It is estimated that there are between eight and nine million people affected by Parkinson’s in the world. It is currently the second most common neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer’s. At the global level, it is the neurological disease whose prevalence is increasing most rapidly – the number of cases has doubled in the last 25 years – and it will continue growing as the population ages.
It is commonly known as Parkinson’s disease in reference to James Parkinson, the doctor who first described it in 1817 in his monograph An essay on the shaking palsy.
Parkinson’s is a chronic and progressive degenerative disorder of the brain which affects the nervous system. It is associated with motor symptoms – slowness of movement, tremors, rigidity and balance problems – and a wide variety of non-motor complications, such as cognitive impairment, mental health and sleep disorders, pain and sensory abnormalities. The progression of these symptoms results in high rates of disability which generate permanent social and health care requirements. Many people with Parkinson’s disease also develop dementia during the course of their disease.
The cause of the disease is not known, but is thought to arise from a complex interaction between genetic factors, environmental factors and factors deriving from the ageing of the organism. Parkinson’s disease affects more men than women. It develops when the neurons that produce dopamine (dopaminergic neurons), located in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra, degenerate and die. However, although this has been linked to alterations in different cellular processes, the cause of this neurodegeneration process remains unknown.
Although this neurodegenerative disorder is still without a cure, certain pharmacological treatments and therapies can improve the symptoms of people affected. However, current treatments are only effective in controlling the initial motor symptoms of the disease. As it progresses, they become less effective. Consequently, there exists an urgent need to develop treatments to prevent, or at least slow down, progression of the disease and improve patients’ quality of life.
There are currently three research projects ongoing that receive support from the ”la Caixa” Foundation and are working to advance understanding of the causes of the neurodegeneration processes and thus improve early diagnosis and develop new treatments. What are they? What progress have they achieved?
It has been observed that, over time, the dopaminergic neurons begin to accumulate a dark pigment until they degenerate and die. This pigment is similar to the one produced by the skin melanin known as neuromelanin. The neurons that accumulate most neuromelanin are those which preferentially degenerate. The team of Doctor Miquel Vila has developed a new experimental animal model of Parkinson’s which is opening up new pathways to investigate the disease and its future treatments. They have designed laboratory mice that produce a neuromelanin similar to that which accumulates in ageing human brains , to study how the progressive accumulation of neuromelanin affects the functioning and survival of neurons. The goal is to find new therapies to eliminate or slow the accumulation of neuromelanin, to be able to mitigate or even prevent the disease. Their work has been recognised by the Michael J. Fox Foundation as one of the most outstanding advances in the field.
The cause of the neurodegeneration process is as yet unknown. The most widespread hypothesis suggests that the disease spreads from the peripheral nervous system to the brain, passing through the substantia nigra and extending, in advanced stages, to the cerebral cortex. Doctor Foffani’s team is investigating a new theory which proposes that the cerebral cortex itself may play a significant role in the origin of the pathology. The results obtained to date show an early cortical abnormality, which opens the door to early detection of Parkinson’s and the therapeutic possibility of acting on the cortex, through non-invasive neuromodulation techniques for example, to modify the progression of the disease.
The lack of knowledge of the molecular bases of Parkinson’s has significantly limited drug development. It is known that the disease is related to the aggregation of the alpha-synuclein protein in dopaminergic neurons, which leads to their degeneration and death. The research group led by Doctor Ventura has discovered a series of molecules capable of attacking the initial stages of the disease and stopping or slowing its progression, thanks to their ability to inhibit, block or break down the toxic aggregates of alpha-synuclein, which are those that cause this progression. This discovery could lead to the development of innovative treatments against neurodegenerative decline.
Speakers:
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Miquel Vila, ICREA professor and leader of the Research Group on Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).
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Guglielmo Foffani, researcher and scientific coordinator at the HM Comprehensive Neuroscience Centre (HM CINAC).
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Salvador Ventura, professor and head of the Protein Folding and Conformational Diseases Laboratory at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (IBB-UAB).
Moderator:
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Mayte Antona, editor-in-chief of the society section of the Servimedia news agency.
Projects supported by ”la Caixa” Foundation:
