Catarina Silva, MSc,  —

Levodopa, one of the main medicines used to treat Parkinson’s symptoms, can be converted into dopamine by gut bacteria, researchers report. The findings might explain why levodopa treatment is less effective in some patients. The study, “Gut bacterial tyrosine decarboxylases restrict levels of levodopa in the treatment…

An inexpensive off-the-shelf hand-tracker can objectively and reliably measure Parkinson’s disease-related slowness of movement (bradykinesia) over time, both in a clinical setting or at a patient’s home, researchers report. The study, “Objective evaluation of bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease using an inexpensive marker-less motion tracking system,” was published…

Subjective cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease could predict the development of dementia. As such, a suitable cognitive screening test could help provide an accurate diagnosis and prognosis. The study with those findings, “Subjective cognitive decline and progression to dementia in Parkinson’s disease: a long-term follow-up study,” was…

Subtyping Parkinson’s disease at diagnosis may predict disease course and survival, providing both doctors and patients with a more accurate prognosis, a study suggests. The study, “Prognosis and Neuropathologic Correlation of Clinical Subtypes of Parkinson Disease,” was published in JAMA Neurology. Parkinson’s disease is characterized…

University of São Paulo researchers have found that Parkinson’s patients with dementia sleep less and less efficiently, which affects their overall cognitive performance. The study with that finding, “Global cognitive performance is associated with sleep efficiency measured by polysomnography in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” was published in…

Scientists have found that an abnormal version of brain cells called astrocytes contribute to the accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein, the main component of Parkinson’s disease hallmark Lewy bodies. Their study, “Patient-specific iPSC-derived astrocytes contribute to non-cell autonomous neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in Stem Cell…

Researchers have found that Parkinson’s patients whose cognitive ability is intact, but who have a specific genetic variant, have significantly less gray matter in the regions of their brain that are related to dementia. The study with that finding, “Reduced gray matter volume in cognitively preserved COMTÂ 158Val/Val Parkinson’s…

Changes in gait and cognition precede a diagnosis of idiopathic (without known cause) Parkinson’s disease, and may occur earlier than typical non-motor symptoms, a study has found. The study, “Prediagnostic markers of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: Gait, visuospatial ability and executive function,” was published in Gait & Posture. Motor symptoms in …

Cutting out a portion of or removing a gene linked to Parkinson’s disease protects against the formation of toxic protein clumps within brain cells, scientists have found. This discovery has the potential to significantly affect the development of next-generation cell-based therapies, which involve injecting healthy cells into brain regions…

Treatment with PF-360, an investigational leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) inhibitor, can efficiently decrease LRRK2’s phosphorylation levels, known to be elevated in Parkinson’s patients, in the brains of a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a preclinical study reports. However, despite some observed dose-dependent therapeutic effects, including gait improvement, no robust changes…