Search results for "Sclerosis"

Antioxidant Alternatives in the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Comprehensive Review

2020

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that produces a selective loss of the motor neurons of the spinal cord, brain stem and motor cortex. Oxidative stress (OS) associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and the deterioration of the electron transport chain has been shown to be a factor that contributes to neurodegeneration and plays a potential role in the pathogenesis of ALS. The regions of the central nervous system affected have high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced antioxidant defences. Scientific studies propose treatment with antioxidants to combat the characteristic OS and the regeneration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) lev…

Heat Shock Protein 60 in Cardiovascular Physiology and Diseases.

2020

Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) is a highly conserved protein abundantly expressed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. In mammals, HSP60 has been primarily considered to reside in the mitochondria, where HSP60 and HSP10 form a complex and facilitate mitochondrial protein folding. However, HSP60 is also observed in the cytoplasm, the plasma membrane, and the extracellular space. HSP60 regulates a broad spectrum of cellular events including protein trafficking, peptide hormone signaling, cell survival, cell proliferation, inflammation, and immunization. In the cardiovascular system, growing evidence indicates that HSP60 could not only play an important role under physiological conditions,…

Physical Activity and Brain Health.

2019

Physical activity (PA) has been central in the life of our species for most of its history, and thus shaped our physiology during evolution. However, only recently the health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, and of highly energetic diets, are becoming clear. It has been also acknowledged that lifestyle and diet can induce epigenetic modifications which modify chromatin structure and gene expression, thus causing even heritable metabolic outcomes. Many studies have shown that PA can reverse at least some of the unwanted effects of sedentary lifestyle, and can also contribute in delaying brain aging and degenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, and multiple s…

Studying the blood-brain barrier will provide new insights into neurodegeneration - Commentary.

2018

Supplementary medication in multiple sclerosis: Real-world experience and potential interference with neurofilament light chain measurement

2020

Background As vitamins and dietary supplements are obtainable without prescription, treating physicians often ignore their intake by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and may therefore miss potential adverse effects and interactions. Objective We aimed to assess the spectrum and intake frequency of supplementary medication in a cohort of MS patients and to analyse the effect of biotin intake on measurement of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL), an emerging marker of disease activity. Methods MS patients visiting our neurology outpatient clinic completed a questionnaire on their past or present use of vitamins or dietary supplements. In addition, the impact of two different doses of …

Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis: An Open-Ended Story

2019

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS). Genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors interact together, contributing to the complex pathogenesis of the disease. In the last decades, the role of hypovitaminosis D on MS risk was hypothesised. Several factors drive the regulation of vitamin D status, including genetics. The current review summarises the literature evidence on the association between vitamin D and MS, with a focus on the genetic polymorphisms in vitamin D-related genes. The variants of the genes codifying Vitamin D Receptor (VDR), Vitamin D Binding Protein (VDBP) and CYP enzymes have been investigated, but the f…

2017

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by an insufficient suppression of autoreactive T lymphocytes. One reason for the lack of immunological control is the reduced responsiveness of T effector cells (Teff) for the suppressive properties of regulatory T cells (Treg), a process termed Treg resistance. Here we investigated whether the disease-modifying therapy of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) with dimethyl fumarate (DMF) influences the sensitivity of T cells in the peripheral blood of patients towards Treg-mediated suppression. We demonstrated that DMF restores responsiveness of Teff to the suppressive function of Treg in vitro, presumably by down-regulation of interle…

Vitamin D and the nervous system

2019

Objective: to summarise the activities that Vitamin D (VD) carries out in the brain and to clarify the potential role of VD in neurological diseases. Methods: a literature research has been performed in Pubmed using the following keywords: 'Vitamin D', 'nervous system', 'brain'. Results: the studies reviewed show that VD contributes to cerebral activity in both embryonic and adult brain, helping the connectivity of neural circuits responsible for locomotor, emotional and reward-dependent behavior. Low VD serum levels have been found in patients affected by Alzheimer Disease, Parkinson Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sleep Disorders and Schizophrenia. Discussion: find…

Peripherally Induced Regulatory T Cells: Recruited Protectors of the Central Nervous System against Autoimmune Neuroinflammation

2017

Defects in regulatory T cells (Treg cells) aggravate multiple sclerosis (MS) after its onset and the absence of Treg cell functions can also exacerbate the course of disease in an animal model of MS. However, autoimmune neuroinflammation in many MS models can be acutely provoked in healthy animals leading to an activation of encephalitogenic T cells despite the normal induction of immune tolerance in the thymus including thymically-produced (t)Treg cells. In contrast, neuroinflammation can be ameliorated or even completely prevented by the antigen-specific Treg cells formed extrathymically in the peripheral immune system (pTreg cells) during tolerogenic responses to relevant neuronal antige…

Elevated sodium leads to the increased expression of HSP60 and induces apoptosis in HUVECs

2017

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the world. We have previously shown that expression of heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) on the surface of endothelial cells is the main cause of initiating the disease as it acts as a T cell auto-antigen and can be triggered by classical atherosclerosis risk factors, such as infection (e.g. Chlamydia pneumoniae), chemical stress (smoking, oxygen radicals, drugs), physical insult (heat, shear blood flow) and inflammation (inflammatory cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, oxidized low density lipoprotein, advanced glycation end products). In the present study, we show that increasing levels of sodium chloride can also induce an increase in intracellular…