Thursday, January 18, 2024

A key to detecting brain disease earlier than ever

Treatment of Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS and other brain diseases depends on reliable detection—especially in those who don’t even know they’re at risk. A long-awaited procedure called the “alpha-synuclein seeding amplification assay” (SAA) is capable of detecting the misfolded alpha-synuclein in spinal fluid—the wayward protein clearly linked to Parkinson’s (PD).

Identifying with 90% specificity those who have evidence of PD pathology in their cells, the new SAA test is being integrated into drug trials as the first measure that can objectively identify people with the targeted biology—offering drug makers increased assurance that they are testing experimental treatments in the right populations. For biopharma firms weighing a decision to enter or stay in the high-risk neurological disease space, this changes the value proposition of investment on its face. Click here to learn more.

Tandospirone and escitalopram provide different symptomatic benefits in multiple system atrophy-cerebellar ataxia

In the Journal of Psychiatric Research, an open-label, non-controlled, observational study showed that tandospirone citrate, an anxiolytic drug, demonstrated more beneficial effects in reducing depression, anxiety and cerebellar ataxia symptoms in patients with multiple system atrophy-cerebellar subtype (MSA-C) compared with escitalopram oxalate, an antidepressant drug. Escitalopram oxalate showed a more beneficial effect in reducing autonomic dysfunction symptoms. Click here to learn more.

A clinical preview of 2024 for movement disorders

Kelly Papesh, clinical director of the Parkinson & Movement Disorder Alliance, shared her clinical perspective with NeurologyLive® on potential therapies in 2024 for managing Parkinson's disease. Papesh also speaks about targeting α-synuclein in the quest for disease-modifying therapies and how close the field is to achieving this goal. Click here to learn more.

A newly discovered receptor appears to protect against Parkinson's disease—but only in females

More men than women are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD). The reason why is still unknown, but the sex difference is nonetheless a growing area of interest for researchers. Now, a group of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark might have found one of the pieces to this puzzle.

In an article recently published in npj Parkinson's Disease, the researchers have shed light on a specific receptor called CD163. The protein is involved in the immune response during the neurodegenerative process associated with the aggregation of a-synuclein in PD, and it seems to play a specific and protective role in the body's defense against the damages related to the disease. Most interestingly, the protein seems to exert a neuroprotective role particularly relevant in females. Click here to learn more.

Treating Tourette's syndrome through mindfulness and meditation

Hannah Reese, a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, has been testing ways of using mindfulness and meditation techniques to help those with Tourette Syndrome and persistent tic disorders.

Reese’s treatment is a type of psychotherapy program that utilizes mindfulness and meditation, something she practices herself and has tested in two previous trials over the previous thirteen years.

“The intervention lasts eight weeks and takes place online in groups of five to eight people, plus a therapist,” explains Reese. “Participants start by learning the fundamentals of how to meditate and practice mindfulness. By week three, they begin applying those foundational practices to their TS symptoms. In doing this, we hope that participants will become more aware of the moment-by-moment experience of their tics and develop the capacity to relate differently to those urges and allow them to dissipate on their own without engaging in the tic.” Click here to learn more.