How asthma medication can reduce Parkinson’s risk
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disease affecting about 70,000 Australians. It destroys brain cells the control bodily movement and it’s not easy to diagnose.
Very little is known about what causes this disease with possible causes related to genetic changes, environmental factors or oxidative stress or a combination of all.
High expression of the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD), but certain drugs may mitigate this risk as was found by researchers at Harvard University.
In a new study researchers from the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care (IGS) at the University of Bergen (UiB) found that certain prescription medications have the opposite effect on the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers completed a large study which included data from the Norwegian Prescription Database, in cooperation with researchers at Harvard University.
They analysed prescription data of about a 100 million Norwegians registered since 2004.
In this study the researchers studied the link between Parkinson’s disease and prescription asthma medication and between medicines for blood pressure.
High expression of the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) is a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but certain drugs may mitigate this risk as was found by researchers at Harvard University in animal tests and in experiments with brain cells in the lab.
The researchers at Harvard University then collaborated with the Norwegian research team as they had access to a unique database, where all Norwegian prescriptions were registered.
On analysing this database the researchers found that the results were the same as the animal tests done at Harvard.
Based on a small-molecule screen tests researchers identified compounds that could regulate SNCA expression and found that several β2-adrenoreceptor (β2AR) agonists (essential bronchodilator drugs in the treatment of bronchial asthma) reduced them.
The researchers found a reduced risk of PD among those that were taking one of the β2AR agonists for other medical problems.
This discovery is the start of a new possible treatment for a serious disease which has no cure.
Source: Science
