Researchers have devised a new method to generate dopamine-producing neurons from skin cells of Parkinson’s disease patients, a process that could be used to better study the molecular mechanisms of the disease and develop new treatments. The cells retained many relevant aspects of the disease, including the accumulation of…
People with persistent smell deficits are more likely to develop brain imaging abnormalities suggestive of Parkinson’s disease, or be diagnosed with the disease, than those whose deficits return to normal on a subsequent smell test, according to data from a Phase 2 study. Deficits in two consecutive smell tests,…
Scientists have shed new light on the interaction of toxic apha-synuclein clumps — a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease — with microglia, the brain’s immune cells. This interaction was found to be mediated by RAGE, a protein at the surface of microglia, which promoted the release of inflammatory molecules from…
Servier is set to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers to investigate an LRRK2 inhibitor, developed in collaboration with Oncodesign, as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The trial, to start before the end of the year, follows the clearance of the Phase 1 clinical trial…
Older age at onset, a faster rate of disease progression, and severe cognitive impairment are key factors in poorer survival rates for people with Parkinson’s disease, a study that followed patients in northern China for 10 years found. Fatigue may also be an indicator of poorer survival, while physical exercise…
GT-02287, Gain Therapeutics’ experimental oral therapy, reduced the toxic alpha-synuclein protein clumps that characterize Parkinson’s disease in lab-grown nerve cells derived from patients with disease-causing mutations in the GBA1 gene, the company announced. The treatment also boosted the function of lysosomes, the cells’ recycling centers, which is…
Zonisamide, an epilepsy medication approved in the U.S. for some seizure-causing disorders, may reduce the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, according to a review study of clinical trial data. The findings also suggest the therapy is associated with improvements in daily life activities for Parkinson’s patients, and with reductions…
A Phase 1/2a clinical trial testing the ability of AMDX-2011P to safely detect abnormal protein deposits in the retina of adults with Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), possibly allowing earlier diagnosis and easier patient monitoring, has dosed its first participants. These proteins comprise alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s…
Continuously monitoring the gait of Parkinson’s disease patients in their homes using a wireless device is feasible and may provide more sensitive measurements of disease progression and treatment response, according to a new study. The device, which monitors fluctuations in motor function by tracking gait speed, may improve disease…
Clumps of alpha-synuclein protein, which build to toxic levels in the brain and spinal cord of Parkinson’s disease patients, spread via a cellular waste-ejection process, according to a study in mice. These clumps, which failed to be broken down in lysosomes, the cells’ recycling centers, are released by nerve…
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