Australian scientists researching the causes of Parkinson's disease say their breakthrough will help develop new ways of treating other debilitating illnesses.
Neuroscientists at the Garvan Institute in Sydney have discovered how the brain's dopamine nerve cells regulate the release of the hormone to control the body's movements.
The debilitating shaking symptoms of Parkinson's happen when the brain does not produce enough of the substance.
Dr Bryce Vissel says it is a big step forward in treating the disease.
"We're going to be using this method to actually discover how drugs treat Parkinson's disease currently and to make new therapeutic developments that may be completely novel, completely new ways of treating Parkinson's," he said.
Dr James Daniel says the discovery will help develop new drugs to treat the rising number of sufferers, but it also has wider implications.
"We're talking a lot about Parkinson's disease because that's been the primary focus of our research but these cells are also very important in a number of other neurological disorders," he said.
"They're critically implicated in schizophrenia - the model system can be applied exactly the same way to studying that."
For more information go to www.parkinsonresearchfoundation.org
Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Brain Imaging of Early Stage Parkinson’s
By Rick Nauert PhD
A research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago plans to use cutting-edge technology to study early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
They hope that tests using functional and high-resolution structural brain imaging will reveal new clues about early Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, debilitating movement disorder pharmaceutically managed by using drugs that compensate for a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson’s patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of degeneration in an area of the brain stem where it is made — a structure called the substantia nigra.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded David Vaillancourt and his team a two-year, $855,000 grant to do the work.
“What’s not well understood is how the structure and function of the basal ganglia, or other parts of the brain, are affected early on in the disease,” said Vaillancourt.
He and his colleagues will recruit 25 subjects with early signs of Parkinson’s who haven’t yet begun taking drugs to control the disease. Their study will compare findings to a control group matched for age, gender and handedness — because all subjects will perform motor tasks with their hands while their brain is being imaged.
The study will be the first into early Parkinson’s to use functional brain imaging during gripping tasks designed to simulate everyday activities such as buttoning a shirt or blouse, or holding a cup.
“Individuals will undergo a brain scan while they exert force using their hands against a device that measures how hard and how fast they squeeze,” said Vaillancourt.
“Functional brain imaging will be targeted at the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that underlies symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.”
Vaillancourt’s group wants to study what is happening before Parkinson’s patients begin treatment with drugs such as levodopa that can change the way the brain functions. Pretreatment brain scans may be useful to develop markers for screening and diagnosis.
Those with Parkinson’s will be imaged as soon as possible after volunteering and will begin treatment with anti-Parkinson’s drugs afterward.
“With Parkinson’s, the brain must change over time, because it’s a neurodegenerative disease,” Vaillancourt said.
“This study will serve as the basis for trying to understand how the disease progresses.”
For more information go to www.parkinsonresearchfoundation.org
A research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago plans to use cutting-edge technology to study early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
They hope that tests using functional and high-resolution structural brain imaging will reveal new clues about early Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, debilitating movement disorder pharmaceutically managed by using drugs that compensate for a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson’s patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of degeneration in an area of the brain stem where it is made — a structure called the substantia nigra.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded David Vaillancourt and his team a two-year, $855,000 grant to do the work.
“What’s not well understood is how the structure and function of the basal ganglia, or other parts of the brain, are affected early on in the disease,” said Vaillancourt.
He and his colleagues will recruit 25 subjects with early signs of Parkinson’s who haven’t yet begun taking drugs to control the disease. Their study will compare findings to a control group matched for age, gender and handedness — because all subjects will perform motor tasks with their hands while their brain is being imaged.
The study will be the first into early Parkinson’s to use functional brain imaging during gripping tasks designed to simulate everyday activities such as buttoning a shirt or blouse, or holding a cup.
“Individuals will undergo a brain scan while they exert force using their hands against a device that measures how hard and how fast they squeeze,” said Vaillancourt.
“Functional brain imaging will be targeted at the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that underlies symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.”
Vaillancourt’s group wants to study what is happening before Parkinson’s patients begin treatment with drugs such as levodopa that can change the way the brain functions. Pretreatment brain scans may be useful to develop markers for screening and diagnosis.
Those with Parkinson’s will be imaged as soon as possible after volunteering and will begin treatment with anti-Parkinson’s drugs afterward.
“With Parkinson’s, the brain must change over time, because it’s a neurodegenerative disease,” Vaillancourt said.
“This study will serve as the basis for trying to understand how the disease progresses.”
For more information go to www.parkinsonresearchfoundation.org
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Cholesterol-lowering drug could prevent Parkinson's
A commonly used cholesterol-lowering drug, called Simvastatin, can prevent progression of Parkinson's disease, according to a study by neurological Cholesterol-lowering drug could prevent Parkinson's researchers at Rush University Medical Center .
The study examined the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson’s disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease.
"Statins are one of the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs throughout the world. This may be a safer approach to halt the disease progression in Parkinson’s patients," said study author Dr. Kalipada Pahan.
The researchers have shown that the activity of one protein called p21Ras is increased very early in the midbrain of mice with Parkinson’s pathology.
Simvastatin enters into the brain and blocks the activity of the p21Ras protein and other associated toxic molecules, and goes on to protect the neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels, and improves the motor functions in the mice with Parkinson’s.
"Understanding how the disease works is important to developing effective drugs that protect the brain and stop the progression of Parkinson’s. If we are able to replicate these results in Parkinson’s patients in the clinical setting, it would be a remarkable advance in the treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease," said Pahan.
For more information go to www.parkinsonresearchfoundation.org
The study examined the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson’s disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease.
"Statins are one of the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs throughout the world. This may be a safer approach to halt the disease progression in Parkinson’s patients," said study author Dr. Kalipada Pahan.
The researchers have shown that the activity of one protein called p21Ras is increased very early in the midbrain of mice with Parkinson’s pathology.
Simvastatin enters into the brain and blocks the activity of the p21Ras protein and other associated toxic molecules, and goes on to protect the neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels, and improves the motor functions in the mice with Parkinson’s.
"Understanding how the disease works is important to developing effective drugs that protect the brain and stop the progression of Parkinson’s. If we are able to replicate these results in Parkinson’s patients in the clinical setting, it would be a remarkable advance in the treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease," said Pahan.
For more information go to www.parkinsonresearchfoundation.org
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