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Smoking more cigarettes or for a longer time is associated with a decreased risk of developing Parkinson’s, according to a population-based study. A reduced risk was also seen in people exposed to passive smoking compared with those who had never smoked. However, the scientists cautioned that rather than encouraging…

A compound that targets two specific dopamine receptors in the brain is safe and can ease motor deficits in Parkinson’s patents, recent clinical data reveals. The study, “Evaluation of D1/D5 Partial Agonist PF-06412562 in Parkinson’s Disease following Oral Administration,” was published in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Pharmacological treatment…

The recent discovery of a previously unknown region of the human brain could have significant implications for neurodegenerative disorders affecting motor skills, such as Parkinson’s disease and motor neuron diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy…

With a treatment not yet within reach that might slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, much less offer a cure, many — doctors, patients, and researchers alike — are looking to exercise in hopes of fending off a worsening of symptoms. Interest in exercise-based interventions has risen so much that…

Although the structure of dopaminergic neurons gradually deteriorates before cell death, these alterations do not seem to account for the subtle impairments seen during the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, a mouse study has found. The study, “Progressively Disrupted Somatodendritic Morphology in Dopamine Neurons in a Mouse Parkinson’s…

Mission Therapeutics and AbbVie have established a new partnership aimed at developing specific inhibitors targeting deubiquitylating enzymes, or DUBs, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. DUBs are a large family of important enzymes that regulate the protein degradation process, some of which are involved in the…

Treatment with PF-360, an investigational leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) inhibitor, can efficiently decrease LRRK2’s phosphorylation levels, known to be elevated in Parkinson’s patients, in the brains of a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a preclinical study reports. However, despite some observed dose-dependent therapeutic effects, including gait improvement, no robust changes…

Measuring blood levels of the signaling molecule CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 may help identify active inflammation in Parkinson’s disease patients, a study suggests. The study, “CXCL12 and CXCR4 in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in Neuroimmunomodulation. CXCL12 is a small…

Inhibiting an enzyme called USP13 may represent an attractive therapeutic target for Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, preclinical data suggests. These findings also could hold important implications for a therapy currently being developed to treat Parkinson’s disease — nilotinib. The study, “Ubiquitin specific protease-13 independently regulates parkin…

Severe motor, functional, and gait impairment; cumulative levodopa exposure; anxiety, and sex are among the risk factors for developing levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in people newly diagnosed  with Parkinson’s disease, according to results from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). The research, “Risk factors of…