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Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) injected into the brains of mice has been shown to prevent or reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, according to two scientists at thr University of Colorado Health Sciences Center who are among the authors of a scientific paper published today in Nature. Drs. Barry Hoffer and David Young worked two years in collaboration with scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and Amgen, Inc., of Boulder, CO. Dr. Hoffer has been associated with the Dept. of Neurosciences at Karolinska Institute doing research in PD for 22 years. GDNF promotes survival of dopamine neurons from fetal cells, leading them to wonder whether it might protect adult dopamine neurons from damage induced by PD. "The results of this investigation lead us to the conclusion that GDNF might have implications for the development of new treatment strategies for PD,"said Dr. Hoffer. "MPTP has given us an animal model for PD...In doing this experiment, we first gave the new substance GDNF to the mice before giving them the MPTP to produce the illness. Then we gave then GDNF to those mice who already had PD symptoms." Six different groups of mice were tested. The scientists showed that GDNF, given before the disease-producing MPTP, significantly protected dopamine levels in the brains of the mice when the MPTP was later added. In addition, GDNF injected one week after MPTP wa able to partially restore dopamine levels. Recordings of motor activity measures revealed that GDNF given before or after MPTP was able to significantly increase motor activity scores. "Before GDNF can be tested clinically it will undergo a number of tests required in the regulatory process," Dr. Hoffer said. This University of Colorado Health Sciences Center press release edited by Don Penny, MD.