Antibiotic now tackles Parkinson's. (Biomedicine).Once of interest primarily to microbiologists, the antibiotic minocycline recently has drawn the interest of neuroscientists. Last year, for example, researchers reported that the antibiotic delayed death in mice that develop a neurological condition resembling Huntington's disease Huntington's disease, hereditary, acute disturbance of the central nervous system usually beginning in middle age and characterized by involuntary muscular movements and progressive intellectual deterioration; formerly called Huntington's chorea. (SN: 8/19/00, p. 8). A trial of the drug in people with the illness is about to begin. Now, several groups find that minocycline seems to protect the class of brain cells that die in Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. , another neurodegenerative disorder neurodegenerative disorder Neurology A chronic progressive neuropathy characterized by selective and generally symmetrical loss of neurons in motor, sensory, or cognitive systems Types by area Cerebral cortex–Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, Lewy body . "I think minocycline has some remarkable neuroprotective effects," says Steven M. Paul of Lily Research Laboratories in Indianapolis, a leader of one of those groups. Paul's team injected mice with a toxic substance known to destroy nerve cells making the brain chemical dopamine dopamine (dōp`əmēn), one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine. dopamine One of the catecholamines, widely distributed in the central nervous system. , the same cells affected in Parkinson's disease. Many fewer of the cells die if the mice ingest in·gest tr.v. in·gest·ed, in·gest·ing, in·gests 1. To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption. See Synonyms at eat. 2. minocycline, even if they get the antibiotic 4 hours after the last toxic injection, the researchers found. They detail these results in the Dec. 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. . Paul doesn't believe that long-term administration of minocycline should be considered for people with Parkinson's disease. He notes that the drug's germ-killing properties are unneeded for treating the brain disorder. It also doesn't readily cross from the bloodstream into the brain, where it's needed. Once the antibiotic's neuroprotective mechanism is understood, Paul and his colleagues intend to develop minocycline mimics that reach the brain better and don't kill germs. --J.T. |
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