Transplantation in 7 patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease
Researchers at Bangalore in India have collected the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells of 7 patients aged 22-62 years who had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease on average for 15 years and transplanted them into the sublateral ventricular area of the brain on one side only by means of stereotaxic surgery. Each patient received only his/her cells so that there would not be any risk of rejection. The patients were followed-up for 10 to 36 months. No patients had important side effects. Three of the 7 patients experienced an improvement of not only subjective, but also objective symptoms according to the neurologist (mean improvement in UPDRS score by 23% in OFF when medication did not work and by 38% in ON when they did). Furthermore, two of them were able to reduce the dosage of anti-parkinson therapy.
These results are encouraging and the researchers are continuing their studies.
Source: Venkataramana NK et al Transl Res 2010; 155: 62-70 |
The outcome of the analysis of the healthcare data of more than 136,000 nurses
The analysis of the healthcare data of more than 136,000 nurses followed up for 6 years showed that the nurses who did not take a particular non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (ibuprofen) developed Parkinson's disease more frequently. The risk diminished by 38% with ibuprofen and was dose-dependent. The phenomenon was not recorded with other NSAIDs.
In the past the same research group had found that the use of NSAIDs, except aspirin, reduced the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Now they claim that in truth only one NSAID is responsible for the phenomenon.
Source Gao et al Abstract presented at 62th Meeting of American Academy of Neurology at Toronto, Canada |
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FDA investigates after the outcome of the STRIDE study
An international clinical trial called STRIDE-PD was carried out in patients with Parkinson's disease. 245 were allocated to treatment with Stalevo (levodopa + carbidopa + entacapone) and 222 to treatment with levodopa + carbidopa. They were given treatment for a period ranging from 2.6 to 4 years. 62.7% of patients were men and their mean age was 60 years.
More cases of prostate cancer occurred in the group treated with Stalevo than in the group treated with levodopa + carbidopa (9 vs 2 i.e. 3.7% vs 0.9%). Prostate cancer is common in men aged 60 years and over, so the phenomenon may not necessarily be due to Stalevo. Differences in the number of cases of cancer have not been recorded in other studies, but patients were monitored for shorter periods of time.
FDA, the regulatory agency of the US has decided to investigate further. It has issued a statement saying that it has not reached any conclusions and advising patients NOT to stop treatment with Stalevo or Comtan (entacapone)
Source: Food and Drug Administration |
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Genetic connection to Parkinson’s disease
The genome (all the genetic material) of 413 patients suffering from multiple system atrophy (MSA), a form of parkinsonism, and of 3974 control subjects was analyzed to establish whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (small mutations) were associated with an increase in the risk of MSA. Small mutations of the alpha-synuclein gene were associated with an increase in such risk by 5.5 times. The same gene is responsible for rare cases of juvenile Parkinson's disease.
Source: Scholz at al Ann Neurol 2009; 65: 610-614
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