News

Kynmobi (apomorphine hydrochloride), an under-the-tongue therapy approved to help manage off episodes in Parkinson’s disease, is being discontinued in the U.S. as of June 30. Sunovion, which developed the treatment, is voluntarily withdrawing the drug from the U.S. market “due to limited utilization,” according to an announcement…

A grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to the Parkinson’s Foundation will expand PD GENEration genetic testing and counseling opportunities for African Americans with Parkinson’s disease in Georgia. Through a partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine, the funding also will support efforts to boost participation…

Use of certain anti-depressants may increase the risk of life-threatening clotting problems in elderly people with Parkinson’s disease, a new report highlights. The study, “Deep venous thrombosis and hyponatremia associated with citalopram use for behavioral symptoms in Parkinson’s disease: a case report,” was published in BMC…

Components from tire wear, higher temperatures and age accelerate the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease, a new study done in nematode worms suggests. The study, “Tire components, age and temperature accelerate neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the journal…

Testing for the presence of misfolded alpha-synuclein — the protein that toxically builds up in Parkinson’s disease — in both the nasal passages and skin samples could serve as a sensitive way to detect Parkinson’s early pathology and distinguish its subtypes, according to a small recent study. By using…

A collaborative effort between the University of Oxford and Selvita will foster the development of potential disease-modifying therapies targeting alpha-synuclein aggregation, a key hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. The accumulation of toxic aggregates of alpha-synuclein contributes to the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, the nerve cells in the…

The Phase 2 LUMA clinical trial, which is testing the experimental LRRK2 inhibitor BIIB122 in people with Parkinson’s disease, is expanding to open enrollment of patients who have a mutation in the LRRK2 gene, in addition to patients without mutations. Meanwhile, the Phase 3 LIGHTHOUSE study, which had been…

A year of daily treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a naturally occurring bile acid, led to small but significant improvements in motor abilities in adults with early Parkinson’s disease, a small Phase 2 study suggests. UDCA, already approved to treat a bile duct condition, also improved the function of…

Scientists have identified a nine-gene signature model to predict the risk of Parkinson’s disease by integrating data from blood and brain tissue gene expression studies. The blood levels of two genes in particular — PLOD3 and LRRN3 — stood out as potential biomarkers to diagnose the disease in its…

The Rit2 protein clears toxic forms of the alpha-synuclein protein from nerve cells, where it manifests as a hallmark symptom of Parkinson’s disease, a study reveals. Targeting Rit2 could represent an effective strategy to combat nerve cell loss in familial and sporadic forms of the disease, its researchers noted.