Researchers have long sought treatments that can slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Current treatments have for decades been only symptomatic in nature, supplying the neurotransmitter dopamine, which the dying nerve cells can no longer produce. Results from a recent clinical study offer hope that future therapies could take advantage of the brain's own protective mechanisms to limit neuronal cell death and restore dopamine production to natural levels. Researchers at Lund University and Karolinska Institutet have, in a first-in-human clinical study with twelve participating patients, applied a growth factor to the brain with the hope of preserving dopaminergic cells and fibers. The growth factor, PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor), has previously demonstrated, in studies in animals with Parkinson-like symptoms, reparative effects on both neurons and nerve fibers, while also leading to improved motor skills. The results of the current study in patients show that applying the growth factor does not cause any serious unresolvable side effects. Perhaps even more encouraging are the images of the patients' brains, produced four months after the delivery of the growth factor. Using a PET scanner, researchers have seen that in patients who received the growth factor the signaling of dopamine not only stayed at the … Continue reading →