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------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transplanted Sertoli Cells Possible Alternative Parkinson's Treatment ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WESTPORT, Oct 01 (Reuters) - Florida scientists report that, in rats, transplanting Sertoli cells from the testes into the brain had "...a trophic effect on dopamine neurons and alleviate[d] hemiparkinsonism..." in the animals. At the University of South Florida in Tampa, Dr. Paul R. Sanberg and colleagues induced hemiparkinsonism in 12 rats. All of the animals exhibited deficits on behavioral tests. The researchers then transplanted Sertoli cells into the brains of six rats. These animals improved significantly on behavioral tests, while the six control rats showed no improvement. Dr. Sanberg's team reports in Nature Medicine for October that levels of tyrosine hydroxylase, an enzyme critical for dopamine synthesis, increased in rats that received Sertoli cells. In a separate laboratory experiment, the researchers placed embryonic dopaminergic neurons in medium in which they had grown rat Sertoli cells. Compared with control cultures, these cultures grew significantly more neurons that were positive for tyrosine hydroxylase. "Transplantation of Sertoli cells," the investigators conclude, "...may provide a useful alternative treatment for [Parkinson's disease] and other neurodegenerative disorders." The editors of Nature Medicine note in a press release that Sertoli cells "...produce a wide variety of regulatory proteins, growth and immunosuppressive factors, [which] may be responsible for the improvement seen in the hemiparkinsonism rats." Nat Med 1997;3:1129-1132. Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. <http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199710/19971001sca.html> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [log in to unmask]