Burnham Institute Resesarchers and a team from Japan have discovered a novel way to treat stroke and neurodegenerative disorders by inducing nerve cells in the brain and the spine to release natural antioxidants, such as bilirubin, that protect nerve cells from stress and free radicals that lead to neurodegenerative diseases.

In stroke and various neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease, glutamate, an amino acid found in high quantities in the brain, is thought to accumulate. At normal concentrations, glutamate acts as a neurotransmitter that nerves use to communicate. However, at excessive levels glutamate is toxic, resulting in over stimulation of nerve cells, known as excitotoxicity, and causing excessive stress on the nerve cells eventually ending in cell death.

Studies described in this report suggest that NEPPs (NEurite outgrowth-Promoting Prostaglandins), compounds that accumulate in nerve cells, prevent nerve damage by activating the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway that regulates the production of antioxidants, which relieve cells of damaging free radicals that result from excitotoxicity.

Reference:

T. Satoh, S. -i. Okamoto, J. Cui, Y. Watanabe, K. Furuta, M. Suzuki, K. Tohyama, and S. A. Lipton, Activation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway for neuroprotection by electrophillic phase II inducers, PNAS published January 9, 2006, 10.1073/pnas.0505723102 (Neuroscience )

Source: Burnham Institute news release