scholarly journals Therapeutic Potential of Polyphenols in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1328
Author(s):  
Valentina Novak ◽  
Boris Rogelj ◽  
Vera Župunski

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are severe neurodegenerative disorders that belong to a common disease spectrum. The molecular and cellular aetiology of the spectrum is a highly complex encompassing dysfunction in many processes, including mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. There is a paucity of treatment options aside from therapies with subtle effects on the post diagnostic lifespan and symptom management. This presents great interest and necessity for the discovery and development of new compounds and therapies with beneficial effects on the disease. Polyphenols are secondary metabolites found in plant-based foods and are well known for their antioxidant activity. Recent research suggests that they also have a diverse array of neuroprotective functions that could lead to better treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. We present an overview of the effects of various polyphenols in cell line and animal models of ALS/FTD. Furthermore, possible mechanisms behind actions of the most researched compounds (resveratrol, curcumin and green tea catechins) are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mhoriam Ahmed ◽  
Charlotte Spicer ◽  
Jasmine Harley ◽  
Nikolaj Petersen ◽  
Paul Taylor ◽  
...  

Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are now widely considered to be part of a disease spectrum with the identification of common pathological features and genetic causes. However, despite these advances, there remains no effective therapy for these conditions. In this study we demonstrate that mice expressing mutant valosin containing protein (VCP) develop an ALS/FTD-like phenotype in the spinal cord and brain, and treatment with arimoclomol, a pharmacological amplifier of the cytoprotective heat shock response ameliorates this phenotype. Moreover, the beneficial effects of arimoclomol are seen in both fibroblasts and iPSC-derived motor neurons from patients. Importantly, we show the pathological changes targeted by arimoclomol in our experimental models are present in post-mortem FTD patient tissue. Together with previous data demonstrating the efficacy of arimoclomol in SOD1-ALS models, our findings suggest that arimoclomol may have therapeutic potential not only in non-SOD1 ALS but also for the treatment of FTD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine R. Chalmers ◽  
JiHye Kim ◽  
Nam Chul Kim

AbstractIn 2012 Liu et al. reported that miR-34 is an age-related miRNA regulating age-associated events and long-term brain integrity in Drosophila. They demonstrated that modulating miR-34 and its downstream target Eip74EF showed beneficial effects on age-related diseases using a Drosophila model of SCA3trQ78. These results imply that miR-34 could be a general genetic modifier and therapeutic candidate for age-related diseases. Therefore, we examined the effect of miR-34 and Eip74EF on another age-related Drosophila disease model. Using a Drosophila model expressing mutant Drosophila VCP that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or multisystem proteinopathy (MSP), we demonstrated that abnormal eye phenotypes generated by Drosophila VCP R152H were rescued when expressed with Eip74EF siRNA. Contrary to our expectation, miR-34 overexpression resulted in lethality when expressed with mutant VCP. Our data indicate that the other downstream targets of miR-34 might more significantly interact with mutant VCP, causing lethality. Identifying transcriptional targets of Eip74EF might provide valuable insights into diseases caused by mutations in VCP such as ALS, FTD, and MSP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (24) ◽  
pp. 13280
Author(s):  
Raquel García-García ◽  
Laura Martín-Herrero ◽  
Laura Blanca-Pariente ◽  
Jesús Pérez-Cabello ◽  
Cintia Roodveldt

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder of motor neurons in adults, with a median survival of 3–5 years after appearance of symptoms, and with no curative treatment currently available. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is also an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease, displaying not only clinical overlap with ALS, but also significant similarities at genetic and pathologic levels. Apart from the progressive loss of neurons and the accumulation of protein inclusions in certain cells and tissues, both disorders are characterized by chronic inflammation mediated by activated microglia and astrocytes, with an early and critical impact of neurodegeneration along the disease course. Despite the progress made in the last two decades in our knowledge around these disorders, the underlying molecular mechanisms of such non-cell autonomous neuronal loss still need to be clarified. In particular, immune signaling kinases are currently thought to have a key role in determining the neuroprotective or neurodegenerative nature of the central and peripheral immune states in health and disease. This review provides a comprehensive and updated view of the proposed mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and ongoing clinical trials of immune-related kinases that have been linked to ALS and/or FTD, by covering the more established TBK1, RIPK1/3, RACK I, and EPHA4 kinases, as well as other emerging players in ALS and FTD immune signaling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharifah Anoar ◽  
Nathaniel S. Woodling ◽  
Teresa Niccoli

