News

Axovant Sciences licensed the exclusive worldwide rights from Oxford BioMedica to develop and market AXO-Lenti-PD, a gene therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease. Formerly known as OXB-102, AXO-Lenti-PD uses a modified, harmless type of virus called lentivirus to deliver three genes that provide instructions to make a…

Ways of better diagnosing and treating Parkinson’s patients may lie in developing biomarkers, inhibitors, and stem cells therapies that are based on an enzyme newly identified in research into this disease, called soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), a commentary article suggests. The opinion piece, “Fatty acid chemical mediator provides insights…

Psychosis and cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease may be linked to structural changes in the brain, namely a decrease in volume of an area that controls memory formation, a study suggests. The study, “Hippocampal subfield atrophy in patients with Parkinson’s disease and psychosis,” was published…

New sensors with increased sensitivity and specificity to detect interactions between proteins, fat molecules, and other biological elements, represent a powerful tool to investigate mechanisms linked to human diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Those findings were highlighted in the study “Resolving molecule-specific information in dynamic lipid membrane…

Antiparkinsonian medications may cause premature ejaculation in men with Parkinson’s, according to a case series that followed eight patients. The study, “Acquired premature ejaculation in Parkinson’s disease and possible mechanisms,” was published in the International Journal of Impotence Research. Premature ejaculation is a common male…

European experts have developed a set of technology-based solutions for the early detection of Parkinson’s disease and improvement of patients’ quality of life. Led by Greek researchers at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the four-year i-PROGNOSIS (Intelligent Parkinson eaRly detectiOn Guiding NOvel Supportive InterventionS) project is testing its first product…

Understanding how two proteins, both enzymes, work to disassemble “stress granules” — clumps of molecules that form when cells are stressed by external factors — may help in developing treatments for Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders by creating enzymes that mimic their work, researchers report. The study, “Deubiquitylases…

People who take certain immunosuppressants — medicines that dampen the immune system’s response — appear to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, new research shows. These findings support a role for the immune system in Parkinson’s, potentially raise the possibility of developing treatments to alter disease progression, at…

First-degree relatives of Parkinson’s patients are more likely to develop the disease and are at a higher risk for other neuropsychiatric disorders, a study shows. The study, “Familial aggregation of Parkinson’s disease and coaggregation with neuropsychiatric diseases: a population-based cohort study,” was published in Clinical Epidemiology. Most…

A new and experimental deep brain stimulation (DBS) system uses feedback from the brain to fine-tune its signaling in response to signs of dyskinesia, potentially offering a more refined way to ease motor problems in Parkinson’s patients, a small feasibility study reports. The research, “Adaptive deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease…