Saturday, April 20, 2019 12:45:11 PM
http://www.academia-net.org/profil/prof-dr-m-angela-cenci-nilsson/1488381
NEW TREATMENT MAY PROTECT BRAIN CELLS IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE In Parkinson’s disease (lat. Parkinson scriptor morbus), dopamine-producing nerve cells that control movements waste away. Current treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD) therefore aim at restoring dopamine contents in the brain. In a new study from Lund University (LunUni), researchers are attacking the problem from a different angle, through early activation of a protein that improves the brain’s capacity to cope with a host of harmful processes. Stimulating the protein, called Sigma-1 receptor, sets off a battery of defense mechanisms and restores lost motor function. The results were obtained in mice, but clinical trials in patients may not be far away. By activating the Sigma-1 receptor, a versatile protein involved in many cellular functions, levels of several molecules that help nerve cells build new connections increased, inflammation decreased, while dopamine levels also rose. The results show a marked improvement of motor symptoms in mice with a Parkinson-like condition that had been treated with a Sigma-1-stimulating drug for 5 weeks. This treatment has never before been studied in connection with Parkinson’s disease. However, various publications linked to stroke and motor neurone disease have reported positive results with drugs that stimulate the Sigma-1 receptor. The fact that substances stimulating this protein are already available for clinical use is a major advantage, according to Professor M. Angela Cenci Nilsson, head of the research team at Lund University.
More on: https://spinoff.com/sigma1
https://spinoff.com/sigma1
Good luck and GOD bless,
George
