metabolites – The Science of Parkinson's

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New approaches for potentially slowing the progression of Parkinson’s are being announced on a regular basis. Some of them can not be independently replicated (such is the nature of science), while others open up whole new areas of research.

Recently scientists have reported that inhibiting certain aspects of the kynurenine pathway – which plays a critical role in generating energy in cells – can have neuroprotective results in models of Parkinson’s.

Many of the results have been independently replicated and the findings are now resulting in a new class of drug heading for clinical testing.

In today’s post, we will delve into what the kynurenine pathway is, explore how it relates to Parkinson’s, and discuss some of the approaches soon heading for the clinic.

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Structure of tryptophan. Source: Wikipedia

Tryptophan is one of eight essential amino acids.

Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of proteins in biology, but the “essential” label in this case does not refer to its necessity (although it is necessary), but rather the fact that it cannot be made by our bodies. As a result, all essential amino acids must come from the food we consume.

Tryptophan has many functions within the body:

it is a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin (which influences your mood, cognition, and behaviour)
it is a precursor of the hormone melatonin (which governs your sleep-wake cycle)
it is a precursor of vitamin B3 (naicin)

Source: Wikimedia

More importantly, however, tryptophan is also involved in kynurenine synthesis.

What is kynurenine synthesis?

Continue reading “What TDO about KMO?” →

Here’s a good riddle for you:

Many epidemiological studies have suggested that coffee/caffeine consumption reduces one’s risk of developing Parkinson’s. Study after study has suggested that drinking coffee is beneficial.

Recently, however, Japanese researchers have discovered something really curious: people with Parkinson’s have reduced levels of caffeine in their blood compared to healthy controls… even when they have consumed the same amount of coffee. (???)

In today’s post we will look at what coffee is, review the results of this study, and try to understand what is going on.

kaldi-adapted-from-uker

Kaldi the goat herder. Source: CoffeeCrossroads

Legend has it that in 800AD, a young Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his animals were “dancing”.

They had been eating some berries from a tree that Kaldi did not recognise, but being a plucky young fellow – and being fascinated by the merry behaviour of his four-legged friends – Kaldi naturally decided to eat some of the berries for himself.

The result: He became “the happiest herder in happy Arabia” (Source).

This amusing encounter was apparently how humans discovered coffee. It is most likely a fiction as the earliest credible accounts of coffee-consumption emerge from the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen, but since then coffee has gone on to become one of the most popular drinks in the world.

Silly question, but what exactly is coffee?

Continue reading “The mystery of caffeine” →