José Luis Lanciego

An international team with Spanish participation has analyzed data from more than 500,000 people and found a link between digestive disorders such as colitis, gastritis, esophagitis, or functional bowel disorders and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. According to the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science Advances, “this effort sheds light on the interaction between factors involved in the gut-brain axis and opens avenues for targeted treatment and early diagnosis.”

In 2050 there will be 25.2 million people with Parkinson's disease worldwide, which represents an increase of 112% from 2021, largely due to the ageing of the population, according to a modelling study published by The BMJ. The number of people living with this disease – prevalence across all ages – per 100,000 inhabitants is expected to increase by 76% – and by 55% when age differences are corrected.

A monoclonal antibody called prasinezumab reduces the worsening of motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease who have rapidly progressive disease, according to an analysis of a phase 2 clinical trial published in Nature Medicine. These findings suggest that clinical efficacy of prasinezumab, which works by binding to alpha-synuclein protein aggregates, is seen after one year of treatment in such patients. According to the authors, more research is needed to determine whether the antibody can be effective in people with slower disease progression after longer periods of treatment. 

A phase 2 clinical trial in France has examined whether taking an oral anti-diabetic drug called lixisenatide - a GLP1 receptor analogue, similar to those also used for weight loss - also has an effect on the progression of Parkinson's disease. The results indicate that there is a modest but significant decrease in the progression of motor symptoms of the disease, although side effects were also observed. The results are published in the journal NEJM. 

Research by researchers in Shanghai, China, suggests that continued practice of tai chi can slow the progression of Parkinson's disease symptoms and delay the need for increased doses of medication. The study compared 143 people who underwent tai chi training with 187 non-trainees who served as a control group. The results are published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Parkinson's disease is usually diagnosed when there is already extensive neuronal damage and symptoms are evident. Now, researchers at Cardiff University in the UK have used movement and sleep quality data from wearable accelerometers and concluded that they can help identify the disease early, years before clinical diagnosis. Although there is no effective preventive treatment, the authors propose that the tool can determine people at risk of developing Parkinson's disease and identify participants for clinical trials of neuroprotective treatments. The results are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

A study led by Spanish researchers and published in Science Advances has tested a new technique to improve gene therapy treatments for Parkinson's disease. Using ultrasound, they have managed to open the blood-brain barrier in specific areas, allowing the viruses used in the therapy to pass through and better reach the desired brain areas. After testing it on monkeys and three patients -patients were not given gene therapy, but the efficacy of the technique was tested using a radiotracer that does not normally cross the blood-brain barrier-, their conclusions are that the technique is safe and feasible and "could allow early and frequent interventions to treat neurodegenerative diseases".