Information from a new study raises the possibility that people could be tested to see if they are at risk for Parkinson’s disease and then undergo preventative treatment. The study done by scientists at Buck Institute for Age Research showed that high levels of MAO-B, an enzyme that regulates nerve activity in the brain, causes Parkinson’s type symptoms in mice genetically engineered to over express the protein. The study further found that the drug deprenyl, which inhibits MAO-B used with other drugs that boost dopamine, an important neurotransmitter, prevented the development of Parkinson’s symptoms in the mice.
There is some controversy when it comes to these findings. Other studies suggest that deprenyl treatment alone does not impact the morality associated with Parkinson’s and the importance of MAO-B in the disease itself.
“Those studies were targeted to patients who already had symptoms of Parkinson’s — by the time Parkinson’s is symptomatically detectable, dopamine loss is usually at least 60%,” said Julie Andersen, PhD, Buck faculty member, who led the study. “Therefore the lack of effectiveness of MAO-B inhibition in these patients does not negate a role for MAO-B increase in disease development. We have demonstrated that elevations in MAO-B result in selective loss of neurons associated with Parkinson’s in a mouse model and that the severity of this loss is age-dependent.”
Tests to measure MAO-B levels in humans are currently not available to the general public, but Anderson said that MAO-B levels should be tested just as cholesterol is for cardiovascular disease.

Source: Public Library of Science