Valproic acid – a drug used to treat epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder –
Research published in the journal PLOSBiology by Bill Keyes of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (France) and his colleagues reveals one of the reasons for this: valproic acid (VPA) puts some cells of the developing nervous system into a state of aging, a kind of stop that prevents them from growing and dividing. right.
VPA is widely used to treat a number ofdiseases. However, since the beginning of its use, many thousands of cases have been reported in which women took VPA during pregnancy and subsequently gave birth to children with birth defects. In addition, about a third of infants exposed to VPA develop cognitive impairment and an autism spectrum disorder.
According to the authors, this work is one of the first to link cellular aging with developmental defects.
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