A study published this Monday in Nature Medicine indicated that prasinezumab has a positive effect - especially in people with a more severe diagnosis.
Gennaro Pagano
Parkinson's is thought to be caused by the accumulation in the brain of a misfolded protein called alpha-synuclein, which leads to the loss of dopamine-producing neurons - a neurotransmitter involved in motor control.
Since people with more rapidly progressing Parkinson's have greater amounts of misfolded alpha-synuclein in their brains, the solution is a drug that eliminates the protein.
As the leader of the research, Gennaro Pagano, explains, quoted by New Scientist, prasinezumab is an antibody that acts - precisely - against the accumulation of proteins associated with Parkinson's, and could slow down the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced forms of the disease.
"Prasinezumab aims to reduce neuronal toxicity, prevent the cell-to-cell transfer of pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates, and slow down the progression of the disease," explains Pagano.
However, the researchers acknowledge that it was not possible to assess exactly what happened in the brains of the 316 participants during the year-long experiment, since there was no biomarker that allowed them to monitor the change in levels of misfolded alpha-synuclein.
To date, there are no therapies that stop or slow down the progression of Parkinson's disease, but prasinezumab offers hope.
For now, there are only treatments that alleviate the symptoms of the disease by improving dopamine levels in the brain - but, as New Scientist points out, their long-term effects are still very limited.
