helps to restore function at the cellular, organ and organism level. Adenosine A1 receptor agonists and metabolic inhibitors, e.g. of transport, deaminase and xanthine oxidase have been demonstrated to be effective in different animal models of ischemia. Nimodipine, a L-type channel calcium antagonist currently in clinical trials for stroke and dementia syndromes, has now been shown to be a potent adenosine transport inhibitor in clinically relevant concentrations. Increase of adenosinergic neuromodulation may well be one of several future therapeutic strategies in neuroprotection.
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PMID:Adenosine--an endogenous neuroprotective metabolite and neuromodulator. 788 4

Although clinical studies have demonstrated that EGb 761, a standard extract of Ginkgo biloba, was effective in mild-to-moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's disease patients, the mechanism underlying its neuroprotective effect remains unclear. In this study, effects of bilobalide, the main constituent of the nonflavone fraction of EGb 761, on reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells was studied. Exposure of cells to xanthine (100 microM)/xanthine oxidase (150 mU/ml) (ROS producer) resulted in a characteristic DNA fragmentation and an increase in the apoptosis rate. When p53, c-Myc, Bcl-2, Bcl-x(L), and Bax were measured by flow cytometry and the activities of caspase-1- and caspase-3-like protease determined with Ac-YVAD-AMC or Ac-DEVD-AMC as substrates, the profile of ROS-induced changes in these apoptosis regulatory and effector proteins suggests that elevation of c-Myc, p53, and Bax and activation of caspase-3 play an important role in the apoptosis. When cells were treated with ROS and bilobalide (25-100 microM) simultaneously, a dose-dependent reduction in the apoptotic rate was found. The percentage of cells with positive staining for c-Myc and p53 decreased from 27.8 and 50.1% to 16.7 and 23.2%, respectively, when bilobalide (25 microM) was present. Bilobalide also reduced ROS-induced elevation of Bax and activation of caspase-3 effectively. Our results provide the first direct evidence that bilobalide can protect neurons against oxidative stress. Bilobalide may block the apoptosis in the early stage and then attenuate the elevation of c-Myc, p53, and Bax and activation of caspase-3 in cells.
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PMID:Reactive oxygen species-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells and protective effect of bilobalide. 1086 1

Aggressive behaviour is commonly observed in patients with dementia, and current pharmacological treatments are still deficient in terms of efficacy and tolerability. Allopurinol is an inhibitor of the enzyme xanthine oxidase, with previously suggested anti-aggressive effects. After successful treatment of aggression in two patients, we performed a case-series study with allopurinol 300 mg a day orally for 6 weeks (increasing 300 mg every 2 weeks if the response was less than 50%) in six patients with dementia associated with prominent aggressive behaviour who failed to respond to two previous treatment strategies. Five patients were considerably responsive to allopurinol (four with 300 mg within 2 weeks and one with 600 mg), apparently without side-effects, which is in accordance with its well-established safety and tolerability profile. The observed therapeutic effect of allopurinol might be due to the inhibition of the enzyme xanthine oxidase, possibly decreasing production of oxygen-free radicals or promoting the accumulation of purines. Controlled studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary observations.
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PMID:Allopurinol for the treatment of aggressive behaviour in patients with dementia. 1249 Jul 76

Neurodegenerative diseases of the human brain comprise a variety of disorders that affect an increasing percentage of the population. Some of these are age dependent (e.g. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases) and some are infection dependent, e.g. human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS). The vulnerable brain regions in HIV/AIDS individuals include the dentate nucleus in the cerebellum, the red nucleus, substantia nigra (SN) in the mid-brain, the subthalamic nucleus, thalamic fasciculus in the diencephalons, the globus pallidus and striatum (or neostriatum, which consists of caudate and putamen) in the forebrain. Lesion in these regions may lead to progressive dementia, which is similar to what is observed in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The entry of calcium into the cytoplasm of cells at concentrations that can activate oxidative enzymes such as phospholipase A(2) and xanthine oxidase, deplete cells of cysteine and glutathione, cause mitochondrial release of free radicals and cell death. Glutamate and its receptors are key molecular elements at the interface between neurons and glia. Dietary factors can modulate physiological functions (including brain function) thereby increasing the economic productivity of a population as a function of health. A greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neuroprotection, oxidative stress and immune function will facilitate definition of the prophylactic potentials of diet, nutritional/food supplements, medicinal plants and herbal extracts.
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PMID:Neuroprotection by bioactive components in medicinal and food plant extracts. 1464 22

