Parkinson’s disease research round-up
Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative movement disorder, impacts nearly one million people in the United States and more than 10 million people worldwide. There is currently no standard treatment for Parkinson's disease – treatment for each individual person is based on his or her symptoms. Treatments can include medication, surgical therapy, and various lifestyle changes (like exercise habits).
In recognition of Parkinson’s Awareness Month this month, we took a look at some of the latest research news in Parkinson's disease: the impact of lifestyle factors on Parkinson’s disease progression, uncovering the molecular drivers of Parkinson’s disease, and how Parkinson’s disease might even start before birth.
The impact of lifestyle factors on Parkinson’s disease patients
According to a recent study from researchers at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and David Geffen School of Medicine, physical activity, coffee, caffeinated tea or moderate alcohol consumption before a diagnosis protect against worsening motor and cognitive function in Parkinson’s patients. On the contrary, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, or never consuming alcohol at all linked with higher risks of mortality and cognitive and motor decline.
The findings, published in Movement Disorders, were based on data from a community-based cohort of 360 patients. While the study still needs replication, the researchers are optimistic: “Our study suggests that multiple lifestyle factors potentially modify the rate of symptom progression.” This population-based study, then, suggests that lifestyle factors do in fact influence Parkinson’s disease progression and mortality.
Researchers uncover new molecular drivers of Parkinson's disease
Using a sophisticated statistical technique called multiscale gene network analysis (MGNA), researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai were able to reveal new molecular drivers of Parkinson’s disease. Approximately 80% of Parkinson’s disease cases have no known cause. There are some genes that may slightly increase an individual's risk of developing the disease, but the biological impacts of these genes remain unclear.
Applying MGNA to a combined data set of 83 patients from eight different studies, the scientists identified a number of key regulators of the gene networks that had never before been associated with the disease. The researchers experimentally validated the findings in mice, but wish to study a larger sample set of Parkinson’s disease patients for further proof.
The findings were published in Nature Communications. "The work opens up a new avenue for studying the disease," said the researchers. "The new genes we identified suggest that new pathways should be considered as potential targets for drug development, particularly for idiopathic Parkinson's cases."
Parkinson's disease may start before birth
Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center purport that people who develop Parkinson's disease before age 50 may have been born with disordered brain cells that went undetected for decades. The study was published in Nature Medicine.
The research team generated special stem cells from patients with young-onset Parkinson's disease. Then, they used the cells to produce dopamine neurons from each patient and cultured them in a dish, analyzing the neurons' functions. The scientists detected two key abnormalities in the dopamine neurons in the dish: accumulation of a protein called alpha-synuclein, which occurs in most forms of Parkinson's disease, and malfunctioning lysosomes, which could cause alpha-synuclein to build up. "What we are seeing using this new model are the very first signs of young-onset Parkinson's," said the researchers in a press release. "It appears that dopamine neurons in these individuals may continue to mishandle alpha-synuclein over a period of 20 or 30 years, causing Parkinson's symptoms to emerge."
The researchers will next try to determine whether the abnormalities the study found in neurons of young-onset Parkinson's patients also exist in other forms of Parkinson's.
