Dopaminergic News and Research

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NeuroDerm enrolls patients in second ND0612 Phase II clinical trial for treatment of Parkinson's disease

NeuroDerm, Ltd. announced today that enrollment of patients is ongoing in its second Phase II clinical trial of ND0612, a novel drug formulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. ND0612 is a proprietary levodopa/carbidopa liquid formulation under development for continuous subcutaneous administration through a patch pump. It is designed to provide steady levodopa blood levels for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

11 Mar 2014

Circadian dysfunction blamed for sleepiness in PD patients

Patients with Parkinson’s disease, particularly those with excessive daytime sleepiness, have reduced melatonin levels and amplitude of the melatonin circadian rhythm, research shows.

6 Mar 2014

FDA-approved drug pregabalin effectively treats RLS symptoms with less side effects

A report in the Feb. 13 New England Journal of Medicine confirms previous studies suggesting that long-term treatment with the type of drugs commonly prescribed to treat restless leg syndrome (RLS) can cause a serious worsening of the condition in some patients.

14 Feb 2014

Continuing spinal cord stimulation improves symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Duke Medicine have shown that continuing spinal cord stimulation appears to produce improvements in symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and may protect critical neurons from injury or deterioration.

24 Jan 2014

Blood methylome offers clues to schizophrenia

Researchers show that a methylome-wide association study of the blood can provide a glimpse of past environmental insults that may contribute to the development of schizophrenia.

22 Jan 2014

Gene therapy edges closer for Parkinson’s disease

Lentiviral vector-based gene therapy is well tolerated and may improve motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease, shows an open-label study published in The Lancet.

20 Jan 2014

New ways to treat substance abuse, neurological diseases and mental illnesses

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have found a way to change alcohol drinking behavior in rodents, using the emerging technique of optogenetics, which uses light to stimulate neurons.

7 Jan 2014

Molecule produced by brain acts as natural defence mechanism against cannabis

Two INSERM research teams led by Pier Vincenzo Piazza and Giovanni Marsicano (INSERM Unit 862 "Neurocentre Magendie" in Bordeaux) recently discovered that pregnenolone, a molecule produced by the brain, acts as a natural defence mechanism against the harmful effects of cannabis in animals.

3 Jan 2014

Certain Chinese medicines can regulate neurotrophic and apoptosis-related factors

Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly, which is pathologically characterized by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons. Compound preparations of Chinese medicines that can tonify the kidney have been reported to significantly improve symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

28 Nov 2013

Nonmotor symptoms may underlie Parkinson’s sleep complaints

In people with Parkinson’s disease, symptoms and comorbidities associated with insomnia differ from those associated with daytime sleepiness, US researchers report.

25 Nov 2013

Novel drug combats psychosis in Parkinson’s disease

The non-dopaminergic drug pimavanserin reduces psychotic symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease without worsening motor function, shows a randomized trial.

22 Nov 2013

LCSB researchers publish current knowledge about the genetic, molecular causes of PD

Parkinson's disease continues to puzzle physicians and biologists alike - even though it is well-established that symptoms like muscle tremors, rigidity, and, during the final stages, immobility can all be traced back to the death of a certain type of brain cell called a dopaminergic neuron. The underlying cause of this cellular death is a complex web of interrelated genetic molecular processes as well as external factors, most of the details of which are well-known. But how the various factors correlate and influence each other continues to elude the scientific community.

24 Oct 2013

Modeling, identifying predictors of Parkinson's disease with stem cells

The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute has entered into a partnership with the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative to build resources for studying Parkinson's disease to accelerate new treatments. Sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, PPMI is a landmark effort to identify and validate biomarkers of Parkinson's disease.

15 Oct 2013

Cholinergic degeneration marks gait speed in Parkinson’s patients

Gait speed is preserved in patients with Parkinson’s disease who have isolated dopaminergic denervation, but reduced in those with comorbid cholinergic denervation, research shows.

10 Oct 2013

Odour of newborns activates neural reward circuit in mothers, elicits maternal care functions

What woman has not wanted to gobble up a baby placed in her arms, even if the baby is not hers? This reaction, which everyone has noticed or felt, could have biological underpinnings related to maternal functions.

23 Sep 2013

Neuroscientists honored for research into brain's reward and decision-making systems

Maximum reward, minimum punishment: these are the maxims humans and animals often apply when making decisions. A network of nerve cells in the brain conveys gratification.

12 Sep 2013

Novel Parkinson’S Target Uncovered

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) highlighted a novel mechanism underlying Parkinson's disease while simultaneously putting to rest a previously held theory regarding progression of the disorder. They also identified a compound that alleviates the disease's symptoms in mice.

27 Aug 2013

Ecological framework provides better understanding of health-related quality of life in Parkinson's patients

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory emphasizes the development of a series of nested environment systems with which an individual interacts. These systems interact with the individual, and also affect the development of the individual.

19 Jul 2013

Study: Pluripotent stem cell line-derived neurons survive and respond to cues in the primate brain

A team of researchers from Rush University, Yale University, the University of Colorado and the St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation transplanted human embryonic stem cells into primate laboratory animals modeled with Parkinson's disease and found "robust survival" of the cells after six weeks and indications that the cells were "well integrated" into the host animals.

29 Jun 2013

Safinamide improves responder rates in fluctuating Parkinson's patients in Phase III study

Newron Pharmaceuticals S.p.A. ("Newron"), a research and development company focused on novel CNS and pain therapies, and its partner Zambon S.p.A., a pharmaceutical company strongly committed to the respiratory, primary care and CNS therapeutic areas, presented results from SETTLE Phase III study with safinamide at the 17th International Congress of Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders, taking place from June 16 to 20, 2013, at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney, Australia.

19 Jun 2013