Getting down to the heart of the (gray) matter to treat Parkinson's disease
April 2, 2012 in Parkinson's & Movement disorders
An agent under consideration for use in PET imaging combats neuronal death to relieve Parkinsonian symptoms in animal models, according to a study published on April 2nd in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The movement-related symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including muscle rigidity and tremors, are caused by the loss of dopamine-secreting neurons in the brain. Current therapies aim at increasing and maintaining dopamine levels to correct these motor impairments. However, these approaches do not address the underlying neuronal death that initiated the disease.
David Finkelstein, Kevin Barnham, and colleagues at the University of Melbourne find that the PET imaging agent CuII(atsm) reverses the neurotoxicity that destroys dopamine-secreting neurons. Improvements in motor skills and memory were observed after treatment in four unique animal models of Parkinson's disease. The authors suggest this compound functions as a scavenger of peroxynitrite, whose accumulation is known to promote neuronal death.
These results point to a potential strategy to restore motor and cognitive function in Parkinson's disease patients by reviving neuronal function rather than solely masking symptoms.
More information: Hung, L.W., et al. 2012. J. Exp. Med. doi:10.1084/jem.20112285
Journal reference:
Journal of Experimental Medicine
Provided by
Rockefeller University
-
Research targets brain region affected by Parkinson's
Nov 08, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Exercise may lead to improvement in patients with Parkinson's
May 16, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
New knowledge on the pharmacology of dopamine stabilizers
Feb 24, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Abnormal oscillation in the brain causes motor deficits in Parkinson's disease
Nov 01, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Insight into dopamine role suggests new treatment pathway for Parkinson's
Oct 18, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Assumptions of Griffith's fracture theory
6 hours ago
-
Current leading voltage or vice versa concept
7 hours ago
-
Angular Frequency of AC voltage
11 hours ago
-
Modeling Rigid Body - Unsure about Euler angles and angular velocity
11 hours ago
-
Function for a bullet's path
12 hours ago
-
Elementary questions relating to Newton's laws of motion
14 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
Diabetes drug tested in Parkinson's disease patients
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder marked by a progressive loss of motor control. Despite intensive research, there are currently no approved therapies that have been demonstrated to alter the ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
20 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Faulty energy production in brain cells leads to disorders ranging from Parkinson's to intellectual disability
Neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken of VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and KU Leuven has shown for the first time that dysfunctional mitochondria in brain cells can lead to learning disabilities. The link between ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
May 17, 2013 |
4 / 5 (2) |
0
Unleashing the watchdog protein
McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
May 09, 2013 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Could eating peppers prevent Parkinson's? Dietary nicotine may hold protective key
New research reveals that Solanaceae—a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine—may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease. The study appearing today ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
May 09, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Study reveals probable role of Parkinson's protein in healthy brain
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have exposed the possible function, in the healthy brain, of a mysterious molecule that has been strongly implicated in Parkinson's ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
May 01, 2013 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Losing weight may ease chronic heartburn
(HealthDay)—Obese and overweight men and women who suffer from heartburn often report relief when they lose weight, a new study shows.
Study identifies superior hypertension treatment, efficacy between sexes
(Medical Xpress)—In a recent subgroup analysis of the largest blood pressure treatment trial in history, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers found that women and men react the same to ...
Cancer and birth defects in Iraq: The nuclear legacy
Ten years after the Iraq war of 2003 a team of scientists based in Mosul, northern Iraq, have detected high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three sites in the province of Nineveh which, coupled with dramatically ...
Warning images for cigarette packs do not make a strong enough emotional impact
The warning images Brussels proposes to include on tobacco packages in order to reduce consumption do not make the desired impact on smokers because they only find some of them really unpleasant. So, if the ...
Do men's and women's hearts burn fuel differently?
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine will study gender differences in how the heart uses and stores fat—its main energy source—and how changes in fat metabolism play ...
Clouds in the head
Many brain researchers cannot see the forest for the trees. When they use electrodes to record the activity patterns of individual neurons, the patterns often appear chaotic and difficult to interpret.