News

People carrying gene variants that lower leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) levels — an enzyme whose mutated form is one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease — live as long as those without such variants, and show no related lung, liver or kidney damage, results of a large genetic study…

Two compounds with hormone-like effects — prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and prostaglandin A1 (PGA1) — may help to increase dopamine levels in the brain and slow Parkinson’s progression by activating a protein, called Nurr1, that supports dopaminergic neurons, a study reports. The study, “…

COVID-19 infection appears to worsen some symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, requiring adjustments to therapy, according to a recent case study. The study, “Effects of COVID-19 on Parkinson’s disease clinical features: a community-based case-control study,”  was published in the journal Movement Disorders. SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus…

Accure Therapeutics announced its opening, supported by €7.6 million (about $8.1 million) in Series A funding. The Barcelona, Spain-based pharmaceutical company will focus on developing treatment candidates for central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The funding round was led by Alta Life Sciences, and…

Cognitive abilities and problems with freezing of gait in people with Parkinson’s disease do not seem to be significantly related, new research indicates. The study, “Cognitive function in people with and without freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease. Freezing is a relatively…

Seelos Therapeutics announced it is beginning, earlier than expected, a preclinical study into its investigational gene therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease called SLS-004. The exact nature of this early research work was not detailed in a press release. Nerve cell damage in Parkinson’s is caused by the buildup of toxic forms…

When used as an add-on treatment to carbidopa-levodopa, Nourianz (istradefylline) reduced the duration of “off periods” — when symptoms are not adequately controlled — and increased the duration of “on periods” in Parkinson’s disease patients with and without pre-existing dyskinesia, a pooled analysis of several clinical trials…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is offering a new online Parkinson’s disease educational series aimed at researchers and clinicians. Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Webinars, a free four-part series, starts June 16 and will feature presentations by leaders in Parkinson’s research and treatment development. “We know people with…

Scientists have created a special matrix that allowed them to differentiate stem cells into nerve cells that, when transplanted into a rat model of Parkinson’s disease, eased the animals’ symptoms by replacing those nerve cells lost to the disease. This matrix is also able to stimulate differentiation of stem…

Deep brain stimulation with Boston Scientific’s Vercise system led to sustained “on” periods without troublesome dyskinesia and improvements in both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for at least one year, updated findings from the INTREPID trial show. Use of the Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation system in…