Now this looks really promising...!

Nic 57/15


On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:51 PM, mschild <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hitting cell hot spot could help thwart Parkinson's disease
> The latest work to 'turn off the taps' in the brain and stop a chemical
> being
> released in excess amounts – which can lead to Parkinson's Disease – will
> be
> presented at The British Pharmacological Society's Summer Meeting in
> Edinburgh
> today (Wednesday, 8 July 2009).
> Dr Susan Duty from King's College London will present her latest work,
> aimed
> at stimulating 'trigger points' to stop the release of a chemical that can
> kill brain cells, at a special symposium that focuses on research into new
> types of drugs for treating disorders of the central nervous system.
> Parkinson's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that is triggered by
> death or degeneration of nerve cells in a part of the brain called
> substantia
> nigra. This brain region is essential in maintaining normal movement so
> when
> the cells start to die off, patients lose ability to properly execute and
> control movements.
> Dr Duty is aiming to find a way to slow down, stop or, even better, reverse
> the cell death process.
> She says one of the contributing factors to nerve cell death is an excess
> of
> the chemical glutamate in the motor control pathways in the brain. An
> excess
> of this chemical changes the way these pathways operate and makes movement
> even less well controlled.
> But more importantly, glutamate is one of the factors considered
> responsible
> for the demise of the brain cells.
> At the symposium, which will be attended by leading UK and international
> pharmacologists, Dr Duty will be presenting her latest work on ways to stop
> glutamate being released.
> Dr Duty said: "The way we hope to achieve this is by stimulating protein
> targets on the nerve cell called metabotropic glutamate receptors. Certain
> types of these receptors, when stimulated, are known to prevent release of
> glutamate in other brain regions. We, and others, have now taken these
> ideas
> into regions relevant to Parkinson's disease in the hope of reversing both
> the
> clinical signs and cell death associated with this condition."
> Dr Duty says that current drugs can only treat the symptoms but not the
> underlying cause of the disease: "They provide relief of symptoms by
> replacing
> the chemical, dopamine, which the dying cells would normally secrete in
> order
> to maintain proper control of movement.
> "However, they do little to combat the ongoing progressive cell death
> meaning
> that symptoms get worse, higher doses of drug are needed to control the
> worsening symptoms, the result being appearance of disabling side-effects
> such
> as involuntary flailing limb movements and painful twisting of joints.
> "Given the disease is progressive in nature, the continued death of cells
> in
> the substantia nigra leads to gradual worsening of symptoms and decline in
> patients' quality of life over time. Finding drugs that can provide
> protection
> or repair to the dying cells – as well as relieve the clinical signs of
> Parkinson's – is therefore a key area of interest in this field."
> Dr Duty and colleagues have recently published findings showing that
> stimulating certain classes of metabotropic glutamate receptor can reverse
> symptoms in a preclinical model of Parkinson's disease.
> "More recently, we have identified which specific type of receptor is
> involved," she says. "By targeting specific receptors it is hoped that
> side-
> effects will be minimised as fewer targets elsewhere in the brain will be
> stimulated.
> "We also have good evidence now that stimulating these receptors can
> provide
> protection to the dopamine-containing nerve cells in preclinical models of
> Parkinson's disease and that the protected nerve cells function normally
> and
> are able to help restore movement control."
> The BPS Summer Meeting will be held at The University of Edinburgh from
> Wednesday 8 to Friday 10 July 2009.
> It brings together leading pharmacologists from the UK, Europe and beyond,
> with presentations on the latest pharmacological developments to tackle a
> range of conditions, including respiratory disease, Alzheimer's,
> Parkinson's,
> stroke and atherosclerosis.
> Dr Duty will give a presentation – 'Group III metabotropic glutamate
> receptors
> (mGluRs) as potential targets for the treatment of Parkinson's disease' –
> at a
> symposium entitled 'Metabotropic glutamate receptors: advancing novel drugs
> for treating CNS disorders' on Wednesday 8 July 2009.
>
>
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