Although current treatments do not slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease, research is advancing rapidly and is benefiting patients.
With 200,000 people affected, Parkinson’s disease is the secondth The most common neurodegenerative disease in France, after Alzheimer’s disease, reminds patient associations on the occasion of World Parkinson’s Day. While current treatments reduce certain symptoms such as tremors or rigidity, these drugs cannot slow its progression. However, research is bubbling with new projects, enthuses Professor Marie Vidailhet, neurologist in the department of diseases of the nervous system at Pitié-Salpêtrière (AP-HP, Paris).
“Patients want to know what the research is doing. They question their doctor a lot because they read a lot of things in the newspapers. They need to know that many avenues are being explored and that we need them, explains to Why actor Pr Vidailhet who divides his time between consultation and research laboratory. At the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (ICM), she is trying to identify markers that can predict and follow the course of the disease. Work carried out with 300 patients.
In the therapeutic field, clinical trials are multiplying. Researchers around the world are trying to develop immunotherapy. One of this still preliminary work targets aggregates of toxic proteins called alpha-synuclein. These are naturally present in our brain, but in Parkinson’s patients they accumulate and promote the death of neurons producing dopamine. “So the idea is to get rid of these clumps. To achieve this, teams are developing antibodies against alpha-synuclein targeting only the toxic form and respecting the healthy form, ”describes the neurologist.
Marie Vidailhet, neurologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière: ” It is interesting because there is a great deal of research being done. They are very beginners but they are on very different routes … ”
The genetic trail
French research also raised great hope in 2014. A research team from the CHRU in Lille looked at excess iron in the brains of people with Parkinson’s and how to eliminate it. Their first results show that at moderate doses, it is possible to slow the progression of the disease. “But it will be difficult to use this product in the long term because it eliminates iron indiscriminately throughout the body, but this is an encouraging path,” said Professor Vidailhet.
The neurologist also encourages patients to participate in genetic research. “Patients often ask me what they can get out of it, I tell them that like other diseases, people can have a certain propensity to develop Parkinson’s.” Thus, by identifying mutations, it would be possible to better identify those at risk.
Better yet, genetics also paves the way for the personalization of therapies. Like cancerology, neurologists hope to develop targeted treatments. “By combining genetics, biology and imaging, a large part of research in Europe and elsewhere aims to achieve a better categorization of patients because there is not Parkinson’s disease but Parkinson’s diseases. The objective would be to no longer have a single treatment ”.
New treatments available soon
Advances in Parkinson’s disease research benefit patients. New molecules should arrive on the market very soon. “Among them, a drug to prolong the effects of L-dopa is eagerly awaited. This new treatment, available in 2 or 3 years, can be taken in a single dose, which will provide more comfort to patients, ”explains Professor Marie Vidailhet.
The ways in which drugs are administered are also changing. To prevent patients from swallowing a host of pills, patches or transcutaneous pumps have been developed. “These devices allow the drug to be continuously instilled into the body of the person, a bit like the insulin pump in diabetics”, describes the neurologist. These technologies called apomorphine pump or pen (the name is misleading, there is no morphine) are increasingly used by patients, especially those who experience fluctuations in the effectiveness of treatments.
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