Medications for Parkinson's Disease That Cause Side Effects

CITY OF MEXICO

In the search for alternatives that improve the quality of life of patients with Parkinson's, scientists of the Autonomous University of Benemérita de Puebla (BUAP) conduct studies of a toxin to counter the side effects of a drug commonly administered in people with this disease.

In the medical field, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, known as L-DOPA, improves the symptoms of this neurodegenerative disease, but after five to seven years of age. Constant administration causes involuntary movements of the torso and upper and lower limbs, which become more disabling than the disease itself.

In a statement, the BUAP announces this research coordinated by the specialist of the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences (FCQ) of the institution, Daniel Limón Pérez de León

You might be interested: UNAM develops a hydrogel to heal wounds without drugs

Scientists have explained that they were using a chain of tetanus toxins ( Hc-TeTx) to counteract the side effects of L-DOPA, so that they seek to mitigate cell death.

The molecule of tetanus toxin, across two subunits, is responsible for the toxic effects and symptoms of tetanus, while the other subunit is harmless and has the property to penetrate and act on the central nervous system

. realized that Hc-TeTx inhibits the neuronal damage caused by Parkinson's disease, which occurs when there is a loss of 80 to 90% dopaminergic neurons. "By administering this substance, they observed a decrease in neuronal death of about 50 percent," the statement said.

José Aguilera, a scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and collaborator in this BUAP laboratory, has shown that Hc-TeTx has a protective effect, because it reverses the damage of dopaminergic neurons.

The scientific contribution we discovered using the tetanus toxin heavy chain was to verify its neuroprotective effects in experimental models, such as neuronal survival and motor-level improvement, mainly in the fine and coarse movements, "said Limón Pérez de León, who added that this discovery fights or delays the effects of L-DOPA

. 50 years or older, said the researcher, no one will withdraw L-DOPA from the market for the Parkinson's patient, despite the fact that it induces involuntary movements accounts. Therefore, "the relevance of understanding the mechanisms that develop dyskinesias, because ultimately we can not suppress L-DOPA, but we must try to avoid or delay the negative effects of this drug ".

In this sense, we study the molecular and cellular bases that cause dyskinesias derived from treatment with L-DOPA, in order to have defined therapeutic targets and counteract them with a drug or a therapy.

that this fraction of tetanus toxin may be useful; the next step will be to transmit this data to the clinical part with a well-defined protocol, which will be the subject of the study of other scientists, "said the university's FCQ.

* zp