Major breakthrough as new drug is found to stop brain inflammation in Parkinson’s
Scientists have achieved a breakthrough that could transform treatment for the 150,000 Australians living with Parkinson's disease and prevent its devastating progression.
A new anti-inflammatory drug could speed up treatment effectiveness for a neurological disease that 50 Australians are diagnosed with every day.
Researchers at the University of Queensland, for the first time, were able to use advanced imaging to demonstrate the effects of the drug’s impact on a brain suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
The major medical breakthrough showed how the drug was able to block inflammation and improve motor function in mouse models, ultimately halting disease progression.
More than 150,000 people were currently living with Parkinson’s disease in Australia, making it the second most common neurological condition in the country, after dementia.
The disease is expected to impact more than 25 million people by 2050.
Lead author Dr Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda said the inflammation acts “like a slow-burning fire in the brain”, progressively damaging the neurons that produce dopamine.
“Our study showed this drug, which targets part of the immune system called ‘inflammasomes’, reduced brain inflammation and prevented the disease from killing more neurons, therefore stopping its progression,” Dr Balmaceda said.
“What’s most exciting is we could actually see these changes happening in the living brain using advanced simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), performed within UQ’s Centre for Advanced Imaging.”
Senior author Professor Trent Woodruff explained that current therapies can alleviate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but do not significantly slow or stop progression.
“This new class of drugs aims to do exactly that, and by combining it with cutting-edge PET/MRI biomarkers, we can measure whether it’s truly protecting the brain,” Professor Woodruff said.
The imaging strategy could accelerate drug discovery for other inflammatory brain diseases.
The drug used in the study was developed by Inflazome, which was developed in 2016.
NHMRC, Inflazome, The Michael J Fox Foundation and Shake It Up Australia Foundation all helped to support the groundbreaking research.
Originally published as Major breakthrough as new drug is found to stop brain inflammation in Parkinson’s
