The levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 or MCP-1 — a molecule that helps guide certain types of immune cells to inflammation sites — in the cerebrospinal fluid are associated with disease progression in people with Parkinson’s, a study shows. But the MCP-1 levels in the clear fluid…
Scientists have created a new drug delivery system that can be used to allow compounds to cross the blood-brain barrier — the semi-permeable barrier that protects the brain and spinal cord from the blood circulating in the rest of the body. With this system, the team successfully delivered…
A potential Parkinson’s treatment called cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) continues to be safe and well tolerated by patients with moderate disease using it for up to one year in a Phase 1/2 trial, and shows a promising potential to ease motor symptoms and slow disease progression, Herantis Pharma,…
Scientists have discovered new aggregates of alpha synuclein of various shapes that may play a key role in the onset of Parkinson’s disease. These new aggregates, which are larger than those described in previous studies, form in the presence of phospholipids — large fatty molecules that are…
Women and underweight individuals with Parkinson’s disease are more likely to experience troublesome episodes of dyskinesia when receiving levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel, a formulation of levodopa and carbidopa infused into the intestines, a study has found. According to researchers, this sub-group of patients should be carefully…
Scientists have found that switching off TET2, a gene that provides instructions to make an enzyme that alters the activity of certain genes, can lower inflammation and neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease. Authors of a study with those findings suggest that reducing the activity of this master gene…
The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is supporting six different funding programs for projects related to Parkinson’s disease, with applications now being accepted. The six  Requests for Applications (RFAs) are meant to support work focused on different aspects of Parkinson’s research, from data analysis…
Certain amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — found in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid may be valuable biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease, according to a review study. The review, “Cerebrospinal and blood levels of amino acids as potential biomarkers for Parkinson’s Disease:…
Weight gain after stopping to smoke tobacco does not significantly minimize for men the protection that smoking is thought to bring against a likelihood developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a Korean nationwide study. “These findings indicate that smoking may be a much more powerful factor than weight gain” in terms of…
A high-resolution imaging approach that could help in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease by enabling physicians to more easily visualize the substantia nigra, the brain region responsible for controlling movement and whose nerve cells are gradually lost to this disease, is the goal of a research group in Australia. The…
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