parkinson’s disease is
a brain disorder that occurs
when clusters of nerve cells (or neurons) controlling the body’s movement die or malfunction, resulting in a decrease in the production of dopamine. scientists are unsure exactly what causes these cells to die, but their destruction leads to motor control issues that can have a debilitating effect on patients.
the disease also damages nerve endings that produce norepinephrine — a messenger in the nervous system — likely accounting for non-motor symptoms such as fatigue and digestive issues. parkinson’s has proven notoriously difficult to treat because by the time patients seek medical attention for their symptoms, the bulk of the damage has already been done.
researchers focused on farnesol after searching a massive library of drugs for those capable of inhibiting paris, a protein that accumulates in the brain and impedes the production of a protective protein called pgc-1alpha. pgc-1alpha protects brain cells from the damaging effects of reactive oxygen molecules in the brain. without this protective protein, dopamine-producing neurons die, creating a ripe environment for the proliferation of parkinson’s.
to test their theory, researchers gave mice one of two diets — a farnesol-infused offering or regular mouse food — before administering alpha-synuclein, a protein associated with parkinson’s disease. they found that the mice who were given farnesol performed 100 per cent better on a strength and coordination test designed to detect the disease. when they studied the brain tissue of the two groups, they found the farnesol-fed mice possessed twice as many healthy dopamine neurons and 55 per cent more pgc-1alpha proteins than those fed a regular diet. chemical tests confirmed the ability of farnesol to bind to paris, altering its shape and ability to impede pgc-1alpha production.