Abstract:
:Apoptosis is defined as the process of ''programmed cell death'' (PCD), during which many cells simultaneously die from within along a very orderly pattern. PCD is as intrinsic for cells as mitosis and is involved in both degenerative and developmental processes of organs and organisms. The pattern of apoptotic cell decay is caused by the total cellular content. Since all body cells possess the same genome, they are similar in many aspects and, therefore, the major processes are nearly identical in all cell types. The same destructive processes also occur continuously in healthy living cells, but then the capacity of repair mechanisms is sufficient to effect cellular integrity. Decay processes become visible, as soon as repair can no more be sufficient. PCD starts as soon as produced energy is permanently insufficient to repress decay. Decreased energy production may arise due to (i) turning off the pivotal tricarbonic acid cycle, (ii) turning off oxidative phosphorylation, (iii) damage of mitochondria, and (iv) inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis regarding both the mitochondrial and the nuclear part. The consequence of this kind of decreased energy production will be a massive, inefficient fermentative energy production with enormous amounts of lactic acid. Increasing acidity and falling pH will slow down enzymatic activities and thus also intracellular processes. As soon as energy for repair has become insufficient, cellular decay becomes irreversible and the cell will die. Thus, the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is suggested to arise due to low mitochondrial energy production. For optimal functioning cells need adequate internal conditions and cellular morphology. Cellular morphology depends on (i) the intracellular turgor, (ii) the intracellular cytoskeleton, and (iii) close intercellular contact with neighbour cells. Lack of energy implies decrease of turgor and, consequently, a strong decline of conditions needed for adequate functioning of the cell. Thus, if this lack of energy cannot be repaired in time, it will contribute to cellular decay. Various cellular components or systems that are not directly linked to mitochondria, may be functionally inhibited or damaged and thus contribute to apoptosis. These components or systems that probably constitute the non-mitochondrial pathway are (i) the cellular uptake systems for energy-rich substrates, (ii) extra-mitochondrial enzymes that are involved in non-mitochondrial processes of oxidative energy production, (iii) cytoplasmatic, non-mitochondrial protein synthesis, (iv) the system that regulates osmotic conditions and turgor, and (v) the synthesis and repair of the cytoskeleton. After this careful reflection I am convinced that apoptosis is merely the complex machinery of cellular decay after energy generation has irreversibly stopped. Therefore, apoptosis research for health care should be focussed on processes that hinder energy production. For therapeutic aims research should be focussed on metabolic aspects of energy production and on mitochondrial processes.
journal_name
Med Hypothesesjournal_title
Medical hypothesesauthors
Bongaerts GPdoi
10.1016/j.mehy.2007.07.006subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2008-01-01 00:00:00pages
482-7issue
3eissn
0306-9877issn
1532-2777pii
S0306-9877(07)00448-3journal_volume
70pub_type
社论abstract::In the present study, we used the potential of bioinformatics and computational analysis to predict the existence and biological relevance of zinc finger (ZF) motifs in heamagglutinin (HA) protein of Avian Influenza (AI) virus. Sequence data of Avian Influenza (AI) viruses were retrieved from accessible databases (Gen...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109925
更新日期:2020-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::Ample intakes of fruit and vegetables have been linked epidemiologically with reduced risk for coronary disease, stroke, hypertension, obesity, many types of cancer, chronic pulmonary disease, osteoporosis, and various ocular disorders. The favorable impact of diets rich in fruit and vegetables on coronary risk has be...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2005.09.058
更新日期:2008-01-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:No method is currently available for preoperative approximation of the patient's situation to the one existing during pneumonectomy in general anesthesia with alternations of single and double-lung ventilation in the lateral position. We hypothesized that a patient breathing the room air in the sitting posit...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2011.07.003
更新日期:2011-10-01 00:00:00
abstract::Periodontitis significantly decreases survival in hemodialysed patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Periodontitis-related microorganisms spreading into the bloodstream are thought to impair blood rheological parameters - for example, increasing whole blood viscosity, aggregating blood elements, and decreasing...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2009.04.053
更新日期:2010-02-01 00:00:00
abstract::Recent studies have shown that increased hepatic gluconeogenesis is the predominant contributor to fasting hyperglycemia - the hallmark of type 2 diabetes. Although it has been known for a long time that over-supply of fat is able to stimulate gluconeogenesis both in-vitro and in-vivo, neither the leading substrate no...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1054/mehy.1999.0943
更新日期:2000-05-01 00:00:00
