Hunger hormone may help protect against Parkinson's
2 December 2009
Ghrelin, a hormone produced naturally in the stomach, may be
used to boost resistance to Parkinson's, or slow its development,
US researchers have found.
It is early days ... but ghrelin might prove to be capable of boosting resistance to Parkinson's in humans, or slowing the progression of the condition.
Dr Kieran Breen, Director of Research
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine reported their
findings in a study published in a November issue of the
Journal of
Neuroscience
Parkinson's is caused by the death of dopamine neurons in the
substantia nigra region of the brain.
What the researchers did
Yale researcher Tamas Horvath and his colleagues found that, in
addition to influencing hunger, ghrelin can protect dopamine
neurons in mice.
Where ghrelin had been supplemented or taken away from mice used
for the study and when compared to controls, those mice with
impaired ghrelin activity in the brain had greater loss of
dopamine.
Ghrelin was previously only associated with the release of
growth hormones, appetite, learning, memory, and with the part of
the brain that regulates food cravings.
Next steps
In future work, Horvath and his team will try to determine
ghrelin levels in both healthy individuals and people with
Parkinson's. He will also determine whether altered ghrelin levels
might halt or slow Parkinson's.
Dr Kieran Breen, our Director of Research and Development,
comments:
"Because this hormone occurs naturally in the stomach there
would not be problems with the body rejecting it.
"It is early days and these studies have only been carried out
in mice, but ghrelin might prove to be capable of boosting
resistance to Parkinson's in humans, or slowing the progression of
the condition."
Find out more about Parkinson's research
We are the largest charity funder of Parkinson's research in the
UK. Find out about our current
research
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