Hope to find a definitive cure for Parkinson’s disease strengthens with the promising anti-inflammatory drug developed by researchers from the University of Queensland, who, for the first time, used advanced imaging to monitor the drug’s real-time effects on a living brain.

Dr. Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda, from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences and lead author of the study, shared that the new oral drug successfully blocked brain inflammation and aided motor function in mice models:

“Inflammation acts like a slow-burning fire in the brain, progressively damaging the neurons that produce dopamine – the chemical which controls movement. 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.”

He added that the team used advanced simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), saying:

“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.”

According to Prof. Trent Woodruff, Group Leader of UQ’s Neuroinflammation Lab and the study's senior author, the findings show that this imaging strategy could play an important role in speeding up drug discovery for other inflammatory brain diseases.

He added:

“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.”

With millions of people around the world expected to suffer from Parkinson’s, UQ’s new drug, paired with advanced imaging, could be the spark that will ignite more similar innovations.

Read the full article here to learn more about the promising anti-inflammatory oral drug.

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