Steve Bryson, PhD,  science writer—

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) has awarded a $150,000 grant to a biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for NLRP3, a therapeutic target tied to brain inflammation in Parkinson’s disease. With the funding, Ventus Therapeutics hopes to identify and develop a…

Greater proportions of immune regulatory B-cells were associated with better motor performance in people with early Parkinson’s disease, a study revealed. Regulatory B-cell subsets may be protective by limiting pro-inflammatory responses that contribute to disease progression, data showed. Meanwhile, elevated levels of antibodies produced by regular B-cells against the…

Parkinson’s disease patients carrying severe variants in the GBA gene, a known genetic risk factor, experience faster motor and cognitive decline than those without such mutations, a Chinese study shows. Faster motor function decline was primarily driven by worsening bradykinesia (slow movements) and axial impairment (walking, posture, and balance…

People with Parkinson’s disease have higher than normal levels of a nerve cell-damaging red/yellow pigment called pheomelanin in their substantia nigra, the area of the brain that’s mainly affected by the neurodegenerative disease, a study showed. By contrast, levels of eumelanin — an antioxidant black/brown pigment responsible for the…

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are developing a “smart” deep brain stimulation (DBS) system to treat Parkinson’s disease that’s automatically activated only when needed, making it more effective and energy-efficient. The researchers are using neuromorphic computing — an approach inspired by the structure and function of the human…

Inflammatory biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Parkinson’s disease patients with and without mutations in the GBA gene are at similar levels, and across all patients, higher levels of these markers associate with poorer cognition over time, a study found. TNF-alpha, a pro-inflammatory molecule, showed particular potential as a predictive…

Symbyx Neuro, Symbyx Biome’s red/infrared light therapy helmet, improves motor function in Parkinson’s disease, according to data from a small sham-controlled clinical trial. Parkinson’s “has historically been an intractable, neurodegenerative condition that typically declines with no improvements possible,” Wayne Markman, Symbyx‘s CEO, said in a company…

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $400,000 to an Augusta University (AU) neuroscientist to research a possible brain-gut connection in Parkinson’s disease. Danielle Mor, PhD, from the Medical College of Georgia at AU, will use the two-year Early-Investigator Research Award to explore whether Parkinson’s starts in the gut. Specifically,…

The Black and African American Connections to Parkinson’s Disease (BLAAC PD) study, a research effort to understand the genetic complexities of Parkinson’s disease among traditionally underrepresented people, has now expanded to six clinical sites. A better understanding of genetic variants associated with the neurological condition specific to this…

A mutation in the SH3GL2 gene that’s associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease contributes to a buildup of cellular debris in brain cells, a study discovered. According to researchers, that mutation was found to impair autophagy, an essential process by which cells recycle or breakdown components that…