New Breakthrough Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease Shows Promise in Clinical Study

Parkinson’s disease affects the central nervous system and is characterized by slowness of movement, tremors at rest, and impaired reflexes. Its specific causes are still unknown to medicine (although it is clear that the prevalence among people of the same age varies greatly), which is why the discovery of drugs and blind treatment, and not particularly successful. According to previous clinical studies, the main feature of this disease, which has been diagnosed in about 8.5 million people worldwide, is the misfolding of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is present in human cells . When the misfolded protein accumulates, it disrupts the activity of neurons and leads to their death.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic disease that progresses regularly. However, modern research shows that it is possible to slow down its development or significantly improve the patient’s quality of life. For example, neuroimplant helped sick people can walk and maintain balance. And with the help of high intensity interval training, no expectations managed reverse the disease.

Researchers from Germany, the US, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland found that the antibody prasinezumab can reduce the symptoms of movement disorders in people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease going forward quickly. At first, scientists concluded that treatment with this antibody did not affect the course of the disease, but a year after the start of the experiment, the conclusion became the opposite. Relevant scientific publication published magazine Natural medicine.

The study included 316 patients with Parkinson’s disease. Those whose disease developed rapidly were identified, among other things, by the following criteria:

– the patient took drugs that inhibit the enzyme monoamine oxidase and maintain the necessary activity in the brain;

– the patient had sleep behavior problems related to rapid eye movement;

– The patient was diagnosed with diffuse malignant changes.

All study participants were divided into three almost equal groups: 105 people received a placebo, 105 people received 1500 milligrams of prasinezumab, and 106 people received 4500 milligrams of prasinezumab. Among those whose disease was considered to be progressing rapidly, people who received the drug prasinezumab had reduced symptoms of movement disorders compared to those who received a placebo instead of the experimental drug. This pattern was not found in patients with slow progression of Parkinson’s disease. At the same time, scientists were able to obtain statistically significant results only 52 weeks after the start of the study.

Prasinezumab was the first experimental therapeutic monoclonal antibody (that is, linked to one specific antigen) that breaks down malformed alpha-synuclein. In the future, the scientists plan to study the long-term effects of the drug on people with rapidly progressive Parkinson’s disease, and also to see, after some time, whether the same effect as an experimental treatment for patients with slowly progressive disease. .