What is the mitochondrial disorder PDCD?
PDCD is an abbreviation for pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency, a genetic mitochondrial disorder in children which is frequently associated with lactic acidosis and neurological/neuromuscular symptoms. Join us Friday November 7th, 2014 with Dr. Peter Stacpoole from the University of Florida to learn about testing, diagnosis and treatment of PDCD.
(From Dr. Stacpoole’s Benefunder Research page)
Mitochondria are the intracellular “powerhouses” of our cells. They are responsible for generating the energy needed by every tissue and organ in our bodies to perform their normal functions. Energy is essential to life and, when energy production is compromised, disease results. PDC is a key enzyme for maintaining the body’s energy supply. The scientific team lead by Dr. Peter Stacpoole at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, has connected a number of disease states to their potential treatment with the drug dichloroacetate (DCA). DCA stimulates PDC, increasing its ability to promote cellular energy production. DCA has shown promise in treating several life-threatening diseases, including cancer, pulmonary arterial hypertension and congenital PDC deficiency in children.
Solutions are needed to deliver the fruits of science to patients for whom they are intended. With DCA, Dr. Stacpoole’s team has developed a uniquely acting compound that is a prototype of new class of drugs to increase the efficiency of normal metabolic processes essential for cell survival. Indeed, the story of DCA is a striking example in which the basic scientific questions have been answered and animal studies and even early stage clinical trials have been conducted. Yet, DCA is too simple a molecule to be patented. This problem has prevented traditional pharmaceutical support for conducting human trials with DCA in diseases in which currently approved therapy is either inadequate or nonexistent.
