Boost in battle against Parkinson’s as scientists narrow down defect

The team, led by Dr Chris Elliott at the university’s department of biology, conducted research using fruit fly larva and found evidence that movement disorders, including tremor and slowness of movement associated with Parkinson’s, may be due to a defect in energy production in the nervous system.

This advance may help to identify young adults who may be susceptible to the disease.

Parkinson’s, the second most common form of neurodegenerative disease behind Alzheimer’s, mainly affects people aged over 60, but some forms known as juvenile Parkinson’s disease usually start in the 30-40 age group. One in 20 people diagnosed with the disease are under 40 and such early onset is often inherited.

Among those who have been diagnosed at an early age is the actor Michael J Fox, who found out that he had Parkinson’s at the age of 30.

In this latest research, scientists at York studied the effect that parkin, one of the genes which causes juvenile Parkinson’s disease, has on the larva. They discovered that this gene faithfully models the locomotory defects of Parkinson’s with a marked reduction in speed and slower muscle contractions.

Dr Elliott said: “Our experimental evidence confirmed that this was due to a defect in the nervous system.

“This was important because previous work had suggested a big impact on the muscles, but Parkinson’s disease is associated with neuronal failure.”

Dr Kieran Breen, director of research and innovation at the Parkinson’s UK charity, said the research could be the key to treatments that could slow down or even stop the disease in its tracks.