Parkinson's disease: return of an old prime suspect

[olsen]

Neuron. 2007 Jul 5;55(1):8-10. Links
Parkinson's disease: return of an old prime suspect.Sulzer D, Schmitz
Y.
Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical School, New York
State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
d...@columbia.edu

Pacemaking activity in adult substantia nigra (SN) dopamine neurons
relies on L-type Ca2+ channels, but a surprising study in Nature by
Chan et al. demonstrates that blockade of these channels by
dihydropyridines re-establishes the pacemaking driven by sodium and
HCN channels found in juvenile SN. This shift protects SN neurons in
chemical models of Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting that elevated
intracellular Ca2+ participates in SN cell loss and that
dihydropyridines may provide therapy in PD.


PMID: 17610813 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
(dihydropyridines are calcium channel blocker agents used in cardiovascular diseases, including arrhythmias)

[paula_w]

Thanks Madeleine,

I have met Dr. Sulzer, Peg and I sat at dinner table with him and his wife in New York, gosh life sounds fabulous too bad i always feel like crap.

He's an interesting personality and anything for now would be good.

paula

oh dear I typed this and then decided to at last read Birtes piece.
Thanks to her too -I sure needed something solid to read!

paula

[reverett123]

Went searching for a "natural" dihydropyridine as is my wont. Seems that another old friend fills the bill - magnesium.

"... Although Mg2+ is three to five orders of magnitude less potent than the organic Ca2+ channel blockers, it possesses unique and potentially useful Ca2+ antagonistic properties.

PMID: 3300911 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

So, to recap:
1) Steffi works wonders with her "Metatone" tonic (an electrolyte megamix).
2) I find that potassium (another electrolyte) really is important.
3) And now we have hints that the interaction between two other electrolytes -
calcium and magnesium - may be more relevant than supposed.

Anyone know much more on this one?
-Rick