Blocking a key enzyme responsible for the production of a type of fat can become a potential therapeutic approach to treat Parkinson’s disease, Yumanity Therapeutics recently announced. The company revealed that inhibiting an enzyme…

Two compounds found in coffee — caffeine and EHT, a fatty acid molecule derived from serotonin — work together to protect the brain from damage induced by alpha-synuclein, a study in mice reported. The study, “Synergistic neuroprotection by coffee components eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamide and caffeine in models of Parkinson’s disease and…

Impaired activity of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase), which is responsible for breaking down and recycling cell waste, boosts neurodegeneration and accumulation of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s, according to a new mouse study. The research, “Development and biochemical characterization of a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease bearing defective…

Inhibiting an enzyme that regulates the production of fatty acids may protect against brain toxicity induced by alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and may become a therapeutic target for these patients, a study reports. The study, “Lipidomic Analysis of α-Synuclein Neurotoxicity Identifies Stearoyl CoA Desaturase as a Target…

Treatment with PF-360, an investigational leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) inhibitor, can efficiently decrease LRRK2’s phosphorylation levels, known to be elevated in Parkinson’s patients, in the brains of a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a preclinical study reports. However, despite some observed dose-dependent therapeutic effects, including gait improvement, no robust changes…

Inhibiting an enzyme called USP13 may represent an attractive therapeutic target for Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, preclinical data suggests. These findings also could hold important implications for a therapy currently being developed to treat Parkinson’s disease — nilotinib. The study, “Ubiquitin specific protease-13 independently regulates parkin…

Severe motor, functional, and gait impairment; cumulative levodopa exposure; anxiety, and sex are among the risk factors for developing levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in people newly diagnosed  with Parkinson’s disease, according to results from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). The research, “Risk factors of…

An investigational vaccine being developed by United Neuroscience (UNS) presented several advantages over traditional vaccines to treat progressive disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, according to preclinical data. The vaccine, called UB-312, was more selective to prevent toxic aggregates of alpha-synuclein in mouse models of the disease. These latest findings were…

Research into the best ways of managing visual hallucinations in patients with Parkinson’s disease over the long term is severely limited and affecting treatment, a review study has found. In particular, the lack of a universal rating scale renders data interpretation and comparison between studies difficult. To overcome this limitation,…

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a specific cell death pathway named Parthanatos — after Thanatos, the ancient Greek personification of death — that leads to the physical and intellectual degeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease. They also found that a protein called PARP-1 is a key mediator of cell death via Parthanatos, supporting the…