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UCLA researchers may have found a key to determining which Parkinson's disease patients will experience a more rapid decline in motor function,sparking hopes for the development of new therapies and helpingidentify those who could benefit most from early intervention. In a study published May 15 in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE , the researchers found that Parkinson's sufferers who possess twospecific variants of a gene known to be a risk factor for thedisease had a significantly speedier progression toward motordecline than patients without these variants. "This is a relatively small study, with 233 patients, but theeffects we're seeing are actually quite large," said Dr. BeateRitz, vice chair of the department of epidemiology at the UCLAFielding School of Public Health and the study's primaryinvestigator. The SNCA gene is a well-known risk factor for Parkinson's disease,and higher levels of the -synuclein protein made from this geneare associated with greater disease severity in familial cases ofParkinson's. The researchers examined two risk variants, the REP1263bp promoter and rs356165. They recruited Parkinson's diseasepatients shortly after they were diagnosed from three CentralCalifornia counties and followed 233 of those patients for anaverage of 5.1 years. They found that carriers of the Rep1 263bp variant had a four-foldhigher risk of faster motor decline. They observed an even strongertrend in progression toward motor decline when both the Rep1 263bpand rs356165 variants were present in patients. When doctors currently see Parkinson's disease patients, they can'tpredict how rapidly their motor function will deteriorate - howquickly, for instance, they will reach a point when they need awheelchair or other aids, said Dr. Jeff Bronstein, professor ofneurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "But ifour results are confirmed," Bronstein said, "these gene variantscan now identify patients who are likely to have fasterprogression." And because of these differences in the rate of diseaseprogression, researchers can test potential therapies inindividuals carrying the genetic variations, obtaining fasterresults on the efficacy of those drugs, said co-author ShannonRhodes, a researcher in epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School ofPublic Health. "Plus," she said, "you're helping the people who arethe most affected." Ritz, who is also a professor of neurology at the David GeffenSchool of Medicine at UCLA, said there are probably other markersthat need to be identified, because not all patients with thevariants in question become fast progressors. In addition, theresults need to be replicated, so future studies with many moresubjects are needed. "Since motor symptom severity predicts increased mortality (inParkinson's disease) independent of age and disease duration,identifying genetic predictors of faster motor decline is criticalto pinpointing biological mechanisms as targets for therapies andidentifying patients who will most benefit from earlyinterventions," the authors write. "While replication of ourresults in similarly well-characterized population-based incidencePD cohorts that have been longitudinally followed is still needed,our findings strongly suggest that -synuclein and relatedpathogenic pathways have great promise as potential diseasemodifying and therapeutic targets." Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China USB Power Bank , Switching Power Adapter, and more. For more , please visit USB Travel Charger Adapter today!
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