 |
 |
Researchers in neurology, biology, biochemistry and related fields met at a 4 day international conference hosted by Dr. Lester Packer of UC Berkeley and held in Santa Barbara, California on March 3-6, 1999 to discuss oxidation and antioxident neuroprotection as related to aging and disease. Titles and presenters of papers devoted specifically to Parkinson's disease, plus my "abstracts of the abstracts", were: "The iron-binding protein ferritin protects vulnerable dopaminergic neurons against neurodegeneration associated with a toxic model of Parkinson's disease". Julie Andersen, Jun Qin Mo, and Ferda Yanter, Andrus Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Transgenic mice with increased ferritin levels and correspondingly greater resistance to the Parkinsonian-inducing neurotoxin MPTP, were developed and studied as an approach to investigating possible genetic differences in human ability to handle free iron in the substantia nigra and how this may relate to susceptibilty to and protection against PD. "Absorption and effects on mitochondrial activity of oral ubiquinone [Coenzyme Q10] in Parkinsonian patients". M. Flint Beal, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York. Beal presented evidence from mice studies indicating that CoQ10 "may have potential protective effects in Parkinsonian patients." "Effects of Selegiline in patients with Parkinson's disease". C. Warren Olanow, Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. Whereas selegiline has been used to inhibit the oxidation of dopamine, "...recent studies indicate that selegiline benefits are due to its desmethyl metabolite and that its protective actions are independent of MAO-B inhibition. It now appears that selegiline has an anti-apoptotic effect, which may relate to upregulation of Bcl-2. Further clinical trials to delineate a potential neuroprotective effect of selegiline in Parkinson's disease, and more specifically of desmethyl selegiline and other drugs of this type, are wanted." Abstracts of all papers presented are available on-line at http://radicals.berkeley.edu. Information on Dr. Packer's studies of free radical biology is at http://packer.berkeley.edu. Phil Tompkins Hoboken NJ age 61/dx 1990