Putting testicle cells in brain might treat Parkinson's
NEW YORK (AP) - Doctors might be able to treat Parkinson's disease someday
by transplanting cells from pig testicles into a patient's brain.
In a study reported in the October issue of the journal Nature Medicine,
rats with a Parkinson's-like condition showed a marked easing of symptoms
after they got transplants of testicular cells from other rats.
Pigs would be the leading candidate to supply cells for people, said
one ofthe researchers, Paul R. Sandberg of the University of South Florida
College of Medicine in Tampa.
Parkinson's causes slowed movement, rigidity and tremors, due to
lack of a chemical messenger called dopamine in part of the brain.
It can be treated with drugs, but scientists are looking for something
better. Some are studying transplants of fetal cells into the brain to
produce dopamine, but that raises questions of ethics and limited supply.
The new work focused on Sertoli cells, which normally nourish the cells
that will grow into sperm. The cells also pump out a substance that keeps
the immune system at bay, which would be an advantage if they were
transplanted from animals to people, Sandberg said.
