Fetal Pig Neural Cells Survive In Patient With Parkinson's Disease
http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199702/19970228scd.html
WESTPORT, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Transplantation of brain cells from
fetal pigs into the
brains of patients with Parkinson's disease may be a viable
alternative to use of human tissue, according to an article in
the March issue of Nature Medicine.
Dr. Ole Isacson of Harvard Medical School reports with colleagues
on a postmortem analysis of tissue from one of 12 patients who
had been transplanted with fetal pig mesencephalic cells. This
patient, a 69-year-old man, died of a pulmonary embolism nearly
eight months after the transplant. Until then, his recovery had
been encouraging, Dr. Isacson writes.
Dr. Isacson explains that the cells had been placed unilaterally
in the patient's caudate-putamen region. On autopsy, "...graft
survival was found and the presence of pig dopaminergic neurons
and other pig neural and glial cells [was] documented," the
authors report. "Pig neurons extended axons from the graft sites
into the host brain. Furthermore, other graft derived cells were
observed several millimeters from the implantation sites. Markers
for human microglia and T-cells showed only low reactivity in
direct proximity to the grafts."
"This is the first documentation of neural xenograft survival in
the human brain and of appropriate growth of nonhuman
dopaminergic neurons for a potential therapeutic response in
Parkinson's disease," Dr. Isacson concludes.
Nature Medicine 1997;3:350-353.
----------------
SIBIA, Meiji Seika Kaisha In Asian Licensing Pact
http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199703/19970305inf.html
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Mar 05 (Reuters) - A Swedish owner of U.S.
SIBIA Neurosciences Inc. said on Tuesday that SIBIA has signed a
licensing agreement with Japan's Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. for
SIB-1508Y, a treatment for Parkinson's disease, according to
Reuters Business Briefing.
Skandigen said in a statement released in Stockholm that the
agreement relating to SIB-1508Y covered Japan, China and other
Asian countries.
---------------
Muscle Sounds Change In Parkinson's Disease
http://www.reutershealth.com/news/rhdn/199702/1997022702.html
NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) -- The muscles of people with
untreated Parkinson's
disease produce sounds that are different from those found in
healthy individuals, according to a new study.
Listening with a stethoscope, researchers have found that the
wrist muscles of Parkinson's patients produce vibrations at a
much lower sound frequency than normal during strong and repeated
activity.
But when the patients receive their medication (Levodopa), normal
muscle sounds are restored along with improved movement ability.
"The vibrations produced by muscle activity can, with the aid of
a stethoscope, tell us a great deal about the control of muscles
by the brain, because the frequency of muscle sound reflects the
pattern of (the brain's) motor-unit activation," says Dr. P.
Brown, a research neurologist with the National Hospital for
Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, England.
According to the researcher, "one of the most interesting muscle
sounds is a somewhat impure tone of around 40-50 hertz, commonly
heard as the noise that accompanies a spontaneous yawn, or if the
jaw is moved when the ear is blocked with soap suds." A hertz
(Hz) is a unit of frequency equivalent to one cycle per second.
It is this sound -- or range of frequencies -- Brown says, that
was first identified by Hans Piper in 1912, and which since then
is referred to as the "Piper-band sound."
During forceful muscle contractions, which are difficult for
Parkinson's patients, these are high-frequency, rhythmic bursts
of sound, which represent the firing of many motor nerves.
Brown says these "Piper-style rhythms are lost in untreated
Parkinson's disease," and in their place are the lower frequency
sounds of muscle fibers that are vibrating too slowly, thereby
causing the slow movements and low muscle strength that typify
people with the disease.
SOURCE: The Lancet (1997;349:533-535)
-----------------
Parkinson's Disease Patients Can Maintain Exercise Capacity
WESTPORT, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Parkinson's disease patients with
mild to moderate disease are able to maintain their exercise
capacity with regular aerobic training, despite typical
respiratory and gait abnormalities.
Colleen G. Canning, from the University of Sydney, and a team of
Australian investigators identified 16 volunteers with mild to
moderate Parkinson's disease and measured their maximum exercise
capacity on a cycle ergometer in relation to respiratory and
walking function.
Overall, exercise capacity as measured by peak oxygen consumption
and peak work load was not significantly different from normal.
This finding is in contrast to previous reports of reduced
exercise capacity in Parkinson's patients. The investigators
point out that the majority of their study subjects adhere to a
regular exercise schedule, which "...may have contributed to the
maintenance of normal exercise capacity." In fact, further
analysis showed a "...significant correlation between exercise
habits and exercise test results, with all sedentary subjects
producing lower percent predicted [oxygen consumption] peaks than
those individuals who performed regular aerobic exercise."
"Since life expectancy for people with [Parkinson's disease] is
now near normal, a major issue in the management of people with
[Parkinson's disease] is the maintenance of quality life," the
Australian researchers note. This study sets the groundwork to
further evaluate the benefits of exercise training programs for
Parkinson's patients.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1997;78:199-207.
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