UAE scientists working to develop early detection tool for Parkinson’s disease
The toll Parkinson’s disease has on individuals can be devastating. Caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in a central part of the brain, it can make walking difficult or even impossible, and cause sufferers to shake. Often, it leads to depression and dementia. It is incurable.
The effect on the loved ones of those with the condition is hardly less devastating. With sufferers eventually unable to do anything for themselves, they require constant care.
As populations continue to age, it is probable that Parkinson’s will become more common. A recent study published in the journal Neurology predicted that the number of people suffering from Parkinson’s in the world’s most populous countries will double from about 4.4 million in 2005 to about 9 million by 2030.
If treatments in people are to be effective, the condition must be identified earlier.
Its classic symptoms –uncontrollable shaking and difficulty with moving – result from the disease’s destruction of a section of the brain called the substantia nigra.
This area produces a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which plays an important role in regulating chemical pathways that control movement. When dopamine levels fall, as they do in patients with Parkinson’s, co-ordinating movement becomes much more difficult.
But by the time these symptoms appear, it is often too late. Typically up to three quarters of the nerve cells in the substantia nigra will already have been destroyed by this point.
Even when symptoms become apparent, it can still be difficult to distinguish from other conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Even experienced clinicians may only able to accurately identify cases 80 to 85 per cent of the time.
Absolute confirmation only comes from the presence inside nerve cells of Lewy bodies, which are aggregations of a protein called alpha-synuclein. But that can only be done once the patient is dead.
Earlier diagnosis, then, would be a massive help. It would make it possible for doctors to intervene with protective and preventive therapies before the disease progresses, and allow for better management of the condition.
The ideal thing – because it’s easiest and cheapest – would be a blood test. Failing that, the ability to make a diagnosis by imaging would be a good second best. And that is exactly what a group of scientists in Al Ain are working on.
Prof Omar El Agnaf, a medical scientist at UAE University in Al Ain, has developed a molecular tool that could let doctors use brain scans to find out if a patient has Parkinson’s.
For several years, Prof El Agnaf and his team have been creating “smart compounds” – peptides, or small proteins, that accumulate in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s.
To start with, Prof El Agnaf’s group tested an array of peptides from a “library” of stock molecules available to researchers, selecting those that were highly specific at recognising and attaching themselves to molecular structures linked to Parkinson’s, such as those of alpha-synuclein.
So far they have been perfecting their method using mice that have been genetically engineered to develop Parkinson’s. They are given the smart compound, which has a “label” element such as the metal gadolinium attached. The compound, with its attached gadolinium, accumulates in the areas of the brain affected by Parkinson’s, and then the gadolinium shows up as red areas on an MRI brain scan. In mice without the illness, the smart compounds do not stay in the brain – and there are no red areas.
“If there is no pathology, the system will clear out the compound in a very short time, says Prof El Agnaf. “In about three hours, you don’t see it anymore. If it has the condition, it will stay – after eight hours it will still be there.”
Source: The National
Published: 15 Mar 2014
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