Alzheimer's disease is a major illness of dementia characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and extensive neuronal apoptosis. However, the mechanism behind neuronal apoptosis in the Alzheimer's-diseased brain is poorly understood. This study underlines the importance of neutral sphingomyelinase in fibrillar Abeta peptide-induced apoptosis and cell death in human primary neurons. Abeta1-42 peptides induced the activation of sphingomyelinases and the production of ceramide in neurons. Interestingly, neutral (N-SMase), but not acidic (A-SMase), sphingomyelinase was involved in Abeta1-42-mediated neuronal apoptosis and cell death. Abeta1-42-induced production of ceramide was redox-sensitive, as reactive oxygen species were involved in the activation of N-SMase but not A-SMase. Abeta1-42 peptides induced the NADPH oxidase-mediated production of superoxide radicals in neurons that was involved in the activation of N-SMase, but not A-SMase, via hydrogen peroxide. Consistently, superoxide radicals generated by hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase also induced the activation of N-SMase, but not A-SMase, through a catalase-sensitive pathway. Furthermore, antisense knockdown of p22phox, a subunit of NADPH oxidase, inhibited Abeta1-42-induced neuronal apoptosis and cell death. These studies suggest that fibrillar Abeta1-42 peptides induce neuronal apoptosis through the NADPH oxidase-superoxide-hydrogen peroxide-NS-Mase-ceramide pathway.
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PMID:Fibrillar amyloid-beta peptides kill human primary neurons via NADPH oxidase-mediated activation of neutral sphingomyelinase. Implications for Alzheimer's disease. 1545 32

Previous studies reported that the total flavonoids from the stems and leaves of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (TFSS) could enhance and improve learning and memory abilities in experimental animals, and reduce the neuronal pathologic alterations induced by some reagents in mice. The present study examined whether TFSS can improve memory dysfunction, neuronal damage, and abnormal free radicals induced by permanent cerebral ischemia in rats. The permanent cerebral ischemic model in rats was produced by bilateral ligation of the common carotid arteries. The influence of permanent cerebral ischemia on learning and memory was determined in the Morris water maze. The neuronal damage in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex was assessed by the neuronal morphologic observations. The contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex were measured using thiobarbituric acid, nitrate reductase, xanthine-xanthine oxidase, and ammonium molybdate spectrophotometric methods, respectively. In learning and memory performance tests, cerebral ischemic rats always required a longer latency time to find the hidden platform and spent a shorter time in the target quadrant in the Morris water maze. TFSS 17.5-70 mg.kg(-1) daily orally administered to ischemic rats for 20 d, from day 16-35 after operation differently reduced the prolonged latency and increased swimming time spent in the target quadrant. In neuronal morphologic observations, daily oral TFSS 17.5-70 mg.kg(-1) for 21 d, from day 16-36 after operation markedly inhibited the ischemia-induced neuronal damage. In addition, the increased contents of MDA and NO, and SOD activity, and the decreased activity of CAT in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex induced by cerebral ischemia were differently reversed. The reference drug piracetam (140 mg.kg(-1) per day for 20-21 d) similarly improved impaired memory and neuronal damage but had no significant effects on free radicals in ligated rats. TFSS can improve memory deficits and neuronal damage in rats after permanent cerebral ischemia, which may be beneficial in the treatment of cerebrovascular dementia.
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PMID:Effects of amelioration of total flavonoids from stems and leaves of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi on cognitive deficits, neuronal damage and free radicals disorder induced by cerebral ischemia in rats. 1659 23

