Role of tangeritin against cognitive impairments in transgenic Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. As there is no permanent cure for the disease, the use of herbal compounds with antioxidant potential will be an effective approach for controlling the progression of disease. In this context the effect of tangeritin (a polymethoxy flavone concentrated in the peels of citrus fruits) was studied at final doses of 5, 10 and 20 µM on PD model flies. The doses were established in diet and the PD flies were allowed to feed on it for 24 days. The effect was studied on cognitive impairments. Immunostaining of brain sections for tyrosine hydroxylase was also performed. The docking studies were also carried out to give a plausible binding site of tangeritin on alpha synuclein molecule. The results of the study showed that tangeritin is effective in improving the cognitive impairments.

Rifampicin is a candidate preventive medicine against amyloid-ß and tau oligomers.

Amyloid-ß, tau, and α-synuclein, or more specifically their soluble oligomers, are the aetiologic molecules in Alzheimer's disease, tauopathies, and α-synucleinopathies, respectively. These proteins have been shown to interact to accelerate each other's pathology. Clinical studies of amyloid-ß-targeting therapies in Alzheimer's disease have revealed that the treatments after disease onset have little benefit on patient cognition. These findings prompted us to explore a preventive medicine which is orally available, has few adverse effects, and is effective at reducing neurotoxic oligomers with a broad spectrum. We initially tested five candidate compounds: rifampicin, curcumin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, myricetin, and scyllo-inositol, in cells expressing amyloid precursor protein (APP) with the Osaka (E693Δ) mutation, which promotes amyloid-ß oligomerization. Among these compounds, rifampicin, a well-known antibiotic, showed the strongest activities against the accumulation and toxicity (i.e. cytochrome c release from mitochondria) of intracellular amyloid-ß oligomers. Under cell-free conditions, rifampicin inhibited oligomer formation of amyloid-ß, tau, and α-synuclein, indicating its broad spectrum. The inhibitory effects of rifampicin against amyloid-ß and tau oligomers were evaluated in APPOSK mice (amyloid-ß oligomer model), Tg2576 mice (Alzheimer's disease model), and tau609 mice (tauopathy model). When orally administered to 17-month-old APPOSK mice at 0.5 and 1 mg/day for 1 month, rifampicin reduced the accumulation of amyloid-ß oligomers as well as tau hyperphosphorylation, synapse loss, and microglial activation in a dose-dependent manner. In the Morris water maze, rifampicin at 1 mg/day improved memory of the mice to a level similar to that in non-transgenic littermates. Rifampicin also inhibited cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and caspase 3 activation in the hippocampus. In 13-month-old Tg2576 mice, oral rifampicin at 0.5 mg/day for 1 month decreased amyloid-ß oligomer accumulation, tau hyperphosphorylation, synapse loss, and microglial activation, but not amyloid deposition. Rifampicin treatment to 14-15-month-old tau609 mice at 0.5 and 1 mg/day for 1 month also reduced tau oligomer accumulation, tau hyperphosphorylation, synapse loss, and microglial activation in a dose-dependent fashion, and improved the memory almost completely at 1 mg/day. In addition, rifampicin decreased the level of p62/sequestosome-1 in the brain without affecting the increased levels of LC3 (microtubule-associated protein light chain 3) conversion, suggesting the restoration of autophagy-lysosomal function. Considering its prescribed dose and safety in humans, these results indicate that rifampicin could be a promising, ready-to-use medicine for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Phage M13 for the treatment of Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.

The studies of microbes have been instrumental in combatting infectious diseases, but they have also led to great insights into basic biological mechanism like DNA replication, transcription, and translation of mRNA. In particular, the studies of bacterial viruses, also called bacteriophage, have been quite useful to study specific cellular processes because of the ease to isolate their DNA, mRNA, and proteins. Here, I review the recent discovery of how properties of the filamentous phage M13 emerge as a novel approach to combat neurodegenerative diseases.

Increased 3-nitrotyrosine levels in mitochondrial membranes and impaired respiratory chain activity in brain regions of adult female rats submitted to daily vitamin A supplementation for 2 months.

Vitamin A supplementation among women is a common habit worldwide in an attempt to slow aging progression due to the antioxidant potential attributed to retinoids. Nonetheless, vitamin A elicits a myriad of side effects that result from either therapeutic or inadvertent intake at varying doses for different periods. The mechanism behind such effects remains to be elucidated. In this regard, we performed the present work aiming to investigate the effects of vitamin A supplementation at 100, 200, or 500IU/kgday(-1) for 2 months on female rat brain, analyzing tissue lipid peroxidation levels, antioxidant enzyme activities (both Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase - SOD - and Mn-SOD); glutathione S-transferase (GST) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme activity; mitochondrial respiratory chain activity and redox parameters in mitochondrial membranes, as well as quantifying α- and ß-synucleins, ß-amyloid peptide(1-40), immunoglobulin heavy-chain binding protein/78kDa glucose-regulated protein (BiP/GRP78), receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), D2 receptor, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) contents in rat frontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum. We observed increased lipid peroxidation marker levels, altered Cu/Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD enzyme activities, mitochondrial nitrosative stress, and impaired respiratory chain activity in such brain regions. On the other hand, we did not find any change in MAO and GST enzyme activities, and on α- and ß-synucleins, ß-amyloid peptide(1-40), GRP78/BiP, RAGE, D2 receptor, and TNF-α contents. Importantly, we did not observed any evidence regarding an antioxidant effect of such vitamin at low doses in this experimental model. The use of vitamin A as an antioxidant therapy among women needs to be reexamined.