Parkinson’s disease progression slowed by antibody infusions

Monthly infusions with the drug prasinezumab appeared to slow the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced Parkinson’s disease

By David Cox

15 April 2024

Aggregated clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein (brown) and antibodies (green)

BIOLUTION GMBH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

A drug that targets a build-up of proteins linked to Parkinson’s disease could slow the progression of motor symptoms in people with advanced forms of the condition. Although this shows promise to be a disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s, it is unclear whether the drug actually clears the proteins from the brain.

The accumulation of a misfolded protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain has long been considered the underlying cause of Parkinson’s. This leads to the loss of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is involved in motor control.

While some existing treatments aim to ease these symptoms by improving dopamine levels in the brain, their long-term effects are limited. So far, there are no approved disease-modifying therapies that halt or slow the progression of Parkinson’s.

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In an effort to combat this, Gennaro Pagano at Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche and his colleagues recruited 316 people who were thought to have early-stage Parkinson’s disease. Of these individuals, 105 received intravenous infusions of a placebo, while 211 had infusions of the Roche drug prasinezumab at either a low or high dose, administered every four weeks over one year.

Prasinezumab is an antibody that is designed to bind to aggregated clumps of misfolded alpha-synuclein in dopamine-producing neurons. “It is hypothesised that prasinezumab may reduce neuronal toxicity, prevent cell-to-cell transfer of pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates and slow disease progression,” says Pagano.