Researchers at the University of Lille, France, have found a potential new strategy to improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease patients.
A hallmark of Parkinson’s is a loss of dopamine - a chemical that ferries information between brain cells – due to progressive degeneration in the brain region that controls movement and balance.
Previous studies have shown that dopamine is ideal to treat the symptoms, but infusion directly into the brain failed as there are toxic side effects when the chemical is exposed to oxygen.
To avoid this problem, scientists have created an oxygen-free formulation of dopamine and infused it into the brain of monkeys, which then showed an improvement in their motor symptoms.
Graphical abstract of the article "Intraventricular dopamine infusion alleviates motor symptoms in a primate model of Parkinson's disease".