abstract::The initial treatment for hypotension due to blood loss is intravenous fluids. Occasionally there is need for additional medication, as well as stopping the source of the bleeding. The literature in the main discusses the use of dopamine. Ephedrine has not been reviewed as useful in such situations. This article discu...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(91)90242-q
更新日期:1991-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::The title enzyme, peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), is essential to the in vivo generation of a wide variety of physiologically significant alpha-amidated peptide hormones from the corresponding C-terminal glycine-extended prohormones. Over a 20-year period of time a massive amount of experiment...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2003.11.012
更新日期:2004-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::Sepsis is a life-threatening disease requiring rapid diagnosis and treatment. Steroid hormones (e.g., estradiol, dehydroepiandosterone) have been suggested to reduce the hyper-inflammatory response of the immune system and to improve outcome in sepsis. We hypothesize that the impact of steroid hormones on the metaboli...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2012.05.025
更新日期:2012-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::Primary hyperparathyroidism is one of the most common causes of hypercalcemia. Most cases result from sporadic benign monoclonal adenomas or hyperplasia. Increased body weight is consistently present in cohorts of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. It has been shown that fat mass is the major determinant of se...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2010.08.039
更新日期:2011-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::The favourable effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)- and doco-sahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich diets (marine fish, fish oil) on several risk factors for cardiovascular disease are well established. The present survey describes possible new indications for diets supplemented with long-chain n-3 fatty acids. During a stand...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(91)90169-y
更新日期:1991-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::To explain why subjects vary in body fat content despite similar nutrient intake and physical activity, a hypothesis is proposed invoking individual variability in the potentially vast quantities of energy utilizable for such biomechanical functions as cellular motility processes, and for protein mobility. The collect...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(87)90175-7
更新日期:1987-05-01 00:00:00
abstract::This thesis explores the activation of chemicals in metabolic systems from the viewpoint that this activation is under the control of elements of the space-sea in which the chemicals are immersed. Themselves inert, the chemicals are theorised to exploit a force or action issuing from space (fluctuation) and characteri...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1054/mehy.2001.1298
更新日期:2001-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::A mechanism is proposed for the formation of Ebg-evolved beta galactosidase-of E. coli based on the following assumptions: 1. In the presence of lactose, certain proteins being translated bind to their m-RNA-ribosome complexes; 2. This binding interferes with the release of m-RNA from the bacterial chromosome, marking...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(79)90009-4
更新日期:1979-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::So far, the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has not been clarified, nor has patient therapy been satisfactory. Although inheritance dominates the less frequent early-onset AD in young and middle-aged individuals, environmental and immunogenetic factors have been identified in the most frequently occurring lat...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2016.12.001
更新日期:2017-02-01 00:00:00
abstract::The hypothesis of the evolutionary origin of bipolar disorder (EOBD) synthesized ideas about the biological clock and seasonal shifts in mood (Rosenthal, Wehr) with theorizing that bipolar disorder descends from a pyknic (compact, cold-adapted) group (Kretchmer). The hypothesis suggested that bipolar behaviors evolved...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 历史文章,杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2011.10.005
更新日期:2012-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::The incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), a chronic disease with a well-known genetic basis, is highest in Scandinavian and Sardinian populations. The high incidence of IDDM in Scandinavia and Sardinia, which were genetically isolated from the spread of agriculturists in Europe about 8000 years ago,...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1054/mehy.1997.0663
更新日期:1999-05-01 00:00:00
abstract::The biology of natural selection is an enduring mystery, as is the nature of Charles Darwin's chronic illness. Of the theories advanced to explain the latter, Oedipal conflicts and Chagas' disease are preeminent. Hypomania, however, propelled Darwin to the pinnacle of scientific achievement and good health, the depres...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 传,历史文章,杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.03.013
更新日期:2007-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::The 'Big Bang' is used to describe the origin of the Universe. While such an event could not create itself the expression is graphic. Tissue damage, traumatic, thermal, chemical; bites; insect, animal or human are all bad, but also well known factors which favor and initiate pathogenic activity. Antedating and outrank...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(91)90036-x
