Just in the Nick of Time: Targeting Acute versus Chronic Disease

Kenneth Maiese

doi:10.4161/oxim.3.6.14849

Abstract

Just in the Nick of Time: Targeting Acute versus Chronic Disease

Highlights

In this issue of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, our papers shed further light on a number of cellular targets that control both acute and long-term disorders, suggesting that one significant variable to address is the onset and timing of these processes
Abnormalities in the Wnt pathway lead to increased risk and progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus, suggesting that the early onset of impaired Wnt signaling may initiate and progress to more chronic disability
Igor Afanas’ev in an opinion paper provides new insights for the potential role of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in diabetes mellitus. He focuses upon several transcriptional pathways as well as advanced glycation end-products in the ability of these agents to accelerate cell injury and complications of diabetes through enhanced oxidative stress, suggesting that early therapeutic intervention of these pathways may prevent both acute neuronal and vascular injury during diabetes and block the progression of debilitating chronic injury

Summary

Introduction

If one considers the nervous system, the events that lead to the immediate onset of a stroke in an individual may be the same processes that result in more chronic disability, such as occurs during Alzheimer’s disease. Evidence for such a scenario with Wnt is seen with altered Wnt signaling tied to acute stroke injury, the rapid development of malignant neoplastic disease and the potential onset of other long-term neurodegenerative disorders that include Alzheimer’s disease.

Results

Conclusion