Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine found that an experimental anti-inflammatory drug alleviates loss of motor function in Parkinson's disease.
The research conducted on rat models showed that the anti-inflammatory drug, XPro1595, when injected subcutaneously reaches the brain at sufficient levels to act opposed to the more invasive method of injecting it directly into the brain.
For the study, researchers injected the rats with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in one side of their brain. With this certain aspects of Parkinson's disease are reproduced. The team explained that the neurons that produce dopamine in the injected side of the brain die resulting in impaired movement like in Parkinson's on the opposite side of the body, the authors wrote in press release.
One group of rats was administered with the drug XPro1595 for three days after being injected with the 6-OHDA. Researchers found that 15 percent of the dopamine-producing neurons were lost five weeks later. Those in control group lost 55 percent of the same neurons.
Researchers explained that by reducing dopamine neuron loss with XPro1595, they were also able to reduce motor impairment that greatly correlated with immune cell activation.
The teams said that when researchers gave XPro1595 to the models two weeks following injection, they also found that 44 percent of the vulnerable neurons were lost.
"Recent clinical studies indicate there is a four or five year window between diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and the time when the maximum number of vulnerable neurons are lost," said Dr Malu Tansey, PhD, associate professor of physiology at Emory University School of Medicine."If this is true, and if inflammation is playing a key role during this window, then we might be able to slow or halt the progression of Parkinson's with a treatment like XPro1595."
The study was published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
