For those who can browse the web, here is the URL from CNN's site:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9702/06/nfm/parkinsons.disease/index.html

For others, here's the text of the story:





                     Researchers find promising
                     therapy for Parkinson's

                     February 6, 1997
                     Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EST

                     In this story:

                          Therapy may also work on
                          other diseases
                          Years before it can be tried
                          on humans
                          Related stories and sites

                     (CNN) -- The trembling hands and shuffling feet
                     of people with Parkinson's disease are the result
                     of a communications breakdown in the brain.

                     The problem is that brain cells die, depriving
                     the body of a chemical called dopamine that is
                     critical for delivering messages from one nerve
                     cell to the next.

                                       Why they die is a mystery, but
                                       researchers say they have used
                                       gene therapy in rats to protect
                                       nerve cells that make the
                                       crucial chemical.

                                       A University of Rochester team
                                       used a modified version of the
                                       common cold virus
                     to introduce into rats' brains a gene that
                     produces a protein messenger that protects cells
                     that make dopamine.

                     The experiments, which are reported in Friday's
                     edition of the journal Science, is not a cure for
                     the disease. But, as Rochester neurobiologist
                     Martha Bohn puts it, "It's an excellent first
                     step.

                     Therapy may also work
                     on other diseases

                     "Ultimately," she said, "we may
                     be able to develop this approach
                     for human disease. Not only
                     Parkinson's disease, but other
                     neuro-degenerative diseases."

                     Bohn is now working on other ways to deliver the
                     gene, and will also test the approach on monkeys,
                     who provide a better model of Parkinson's.

                     Parkinson's targets a tiny area deep in the brain
                     stem, where nerve cells produce dopamine.

                                          Using a gene that produces a
                                          potent chemical called GDNF,
                                          researchers injected it into
                                          the damaged brains cells of
                                          rats. The damaged cells
                                          began producing GDNF, which
                                          nerve cells need to stay
                                          healthy and to produce
                                          dopamine.

                     Given this treatment, rats with a condition like
                     Parkinson's lived significantly longer than those
                     that did not.

                     "We are putting in less than a billionth of an
                     ounce of GDNF protein into the injection site,"
                     Bohn said, "so it's a fairly non-invasive
                     procedure. Very low levels of this protein in a
                     very focused area of the brain, and we still get
                     very remarkable effects."

                     Years before it can be tried on humans

                     Bohn said it will be years before researchers
                     will be able to try such therapy on humans, but
                     that in time it could offer a major advance.
                     Current treatments stave off the symptoms of
                     Parkinson's, but don't prevent the destruction of
                     dopamine cells.

                     "The exciting part of this finding," she said,
                     "is that we know you can put the gene into the
                     right part of the brain and get GDNF secreted
                     continuously at low levels," she said.

                     "So if we can develop this approach to slow down
                     the death of these nerve cells, then we will have
                     made a milestone step."

                     Correspondent Andrew Holtz and Reuters
                     contributed to this report.




                     Related story:

                          Gene therapy no quick fix - September 13,
                          1996

                     Related sites:

                     Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

                          The Parkinson's Digest
                          The Parkinson's Web

                         External sites are not endorsed by CNN
                         Interactive.



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                                                Information Service.


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