eneuro: New discovery! Diabetes drugs may slow the progression of Parkinson's disease!

December 5, 2020 // -- In a recent study published in the international journal eneuro, scientists from the University of Warwick and others in the United Kingdom said that a drug used to treat diabetes may help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is marked by the degeneration of dopamine neurons in the brain, which play a key role in the movement and coordination of the body, and when these dopamine neurons degrade, they induce symptoms such as motor inability, slow movement, stiffness and numbness.
Photo Source: University of Warwick's affected dopamine-energy neuron cells accumulate a special protein called α synactin, which forms the structure of the Louis small body, where levels are directly related to the severity of the disease, and α synth nucleoprotein aggregation, which produces a series of toxic effects that many event researchers do not know about.
in this study, entitled "Alpha-synuclein aggregates increased conductance of substantia nigra dopamine neurons, an effect partly reversed by the KATP channel resedor glibenclamide", the researchers found that by introducing a low-concentration structure-determined α synaptic nucleoprotein aggregate into a single dopamine neuron, the cell membrane's channels are turned on, greatly reducing the neurotic excitability of the cell membrane.
researcher Emily Hill says that by injecting low-concentration structurally determined α synactical nucleoprotein aggregates into a single dopamine-energy neuron, we can analyze the properties of early changes in neuron function, which usually occur before the early clinical stages of the disease.
we have observed that by opening the membrane channel of the cell, the neuron's excitability is significantly reduced, and if we can block the channel, we may be able to block the production of early toxic effects.
There is research evidence that the open membrane channel is a type of channel called the KATP channel, which can be blocked by certain anti-diabetic drugs currently in use, and the researchers note that we were surprised to find that the anti-diabetic drug glibenclamide significantly reduces the effects of α synaptic nucleoprotein aggregates.
Finally, researcher Emily added that the drugs currently used can be redirected to treat many different human diseases, and we know that people with type 2 diabetes tend to have a lower incidence of Parkinson's disease, while understanding the molecular mechanisms behind the occurrence of α synactical nucleoprotein pathology in a single brain neuron cell may help develop new targeted therapies for Parkinson's disease.
() original source: E. Hill, R. Gowers, M. J. E. Richardson,M. J. Wall. Alpha-synuclein aggregates increase the conductance of substantia nigra dopamine neurons, an effect partly reversed by the KATP channel inhibitor glibenclamide, eneuro (2020). DOI:10.1523/ENEURO.0330-20.2020。