A new discovery from the team of Pr. Etienne C.Hirsch at the ICM highlights the protective role of new neurons in Parkinson's disease. This study suggests a promising new therapeutic approach for this disease.
A significant fraction of hypothalamic neurons that produce orexin, a neuropeptide involved in regulating the sleep-wake rhythms, disappears in Parkinson's disease.
Researchers from Etienne Hirsch team at the ICM have shown a direct interaction of these neurons with dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, even those whose loss is the cause of the characteristics of the motor disorders disease. These researchers have also discovered that orexin acting as a dopamine neurons survival factor by a mechanism involved putting a specific receptor.
These observations suggest a therapeutic approach to restoring orexin neurotransmission in PD patients , could halt the progression of the disease.
References :
Bensaid M, et al. Sparing of orexin-A and orexin-B neurons in the hypothalamus and of orexin fibers in the substantia nigra of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-treated macaques. Eur J Neurosci. 2015; 41:129-36.
Guerreiro S, et al. The sleep-modulating peptide orexin-B protects midbrain dopamine neurons from degeneration, alone or in cooperation with nicotine. Mol Pharmacol. 2015; 87:525-32.