Mitochondrial dysfunction in dopamine-producing brain cells is sufficient to cause Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study done in mice. The study, “Disruption of mitochondrial complex I induces progressive parkinsonism,” was published in Nature. Parkinson’s is caused by the death and dysfunction of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons.
An interdisciplinary research team from William and Mary University and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are working on artificial intelligence programming to help develop a wearable device to treat freezing of gait (FoG), the temporary inability to move while walking, which is a motor symptom of Parkinson’s disease. “Freezing of…
Applications are open for the Parkinson’s Foundation 2022 community grant cycle, with $1 million to be awarded to help fund community-based health, wellness, and education programs supporting those affected by Parkinson’s disease. Since 1957, the Foundation has invested more than $400 million toward  Parkinson’s research and clinical care.
A heightened fear of falling — common for Parkinson’s patients due to balance and walking problems — is significantly associated with greater swallowing difficulties among these people, a small study shows. Notably, this association was observed even when adjusting for potential influencing factors such as disease duration, suggesting these symptoms…
A committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a negative opinion for Nouryant (istradefylline) — approved as Nourianz in the U.S. — as an add-on medication for treating “off” episodes in those with Parkinson’s disease in the European Union. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is maintaining…
Researchers at the biotech company Second Genome have identified specific intestinal bacterial strains that are either enriched or depleted in patients with Parkinson’s disease, according to a press release. The data were presented in a poster, titled “Strain-Level Meta-Analysis of Parkinson’s Disease-Associated Gut Microbiome,” at…
Yumanity Therapeutics announced that its investigational therapy, YTX-7739, worked to safely inhibit stearoyl-CoA desaturase — an enzyme thought to play a role in the alpha-synuclein-derived toxicity seen in Parkinson’s — in a Phase 1b clinical trial in people with mild-to-moderate disease. Data from this trial, conduced in the Netherlands, is…
Gain Therapeutics announced that preclinical studies with two of its compounds, GT-02287 and GT-02329, showed they could reduce the alpha-synuclein aggregates that characterize Parkinson’s and increase glucocerebrosidase protein levels in cell models of Parkinson’s and Gaucher disease. GT-02287 and GT-02329 are known as STARs, which stands for structurally targeted…
A gene therapy targeting the substantia nigra, the brain region with dopamine-producing nerve cells, may boost the benefits of levodopa for people with Parkinson’s disease, a study reports. This idea was tested in a new mouse disease model — one in which Parkinson’s symptoms appeared after disrupting a protein…
By lessening the involuntary movements, called dyskinesia, experienced by people with advanced Parkinson’s disease, treatment with AbbVie’s Duodopa (levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel) was linked with better health-related quality of life, according to a post-hoc analysis of a clinical trial. Duodopa treatment also was tied to other added benefits, namely…
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