A scientific team led by biochemist Cláudia Nunes dos Santos has identified a new substance with an anti-inflammatory effect that can slow the progression of the disease.
The work of the team led by biochemist Cláudia Nunes was awarded a grant from the European Research Council. Identified a substance that can delay anti-inflammatory and slow Parkinson's disease.
The compound, which circulates in the human body, acts on the brain's immune cells, "very significantly reducing brain inflammation, a process that worsens the disease and accelerates its progression", Cláudia Nunes dos Santos, main researcher at the laboratory, told Lusa of Molecular Nutrition and Health at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL).
According to Cláudia Nunes dos Santos, tests carried out on mice with brain inflammation demonstrated that the molecule in question is around 10 times more effective than a common anti-inflammatory.
After identifying the effect and mechanism of action of the molecule on the brain's immune cells and validating its effectiveness in animal models, Cláudia Nunes dos Santos' team moved towards the synthesis of the compound and began "testing its effect on several cellular models related to processes that occur in neurodegenerative diseases", such as Parkinson's.
"Its prominent effect on reducing brain inflammation in the brain's immune cells led us to focus on this process and move forward with studies and validate the effect in an animal model of brain inflammation", explained the researcher.
The next step of the work, which involves collaboration with the António Xavier Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology at UNL, is to test the toxicity of the compound obtained in the laboratory in mice that reproduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, which affects movement.
Currently, there is no medication on the market capable of combating brain inflammation in Parkinson's patients.
The work of Cláudia Nunes dos Santos' team was awarded a grant of around 150 thousand euros from the European Research Council, a European Union body that funds science considered to be of excellence.
The grant "will allow us to update tools, expand the team, advance research, with a focus on therapeutic applications for Parkinson's disease, and promote the commercial potential of the results" obtained.
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