Identifying Biomarkers of Inflammation Among Goals of Parkinson’s Study by Longevity Biotech and Veterans’ Center
Longevity Biotech announced plans for a clinical study aiming to identify potential blood-based markers of inflammation that originates in the immune system, biomarkers that may work to better diagnose Parkinson’s and recognize the disease’s different stages.
The study, being run with the support of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, will also advance early evaluations of the company’s therapeutic candidate LBT-3627.
The two-year study will launch at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, part of the Philadelphia Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Centers.
The immune system plays a critical role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s. The study will use machine learning techniques to identify immune-based inflammatory biomarkers “that could provide clinically relevant diagnostic information,” Scott Shandler, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Longevity Biotech, said in a press release.
“The identification of these [immune-based inflammatory] markers would have a tremendous impact on the pace of disease modifying therapeutic development for Parkinson’s disease patients by providing a new metric to track disease progression while possibly identifying new disease targets as well,” he added.
Study researchers will be looking not only to expand knowledge into the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson’s, but also to correlate new and existing blood-based markers, such as the protein alpha-synuclein, with standard clinical scores from the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). This scale uses questions to assess both motor and non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s.
In a preclinical setting — ex vivo, meaning outside a living organism — researchers will also examine the potential efficacy of LBT-3627 using human immune cells. The investigative compound is a small protein designed to mimic naturally occurring molecules that activate a family of receptors known for their neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. As such, LBT-3627 is expected to work to balance immune responses and reduce inflammatory damage done to the brain by immune cells.
Previous studies in mice disease models found evidence that LBT-3627 can protect dopaminergic neurons from degeneration, one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease.
“The goal is to convert T cells, which are key actors in the adaptive immune system, from an inflamed, neurodegenerative state to a more healthy, neuroprotective one,” said Jenell Smith, PhD, a lead scientist at Longevity Biotech.
“LBT-3627 has demonstrated robust neuroprotective results in animal models of Parkinson’s disease to date and we will continue testing the effects of LBT-3627 on human immune cells as part of this study,” Smith concluded.
The release did not specify if this study is already underway.
