Nature Medicine has just published the groundbreaking results of a study involving the use of dopamine cell transplants into the brain of a Parkinson’s disease patient. The findings of the study indicate Parkinson’s is caused by a cluster of factors instead of just one, as had been previously speculated.

Dr. C. Warren Olanow, MD, FRCP(C), professor and chairman of neurology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, studied the post-autopsy brain tissue of a patient who had received a dopamine transplant 14 years before death. The goal of the transplant was to have the newly implanted cells replace the patient’s own damaged dopamine cells as they degenerated due to the disease, thereby relieving some of the symptoms of the disease.

The patient did experience a brief period of relief from symptoms after the procedure but declined over time. What apparently happened is the newly implanted cells eventually became affected by the disease also, limiting the long-term viability of this treatment method.

It has been thought that Parkinson’s disease can be triggered by a single event, such as infection, but the findings of this study point to a much more complex mechanism instead.

Researchers do not consider the transplant results a disappointment but as one obstacle overcome in the search for the cause and better treatment methods for the disease. Nor do they rule out the possibility of future stem cell strategies for its treatment but, instead, welcome the knowledge gleaned from the study.

Current treatments for Parkinson’s disease include a regimen of medications and surgical procedures, including deep brain stimulation.

Source: Mount Sinai Medical center