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by declining motor and cognitive functions. Even though these diseases present with distinct sets of symptoms, FTD and ALS are two extremes of the same disease spectrum, as they show considerable overlap in genetic, clinical and neuropathological features. Among these overlapping features, mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with both FTD and ALS. Recent studies have shown that cells derived from patients’ induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)s display mitochondrial abnormalities, and similar abnormalities have been observed in a number of animal disease models. Drosophila models have been widely used to study FTD and ALS because of their rapid generation time and extensive set of genetic tools. A wide array of fly models have been developed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of toxicity for mutations associated with FTD/ALS. Fly models have been often instrumental in understanding the role of disease associated mutations in mitochondria biology. In this review, we discuss how mutations associated with FTD/ALS disrupt mitochondrial function, and we review how the use of Drosophila models has been pivotal to our current knowledge in this field.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 779-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre LeBlanc ◽  
Miroslava Cuperlovic-Culf ◽  
Pier Jr. Morin ◽  
Mohamed Touaibia

Background:: The current therapeutic options available to patients diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are limited and edaravone is a compound that has gained significant interest for its therapeutic potential in this condition. Objectives: : The current work was thus undertaken to synthesize and characterize a series of edaravone analogues. Methods: A total of 17 analogues were synthesized and characterized for their antioxidant properties, radical scavenging potential and copper-chelating capabilities. Results: Radical scavenging and copper-chelating properties were notably observed for edaravone. Analogues bearing hydrogen in position 1 and a phenyl at position 3 and a phenyl in both positions of pyrazol-5 (4H)-one displayed substantial radical scavenging, antioxidants and copper-chelating properties. High accessibility of electronegative groups combined with higher electronegativity and partial charge of the carbonyl moiety in edaravone might explain the observed difference in the activity of edaravone relative to the closely related analogues 6 and 7 bearing hydrogen at position 1 and a phenyl at position 3 (6) and a phenyl in both positions (7). Conclusion: Overall, this study reveals a subset of edaravone analogues with interesting properties. Further investigation of these compounds is foreseen in relevant models of oxidative stress-associated diseases in order to assess their therapeutic potential in such conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 372 ◽  
pp. 444-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Yaguchi ◽  
Akiko Takeuchi ◽  
Kazuhiro Horiuchi ◽  
Ikuko Takahashi ◽  
Shinnichi Shirai ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Nitrini

ABSTRACT The occurrence of dementia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was only widely recognized in the late 20th century. Hitherto, it was believed that dementia was a rare event due to the fortuitous association with other diseases. In 1924, Kostantin Nikolaevich Tretiakoff and Moacyr de Freitas Amorim reported a case of dementia with features of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) that preceded the motor signs of ALS. Neuropathological examination confirmed ALS and found no signs of other dementia-causing diseases. The authors hypothesized that dementia was part of ALS and recommended the search for signs of involvement of motor neurons in cases of dementia with an ill-defined clinical picture, a practice currently accepted in the investigation of cases of FTD. This was one of the first descriptions of dementia preceding the motor impairments of ALS and was published in Portuguese and French in Memórias do Hospício de Juquery.


Author(s):  
Meric Ozturk ◽  
Marit Nilsen-Hamilton ◽  
Muslum Ilgu

Being the predominant cause of disability, neurological diseases have received much attention from the global health community. Over a billion people suffer from one of the following neurological disorders: dementia, epilepsy, stroke, migraine, meningitis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, prion dis-ease, or brain tumors. Diagnosis and treatment options are limited for many of these diseases. Aptamers, being small and non-immunogenic nucleic acid molecules that are easy to chemically modify, offer potential diagnostic and theranostic applications to meet these needs. This review covers pioneer studies to apply aptamers, which show promise for future diagnostics and treatments of neurological disorders that pose increasingly dire worldwide health challenges.


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