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Tuesday February 3 Insulin-Like Agent Restores Motor Control NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Laboratory experiments suggest that an insulin-like substance known as IGF-I may help restore lost motor coordination in people with cerebral ataxia, a disorder affecting muscle control and walking due to injury to the brain's cerebellum. Currently, the disorder is untreatable. Researchers at the Cajal Institute in Madrid, Spain, say their findings in laboratory rats with experimentally induced cerebral ataxia indicate that timing is an important factor in treatment. The sooner IGF-I was given, the more it aided recovery of brain cells. In addition, the researchers found that the rats completely recovered motor control whether the substance was infused directly into the brain or was injected under the skin. The study team notes that patients with cerebral ataxia are not as common as those with other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases. Still, they point out that the "complete lack" of any effective treatment for it makes their IGF-I findings of "significant societal interest." Moreover, they note that IGF-I is currently being tested for other neurological disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. "Thus, its possible use in the treatment of human cerebellar ataxia appears of great promise," the researchers conclude. Cerebellar ataxia may be due to damage to the cerebellum (part of the brain concerned with coordination) or to the nerve pathways that carry information to and from the cerebellum. Possible causes include stroke, brain tumor, alcohol intoxication, and multiple sclerosis, or other types of nervous system degeneration. SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1998;95:1253-1258) Copyright © 1998 Reuters Limited. JUdith Richards [log in to unmask]