Two new studies in mice suggest that caffeine might have protective effects in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients. The studies, “Chronic Caffeine Treatment Modulates  Disease Progression in a Transgenic Alpha-Synuclein Prion-Like Spreading Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease,” and “Chronic Caffeine Treatment Reverses A-Synuclein-Induced…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has granted more than $1 million to Inflazome to fund the development of a brain-imaging probe that may help track progression of Parkinson’s and develop new therapies for the disease. The funding will help develop a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer…

Mild cognitive impairment, motor and olfactory deficits, and erectile dysfunction are among the markers able to predict the development of Parkinson’s and associated disorders in people with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, according to a large study. The research was published in the article, “Risk…

Exposure to the metal manganese may lead to the development of Parkinson’s disease by promoting the release from nerve cells of alpha-synuclein, the subsequent aggregation of which causes inflammation and neurodegeneration, according to a study. The study, “Manganese promotes the aggregation and prion-like cell-to-cell exosomal transmission…

Treatment with a single dose of the leukemia therapy Tasigna (nilotinib) improves the brain’s ability to use dopamine in people with Parkinson’s by reducing inflammation and levels of toxic alpha-synuclein, according to Phase 2 trial results. The research, “Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a single dose…

Seelos Therapeutics has acquired an exclusive license to further develop a treatment approach called SLS-007 for Parkinson’s disease which is intended to lessen the aggregation of alpha-synuclein protein. The therapeutic strategy was developed by scientists at University of California, Los Angeles, and includes a family of peptide blockers that…

Researchers in Australia are planning to test therapies already being used in other inflammatory conditions, as well as new compounds, for their potential to block brain inflammation and halt Parkinson’s disease progression. Conducted by researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia, the study, “Pharmacological…

A protein called osteonectin may be implicated in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to a computer-based analysis. The study, “In silico method for identification of novel copper and iron metabolism proteins in various neurodegenerative disorders,” was published  in the journal NeuroToxicology. Excessive production of copper and…

The hallmark presence of Lewy bodies in the pathway related to sense of smell and in the gut years before a Parkinson’s diagnosis, as well as the potential cumulative impact of different triggers, may help researchers understand the environmental factors that contribute to the development of the disease, according…

Toxic protein aggregates called Lewy bodies sequestrate a protein that is usually found in the cell nucleus and known to protect against neurodegeneration, and change in this protein’s location contributes to the mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease, researchers report. The study, “Loss of nuclear REST/NRSF in aged-dopaminergic neurons in…