Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that causes people to lose control over their muscles and movements, affecting approximately 1 million individuals in the U.S.
Notably, for reasons still unknown, endurance or aerobic exercise has been found to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
The Study and Its Findings
In a recent study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and other institutions, scientists discovered that a hormone secreted into the blood during endurance exercise reduces levels of a protein associated with Parkinson’s disease and puts a stop to movement problems.
The findings could potentially lead to a Parkinson’s disease therapy based on the hormone irisin.
Earlier research indicated that a protein called an irisin peptide is released into the blood and increases with endurance exercise.
Over the past decade, other laboratories have discovered that exercise elevates levels of irisin, leading to an interest in exploring the link between irisin and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
In this study, the researchers examined the effects of irisin on mice that were genetically engineered to have symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease.
Six months later, mice that received irisin showed no muscle movement deficits, while those injected with a placebo exhibited deficits in grip strength and their ability to descend a pole.
Further studies on the brain cells of the mice given irisin revealed that the exercise hormone lowered levels of alpha-synuclein, a protein associated with Parkinson’s disease, by 50% to 80%.
Implications and Recommendations
Given that irisin is a naturally produced peptide hormone and appears to have evolved to cross the blood-brain barrier, the researchers suggest it is worthwhile to continue evaluating irisin as a potential therapy for Parkinson’s disease and other forms of neurodegeneration.
However, further laboratory research and clinical trials are needed to confirm these results.
The study, conducted by Ted Dawson et al., was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies about Vitamin E that may help prevent Parkinson’s disease, and Vitamin D could benefit people with Parkinson’s disease.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about new ways to treat Parkinson’s disease, and results showing COVID-19 may be linked to Parkinson’s disease.
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