This is a major step forward in Parkinson’s treatment, chronic degenerative neurological disease. According to an American study, an anti-inflammatory drug, XPro1595, would save neurons from degeneration.
Researchers from Emory University (Atlanta, USA), whose study was published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, tested the drug on model rats of the disease. Those who received the anti-inflammatory only lost 15% of neurons producing dopamine (neurotransmitter that delivers information between neurons), at five weeks against 55% in control rats.
Reduced motor impairment
The results of the study are promising. 40% of dopaminergic neurons could be preserved.
Inflammation is a mechanism that is increasingly understood and taken into account in the progression of the disease of Parkinson’s and even if it is not the trigger of the disease, it plays a primordial role in neurodegeneration. By targeting this factor, XPro1595 reduces motor impairment and could slow or stop the progression of the disease.
Although the treatment is not confirmed in humans and further studies are to be expected, Professor Malu Tansey, associate professor of physiology at Emory University and lead author of the study observes “an important step for anti-inflammatory therapies in Parkinson’s disease”.
