GENETIC FACTORS AND REGIONAL BRAIN ATROPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF DEMENTIA WITH LEWY BODIES
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$605,151.00
Summary
The number of people with dementia is increasing in Australia as people live longer. Dementia sometimes has a genetic basis and identification of such cases has improved our understanding of the events leading to the destruction of the brain tissue. In the vast majority of people, the degenerative changes were previously thought to be as a result of Alzheimer's disease. However, our recent research, funded by the NHMRC, confirms international findings showing more than 25% of people with dementi ....The number of people with dementia is increasing in Australia as people live longer. Dementia sometimes has a genetic basis and identification of such cases has improved our understanding of the events leading to the destruction of the brain tissue. In the vast majority of people, the degenerative changes were previously thought to be as a result of Alzheimer's disease. However, our recent research, funded by the NHMRC, confirms international findings showing more than 25% of people with dementia have a different disease called Dementia with Lewy bodies or DLB. Of course identifying these patients occurs at death when the cells in the brain can be examined for Lewy bodies. We now know that the brain degeneration differs significantly in patients with this disease. However, it is still not possible to identify DLB in life with any certainty. This project aims to develop objective methods to clinically differentiate dementia patients. We will seek out families in which genetic influences may underly the disease and determine whether these factors differ from those found in other dementing illnesses. Also, our preliminary studies have observed volume loss in a particular brain region in pathologically confirmed DLB patients. We wish to do further measurements to determine if tissue loss in this region can clinically differentiate DLB patients. In addition, we will determine the reasons for the tissue loss by careful pathological studies.Read moreRead less
Nutrient And Hormone Delivery To Muscle: Interactions Between Insulin And Exercise
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$304,375.00
Summary
Exercise is known to be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of Type 2 diabetes and in particular muscle insulin resistance. Also, exercise and insulin share similar acute actions on muscle. Firstly, muscle contraction has a well established action to increase glucose uptake, and secondly, both muscle contraction and insulin act to increase capillary recruitment. This latter phenomenon is thought to enhance nutrient delivery and waste product removal. There is evidence that the increase in ....Exercise is known to be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of Type 2 diabetes and in particular muscle insulin resistance. Also, exercise and insulin share similar acute actions on muscle. Firstly, muscle contraction has a well established action to increase glucose uptake, and secondly, both muscle contraction and insulin act to increase capillary recruitment. This latter phenomenon is thought to enhance nutrient delivery and waste product removal. There is evidence that the increase in capillary flow due to muscle contraction is accompanied by increases in total blood flow. For insulin action we now have preliminary data to indicate that capillary recruitment occurs within a 5-10 min application of a physiologic dose of insulin independent of a change in total blood flow suggesting a redistribution of flow. Muscle contraction also increases capillary recruitment and it raises the question of whether similar mechanisms underlie insulin- and muscle contraction-induced capillary recruitment or whether there are distinct and complementary pathways. In this project we plan to define the mechanisms responsible for contraction- and insulin-induced capillary recruitment in muscle. We hypothesize that similar mechanisms are operative, with both insulin and muscle contractions acting via NO-dependent mechanisms. Because of capillary reserve, and different initial steps of the signalling systems stimulated by insulin and exercise, capillary recruitment by combined contraction and insulin stimuli will be additive at both sub maximal and perhaps at maximal insulin pathway stimulation. Signalling mechanisms will be compared and the role of non-nutritive route as a flow reserve assessed.Read moreRead less
Role Of Adhesion Molecules In Autoimmune Vasculitis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$377,036.00
Summary
Lupus is a disease which causes inflammation and pain throughout the body. The inflammation is caused by white blood cells attacking the lining of blood vessels in tissues. The aim of this project is to understand the reasons why these white blood cells attack the blood vessel lining. This process is impossible to study in humans. However, there is a strain of mouse which is affected by a disease which is very similar to human lupus. This disease occurs spontaneously in these mice. Using a micro ....Lupus is a disease which causes inflammation and pain throughout the body. The inflammation is caused by white blood cells attacking the lining of blood vessels in tissues. The aim of this project is to understand the reasons why these white blood cells attack the blood vessel lining. This process is impossible to study in humans. However, there is a strain of mouse which is affected by a disease which is very similar to human lupus. This disease occurs spontaneously in these mice. Using a microscope, it is possible to study the tiny blood vessels which are affected by this disease in these mice . Under the microscope, it is possible to see the white blood cells as they undergo the process of attacking the blood vessel lining. Visualizing this attack then allows us to study it and determine which molecules are important in causing this damaging inflammatory response. Specifically I will examine diseased blood vessels in the skin and brain of these mice, two of the tissues most dramatically affected by this disease. This information should help us gain an increased understanding of lupus as it affects humans.Read moreRead less