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July 24, 2007 — Research links simvastatin to a reduction in the incidence of both dementia and Parkinson's disease (PD) of greater than 50%.

In contrast, atorvastatin is associated with a modest, but insignificant, reduction in the incidence of the 2 diseases, and lovastatin has no impact on incidence.

"This study suggests brain penetrant statins are more effective at preventing neurodegenerative disease than impenetrant statins," principal investigator Benjamin Wolozin, MD, from Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, told Medscape.

"There are many statins out there. Some are very effective for preventing cardiovascular disease but not all of them cross the blood-brain barrier equally and, therefore, may not have the same impact on neurodegenerative disease.

"Simvastatin crosses into the brain very effectively, whereas atorvastatin just doesn't achieve as high a level [in the brain]. Lovastatin crosses the blood-brain barrier nicely but it is a first generation statin and therefore is just not as potent as some of the newer agents," he added.

The study is published in the July 19 issue of BMC Medicine

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Simvastatin Stops Parkinson's Disease In Mice

Might a widely available cholesterol-lowering drug slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's?

(CHICAGO) –Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson's disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease.

If this happens in humans surely some doctors would have noticed by now? Since Simvastatin is sold by Merck as Zocor and since at least some older patients with Parkinson's also have high cholesterol I wonder how difficult it would be to measure Parkinson's progression in patients already taking Zocor. Ditto for the other statin drugs such as lovastatin (Mevacor), rosuvastatin (Crestor), atorvastatin (Lipitor), and other statins.

"Statins are one of the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs throughout the world," said study author Kalipada Pahan, PhD, professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center. "This may be a safer approach to halt the disease progression in Parkinson's patients."

Pahan and colleagues from Rush, along with researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha published these findings in the October 28 issue of the Journal of Neurosciences.

The authors have shown that the activity of one protein called p21Ras is increased very early in the midbrain of mice with Parkinson's pathology. Simvastatin enters into the brain and blocks the activity of the p21Ras protein and other associated toxic molecules, and goes on to protect the neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels, and improves the motor functions in the mice with Parkinson's.

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"CHICAGO, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor than deep brain stimulation (DBS) and radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according to a long-term study presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). "

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Types of Parkinson’s Drugs

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Researchers in the USA have discovered a potential new function for anti-epileptic drugs in treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

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Novel agent for treatment of Parkinson's disease - Lu 02-750 - enters Lundbeck's development pipeline
02 Nov 2009 - H. Lundbeck A/S strengthens its pipeline of pharmaceuticals in clinical development by initiating phase I clinical studies with Lu 02-750 in order to investigate safety, tolerability and the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug in humans. The placebo-controlled study is expected to enrol around 100 healthy individuals.


Lu 02-750 is a dopaminergic agent acting on brain areas affected in Parkinson's disease. In animal models, the compound has demonstrated very convincing effects as compared to conventional treatments. Expectations are that the compound can offer Parkinson's patients a new and higher level of disease control.

"Focus at Lundbeck Research is to discover new innovative treatments that address unmet needs and offer clear benefits to the patients and we believe that Lu 02-750 has the potential to improve the treatment and life quality of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease", says Executive Vice President Peter Høngaard Andersen, Head of Research at Lundbeck and continues: "Lundbeck is actively pursuing external technologies and collaborations and Lu 02-750 has been discovered in close collaboration with Professor Håkan Wikström, Groningen University and Axon Biochemicals B.V."

