Midlife coffee drinking can decrease the risk of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease (AD) later in life. This conclusion is made in a Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) Study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Volume 16:1). This study has been conducted at the University of Kuopio, Finland in
Full Post: Midlife caffeine intake lowers risk of late-life dementia
Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links to both nicotine addiction and autism.
The finding has led to speculation that existing drugs used to curb nicotine addiction might serve as the basis for potential therapies to alleviate the symptoms of autism.
The discovery identified a defining role for a protein made by the neurexin-1 gene, which is located in brain cells and assists in connecting neurons as part of the brain’s chemical communication system. The neurexin-1 beta protein’s job is to lure another protein, a specific type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, to the synapses, where the receptor then has a role in helping neurons communicate signals among themselves and to the rest of the body.
This function is important in autism because previous research has shown that people with autism have a shortage of these nicotinic receptors in their brains. Meanwhile, scientists also know that people who are addicted to nicotine have too many of these receptors in their brains.
“If we were to use drugs that mimic the actions of nicotine at an early time in human brain development, would we begin to help those and other circuits develop properly and thus significantly mitigate the deficits in autism? This is a novel way of thinking about how we might be able to use drugs to approach autism treatment,” said Rene Anand, associate professor of pharmacology in Ohio State University’s College of Medicine and principal investigator of the research.
“It would not be a complete cure, but right now we know very little and have no drugs that tackle the primary causes of autism.”
The drugs in question are known as cholinergic agents, which interact with the brain to counter nicotine addiction. Anand said the medications could be retailored for use in children in an effort to increase the level of neurexin-1 beta protein in the brains of people with autism.
More neurexin would in turn not only enhance the presence of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, but also a host of other proteins that are important for the proper formation and maturation of synapses. Proper synapse function is critical to the nervous system’s ability to connect to and control other systems of the body.
“Now that these associations have been made, we believe that nicotine in smokers’ brains possibly increases the level of neurexin-1 and, as a consequence, helps bring more receptors to the synapses and makes those circuits highly efficient, reinforcing the addiction. In autism, we have the opposite problem. We have a lack of these receptors, and we speculate that neurexin levels are lower,” he said.
Anand presented the research Monday (11/17) at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C.
Autism symptoms include impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive or severely limited activities and interests. An estimated three to six of every 1,000 children are diagnosed with autism, and boys are four times more likely than girls to have the disorder, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Anand and colleagues were studying drug abuse and addiction when they discovered the neurexin-1 beta protein’s relationship to a certain type of nicotinic receptor. The timing of the discovery was key, as it built upon two other research groups’ previous observations: The brains of people with autism and other neurological disorders that were examined after their death showed a 60-percent to 70-percent decrease in specific nicotinic receptors, and some patients with autism have mutations in the neurexin-1 gene that suggest the gene’s improper functions could play a role in the disorder.
“These have all been ‘association studies.’ None has been able to prove what causes autism,” Anand said. “And then we accidentally discovered that neurexin-1 and nicotinic receptors tangle. So we knew that there was a genetic link to the process leading to synapse formation, and we had nicotinic receptors that had disappeared in the brains of autistic patients. Our finding filled a gap by saying there is a physical and functional association between these two things occurring in the brain.”
Neurexin has implications for tobacco addicts, as well, Anand said. Yet another group of researchers recently found that people with a mutation in the neurexin-1 gene were more likely to be smokers, meaning changes in the gene’s functions that lead to excess levels of the nicotinic receptors might make people more susceptible to nicotine addiction.
“Our research reveals how changes in the functions of neurexin could affect the guidance of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to their functional destinations in nerve cells, perhaps increasing receptors in tobacco addicts while decreasing them in autistic individuals, thus increasing susceptibility to these devastating neurological disorders,” Anand said.
The finding also has implications for nicotine addiction because drugs known to alter neurexin’s guidance of nicotinic receptors within nerve cells could be used to suppress tobacco addiction.
http://www.osu.edu/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Posts:
The study was published in an online Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the week of November 24. Scripps Florida is a division of The Scripps Research Institute. The neuropeptide, hypocretin-1 (Orexin A), may initiate a key signaling cascade, a series of closely linked biochemical reactions, which maintains tobacco
Full Post: Scientists discover that blocking a neuropeptide receptor decreases nicotine addiction
A study by scientists in New Zealand say craving something sweet like a biscuit or piece of chocolate could be a response to an addiction. According to Dr. Simon Thornley from Auckland’s Regional Public Health Service the reason unhealthy sugar and fat laden foods are being consumed is because they are addictive and could be
Full Post: Food-addiction blamed for obesity
A new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and Department of Psychiatry in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that smokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may suffer from concentration problems and other cognitive deficits when abstaining from nicotine - a problem
Full Post: Researchers find inherited genetic variation in nicotine addiction
A Princeton University scientist will present new evidence demonstrating that sugar can be an addictive substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals in a manner similar to many drugs of abuse. Professor Bart Hoebel and his team in the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute have been studying signs of
Full Post: Sugar is addictive
New research at West Virginia University is examining whether a smokeless, spitless tobacco product aimed at young adults is catching on. And the researchers have found that RJ Reynolds’ Camel Snus - touted as a socially acceptable way to satisfy addiction - contains surprisingly high levels of nicotine. “Camel Snus contains more nicotine than most
Full Post: Tobacco companies trying to market new smokeless, spitless tobacco products to young adults --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
