PARIS: A closely-watched prototype therapy to inject corrective genes into the brain to treat Parkinson's disease has cleared an important safety hurdle, doctors said Friday. <\/p>\n
Tested on 15 volunteers with an advanced form of the degenerative nerve disease, the technique proved safe and the results were encouraging, they said. <\/p>\n
The experiment aims to reverse the lack of a brain chemical called dopamine, which is essential for motor skills. <\/p>\n
It entails tucking three genes into a disabled horse virus of the family lentiviruses. <\/p>\n
The modified virus is then injected directly into a specialised area of the brain, where it infiltrates cells. In doing so, it delivers corrective pieces of DNA, prompting defective brain cells to once again start producing dopamine. <\/p>\n
Called ProSavin, the British-designed treatment was authorised for tests on humans after it was tried on lab monkeys. <\/p>\n
It is being closely watched by specialists to see if it works better than conventional therapies -- the veteran drug levodopa or electrical stimulation of the brain -- or another experimental gene technique which uses a modified cold virus. <\/p>\n
French neurosurgeon Stephane Palfi, who led the early-stage trial published in The Lancet, said 15 patients aged 48-65 were given the genes in one of three doses. <\/p>\n
They developed better coordination and balance, had less muscle twitching and improved speech. <\/p>\n
Assessed at least 12 months after the injection, \"motor symptoms remained improved in all the patients,\" Palfi said. <\/p>\n
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