更新日期:1991-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::Antisense oligonucleotides (oligos) have demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of various cancers, infectious diseases and metabolic disorders. While most studies have utilized single oligos either administered alone, or more recently in combination therapy with other drugs, some investigators have administered more...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2004.12.032
更新日期:2005-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::A hypothesis is presented concerning the origin of the action of muscles in the human and animal bodies It is advanced that muscle action originates with very rapid chemical reactions known as percussion reactions. These give rise to the temporary precipitation of solids in muscle cells. The accompanying volume change...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00149-4
更新日期:2002-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::Under the headline "drug addiction" the medical world has exclusively been interested in psychoactive drugs. For diagnosis of substance dependence (addiction), DSM-IV-TR has determined seven criteria, and fulfilling at least tree of them signifies addiction. When studied salt intake according to these criteria it is s...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2006.04.041
更新日期:2006-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::The CoV-19 infection appears to be unusual among patients with type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, although they are considered a fragile population. We think that this in part due to the peculiar immune condition that leads to the destruction of the Beta cells. ...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 信件
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109795
更新日期:2020-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::We describe here a new technique for analyzing human growth curves using a first order kinetic representation. Plotting in ([h infinity-ht)/h infinity] vs time (where h infinity and ht represent the final and instantaneous heights) transforms growth curves into 3 linear phases and 2 interphases. These growth parameter...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(85)90073-8
更新日期:1985-02-01 00:00:00
abstract::Humans vary in the gene that encodes for Vitamin K epoxide reductase complex (VKORC1). Recent research has documented the protective effect of Vitamin K on neural cells and its role in maintaining normal neural development. Of interest, specific neural effects of Vitamin K overlap with key brain development aberration...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2016.09.013
更新日期:2016-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::Mild traumatic brain injury, often referred to as concussion, is a common, potentially debilitating, and costly condition. One of the main challenges in diagnosing and managing concussion is that there is not currently an objective test to determine the presence of a concussion and to guide return-to-play decisions fo...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2015.05.012
更新日期:2015-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::Microbial resistance to conventional as well as newly introduced drugs is a hallmark feature of several infectious diseases, notably tuberculosis. It is hypothesized that the greater the selective pressure exerted by increasingly potent drugs, the more rapidly is an organism able to adapt to a drug-containing environm...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(95)90215-5
更新日期:1995-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::Several studies have demonstrated the existence of morphological, biological, genetic and antigenic correlations between human and animal retroviruses. Furthermore, some agents of bovine and feline origin can also be considered useful comparative models for the pathogenetic study of human diseases such as leukaemia, a...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(89)90194-1
更新日期:1989-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::A theoretical consideration of the relationship between plasma concentrations of calcium and parathyroid hormone suggests that the reported negative correlations between these variables in normal subjects and in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism, and the positive correlation in patients with primary hyperpar...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(77)90043-3
更新日期:1977-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::Cancer is a tissue that requires a genetic program, possibly involving hundreds of genes, as indicated by studies of differential gene expression performed with microarrays in various types of cancer. Cancer is thus a biological process of considerable precision as described by Schrödinger's equation, and it is not si...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2008.11.033
更新日期:2009-04-01 00:00:00
abstract::The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed drinking water standard for radium-226 (226Ra) of 5 pCi/l is evaluated according to its health basis and carcinogenic implications. Proposed health risks of 226Ra in drinking water by other leading theoreticians (Evans, Gofman-Tamplin and Peterson) are also con...
journal_title:Medical hypotheses
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1016/0306-9877(77)90002-0
更新日期:1977-09-01 00:00:00