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AS the world goes green  technology, Nigeria’s Omatek Engineering Services Limited, an arm of Omatek Ventures Plc, says its is joining the crusade in a big way, with a recent introduction of a new alternative power solution using Solar and LED technology.
Announcing the new development, Group Managing Director of Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, said the Solution combines the benefits of the solar system and those of the LED technology to proffer solutions capable of reducing energy consumption while saving a lot of costs.
Seriki said that with the 24 hour solar hybrid solution, the Solar panel generates power  for domestic and industrial use as the solar output passes through a solar charge controller which powers the load directly during the day while also charging a bank of deep cell lead-acid batteries  back-up system for use at night .
According to  Seriki, Omatek is also changing the face of household and office lighting with the LED bulbs which  generates less heat and can last 6-10 times longer than incandescent bulbs with an approximately 7-10 year life span and consumes 80-90% less energy than incandescent  bulbs.
With the LED technology, a typical 60 watts bulb will be converted to 3.8 watts. Similarly, a typical 42watts 4ft fluorescent bulb will be reduced to 15-17 watts while this is the same for a 2ft 42 watts fluorescent bulb . LED bulbs are also eco-friendly as they generate less carbon emissions (co2) thus contributing towards the global warming solution. The output of led Bulb is directional, ensuring uniform illumination and brightness and they come in a variety of forms and shapes.
She also noted that while the solar system can bring about significant benefits, it is imperative that those appliances and equipment it is expected to carry must be the energy efficient type for cost effective and better runtime.
For her, the new introduction, can result in significant operational and maintenance cost savings for homes, schools, offices, street lighting implementation, rural electrificati

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LED solar

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and MSGI Security Solutions Inc. today announced under the terms of two Space Act Agreements, it will partner with MSGI, to advance solar cell technology and develop nano-chemical sensors. The solar cells will use semiconductor materials instead of silicon crystals and prepare them in a nanostructured form for greater efficiency. NASA and MSGI also will use nanotechnology and carbon-based chemical sensing to detect gas and organic vapors found in human breath.
NASA developed these two revolutionary nanotechnologies that now have promising alternative applications. Solar cells that powered space missions now may compete with conventional electricity as an energy source. An electronic sniffing sensor, used to monitor the air onboard the Space Shuttle, may be used for medical diagnoses and environmental monitoring.
"Silicon crystalline solar technology has limitations that this new nanostructured form and semiconductor technology will surpass," said Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for exploration technology and director of the Center for Nanotechnology at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "This has led NASA to investigate novel materials, substrates and production techniques with the goal of becoming more efficient while achieving lower production costs."

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solar nano nanosolar

In about a year, scientists will start testing out the use of dorsal column stimulation on Parkinson’s sufferers after research on rats showed a high level of success.
Dr Miguel Nicolelis is a neuroscientist working at Duke University Medical Centre, he is confident that if the technology works, it opens up a whole new way of treating the disease.
Currently stimulation deep in the brain is seen as the last resort for patients, although it is a very aggressive way of dealing with parkinson’s disease.
The new spinal cord stimulation when performed on rodents resulted in infected specimens being able to move and walk normally again. They needed 80 % less medicine once a device was implanted into its spinal cord. Scientist will now carry out tests on primates and then hopefully continue on to humans.
A spokesperson from the National Parkinson Foundation found the conclusions interesting, whilst insisting it was very early days. Adding that with the current difficulty in helping sufferers with gait disorders it was an intriguing development.
The secret to why this particular stimulation could lie in axons, these are the neutral wires that are connected to the relevant part of the brain, in regard to the improvement for symptoms of Parkinson’s.
This technique was discovered by Stanford researchers who named it optogenetics.
Less invasive treatments could result because these axons lie very close to the brain’s surface. Any alternative to the existing need for deep brain stimulation to conquer Parkinson’s is a very positive step.

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"Researchers here presented tantalizing evidence that cannabinoid drugs can help treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease and obesity. Other researchers are studying whether the compounds can help victims of stroke and multiple sclerosis.

Although the chemicals work on the same area of the nervous system, the new drugs are much more refined and targeted than marijuana, with few of its side effects.

"Cannabinoids have a lot of pharmaceutical potential," said Piomelli, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. "A lot of people are very excited."

Although the federal government opposes the use of medical marijuana, it generally doesn't restrict cannabinoid research, most of which doesn't involve the cannabis plant itself. Scientists who use Marinol, a legal but tightly regulated marijuana-like drug, do need government permission.

