Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

Overproduction of toxic forms of the alpha-synuclein protein — a Parkinson’s disease hallmark — in the vagus nerve, the longest nerve connecting the brain to the intestines and other key organs, disrupts the autonomic nervous system prior to motor symptom onset, a study in a new rat model reported. The…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Selonterra to support new therapeutic approaches targeting genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. “The contribution of genetics to Parkinson’s disease is undisputed,” Anne Urfer-Buchwalder, PhD, co-founder and president of Selonterra, said in…

SteadyScrib, a startup company led by undergraduate students at Northwestern University, is working on a pen-and-clipboard system that can make writing easier for people with Parkinson’s disease. The company hopes to launch its pen sets by this year’s end, and it offers a waitlist for people…

Levels of a fatty molecule called Bis(monacylglycerol) phosphate, or BMP, are significantly elevated in the urine of people with certain LRRK2 and GBA1 mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. Measuring urinary BMP levels could be a useful way of gauging the effectiveness of potential treatments that target…

Probucol, a cholesterol-lowering medication previously used in Western countries, improved motor function and lengthened the lifespan of treated animals in models of Parkinson’s disease, a study found. Identified as a potential Parkinson’s treatment through an artificial intelligence (AI)-based search, probucol was found to promote mitophagy, the cellular pathway that recycles…

Inflammation in the brain is detectable at the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease and even before treatment is begun, a new study reports. The findings support the idea that inflammation may be an early driver of Parkinson’s itself, rather than merely a byproduct of the disease’s neurodegeneration, the researchers…

Levels of the GFAP protein in blood are significantly higher in Parkinson’s disease patients with cognitive impairment — particularly those with dementia — compared with healthy people, a new study shows. According to researchers, blood GFAP levels could accurately identify Parkinson’s patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who ended…

A new device called Izar that aims to help assess and train hand function for people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease is now available in the U.S., as well as in European countries including France, Switzerland, and Germany. According to its manufacturer, MindMaze, the hand-sized device is…

Cerevance is planning to launch a Phase 2 clinical trial in the second quarter of this year to test its experimental oral medication CVN424 in people newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The company announced $51 million in new funding, from an expanded round of Series B Financing, for…

People with sporadic Parkinson’s disease and those with Parkinson’s-associated mutations in the GBA gene show a distinct immune cell profile in the blood relative to healthy people, a study showed. In turn, Parkinson’s patients carrying disease-causing LRRK2 mutations had an immune cell profile comparable to people without any disease.