LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Rats: Diseases
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Tests with the cells engineered to produce GDNF show extended survival of the motor neurons near the site of their placement in the spinal cord, although life span was not extended in the rats with a mutation that produces the disease. Expanded effort will now focus on the glial cells that can be obtained through stem cells, as the glia make a vast array of trophic factors that can support the survival and healthy function of the motor neurons.
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In a recently published journal entitled, Experimental Neurology, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that frequent and prolonged use of Permethrin on adult rats lead to cell death in their brains. In another recent study, researchers at Virginia Tech found that low-level exposure to Permethrin caused changes in the brain that could lead to Parkinson's Disease.
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In their experiments, Bohn and co-researchers found that up to 99 percent of the vector-introduced gene was turned off when the rats were given small doses of doxycycline. In Parkinson's disease, dopamine-producing neurons degenerate, resulting in gait problems, muscle rigidity and tremors
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As weight loss indicates disease onset, the rats were weighed and tested for strength twice a week for 15 weeks. On average, rats injected with live stem cells started losing weight at 59 days and lived for 86 days after injection, whereas control rats injected with dead stem cells started losing weight at 52 days and lived for 75 days after injection.
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