The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7439 p184
17 February 2007

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Cannabinoid system proposed as target for Parkinson's drugs

Using drugs to modulate endocannabinoid production in the brain could lead to the development of new treatments for Parkinson's disease, a study published in Nature last week suggests (2007;445:643).

An imbalance in the neural activity in two neural pathways has been suggested as a basis for the motor deficits seen in Parkinson’s disease and the researchers showed that endocannabinoids had different effects on these two pathways.

They were also able to demonstrate that motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson’s disease could be improved by treatment with inhibitors of endocannabinoid degeneration (reserpine and 6-hydroxy-dopamine).

Lead author Robert Malenka, of Stanford University, California, commented: “This study points to a potentially new kind of therapy for Parkinson’s disease. … We have identified a new way of potentially manipulating the circuits that are malfunctioning in this disease.” However, the researchers warn that human trials are a long way off and that any such therapies may only treat a part of the complex pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease.