Alpha-synuclein — the protein that forms toxic clumps in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease — may travel from enteroendocrine cells lining the gut to the brain through the vagus nerve, according to a study aiming to build on previous evidence of a gut-brain axis in Parkinson’s.

Low-dose fosgonimeton (ATH-1017), an investigational small molecule, may have cognitive benefits for people with Parkinson’s disease-related dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies, according to recent data from a clinical trial. The small exploratory Phase 2 study, called SHAPE (NCT04831281), tested the safety and efficacy of fosgonimeton given once…

A five-year project funded by a $3.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant will study how team-based palliative care might lead to better health services and ease disparities in Parkinson’s disease and disease-related dementia care. Palliative care focuses on improving the quality of life for individuals with…

Altered levels of proteins in the amygdala, the brain region involved in memory, decision-making, and emotional responses, were discovered in Parkinson’s disease patients, a study reports. These changes in the amygdala were associated with synapses, the minute gaps between nerve cells through which impulses pass, allowing the cells to…

Positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the heart can help to identify people, known to be at risk for Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia, up to seven years before they go on to develop these disorders, a small study suggests. In the National Institutes of Health (NIH)…

Dosing has begun in a Phase 1 clinical trial that is testing GT-02287, an experimental oral medication being developed to treat Parkinson’s disease caused by mutations in the GBA1 gene. The first two participants in the trial have been dosed, according to the therapy’s developer, Gain Therapeutics. “Initiating first-in-human…

Measuring levels of an enzyme called DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) in the blood or fluid around the brain and spinal cord may help distinguish Parkinson’s disease and related disorders from non-Parkinsonian neurodegenerative diseases, a study reports. “Since the symptoms of various neurodegenerative brain diseases resemble each other, there is a…

When the alpha-synuclein protein is present at high concentrations around cellular membranes, it lifts up rather than lying flat against the membrane, making it more prone to clumping, a study shows. The finding may offer insight into the molecular mechanisms that drive Parkinson’s disease, where toxic clumps of alpha-synuclein…