News

Astrocytes seen helping maintain circadian rhythms: Mouse study

Neuron-supporting cells called astrocytes produce regular pulses of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that suppresses excessive brain activity, that appear to help maintain the body’s circadian rhythms and consistent sleep-wake cycles. That’s according to a study in mice. The findings, if confirmed in humans, may “help us to better understand…

Entacapone alters microbes in the gut via iron starvation: Study

The Parkinson’s disease therapy entacapone may disrupt the balance of microbes in the gut by starving them of iron, a study in healthy human fecal samples suggests. Supplementing patients with iron could prevent entacapone’s gastrointestinal side effects, but more research is needed to fully understand how the medication affects…

At-home, online physical therapy aid Parkinson’s motor function

Supervised exercises at home may safely improve motor function and quality of life in people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease, a study in China suggests. The benefits were seen both with sessions conducted by a physical therapist at patients’ homes and with telerehabilitation using an application with predetermined…

Safety study of BT-267 Parkinson’s therapy begins dosing volunteers

A clinical trial testing the safety and tolerability of Brenig Therapeutics‘ BT-267, a potential disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s due to an unknown cause — known as idiopathic — or disease associated with LRRK2 gene mutations, has begun dosing healthy volunteers. Following this initial assessment — the first-in-human trial of…