he researchers caution that the findings in animals do not suggest Parkinson’s disease patients should find relief by taking amphetamines, which are drugs of abuse with many dangerous side effects. The findings rather indicate that drugs with similar chemical attributes might offer useful alternatives to current therapies, the researchers said.
The new study also shows that amphetamines -- normally thought to act by increasing dopamine concentrations in the brain –- correct the behavioral abnormalities associated with Parkinson’s in mice devoid of the brain messenger. Dopamine normally acts on dopamine receptors –- protein switches on the surface of neurons -- to stimulate brain processes that affect movement, emotion, pleasure and mood.
Parkinson’s disease stems from the degeneration of neurons in a brain region that controls movement. That degeneration, in turn, leads to a shortage of the chemical messenger dopamine. The finding that amphetamines can alter movement independently of dopamine opens up new directions in the search for prospective anti-Parkinsonian drugs, the researchers said.
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-47339.html
The new study also shows that amphetamines -- normally thought to act by increasing dopamine concentrations in the brain –- correct the behavioral abnormalities associated with Parkinson’s in mice devoid of the brain messenger. Dopamine normally acts on dopamine receptors –- protein switches on the surface of neurons -- to stimulate brain processes that affect movement, emotion, pleasure and mood.
Parkinson’s disease stems from the degeneration of neurons in a brain region that controls movement. That degeneration, in turn, leads to a shortage of the chemical messenger dopamine. The finding that amphetamines can alter movement independently of dopamine opens up new directions in the search for prospective anti-Parkinsonian drugs, the researchers said.
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-47339.html
