Sense of smell test key to tackling Parkinson’s disease
June 12th, 2010 - 2:47 pm ICT by ANIWashington, June 12 (ANI): Scientists have warned that losing the sense of smell could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Silke Nuber, from the Department of Medical Genetics, University of Tubingen, Germany, has, therefore, suggested that a fast, simple and non invasive test of the ability to smell may be an important tool to screen people who are likely to develop the disease, in which motor symptoms only become evident at a later stage of the disease.
Nuber also said that her team’s research could help in the development of treatments for the early stages of the disease.
She and colleagues from Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, decided to study transgenic mice with high levels of human alpha-synuclein, a protein known to be crucial in the development of PD.
Alpha-synuclein can be turned off in these animals by administration of an antibiotic, allowing scientists to look at the reversibility of neuropathological alterations.
“The mice expressed alpha-synuclein primarily in neurons of the olfactory bulb and we therefore expected to find alterations in smell-related behaviour in these animals. Since one of the earliest symptoms in PD patients is a reduction in the sense of smell, we felt that these mice could mimic the early stages of the disease,” said Nuber.
The findings have been presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. (ANI)
- Mouse model confirms mutated protein plays role in dementia - Nov 03, 2010
- Toxin that plays key role in triggering Parkinson's disease identified - Feb 11, 2011
- Study provides new insight into Parkinson's disease - Apr 05, 2011
- Yeast offers clues to Parkinson's disease - Sep 09, 2010
- New tests to detect Parkinson's disease early on - Sep 27, 2010
- Turmeric compound shows promise in Parkinson's - Mar 21, 2012
- Protein behind Alzheimer's patients loss of smell? - Sep 29, 2011
- Proteins responsible for Alzheimer's 'may spread through infection' - Oct 22, 2010
- Loss of smell function may predict early onset of Alzheimer's - Jan 13, 2010
- How mouse pups develop sense of smell to identify mother, siblings - Mar 12, 2011
- Study casts light on toxicity mechanism behind Parkinson''s disease - Jan 02, 2009
- New model paves way for drugs to fight Parkinson's disease - Feb 02, 2011
- Fruit fly's response to starvation could help regulate human appetite - Apr 01, 2011
- How smells are detected and processed by the brain - Mar 26, 2011
- How Parkinson's disease spreads in the brain - Jul 28, 2009
Tags: alpha synuclein, alterations, colleagues, european society of human genetics, germany switzerland, medical genetics, neurons, olfactory bulb, parkinson s disease, pd patients, protein, reversibility, scientists, sense of smell, silke, smell test, society of human genetics, transgenic mice, tubingen germany, university of tubingen