Scientists have for long been baffled as to why men have a higher likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease when compared to women. A new study suggests a possible reason why this higher risk exists, and the culprit is a usually harmless protein within the brain.
PINK1, or PTEN-induced kinase 1, is a protein that is involved in regulating the energy use of brain cells. Under normal circumstances, this protein isn’t a threat. However, as this new study found, the immune system in some people with Parkinson’s disease mistakes these proteins to be threats and attacks brain cells found to be expressing this protein.
The researchers based at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology located in California discovered that the brains of men with Parkinson’s exhibited more widespread damage connected to PINK1 protein targeting compared to the brains of women with the disease.
Alessandro Sette, an immunologist who was one of the researchers involved in this study, explained that the sex-based variations in the responses of T cells within the brain were striking. Sette added that the differences in immune responses for the different sexes could explain why Parkinson’s disease prevalence rates differ for men and women.
To obtain their results, the team took blood samples from patients with Parkinson’s and they conducted tests to establish how T cells responded to different proteins that had previously been associated with Parkinson’s. The immune system’s response to PINK1 was way above the response to other proteins.
In blood samples taken from men with Parkinson’s, the scientists observed an increase that was six-fold compared to T cells targeting PINK1 in men who didn’t have Parkinson’s. In female patients the increase was just a modest 0.7-fold bump.
This research opens new possibilities in Parkinson’s management. For example, new drugs could be developed to prevent T cells from attacking the brain cells expressing PINK1 activity. Additionally, future diagnostic methods can check for PINK1 presence in blood samples in order to detect the disease early and start patients on interventions aimed at slowing or even reversing the progression of the disease before extensive damage has been done to the brain.
Sette explains that more studies need to be done on a global scale so that the sex differences and rates of progression of the disease can be understood for the different populations in the world. In this way, more effective interventions can be developed to address the varying needs of patients around the world.
The R&D work being undertaken by a number of companies, such as Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN), could yield treatment breakthroughs that improve the clinical outcomes of Parkinson’s disease patients.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CLNN
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