Down syndrome (DS) is a chromosomal abnormality (trisomy 21) associated with mental retardation and Alzheimer-like dementia, characteristic change of the individual's phenotype and premature ageing. Oxidative stress is known to play a major role in this pathology since a gene dose effect leads to elevated ratio of superoxide dismutase to catalase/glutathione peroxidase compared to controls in all age categories suggesting that oxidative imbalance contributes to the clinical manifestation of DS. Hyperuricemia is another feature of DS that has an interesting relationship with oxidative stress since uric acid represents an important free radical scavenger. However its formation is connected to the conversion of Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) to Xanthine oxidase (XO) which leads to concomitant production of free radicals. Here we report that plasma samples from DS patients in pediatric age, despite an increased total antioxidant capacity, largely due to elevated Uric acid content (UA), present significantly elevated markers of oxidative damage such as increased allantoin levels. Moreover DS plasma samples do not differ from healthy control ones in terms of Coenzyme Q10 and susceptibility to peroxidative stimuli. On the contrary, lymphocyte and platelet CoQ10 content was significantly lower in DS patients, a fact that might underlie oxidative imbalance at a cellular level.
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PMID:Coenzyme Q10 and oxidative imbalance in Down syndrome: biochemical and clinical aspects. 1909 12

In Traditional Chinese Medicine a number of herbs are used to alleviate age-related diseases including memory impairment and dementia, among them stems of Cynomorium songaricum, Cynomoriaceae. In this study, we evaluated the protective effect of different extracts of aerial parts of C. songaricum on amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) and hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase induced cell death in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. Abeta (20 microM) as well as superoxide anions generated by the hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase system both reduced cell viability to about 60%. The methanolic extract of C. songaricum attenuated Abeta induced cell death at concentrations of 100 and 10 microg/ml, an even stronger effect was observed for the ethyl acetate fraction obtained from the crude methanolic extract. On the other hand, the dichloromethane as well as water fractions showed no protective effects. In order to further analyze the protective mode of action, the ability of extracts to protect against superoxide anions induced cell death was also evaluated. In this system, cell viability could again be restored by methanol and ethyl acetate extracts, the latter showingsignificant protective effects even at concentrations as low as 0.1 microg/ml.
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PMID:Extracts of Cynomorium songaricum protect human neuroblastoma cells from beta-amyloid25-35 and superoxide anion induced injury. 1982 6

Our previous work has demonstrated that piracetam inhibited the decrease in amino acid content induced by chronic hypoperfusion, ameliorated the dysfunction of learning and memory in a hypoperfusion rat model, down-regulated P53, and BAX protein, facilitated the synaptic plasticity, and may be helpful in the treatment of vascular dementia. To explore the precise mechanism, the present study further evaluated effects of piracetam on Oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced neuronal damage in rat primary cortical cells. The addition of piracetam to the cultured cells 12 h before OGD for 4 h significantly reduced neuronal damage as determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay and lactate dehydrogenase release experiments. Piracetam also lowered the levels of malondialdehyde, nitrogen monoxidum, and xanthine oxidase which was increased in the OGD cells, and enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, which were decreased in the OGD cells. We also demonstrated that piracetam could decrease glutamate and aspartate release when cortical cells were subjected to OGD. Furthermore, Western blot study demonstrated that piracetam attenuated the increased expression of P53 and BAX protein in OGD cells. These observations demonstrated that piracetam reduced OGD-induced neuronal damage by inhibiting the oxidative stress and decreasing excitatory amino acids release and lowering P53/Bax protein expression in OGD cells.
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PMID:Piracetam ameliorated oxygen and glucose deprivation-induced injury in rat cortical neurons via inhibition of oxidative stress, excitatory amino acids release and P53/Bax. 2457 Jan 12

Microinfarcts are common in patients with cognitive decline and dementia. Allopurinol (ALLO), a xanthine oxidase (XO) enzyme inhibitor, has been found to reduce proinflammatory molecules and oxidative stress in the vasculature. We here examined the effect of pre-treatment with allopurinol on the cortical microinfarction. C57BL/6J mice were subjected to a permanent single penetrating arteriole occlusion induced by two-photon laser irradiation. Infarction volume, the activation of glial cells and nitrosative stress in the ischemic brain was assessed using immunohistochemistry. Pre-treatment with ALLO achieved 42% reduction of infarct volume and significantly reduced microglia infiltration, astrocyte proliferation and nitrosative stress in the ischemic brain. These data indicate that ALLO protects against microinfarcts possibly through inhibition of nitrosative stress and attenuation of microglia infiltration as well as astrocytes reactivation.
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PMID:Allopurinol protects against ischemic insults in a mouse model of cortical microinfarction. 2618 58


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