News Roundup: New and Noteworthy Information
Greater impairment and disability and higher education level are independently associated with an earlier need for symptomatic treatment in early Parkinson’s disease, according to a study that was reported in the July 13 online Archives of Neurology. Patients (n = 413) were randomized into treatment groups: creatine (n = 67), minocycline (n =66), coenzyme Q10 (n = 71), GPI-1485 (n = 71), and placebo (n = 138). The time between baseline assessment and need for the initiation of symptomatic treatment for Parkinson’s disease was the main outcome measure. Within 12 months, approximately half (48.5%) of the participants had reached end point. “Higher baseline impairment and disability, as determined by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) III (motor section), UPDRS II (activities of daily living section, participant rating), and Modified Rankin Scale scores and level of education were independently associated with an earlier need for symptomatic treatment,” investigators stated.
Neuronal hypertrophy may reflect compensatory mechanisms that prevent cognitive impairment despite substantial Alzheimer’s disease lesions, according to a study that was published in the July 8 online issue of Neurology. Researchers termed the presence of neuritic beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the autopsied brains of subjects who were deemed cognitively normal before death as asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (ASYMAD). The study authors observed four subject groups—those with ASYMAD (n = 10), those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 5), those with Alzheimer’s disease (n = 10), and age-matched controls (n = 13). “A significant hypertrophy of the cell bodies (+44.9%), nuclei (+59.7%), and nucleoli (+80.2%) in the CA1 neurons was found in the ASYMAD compared with MCI,” the investigators stated. “Furthermore, significant higher idea density scores in early life were observed in controls and the ASYMAD group compared to the MCI and Alzheimer’s disease groups.”
—Laura Sassano
