Electropalatography (EPG) was used to describe the pattern of linguopalatal contact and the consonant phase durations exhibited by a group of seven individuals with dysarthria associated with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). A group of 14 non-neurologically impaired individuals served as controls. The Reading Electropalatograph (EPG3) system was used to record linguopalatal contact during production...

BACKGROUND Most patients with Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) have abnormal GAA triplet repeat expansions in both X25 genes. The size of the GAA expansion in the shorter of the 2 expanded alleles correlates significantly with parameters of clinical severity and is inversely related to the age at onset. OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical and molecular genetic findings in a patient with very late-ons...

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), the most common recessive inherited ataxia, results from deficiency of frataxin, a small mitochondrial protein crucial for iron-sulphur cluster formation and ATP production. Frataxin deficiency is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in FRDA patients and animal models; however, early mitochondrial pathology in FRDA cerebellum remains elusive. Using frataxin knock-...

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most commonly inherited ataxia in populations of European origin, is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a decrease in frataxin levels. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the accumulation of iron in several tissues including the brain, and frataxin has been proposed to play a key role in iron homeostasis. We found that the levels of zinc, copper, manganese...

Objective(s) The mitochondrial defects in Friedreich's ataxia have been reported in many researches. Mitochondrial DNA is one of the candidates for defects in mitochondrion, and complex I is the first and one of the largest catalytic complexes of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system. Materials and Methods We searched the mitochondrial ND4L gene for mutations by TTGE and sequencing on 30...

BACKGROUND Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most common recessive ataxia in Caucasians, is due to severely reduced levels of frataxin, a highly conserved protein, that result from a large GAA triplet repeat expansion within the first intron of the frataxin gene (FXN). Typical marks of heterochromatin are found near the expanded GAA repeat in FRDA patient cells and mouse models. Histone deacetyla...

Background: Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is a progressive, neurodegenerative autosomal recessive disorder affecting multiple systems of the body. Physical therapy has been found to be beneficial for improving function and quality life in individuals with FRDA. However, there little evidence supporting specific interventions that would address functional concerns these patients, most optimal rehab...

Friedreich Ataxia (FRDA), the most prevalent of the inherited ataxias, is a multi-systemic disease with loss of sensory neurons and life-threatening hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as its most severe manifestations. Reduced levels of the mitochondrial protein frataxin lead to cell-damaging oxidative stress and consequently FRDA is considered as a model for more common neurodegenerative disorders in...

Expansions of an intronic GAA repeat reduce the expression of frataxin and cause Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease. Frataxin is a mitochondrial protein, and disruption of a frataxin homolog in yeast results in increased sensitivity to oxidant stress, increased mitochondrial iron and respiration deficiency. These previous data support the hypothesis tha...

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is the most common autosomal recessive ataxia. Oxidative damage within the mitochondria seems to have a key role in the disease phenotype. Therefore, FRDA treatment options have been mostly directed at antioxidant protection against mitochondrial damage. Available evidence seems to suggest that patients with FRDA should be treated with idebenone, because it is well tole...