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UNMC Find Could Treat Epilepsy, Dementia Brain Enzyme Could Lessen Impact Of Neurological Diseases updated 12:17 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2009 OMAHA, Neb. - Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said they've found what may be a potentially lifesaving tool in the fight against brain diseases like epilepsy and dementia. "Whether it's epilepsy, dementia, stroke or Parkinson's, the essential problem is brain cells in particular regions die off," said neurologist Dr. Sanjay Singh. The UNMC researchers said they've discovered a naturally occurring enzyme, Peroxiredoxin 6, which could potentially reduce or even eliminate the effects of brain disease by preventing those cells from dying. Singh said his research partner was actually doing research on cataracts when he stumbled on the beneficial effects of the PRDX6 enzyme on brain cells. "We usually count cells to see how many survived and with this, it was visually apparent they were surviving," he said. "The way it works is that it decreases oxidative stress. When you have a lot of oxidative stress in the brain, it kills brain cells." He said that since PRDX6 occurs naturally in the brain, the next step is figuring out how to increase its levels. "There are not very many neuroprotectors you can find that have been successful, so we'll have to start from scratch to choose our products and work on them," he said. He said if there's a way to increase the level of PRDX6, possibly through medication or diet, the impact could be life-changing. "Finding something like this is really exciting and gives us a brand new way of treating such disorders and gives hope to patients," he said. Doctors will need to test the enzyme in animal models before beginning human trials. They said right now, there's no known specific food or medication that will increase the enzyme in your body. URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28683353/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn