parkinson

One of the best-known genetic risk factors for developing Parkinson’s disease is carrying variants of the GBA1 gene. A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine compared the microbiomes of 43 carriers of this gene who had not developed the disease with those of 271 Parkinson’s patients and 150 healthy individuals. The results showed, in addition to alterations in the microbiome in the patient group, that 25% of the microbiome of carriers of this gene exhibited alterations, representing an intermediate profile between the other two groups. The results were validated using independent cohorts from the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Turkey. According to the authors, “alterations in the gut microbiome can identify individuals with both genetic and non-genetic risk in the general population who may be progressing toward Parkinson’s disease.”
 

A study conducted in South Korea collected data from more than 410,000 smokers over an average of nine years. The analyses indicate that the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in those who quit smoking during that period was about 60% higher than in those who continued to smoke; however, their risk of death was lower. According to the researchers, who emphasise that the study does not prove that smoking prevents Parkinson's disease, smoking ‘remains one of the leading causes of preventable death and contributes to the development of heart disease, cancer and chronic lung disease. The health benefits of quitting smoking remain substantial and clear.’ The results are published in Neurology.

A study published in Nature suggests that a brain network that controls the execution of actions (SCAN), which was described in 2023, plays an important role in Parkinson's disease. Focusing treatments—such as transcranial stimulation—on the SCAN rather than other brain regions associated with movement could improve their effectiveness, according to the research.

An investigation published in JAMA Neurology concludes that obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to the medical records of more than 11 million American war veterans, mainly men. The article also indicates that this risk can be reduced by early treatment with continuous positive airway pressure, suggesting intervention in sleep-disordered breathing as a strategy for preventing neurological diseases.  

A team has managed to visualise and quantify the protein aggregates believed to trigger Parkinson's disease. This is the first time they have been directly visualised. These small aggregates – alpha-synuclein oligomers – were observed in post mortem brain tissue from people with the disease using a new microscopy technique, as explained by the authors in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

An international team with Spanish participation has analyzed data from more than 500,000 people and found a link between digestive disorders such as colitis, gastritis, esophagitis, or functional bowel disorders and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. According to the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science Advances, “this effort sheds light on the interaction between factors involved in the gut-brain axis and opens avenues for targeted treatment and early diagnosis.”

Consumption of ultra-processed food is associated with an increased likelihood of having prodromal signs of Parkinson's disease - symptoms that precede the disease - says a study published in Neurology. The analysis is based on data from more than 42,000 healthcare professionals in the US, followed for up to 26 years.

Two independent clinical trials demonstrate the safety of stem cell therapies for Parkinson's disease. The papers, published in Nature, investigate the use of cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells, respectively. Parkinson's disease is characterised by the progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Cell therapy, which replenishes dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, could provide a treatment with fewer adverse effects than current treatments. However, further research is needed to test the efficacy and benefits of these new therapies.

An American team has developed a ‘smart’ computer keyboard that could be used for the early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The prototype is a flexible device, linked to a mobile application, whose keys detect slight variations in the pressure applied by the user, allowing for the quantitative analysis of motor symptoms. The study, published in Science Advances, presents the validation of the keyboard with three people with Parkinson's.

Discovered years ago, PINK1 is a protein directly linked to Parkinson's disease, but it was not known what it looks like, how it binds to the surface of damaged mitochondria or how it is activated. A study published this week in Science has for the first time determined the structure of this protein. The authors suggest that this new information could help in finding new treatments.