Scientists from Texas A&M University found that a smoking cessation drug may potentially treat women with Parkinson’s disease or even stop the disease’s progression altogether.
The drug, called cytisine, commonly used in Europe, reduces the loss of dopamine neurons in women.
The research is published in the Journal of Neurochemistry and was conducted by Rahul Srinivasan et al.
There are approximately 10 million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to a variety of symptoms that can include difficulty walking, tremors, shaking, and others unrelated to movement.
These symptoms start to develop when at least 50% of dopamine neurons in an individual’s brain are dead or impaired.
Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson’s and no treatment that can stop or prevent the loss of these dopamine neurons needed for the body to move.
About a decade ago, the team became interested in trying to understand why smokers and people who consume tobacco chronically are at a lower risk for developing Parkinson’s disease.
One of the chemicals obviously is nicotine, and that explains the addictive properties of tobacco and cigarette smoke.
In the study, the team tested cytisine as an alternative to nicotine. Cytisine is a smoking cessation drug with properties similar to nicotine, but with very few side effects in people.
They artificially induced Parkinson’s disease in animal models. During that time, they either gave them saline (saltwater) or cytisine.
The team found that there was a protective effect both in terms of reducing the Parkinsonian behaviors and also in terms of reducing the number of dopamine neurons lost.
However, the protective effect of cytisine occurred only in female animal models, and not in the males.
The team discovered that the combination of cytisine and estrogen produces a stronger protective effect than cytisine and no estrogen.
Although the findings currently only apply to females, the team hopes to find solutions for men and women, too.
The next step for the team is to confirm the role of estrogen specifically as a protective effect against Parkinson’s disease.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies about a new early sign of Parkinson’s disease and findings of vitamins that may protect you from Parkinson’s disease.
For more information about Parkinson’s disease, please see recent studies about new way to treat Parkinson’s disease, and results showing common diabetes drugs may help you prevent Parkinson’s disease.
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