Neuronal genetic model

Since HC is such a progressive disorder with clear neuronal loss, it is not surprising that NT manipulation has been of little value in therapy and that there is no drug treatment of any significance. More hope rests on a genetic approach and the mutated gene has in fact been identified and cloned but its precise role remains uncertain. For details of its structure, possible actions and appropriate models see Reddy, Williams and Tagle (1999). 

Although human narcolepsy is not typically associated with orexin gene mutations, the orexin / model is most similar to the case of a narcoleptic-cataplectic child, severely symptomatic from infancy, who has a genetic defect in orexin production and release (Peyron et al., 2000). Thus, constitutive orexin deficiency alone in the presence of otherwise histologically normal orexin neurons... 

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