Research by a team in the University\u2019s Department of Biology found evidence that movement disorders, including tremor and slowness of movement (bradykinesia), associated with Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) may be due to a defect in energy production in the nervous system. The advance may help to identify young adults who may be susceptible to the disease<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Parkinson\u2019s, the second most common form of neurodegenerative disease, principally affects people aged over 60, but some forms \u2013 known as juvenile PD \u2013 usually start in the 30-40 age group. One in\u00a020 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s are under 40 and such early onset PD is often inherited. Previous research has identified the genes which cause the disease and found them to be linked in a common pathway to failure of the mitochondria \u2013 the power source within each cell.<\/p>\n In the latest research, part-funded by leading research charity Parkinson\u2019s UK and published in Human Molecular Genetics<\/em>, scientists at York studied the effect that parkin<\/em>, one of the genes which cause juvenile PD, has on the larva of the fruit fly, Drosophila<\/em>.<\/p>\n They discovered that parkin<\/em> faithfully models the locomotory defects of PD with a marked reduction in speed, and slower muscle contractions, reminiscent of bradykinesia.<\/p>\n Dr Chris Elliott, who led the study, said:\u00a0 \u201cOur experimental evidence confirmed that this was due to a defect in the nervous system. This was important because previous work had suggested a big impact on the muscles, but PD is associated with neuronal failure<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The research team, which included undergraduate and postgraduate students, found that oxygen consumption and the production of ATP (the chief supply of energy inside cells) were drastically reduced. In response, lactate was increased.<\/p>\n The researchers also discovered that parkin<\/em> larvae showed oxidative stress due to high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS; also known as free radicals, such as hydrogen peroxide) which have been suggested as a key component of PD. The study suggested that relieving the ROS had only a marginal effect on mitigating slowed locomotion.<\/p>\n Dr Elliott added: \u201cThese findings show drastic failure in energy production by parkin<\/em> larvae, and suggest that biochemicals related to lactate may be worth investigating as biomarkers for the progress of PD.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that the larval bradykinesia is a consequence of neuronal energy deficit, which leads to failure in neural communication. Oxidative stress is a consequence, rather than cause, of PD.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Kieran Breen, Director of Research and Innovation at Parkinson\u2019s UK, comments:<\/p>\n \u201cThis study shows just how vital models like the fruit fly are in helping us understand what happens to the nerve cells that are affected in Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cWe already knew that mitochondria were important in Parkinson\u2019s but this research suggests that mitochondrial problems may be the root cause of the problems that lead to nerve cell death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo finding ways to protect and enhance the mitochondria may be the key to treatments that can slow or even stop Parkinson\u2019s in its tracks<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the University of York press release: Scientists at the University of York have made a significant step forward in isolating the cause of Parkinson’s disease in younger adults. Research… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,6],"tags":[42,234,248],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/Brain.jpg\" "\\"brain\\"")
Scientists at the University of York have made a significant step forward in isolating the cause of Parkinson’s disease in younger adults.<\/strong><\/p>\n