Experimental drug can halt Parkinson's progression: Study
July 3: US researchers have developed an experimental drug that potentially slows down the progression of Parkinson's disease as well as its symptoms.
In experiments performed with cultures of human brain cells and live mouse models, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland reported that the drug blocked the degradation of brain cells that is the hallmark of Parkinson's disease.
"It is amazingly protective of target nerve cells," said Ted Dawson, Professor at the University's School of Medicine.
The drug, named NLY01, is similar to compounds used to treat diabetes and is expected to move to clinical trials this year.
If successful in humans, it could be one of the first treatments to directly target the progression of Parkinson's, not just the muscle rigidity, spasmodic movements, fatigue, dizziness, dementia and other symptoms of the disorder, Dawson said in the paper published in the journal Nature Medicine
In a preliminary experiment in laboratory-grown human brain cells, Dawson's team treated human microglia -- a brain cell type that sends signals throughout the central nervous system in response to infection or injury -- with NLY01 and found that they were able to turn the activating signals off.
Further, the researchers injected the mice with alpha-synuclein -- the protein known to be the primary driver of Parkinson's disease -- and the mice treated with NLY01 maintained normal physical function and had no loss of dopamine neurons, indicating that the drug protected against the development of Parkinson's disease.
In another experiment, the team used mice that were genetically engineered to naturally produce more human-type alpha-synuclein typically used to model human Parkinson's disease that runs in families.
While under normal conditions, these so-called transgenic mice will succumb to the disease in 387 days, those treated with NLY01 extended the lives by over 120 days.
However, the experimental drug must still be tested for safety as well as effectiveness in people, Dawson cautioned.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
