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Spencer PS, Palmer VS, Kisby GE, Lagrange E, Horowitz BZ, Valdes Angues R, Reis J, Vernoux JP, Raoul C, Camu W. Early-onset, conjugal, twin-discordant, and clusters of sporadic ALS: Pathway to discovery of etiology via lifetime exposome research. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1005096. [PMID: 36860617 PMCID: PMC9969898 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1005096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The identity and role of environmental factors in the etiology of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) is poorly understood outside of three former high-incidence foci of Western Pacific ALS and a hotspot of sALS in the French Alps. In both instances, there is a strong association with exposure to DNA-damaging (genotoxic) chemicals years or decades prior to clinical onset of motor neuron disease. In light of this recent understanding, we discuss published geographic clusters of ALS, conjugal cases, single-affected twins, and young-onset cases in relation to their demographic, geographic and environmental associations but also whether, in theory, there was the possibility of exposure to genotoxic chemicals of natural or synthetic origin. Special opportunities to test for such exposures in sALS exist in southeast France, northwest Italy, Finland, the U.S. East North Central States, and in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. Given the degree and timing of exposure to an environmental trigger of ALS may be related to the age at which the disease is expressed, research should focus on the lifetime exposome (from conception to clinical onset) of young sALS cases. Multidisciplinary research of this type may lead to the identification of ALS causation, mechanism, and primary prevention, as well as to early detection of impending ALS and pre-clinical treatment to slow development of this fatal neurological disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S. Spencer
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States,Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States,*Correspondence: Peter S. Spencer,
| | - Valerie S. Palmer
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Glen E. Kisby
- College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest, Western University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, OR, United States
| | - Emmeline Lagrange
- Department of Neurology, Reference Center of Neuromuscular Disease and ALS Consultations, Grenoble University Hospital, Grenoble, France
| | - B. Zane Horowitz
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Oregon-Alaska Poison Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Raquel Valdes Angues
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Jacques Reis
- University of Strasbourg, Faculté de Médecine, Strasbourg, France
| | - Jean-Paul Vernoux
- Normandie Université, UNICAEN, Unité de Recherche Aliments Bioprocédés Toxicologie Environnements, Caen, France
| | - Cédric Raoul
- INM, University of Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France
| | - William Camu
- ALS Reference Center, Montpellier University Hospital and University of Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France
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Lee M, Kim EJ, Woo DC, Shim WH, Yum MS. In vivo MRI Successfully Reveals the Malformation of Cortical Development in Infant Rats. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:510. [PMID: 32508585 PMCID: PMC7251149 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: Malformations of cortical development (MCDs) are major causes of intractable epilepsies. To characterize the early neuroimaging findings of MCDs, we tried to identify the MRI features consistent with pathological findings in an infant rat MCD model, prenatally exposed to methylazoxymethanol (MAM), by using newly developed MRI techniques. Methods: At gestational day 15, two doses of MAM (15 mg/kg intraperitoneally) or normal saline were injected into pregnant rats. The offspring underwent in vivo MRI, including glutamate chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST), 1H-MR spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging, at postnatal day (P) 15 using a 7T small-animal imaging system. Another set of prenatally MAM-exposed rats were sacrificed for histological staining. Results: At P15, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of rats with MCDs showed decreased neuronal nuclei, parvalbumin, and reelin expressions. Moreover, dendritic arborization of pyramidal cells in the RSC significantly decreased in infant rats with MCDs. In vivo MRI showed significantly decreased GluCEST (%) in the RSC of rats with MCDs (p = 0.000) and a significant correlation between GluCEST (%) and RSC thickness (r = 0.685, p = 0.003). The rats with MCDs showed reduced glutamate (p = 0.002), N-acetylaspartate (p = 0.002), and macromolecule and lipid levels (p = 0.027) and significantly reduced fractional anisotropy values in the RSC. Conclusion: In vivo MRI revealed reduced neuronal population and dendritic arborization in the RSC of infant rats with MCDs during the early postnatal period. These pathological changes of the cortex could serve as clinical imaging biomarkers of MCDs in infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minyoung Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, Asan Medical Institute of Convergence Science and Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.,Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Eun-Jin Kim
- Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Dong-Cheol Woo
- Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Woo-Hyun Shim
- Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.,Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea
| | - Mi-Sun Yum
- Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, Asan Medical Institute of Convergence Science and Technology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.,Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
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Guitar NA, Sherry DF. Decreased Neurogenesis Increases Spatial Reversal Errors in Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). Dev Neurobiol 2018; 78:1206-1217. [PMID: 30246945 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Revised: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been proposed to both aid memory formation and disrupt memory. We examined the role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in spatial working and reference memory in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), a passerine bird that relies on spatial memory for cache retrieval and foraging. We tested spatial working and spatial reference memory in birds that had received methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM), a neurotoxin that decreases hippocampal neurogenesis. MAM treatment significantly reduced neurogenesis in the hippocampus quantified by doublecortin (DCX) labeling of newly divided and migrating neurons. MAM treatment had little effect on the working or reference memory but caused an increase in errors on the reference memory task following reversal. Working memory for recently visited spatial locations and reference memory for familiar spatial locations were thus unaffected by a reduction in neurogenesis. An increase in errors following reference memory reversal may indicate that adult hippocampal neurogenesis aids in pattern separation, the differentiation of similar memories at the time of encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole A Guitar
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Physical Therapy, Western University, London, Ontario, N6G 1H1, Canada
| | - David F Sherry
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
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Kisby GE, Spencer PS. Is neurodegenerative disease a long-latency response to early-life genotoxin exposure? Int J Environ Res Public Health 2011; 8:3889-921. [PMID: 22073019 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph8103889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2011] [Revised: 09/09/2011] [Accepted: 09/15/2011] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Western Pacific amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia complex, a disappearing neurodegenerative disease linked to use of the neurotoxic cycad plant for food and/or medicine, is intensively studied because the neuropathology (tauopathy) is similar to that of Alzheimer's disease. Cycads contain neurotoxic and genotoxic principles, notably cycasin and methylazoxymethanol, the latter sharing chemical relations with nitrosamines, which are derived from nitrates and nitrites in preserved meats and fertilizers, and also used in the rubber and leather industries. This review includes new data that influence understanding of the neurobiological actions of cycad and related genotoxins and the putative mechanisms by which they might trigger neurodegenerative disease.
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