The pregnane X receptor has been identified as a potential target.Neural stem cells have also been investigated in an animal model, and clear evidence of life extension in the mouse model has been shown.Low cholesterol diets are often used, but there is no evidence of efficacy.Gene therapy is being used clinically to treat genetic diseases including haemophilia and spinal muscular atrophy. It has been used preclinically, in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick type C, using an adeno-associated virus derived viral vector has been shown to extend lifespan following injection into the lateral ventricles of the neonatal brain. In a separate proof-of-concept study a similar vector, but with a modified capsid capable of delivering genes to the central nervous system following intravenous injection, was given to Niemann-Pick type C mice at around four weeks of age; this resulted in extended lifespan and improved weight gain. Prognosis
The lifespan of patients with NPC is usually related to the age of onset. Children with antenatal or infantile onset usually succumb in the first few months or years of life, whereas adolescent and adult onset forms of Niemann–Pick type C have a more insidious onset and slower progression, and affected individuals may survive to the seventh decade. Adult cases of NPC are being recognized with increasing frequency. It is suspected that many patients affected by NPC are undiagnosed, owing to lack of awareness of the disease and the absence of readily available screening or diagnostic tests. For the same reasons the diagnosis is often delayed by many years.
Yersinia is a genus of bacteria in the family Yersiniaceae. Yersinia species are Gram-negative, coccobacilli bacteria, a few micrometers long and fractions of a micrometer in diameter, and are facultative anaerobes. Some members of Yersinia are pathogenic in humans; in particular, Y. pestis is the causative agent of the plague. Rodents are the natural reservoirs of Yersinia; less frequently, other mammals serve as the host. Infection may occur either through blood (in the case of Y. pestis) or in an alimentary fashion, occasionally via consumption of food products (especially vegetables, milk-derived products, and meat) contaminated with infected urine or feces. Speculations exist as to whether or not certain Yersinia can also be spread by  protozoonotic mechanisms, since Yersinia species are known to be facultative intracellular parasites; studies and discussions of the possibility of amoeba-vectored (through the cyst form of the protozoan) Yersinia propagation and proliferation are now in progress. Microbial physiology
An interesting feature peculiar to some of the Yersinia bacteria is the ability to not only survive, but also to actively proliferate at temperatures as low as 1–4 °C (e.g., on cut salads and other food products in a refrigerator). Yersinia bacteria are relatively quickly inactivated by oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate solutions. Genetics
Database
The creation of YersiniaBase, a data and tools collection for the reporting and comparison of Yersinia species genome sequence data, was reported in January 2015.