Effect of PNAS exercise hormones on parkinson's symptoms

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that causes people to lose control of their muscles and movements, and about 1 million people in the United States have this disease9

If confirmed in additional laboratory studies and clinical trials, the researchers' study of mice with Parkinson's disease symptoms could pave the way

The researchers' test results were published in the August 31 issue

Ted Dawson, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medical School, and Bruce Spiegelman, Ph.

Endurance exercise has long been found to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but the cause is unknown

Over the past decade, other labs have found that exercise can increase levels of iris, and there is interest in

To test the effects of irisin on Parkinson's disease, the team started with a research model used by Dawson, where mouse brain cells were designed to spread small, elongated fibers

When α-synuclein aggregates, these aggregates kill dopamine-producing brain cells, a key trigger for

In a laboratory model, the researchers found that iris prevents the accumulation of α-synuclear protein clumps and their associated brain cell death

Next, the team tested the effects

Further studies of brain cells in mice injected with irisin showed that this exercise hormone reduced levels of Parkinson's disease-related α-synuclein by 50 to 80 percent

"If the efficacy of iris is confirmed, we can envision it being developed into a genetic or recombinant protein therapy

Spiegelman added: "Given that iris is a naturally occurring peptide hormone that appears to have evolved to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, we believe it is necessary to continue to evaluate iris as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease and other forms of neurodegenerative degeneration

The team has filed a patent