Na intake, bisphosphonates + hippocampus/Alzheimer's disease

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See the attached below for the messages, All.

Cheers, Al.

Sodium intake in Western societies further increases during childhood and

adolescence to reach levels of approximately 150 mmol/day (9 g salt) in

adulthood [6].

The PDF-available:

Curr Opin Oncol 2002 Nov;14(6):609-15

Bisphosphonates in cancer therapy.

Green JR.

Bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption in metastatic bone

disease. A wealth of preclinical data have begun to shed light on the complex

mechanisms by which bisphosphonates inhibit bone resorption and interfere with

the formation and growth of bone metastases. Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates

inhibit the mevalonate pathway, which results in the inhibition of osteoclast

function and the induction of apoptosis in osteoclasts and tumor cells alike.

There is now extensive evidence that bisphosphonates have cytostatic activity

against tumor cell lines and inhibit tumor cell adhesion and invasion of the

extracellular matrix. These data are supported by a growing body of evidence

from animal models demonstrating that bisphosphonates can reduce skeletal tumor

burden. However, it remains unclear whether this reduction reflects a direct

antitumor effect or an indirect effect via osteoclast inhibition and alteration

of the bone microenvironment. Further preclinical studies are needed to

elucidate these biochemical mechanisms fully; ultimately, well-controlled

clinical trials will be required to investigate whether the antitumor potential

of bisphosphonates translates into a significant clinical benefit for patients

with cancer.

PMID: 12409650 [PubMed - in process]

Age and Ageing 2002; 31: 440-444

Minimal hippocampal width relates to

plasma homocysteine in community-dwelling older people

H. , Erlick A. C. Pereira, Marc M. Budge and M. Bradley

said that age and body mass index accounted for 14.6% of the hippocampus widths

and homocysteine accounted for 2.6%.

This could relate to:

Brain 2002 Oct;125(Pt 10):2332-41

Longitudinal quantitative proton magnetic resonance

spectroscopy of the hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease.

Dixon RM, Bradley KM, Budge MM, Styles P, AD.

Changes in metabolites detected by proton magnetic

resonance spectroscopy ((1)H

MRS) of the brain have been demonstrated in Alzheimer's

disease. Our objectives

were, first, longitudinally to measure absolute

concentrations of metabolites in both

hippocampi, the sites of early Alzheimer's disease, in

patients with clinical

Alzheimer's disease and controls; secondly, to separate

the relative contribution of

atrophy and metabolite concentration change to overall

signal change; and, thirdly,

to determine whether metabolite concentrations in the

hippocampus relate to

cognitive scores. (1)H MR spectra were acquired from a

single voxel (12 x 15 x 25

mm(3) = 4.5 ml) aligned to the long axis of each

hippocampus in nine probable or

possible Alzheimer's disease subjects diagnosed according

to the National Institute

of Neurologic and Cognitive Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS)

compared with 14

age-matched NINCDS-negative Alzheimer's disease controls.

Metabolite

concentrations were corrected for the amount of CSF

present in the voxel.

Hippocampal volumes were measured at the same time. The

same protocol was

repeated approximately 1 year later. We found that

atrophy-corrected hippocampal

N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentration was lower in

cognitively impaired subjects

compared with controls. This was significant for the left

hippocampus (baseline 87%

of control, P = 0.013; and at 1 year 76% of control, P =

0.020). Hippocampal

volumes also differed significantly between the groups,

and decreased significantly

over 1 year in the Alzheimer's disease group (12%, P =

0.017). The decrease in

[NAA] over 1 year was not significant in either group.

Discriminant analysis

revealed that the best classification of subjects was by

including both left NAA

concentration and left hippocampal volume. myo-Inositol

signals from these small

voxels had poor signal-to-noise and demonstrated no

significant changes. We

conclude that (1)HMRS-detectable metabolites can be

quantified from the

hippocampi of cognitively impaired individuals, and that

hippocampal [NAA] is

significantly reduced in Alzheimer's disease, in excess

of atrophy. In our cohort, the

differences were more significant for the left

hippocampus.

PMID: 12244089 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]