Mitochondrial Disorders in Neurology provides an overview of mitochondrial diseases. This book discusses the effects of mitochondrial dysfunction based on the relevant biochemistry and molecular genetics. The abnormal muscle and mitochondrial morphology in a variety of clinical presentations from isolated ophthalmoplegia to severe encephalopathy are also elaborated. This text likewise deliberates Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, neurodegenerative disorders, and respiratory chain defects. Other topics covered include mitochondrial DNA and the genetics of mitochondrial disease; cytochrome oxidase deficiency; use of tissue culture in the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease; and advances in mitochondrial genetics. This publication is a good source for clinicians and students concerned with the defective mitochondrial function.

Gain practical explanations of the science underlying mitochondrial disorders in neurology. Written by leading experts, this new Blue Book helps you recognize and manage the diseases. Includes: Sections on the role of mitochondria in neurodegenerative disease The development of animal models for mitochondrial diseases The design of treatments for patients with mitochondrial defects

Methods in Toxicology, Volume 2: Mitochondrial Dysfunction provides a source of methods, techniques, and experimental approaches for studying the role of abnormal mitochondrial function in cell injury. The book discusses the methods for the preparation and basic functional assessment of mitochondria from liver, kidney, muscle, and brain; the methods for assessing mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo and in intact organs; and the structural aspects of mitochondrial dysfunction are addressed. The text also describes chemical detoxification and metabolism as well as specific metabolic reactions that are especially important targets or indicators of damage. The methods for measurement of alterations in fatty acid and phospholipid metabolism and for the analysis and manipulation of oxidative injury and antioxidant systems are also considered. The book further tackles additional methods on mitochondrial energetics and transport processes; approaches for assessing impaired function of mitochondria; and genetic and developmental aspects of mitochondrial disease and toxicology. The text also looks into mitochondrial DNA synthesis, covalent binding to mitochondrial DNA, DNA repair, and mitochondrial dysfunction in the context of developing individuals and cellular differentiation. Microbiologists, toxicologists, biochemists, and molecular pharmacologists will find the book invaluable.

This book will help readers navigate the complexity of mitochondrial disorders, by addressing the role of mitochondrial dysfunction and the complex pathophysiological mechanisms associated with a growing number of illnesses, not only of neurological interest. Further, it provides updated concepts on genotype-phenotype correlations, clinical syndromes, diagnostic algorithms and therapies. Written by the world’s foremost mitochondrial researchers, the book comprehensively presents the state-of-the-art in mitochondrial medicine, making it of interest to a wide variety of specialists, including neurologists, geneticists, internists and biologists.

This second edition brings together up-to-date contributions from leaders in the field internationally on the various ways in which mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The reader is guided through the basic functions of mitochondria and the mechanisms that lead to their dysfunction, and on to the consequences of this dysfunction for neuronal function before finishing with the modelling of these disorders and discussion of new potential therapeutic targets. Additional chapters have been added to the book to reflect advances in the field and there are many new contributors and topics, including how mitochondria are degraded and the interaction of the mitochondria with pathologically relevant proteins. Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Disorders provides an accessible, authoritative guide to this important area for neurologists; research and clinical neuroscientists; neuropathologists; and residents with an interest in clinical research.

The mitochondrion is a unique and ubiquitous organelle that contains its own genome, encoding essential proteins that are major components of the respiratory chain and energy production system. Mitochondria play a dominant role in the life and function of eukaryotic cells including neurons and glia, as their survival and activity depend upon mitochondrial energy production and supply. Besides energy production, mitochondria also play a vital role in calcium homeostasis and may induce apoptosis by excitotoxicity. Mitochondrial dysfunction is related to common neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Friedreich's ataxia, Huntington's disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. An efficient treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction would open new horizons in the therapeutic perspectives of a substantial number of inflammatory and degenerative neurological disorders.

The concept of mitochondrial diseases originated in 1962 with the description by Luft and coworkers of a patient with nonthyroidal hypermetabolism due to loose coupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in muscle mitochondria. Over the following quarter of a century, thanks to W. King Engel's "ragged-red fibres" as convenient markers for mitochondrial pathology, numerous papers described clinical, morphological, and biochemical features of "mitochondrial myopathies." In 1988 the discovery of mutations in mitochondrial DNA led to an explosive expansion of research into mitochondrial disorders. Throughout the 1990s the rapid identification of multiple mitochondrial gene defects associated with clinically diverse disorders has left practitioners puzzled about diagnosing such heterogeneous and complex syndromes. Through updated data, this book discusses now what Luft aptly called "mitochondrial medicine." In so doing, it considers the pivotal role of mitochondria in drug sensitivity, their key roles in ageing, apoptosis, and neurodegeneration along with primary mitochondrial diseases due to mutations in the nuclear genome, in the mitochondrial genome, or in the cross-talk between the two genomes.