News

Phase 1/2a trial of NK cell therapy SNK01 wins FDA clearance

NKGen Biotech plans to begin clinical testing of SNK01, a natural killer (NK) cell therapy being developed to treat neurodegenerative diseases, in people with Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. This follows a go-ahead by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an investigational new drug (IND) application…

Proposed platform, app aim to improve life quality in Parkinson’s

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT) in Germany are collaborating on a project with the aim of creating a digital platform and application that, used with a wearable device, can track the course of Parkinson’s disease and potentially improve patients’ quality of life. Called…

Alterations in epigenetic marks found in Parkinson’s patients: Study

Potential environmentally-driven alterations in certain epigenetic marks — DNA modifications that control gene activity — were detected in the blood of people with newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve, sporadic Parkinson’s disease, a study revealed. These epigenetic marks were linked with cellular processes driving ongoing neurodegeneration that underlies Parkinson’s, and changed over…

Global iLCT program for Parkinson’s expanding efforts for treatments

A dozen years after its first meeting, the International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) program is continuing to expand upon its ongoing efforts to ultimately heighten the number of treatment options in Parkinson’s disease and improve patients’ quality of life. The patient-centered global program, a collaboration of the U.K.’s …

Pilates may ease Parkinson’s disease upper limb bradykinesia

A six-week Pilates-based exercise program helped reduce bradykinesia of the upper limbs in a small group of people with Parkinson’s disease, a study from Brazil reports. The study, “Short-term effects of Pilates-based exercise on upper limb strength and function in people with Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the…

Neuroprotective effect seen in cannabinol and its analogs

Researchers have developed analogs of cannabinol (CBN), a lesser-known cannabinoid, that show neuroprotective abilities in lab studies not unlike the effects from the active chemicals in the cannabis plant, which are a benefit in Parkinson’s as well as other neurodegenerative diseases. “Not only does CBN have neuroprotective…

Method generates dopaminergic neurons lost in Parkinson’s disease

Researchers in Canada have developed a new method to generate functional dopaminergic neurons, the dopamine-producing nerve cells lost in Parkinson’s disease, from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). The scientists used an antibody to selectively activate FZD5, a receptor, in the stem cells, which stimulated a specific molecular signaling pathway involved…