Because the cannabinoid system wasn't discovered until the late 1980s - decades after serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters -researchers still know relatively little about how it works. "

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This list is regulary updated by Neurotransmitter.net's Drug Pipeline Expert, JR Becker (jrbecker76@hotmail.com). Shawn Thomas (shawn@neurotransmitter.net) is responsible for additions, editing, and fact-checking. Dr. Louis Sanfilippo, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Yale, is also a valued contributor to this groundbreaking and widely appreciated list.

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drug development pd

"This establishes yet another means of efficacy for LDN (low dose naltrexone). It may even be
the case that some of these chronic pain/inflammation syndromes are due
more to the loss dopaminergic tone, which regulates immunity and
neurotransmission. It even suggests LDN might work in Parkinson's or
that CB1 might be deficient in Parkinson's. I'll have more to say when
my articles are finished. "
***********************
Levodopa is the most commonly prescribed drug for Parkinson's disease
(PD). Although levodopa improves PD symptoms in the initial stages of
the disease, its long-term use is limited by the development of side
effects, including abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesias) and
psychiatric complications. The endocannabinoid system is emerging as an
important modulator of basal ganglia functions and its pharmacologic
manipulation represents a promising therapy to alleviate
levodopa-induced dyskinesias. Rats with 6-OHDA lesions that are
chronically treated with levodopa develop increasingly severe axial,
limb, locomotor and oro-facial abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs).
Administration of the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 attenuated
levodopa-induced axial, limb and oral AIMs dose-dependently via a
CB(1)-mediated mechanism, whereas it had no effect on locomotive AIMs.
By contrast, systemic administration of URB597, a potent FAAH inhibitor,
did not affect AIMs scoring despite its ability to increase anandamide
concentration throughout the basal ganglia. Unlike WIN, anandamide can
also bind and activate transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1
(TRPV1) receptors, which have been implicated in the modulation of
dopamine transmission in the basal ganglia. Interestingly, URB597
significantly decreased all AIMs subtypes only if co-administered with
the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine. Our data indicate that pharmacological
blockade of TRPV1 receptors unmasks the anti-dyskinetic effects of FAAH
inhibitors and that CB(1) and TRPV1 receptors play opposite roles in
levodopa-induced dyskinesias.

PMID: 17

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"The Dopamine D3 Receptor: A Therapeutic Target for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders The role of the D(3) receptor has remained largely elusive before the development of selective research tools, such as selective radioligands, antibodies, various highly specific pharmacological agents and knock-out mice. The data collected so far with these tools have removed some of the uncertainties regarding the functions mediated by the D(3) receptor. The D(3) receptor is an autoreceptor that controls the phasic, but not tonic activity of dopamine neurons. The D(3) receptor, via regulation of its expression by the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), mediates sensitization to dopamine indirect agonists. This process seems responsible for side-effects of levodopa (dyskinesia) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), as well as for some aspects of conditioning to drugs of abuse. The D(3) receptor mediates behavioral abnormalities elicited by glutamate/NMDA receptor blockade, which suggests D(3) receptor-selective antagonists as novel antipsychotic drugs. These data allow us to propose novel treatment options in PD, schizophrenia and drug addiction, which are awaiting evaluation in clinical trials. Sokoloff, P., Diaz, J., Le Foll, B., Guillin, O., Leriche, L., Bezard, E. and Gross, C. CNS Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, 5, pp. 25-43, 2006."

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"Interestingly, subchronic co-administration of URB597 and capsazepine (10mg/kg), a selective TRPV1 antagonist, significantly decreased all L-dopa-induced AIMs subtypes, whereas capsazepine had no effect when administered alone. Our data suggest that CB1 and TRPV1 receptors play opposite roles in levodopa-induced dyskinesias."

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"Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for the debilitating condition of Parkinson's disease. In a study published in Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition similar to Parkinson's. "

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries last week revealed positive results for the drug it developed in-house to treat Parkinson's disease.

Teva, the world's biggest maker of generic drugs, stated that a daily 1-milligram dose of Azilect slowed the progression of Parkinson's disease in a Phase III clinical trial. Parkinson's has until now been characterized by inevitable progression of nervous system degeneration.
Advertisement

The Israeli company is promoting the drug together with the Danish company Lundbeck in Britain, Germany and France.

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