Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are not the same. They affect different regions of the brain and have distinct genetic and environmental risk factors. But at the biochemical level, these two neurodegenerative diseases start to look similar. That’s how Emory scientists led by Keqiang Ye, PhD, landed on a potential drug target for Parkinson’s. In...
Category: <span>Pharmaceutical Updates</span>
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Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 helps to treat diabetic wounds
Researchers at the Lomonosov Moscow State University used a mouse model of a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant to study treatment of diabetic wounds, and are publishing their results in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. Wound healing is usually compromised in diabetes mellitus type II. Patients often suffer from skin damage on their feet—so-called diabetic foot ulcers. These wounds are...
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New study reveals new drug target for gout and other inflammatory diseases
Particle-driven diseases sound exotic and include things like silicosis and asbestos, but actually also include much more common diseases like Alzheimer’s, gout and even atherosclerosis. A new report published online in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests a potential drug target for particle-driven diseases like these and many others. Specifically, the study reveals that particle-induced cell death...
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‘Protective shield’ for beta-cells suggests new option to treat diabetes
The islets of Langerhans in the human pancreas produce and release insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. Insulin, which is specifically produced in b-cells, serves to prompt cells to take up glucose circulating in blood. Thus, insulin release lowers the level of glucose in blood. In diabetes, this cycle is disrupted by the premature death...
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Statins may raise the risk of Parkinson’s disease
Thousands of people across the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease every year. New research examines the effect of statins on the risk of developing this neurodegenerative disease. Every year, approximately 50,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimate that half a million people in the country live...
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Drug shows promise against vision-robbing disease in seniors
An experimental drug is showing promise against an untreatable eye disease that blinds older adults—and intriguingly, it seems to work in patients who carry a particular gene flaw that fuels the damage to their vision. Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of vision loss among seniors, gradually eroding crucial central vision. There are...
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Computer-designed antibodies target toxins associated with Alzheimer’s disease
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have designed antibodies that target the protein deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and stop their production. The researchers used computer-based methods to develop antibodies—the star players of the body’s natural defence system—to target the deposits of misfolded proteins which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Early...
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A unique amino acid for brain cancer therapy
Photodynamic therapy is often used to treat brain tumors because of its specificity—it can target very small regions containing cancerous cells while sparing the normal cells around it from damage. It works by injecting a drug called a photosensitizer into the bloodstream, where it gathers in cells, and then exposing the drug-filled cells to light....
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Injection of blood that goes up your nose to restore smell: Patients found they were able to detect strong odours after just one jab
An estimated 3 million people in the UK suffer from a severe loss of smell But new jabs help restore smell by encouraging nerve cells to regeneration After a single injection four of five test subjects said their small had come back Jabs of blood into the nose may offer new hope to those who...
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Targeted drug shows promise in rare advanced kidney cancer
Some patients with a form of advanced kidney cancer that carries a poor prognosis benefited from an experimental drug targeted to an abnormal genetic pathway causing cancerous growth, according to research led by a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientist. The drug, savolitinib, showed clinical activity in patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) whose tumors were driven...