UNIVERSITY of Queensland researchers have developed a promising new anti-inflammatory drug in a breakthrough they say could accelerate the path to new treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
Lead author Dr Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda, from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences, said tests in mouse models showed the new-generation oral drug blocked inflammation in the brain and improved motor function.
“Inflammation acts like a slow-burning fire in the brain, progressively damaging the neurons that produce dopamine, the chemical which controls movement,” Dr Albornoz Balmaceda said.
“Our study showed this drug, which targets part of the immune system called ‘inflammasomes’, reduced brain inflammation and prevented the disease from killing more neurons, therefore stopping its progression.”
The team also used simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at UQ’s Centre for Advanced Imaging to track the drug’s impact in real time.
“What’s most exciting is we could actually see these changes happening in the living brain,” Dr Albornoz Balmaceda said.
“This imaging approach gives us a safe and powerful tool to track target engagement and disease progression, which is essential for designing future human clinical trials.”
Senior author Professor Trent Woodruff, group leader of UQ’s Neuroinflammation Lab, said the findings marked a significant step in the search for disease-modifying therapies.
“Parkinson’s is one of the fastest growing neurodegenerative diseases, and it is expected to impact more than 25 million people by 2050,” Professor Woodruff said.
“Current therapies can alleviate symptoms but do not significantly slow or stop progression of the disease. This new class of drugs aims to do exactly that, and by combining it with cutting-edge PET/MRI biomarkers, we can measure whether it’s truly protecting the brain.”
Brain scans in the study showed the typical loss of dopamine-containing neurons associated with Parkinson’s disease, with signals improving after treatment.
The drug was developed by Inflazome, a company spun out of UQ and Trinity College Dublin by Professor Luke O’Neill and co-corresponding author Professor Matt Cooper.
Inflazome was established in 2016 through UQ commercialisation company UniQuest and was later acquired by Roche.
The research was supported by the NHMRC, Inflazome, The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Shake It Up Australia Foundation, and has been published in Brain.
