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Note that it is dated September of 2008...

Kathleen



2009/4/27 rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>

> This is a bit of good news:
>
> Deep Brain Stimulation Halts Cell Loss, Parkinson's Researchers Find
>
> ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) - Deep brain stimulation, a surgical technique
> often viewed as a last resort for people with Parkinson's disease, halts the
> progression of dopamine-cell loss in animal models, according to preliminary
> research by scientists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of
> Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital.
>
> The scientists also discovered clues to why the technique works. The act of
> stimulating neurons with electrodes boosted the amount of an important
> protein in animals' brains. The protein, a trophic factor known as BDNF
> (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), is a nurturing, growth-promoting
> chemical.
>
> Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the
> death of dopamine-producing brain cells, or neurons.
>
> "Demonstrating that deep brain stimulation halts the progression of
> dopamine-cell loss was basically a confirmation and extension of previous
> findings," says Caryl Sortwell, PhD, associate professor of neurology at UC
> and the study's lead investigator. "But finding the mechanism is a novel
> discovery that is even more critical. We now know not only that it works, we
> also are beginning to understand how it is working."
> Sortwell recently announced her team's results at a professional conference
> held by the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institute of Neurological
> Disorders and Stroke.
>
> The research holds important implications for patients with Parkinson's
> disease and could alter the current recommended timetable for surgical
> intervention.
>
> In a typical treatment scenario, a patient has lost about 50 percent of his
> or her dopamine-producing neurons when symptoms first appear and a diagnosis
> is made. The typical patient then waits an average of 14 additional years
> before undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. During that 14-year span,
> medications can offer symptomatic relief, but cell loss continues unabated.
> There is at present no cure for the disease.
>
> Sortwell's research was a response to an observation by physicians,
> including co-investigator George Mandybur, M.D., associate professor of
> neurosurgery, who have long been able to neutralize, in certain patients,
> some of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including
> tremor, stiffness, and slowness, by stimulating an area deep within the
> brain.
>
> "The surgery for Parkinson's disease has been available for over 10 years,
> and in that time we have noticed that in some patients the disease does not
> seem to progress as rapidly after surgery as it did before the surgery,"
> says Mandybur, a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic. As a result, he and
> others theorized that DBS not only alleviated symptoms, but also provided
> neuroprotection.
>
> The UC study, Mandybur says, "helps us to understand why this is going on
> and what may be happening in the brain. It also gives some evidence to
> support performing the surgery earlier to slow the overall progression of
> Parkinson's disease."
>
> Sortwell's study, which is continuing, is supported by a $120,000 grant
> from the Sunflower Revolution fundraiser, a partnership of the University
> Hospital Foundation and the Davis Phinney Foundation. The 2008 Sunflower
> Revolution, scheduled for Sept. 5-7, includes a gala, a free educational
> symposium for patients, families and caregivers, and bike rides of 20, 40,
> and 100 kilometers. (See http://www.sunflowerrev.org.)
>
> During the DBS study, researchers implanted high-frequency stimulating
> electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus, an area of the brain associated with
> movement, in rats and then induced dopamine neuron loss. When the rats had
> experienced a 50 percent loss of dopamine neurons, the researchers initiated
> brain stimulation in half of the group. Measurements of surviving,
> functioning dopamine neurons in rats implanted with active stimulators were
> then compared to a control group implanted with inactive stimulators. While
> the control group's loss of dopamine neurons increased to 75 percent after
> two weeks, the rats implanted with active stimulators experienced no further
> loss of cells during that time.
>
> Subsequent tissue analysis revealed that in rats implanted with active
> stimulators the trophic factor BDNF had tripled in the striatum, a part of
> the brain that houses dopamine terminals and "receives" the dopamine
> neurotransmitters that are produced in the substantia nigra.
>
> The study has brought together investigators from four academic
> disciplines: Sortwell, and Timothy Collier, PhD., and doctoral student Anne
> Spieles-Engemann, from UC's department of neurology; Michael Behbehani, PhD,
> from the department of physiology; Jack Lipton, PhD, from the department of
> psychiatry; and Mandybur, from the department of neurosurgery. Michael
> Behbehani, PhD, professor of molecular and cellular physiology and
> anesthesia, established the method for implanting the electrodes in the
> rat's tiny subthalamic nucleus.
>
> The initial study platform was funded by UC's Millennium Fund and
> subsequently by the Neuroscience Institute.
>
> Adapted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati.
>
> Rayilyn Brown
> Director AZNPF
> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
> [log in to unmask]
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