Tag Archives: Parkinson’s

New research could lead to improved methods of detection for early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Recording the responses of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to different visual patterns, using methods adapted from the study of vision in humans, scientists investigated the nervous systems of flies with different types of Parkinson’s mutations.

The researchers compared flies carrying mutations associated with early-onset Parkinson’s with ‘normal’ control flies and found increased neuronal activity to stimulation in the former group in ‘young’ flies.

By mapping the visual responses of fruit flies with different Parkinson’s genes, the scientists built a substantial data bank of results. Using this they were able to classify unknown flies as having a Parkinson’s-related mutation with 85 per cent accuracy.

Researchers believe it may be possible to transfer this method back to the clinic where early changes in vision may provide a ‘biomarker’ allowing screening for Parkinson’s before the onset of traditional motor-symptoms. Therefore, profiling human visual responses could prove an accurate and reliable test in diagnosing people with early-onset PD.

This method is also likely to succeed when transferred to human detection of Parkinson’s, as visual profiling in humans has proved accurate in the past in detecting genetic markers. In this study, as more complex light stimulations have been used, a more accurate picture of detecting a wider variety of different genetic markers has been revealed.

Source: University of York

JPND Board Member Dr. John Hardy of the UCL Institute of Neurology was awarded the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his pioneering research into the genetic causes of Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences honours ‘transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life’. This is the first time that the prize has been awarded to a UK researcher.

Using innovative genetic analysis methods, Professor Hardy has made major contributions to the study of almost all major neurodegenerative diseases. He has published over 850 scientific papers, many of which are focused on neurological disorders and more specifically the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. His research has underpinned nearly all basic science and treatment research into Alzheimer’s disease over the last 20 years.

“It is a great honour to be awarded the prize for our work dissecting the causes of Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases,” Hardy said. “It is, of course, our hope and aim that this understanding leads to effective treatments…I feel we can beat these diseases.”

Source: UCL

The EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) will shortly begin another action to support working groups on “Harmonisation and Alignment in Brain Imaging Methods for Neurodegeneration”.

The aim of the call is to establish a limited number of transnational, JPND-sponsored expert working groups to address issues of key relevance for the future use of brain imaging techniques in ND research. Each working group can bid up to €50,000 for support of its activities, which are expected to run for a maximum of 6 months.

This will be a 1-step call, anticipated to launch in early January 2016, with a likely submission deadline of March 2016. Further details will be provided on the call launch date in January 2016. However, any new ideas to tackle harmonisation and alignment in brain imaging will be welcome. For example, this may include:

  • Harmonisation of acquisition for current markers (acquisition and harmonisation of procedures, for example, for MR, FDG PET, and EEG signals)
  • Simplification of web access to image analysis environments (improving the secure access to innovative web-based image analysis environments for neurodegenerative diseases)
  • Innovative PET molecular markers (fostering the use of established and experimental PET methods)
  • Innovative ultra-high field (UHF) MR markers

Please Note:

  • Proposals are not limited to these topics, and may cover other topics within harmonisation and alignment of brain imaging methods.
  • All information regarding future JPND Call topics is subject to change.
  • Final call information will be published on the JPND website (www.jpnd.eu).

The diseases covered by JPND are:
– Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias
– Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD‐related disorders
– Prion disease
– Motor neurone diseases (MND)
– Huntington’s Disease (HD)
– Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)
– Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

 

Apple recently announced ResearchKit, a new software framework that turns the iPhone into a powerful tool for medical research.

In conjunction with the announcement of ResearchKit, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is announcing the launch of Fox Insight, a Web-based virtual clinical study open to individuals of any age, both with and without Parkinson’s, worldwide.

The Foundation also collaborated with biotech Sage Bionetworks on the development of a new Parkinson’s mobile app called Parkinson mPower that captures data on Parkinson’s symptoms and progression as part of a clinical study. Parkinson mPower is available for download in the iTunes App Store, and the mPower study is open to all U.S. residents over age 18, with or without a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

Later this year, data collected from participants who enroll in both mPower and Fox Insight will be used to validate the power of these two approaches in accelerating Parkinson’s disease research.

Watch a video by Apple to learn more about how ResearchKit and studies like mPower can help speed scientific progress toward cures by amplifying the patient voice in shaping research.

Read the press release to learn more about mPower and Fox Insight and future plans for both technologies.

Source:  Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

The personal genetics company 23andMe, Inc. has announced an agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to generate whole genome sequencing data for approximately 3,000 people in 23andMe’s Parkinson’s disease community. The goal of the collaboration is to identify new therapeutic targets for treating Parkinson’s disease.

Source: 23andMe (Press Release)

A new study entitled “Evaluating the relationship between amyloid-β and α-synuclein phosphorylated at Ser129 in dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease” reports a correlation between α-synuclein and amyloid-β in the brain of patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. The study was published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research &Therapy.

In this study, the authors measured both soluble and insoluble amyloid-β and α-synuclein in human post-mortem brain tissue and analyzed whether there is a relation between the levels of amyloid-β, total α-synuclein, pSer129 α-synuclein and cognitive function ante-mortem in Parkinson’s disease patients. Their main findings were the discovery of a positive correlation between the levels of insoluble pSer129 α-synuclein with insoluble and soluble amyloid-β protein in most brain regions analyzed. The correlation was significantly higher in Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies patients when compared to controls. Additionally, the authors found that the proportion of α-synuclei phosphorylated at Ser129 correlated with ante-mortem mini-mental state examination.

Their findings establish a pathogenic link between the accumulation of amyloid-β and the phosphorylation of Ser129 at α-synuclein, thus increasing disease severity and the probability of developing dementia. The authors highlight that additional studies are required to understand fully how the interaction is maintained.

Source:  Alzheimer’s News Today

Parkinson’s disease patients can find hope in a new treatment, thanks to stem cell research that successfully replaces damaged nerves. Swedish researchers have figured out how to create neurons that become lost in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients. They published their findings in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Carried out under the leadership of Malin Parmar of Lund Univerity, a member of the European consortia NeuroStemcell, the study reports an important experimental novelty in regenerative medicine strategies. This could pave the way to the clinical application of stem cells in patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

In the study, researchers took human embryonic stem cells (hESC) from in vitro fertilization embryos and grew them into motor neurons. The neurons were transplanted into the brains of rats with Parkinson’s disease, and over the course of five months, their dopamine levels rose back to normal.
The study showed that these new neurons are capable of mimicking the features of damaged neurons as well as connecting to neurons of the host brain through a dense network of branches reaching target brain areas. This discovery can open new perspectives for the future development of innovative treatments of this and other neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s Disease.

A Small Number of Patients With Fetal-Cell Transplants Are Thriving Two Decades Later.

Several patients with Parkinson’s disease who received brain-tissue transplants from fetuses in the early 1990s have needed little or no medicine to treat the disease ever since—an outcome virtually unheard of in the course of the disease, researchers have found.

The results are particularly striking because the treatment is controversial and has been questioned by some researchers in the field.

Bolstered by these promising cases, 14 European hospitals, research institutions and companies have launched a new, controversial trial on fetal-cell transplants, known as Transeuro. Funded with a $15 million grant by the European Union, surgeons in Cambridge, England, are expected to perform their first transplant on a trial participant by year’s end. It would be the first since the 1990s.

The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is one of the most important medical awards and goes this year to Alim Benabid, Grenoble, France and Mahlong R. Delong, Atlanta, USA for the ‘development of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS), a surgical technique that reduces tremors and restores motor function in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease’.

New research published in JAMA Neurology suggests that the risk of complications associated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) do not increase with age in people with Parkinson’s.

This research based at Duke University Durham, North Carolina was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Deep brain stimulation is a well-established therapy for people with Parkinson’s. It uses electrical signals from an implant in the brain to help reduce Parkinson’s symptoms. DBS does involve invasive surgery and as with all surgical procedures can lead to complications.

The researchers at the Duke University involved more than 1,750 Parkinson’s patients and analyzed their data. All the patients had undergone the device implantation between 2000 and 2009. Following analysis of the data, the researchers found that 7.5 percent of those patients developed at least one complication within 90 days of the surgery.  The complications included bleeding, wound infections, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia.

Interestingly, the research team found that the risk of complications during the 90 days after surgery was not greater in those over the age of 75 when compared to younger patients.

The study was published on August 25 in the journal JAMA Neurology.