We decided to use a new post format in 2025. It would propose aggregated short news instead of dedicating a post per publication.
Scientists who publish on neurodegenerative diseases often ignore the fact that neuron-type cells comprise only half of cells in the central nervous system.
So it's fresh air to read a review on Schwann cells involvement in ALS.
Yet conceptually associating Schwann cells and ALS is not common, ALS is a disease of the central nervous system (upper motor neurons in the brain and spine) while Schwann cells are located in the peripheral nervous system (lower motor neurons with their bodies from the spine and terminating in muscles). This does not mean there are no relations between the two types of cells, and it's a common view now that neurons are not independent, self-sufficient entities and that they are cared for by a large number of other cell types.
In a similar vein, Uruguayan scientists were interested in astrocytes' health. Astrocytes are the main kind of motor neuron supportive cells, if they ill behave, motor neurons die and it happens that they can switch between several behaviors. The scientists thought that metabolic reprogramming could occur in astrocytes following damage, and it significantly influences the progression of ALS pathology. Metabolic reprogramming, which involves changes in mitochondrial activity, within glial cells may provide valuable insights for developing innovative therapeutic approaches to mitigate neuronal damage.
It's no new but another study finds common molecular features between ALS and Parkinson's diseases. This reinforces the idea that sporadic neurodegenerative diseases are not clearly delineated diseases as in medical books. On the contrary, these medical classifications just describe symptoms belonging to a spectrum shared by many sporadic neurodegenerative diseases and aging.
Scientists in Taiwan studied the effects of isofraxidin on motor performance changes in chemically induced (lipopolysaccharide) Parkinson's disease in mice.
Isofraxidin is isolated from Eleutherococcus senticosus. Eleutherococcus senticosus, as many berries, is itself loaded with chemical components and provokes adverse effects in some people. What makes them study this plant is not disclosed. Still, as often it's probably because it is used in traditional medicine, and there were some interesting scientific studies on its effects on neurological disease. Isofraxidin pre-treatment significantly improved lipopolysaccharide-induced motor dysfunction, as evidenced by better performance in the rotarod, pole-climbing, and beam-walking tests. Does this prove anything? I am not sure, there are many articles that isofraxidin protects against lipopolysaccharide-induced diseases, the scientists most probably knew that when they planned their experiment.