Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia are two serious brain disorders that affect millions of people around the world.
Parkinson’s disease is best known for causing movement problems such as shaking, slow movement, muscle stiffness, and poor balance.
As the disease becomes more advanced, many people also develop memory problems, trouble thinking clearly, and changes in mood and behavior.
Lewy body dementia shares many of the same brain changes, but memory loss, confusion, and problems with thinking often appear much earlier.
At the moment, there is no cure for either disease, and current treatments mainly help control symptoms instead of stopping the disease from getting worse.
Scientists have spent many years trying to understand what happens inside brain cells during these diseases. By learning exactly how brain cells become damaged, researchers hope to develop treatments that can slow or even stop disease progression.
A research team at Scripps Research has now discovered an important process that may help explain why Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia continue to spread through the brain. Their findings could open the door to new treatments aimed at protecting brain cells before too much damage occurs.
A protein called alpha-synuclein is at the center of both diseases. Proteins are natural building blocks that help cells carry out many important jobs. Normally, alpha-synuclein helps nerve cells communicate with each other.
However, in Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, this protein folds into the wrong shape and begins to stick together. Over time, it forms harmful clumps known as Lewy bodies.
These clumps are toxic to brain cells. They interfere with the normal work of neurons and can eventually cause the cells to die.
Scientists also believe these protein clumps can move from one brain cell to another, allowing the disease to spread gradually to different parts of the brain. This may explain why symptoms slowly become worse over many years.
Healthy cells have their own waste removal system that constantly removes damaged proteins and other unwanted materials. One important part of this cleanup system is a protein called p62. It acts like a recycling helper, collecting damaged proteins and sending them to the cell’s disposal system so they can be broken down safely.
The researchers discovered that this important cleanup helper does not work properly in Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
They found that high levels of reactive nitrogen molecules, especially nitric oxide, can chemically change the p62 protein through a process called S-nitrosylation. This change prevents p62 from doing its normal cleanup job.
When p62 stops working properly, damaged alpha-synuclein proteins are no longer removed efficiently. As a result, more harmful protein clumps build up inside brain cells. These clumps can then spread to nearby cells, causing more damage and helping the disease progress throughout the brain.
This discovery is exciting because it identifies a new target for future treatments. Instead of only treating symptoms after brain cells have already been damaged, scientists may be able to protect the brain by preventing p62 from being altered.
If researchers can stop this harmful chemical change, the brain’s natural cleanup system may continue working properly and remove toxic proteins before they build up.
The research team is also exploring whether nutrients such as vitamins E and D might help protect brain cells by supporting this natural cleanup process.
Although it is still too early to know whether these vitamins will become useful treatments, the idea is being carefully studied. Much more research, including clinical trials in people, will be needed before any new treatment becomes available.
The findings also remind us that Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia are very complex disorders involving many different biological processes.
Every new discovery helps scientists understand these diseases better and brings researchers one step closer to finding treatments that slow their progression instead of simply managing symptoms.
The study was carried out by researchers at Scripps Research and was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower risk of Parkinson’s.
For more health information, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
