Findings That Should Speed The Development Of Drugs For Parkinsons Disease

Australian scientists have significantly advanced our understanding of dopamine release from nerve cells, findings that should speed the development of more effective drugs for treating Parkinson’s Disease.

People with Parkinson’s Disease suffer from muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement and, in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. These primary symptoms are caused by the loss of dopamine producing nerve cells in the brain.

Medicines used for treating Parkinson’s either provide extra dopamine or attach to the remaining nerve cells that release dopamine and regulate its release. In the latter case, no-one understands the mechanisms involved, or how to control them.

When an electrical impulse reaches the end of a dopamine nerve cell, called a synapse, it sometimes stimulates the release of dopamine. Yet more often it doesn’t. Only about 1 in 5 impulses cause dopamine release, and the release rhythm is irregular. So the cell might release dopamine 5 times in a row, then not release twice, then release once, and so on.

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