Neurochemical Aspects of Neurotraumatic and Neurodegenerative Diseases - Hardcover

Farooqui, Akhlaq A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 144196651X ISBN 13: 9781441966513

Publisher: Springer, 2010

Synopsis

Collectively, neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by chronic and progressive loss of neurons in discrete areas of the brain, producing debilitating symptoms such as dementia, loss of memory, loss of sensory or motor capability, decreased overall quality of life eventually leading to premature death. Two types of cell death are known to occur during neurodegeneration: (a) apoptosis and (b) necrosis. The necrosis is characterized by the passive cell swelling, intense mitochondrial damage with rapid loss of ATP, alterations in neural membrane permeability, high calcium influx, and disruption of ion homeostasis. This type of cell death leads to membrane lysis and release of intracellular components that induce inflammatory reactions. Necrotic cell death normally occurs at the core of injury site. In contrast, apoptosis is an active process in which caspases (a group of endoproteases with specificity for aspartate residues in protein) are stimulated. Apoptotic cell death is accompanied by cell shrinkage, dynamic membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, DNA laddering, loss of phospholipids asymmetry, low ATP levels, and mild calcium overload. This type of cell death normally occurs in penumbral region at the ischemic injury site and in different regions in various neurodegenerative diseases.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Neurotraumatic (stroke, spinal cord trauma, and traumatic head injury) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington disease, and prion disease) are afflicting aging Americans with increasing frequency. These diseases result in acute, as well as gradual and progressive neurodegeneration, leading to brain dysfunction. Known risk factors for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases include increasing age, genetic polymorphisms, endocrine dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, infection, and exposure to neurotoxins. In contrast, spinal cord trauma and traumatic brain injury due to motorcycle and car accidents are major causes of death and disability among young people below the mid-thirties. Although molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases remain elusive, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, inflammation, misfolding, aggregation, and accumulation of proteins, perturbed Ca2+ homeostasis, and apoptosis have been implicated as possible causes of neurodegeneration in the above neurological disorders. In 2005, the global prevalence of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases was estimated at 35 million, with more than seven million new cases occurring each year. It is calculated that the number of people affected with neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases will double every 20 years, to 100 million by 2040, if a cure is not discovered. More than 60% of dementia cases are due to Alzheimer disease. Today, approximately six million individuals in the US suffer from Alzheimer disease alone, representing one in eight individuals over the age of 65-70.

Neurochemical Aspects of Neurotraumatic and Neurodegenerative Diseases presents readers with a cutting edge and comprehensive overview of neurochemical aspects of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases and their potential therapeutic strategies in a manner that is useful not only to graduate students and teachers, but also to research scientists and clinicians.

About the Author:
Dr. Akhlaq A. Farooqui is a leader in the field of brain phospholipases, lipid mediators, glutamate neurotoxicity and neurological disorders. Dr. Farooqui has authored five monographs: Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipase A2 in Neurological Disorders (2007); Neurochemical Aspects of Excitotoxicity (2008); Metabolism and Functions of Bioactive Ether Lipids in Brain (2008); Hot Topics in Neural Membrane Lipidology (2009), and Beneficial Effects of Fish Oil on Human Brain (2009). All monographs are published by Springer. Dr. Farooqui has also edited two books: Biogenic Amines: Pharmacological, Neurochemical and Molecular Aspects in the CNS Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, N.Y (2010) and Molecular Aspects of Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd (2010).

About the Author:

Dr. Akhlaq A. Farooqui is a leader in the field of brain phospholipases A2, bioactive ether lipid metabolism, polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism, glycerophospholipid-, sphingolipid-, and cholesterol-derived lipid mediators, glutamate-induced neurotoxicity and neurological disorders. He has discovered the stimulation of plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2 (PlsEtn-PLA2) in brains from patients with Alzheimer disease. Stimulation of PlsEtn-PLA2 produces plasmalogen deficiency and increases levels of eicosanoids that may be related to the loss of synapses, induction of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress in brains of patients with Alzheimer disease. Dr. Farooqui has published cutting edge research on the generation and identification of glycerophospholipid-, sphingolipid-, and cholesterol-derived lipid mediators in kainic acid neurotoxicity by lipidomics. He has previously authored five monographs: Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipase A2 in Neurological Disorders (2007); Neurochemical Aspects of Excitotoxicity (2008); Metabolism and Functions of Bioactive Ether Lipids in Brain (2008); Hot Topics in Neural Membrane Lipidology (2009), and Beneficial Effects of Fish Oil on Human Brain (2009). All monographs are published by Springer. Dr. Farooqui has also edited two books: “Biogenic Amines: Pharmacological, Neurochemical and Molecular Aspects in the CNS” Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, N.Y (2010) and Molecular Aspects of Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd (2010).

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 144196651X
• ISBN 13: 9781441966513
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 424