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Source: http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-04-11-2 Date: April 11, 2003 Enzyme Discovery Means that Arthritis Drugs Could Treat Parkinson's Disease Dwayne Hunter Betterhumans Staff [Friday, April 11, 2003] Researchers have found that an enzyme associated with arthritis might contribute to the progression of Parkinson's disease, meaning that arthritis drugs already on the market could help battle the neurological condition. Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the brain that usually affects older people and is characterized by such symptoms such as tremors, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness to the point of paralysis. The disease involves diminishing production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Although the cause of Parkinson's is not known, dopamine is recognized as important in regulating movement and drugs such as levodopa that replenish it reduce symptoms. No treatment has proven to slow the progressive death of dopamine-producing cells, however, which makes researchers hopeful about the enzyme findings, which were published this week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. COX-2 The enzyme, COX-2, produces inflammation in damaged tissues, including those found in the brain. Many researchers now see the inflammation as a critical process in neurodegenerative diseases. Serge Przedborski, professor of neurology and pathology in the College of Physicians & Surgeons and faculty member in the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, looked for COX-2 in postmortem brains of Parkinson's patients. He and postdoctoral researcher Peter Teismann found higher levels of the enzyme in their dopamine neurons than in the neurons of brains without the disease. Mice with Parkinson's The researchers then tested the importance of COX-2 in mice that had a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. The mice had the same high level of COX-2 in their dopamine neurons as human patients. COX-2 was also found to have an instrumental role in the death of the neurons. When it was removed from the mice or inhibited with drugs, more dopamine neurons survived. About 88% of the neurons endured with drug treatment compared to 41% percent without it. The finding means that COX-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex and Vioxx, commonly used as treatments for arthritis, may help in preventing the neuron death that characterizes Parkinson's. Oxidative stress Researchers believe that the COX-2 enzyme may hasten cell death by causing oxidative stress, which involves the production of free radicals that damage surrounding cells. After enough damage, cells die. Previous research had linked Parkinson's with oxidative stress, but there was nothing to show how COX-2 might be involved. "Regardless of how COX-2 works in Parkinson's disease, the benefit we see in animal models with COX-2 inhibitors suggests the drugs could be useful in slowing the disease's progression in patients," says Przedborski. "The drugs are safe and they get into the brain reasonably well." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn