Inhibition of the SERCA protein prevents calcium variations in nerve cells and protects them from degeneration

[jeffreyn]

Article: Cell Study Provides Hope for Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.

parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201...

Research paper (open access): Alpha‐synuclein aggregates activate calcium pump SERCA leading to calcium dysregulation.

embor.embopress.org/content...

The SoPD blog has done a substantial post on this paper. I think this is because this discovery reveals another way by which the elimination/reduction of alpha-synuclein aggregates could be neuroprotective. The blog post includes some information on the alpha-synuclein immunotherapy trials of AFFiRiS and Prothena, and even a few words (in the comments section) on the ongoing CliniCrowd mannitol trial.

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

NB: Like a lot of SoPD posts, this one starts with a largely unrelated preamble. The actual post begins after the line (in bold) "What does this have to do with Parkinson's".

[p-oui]

Thank you for posting this. I am wondering about the calcium blocker, Israpidine, that is used to lower blood pressure, is relevant to this discussion. Leading me to ask: We are 2 years into this 3 year trial and I have no intel on how it is going, not even anecdotal. I would love to hear from anyone taking israpidine. I would also love to hear from anyone in the know if israpidine is related to blocking the SERCA protein. If it is why aren't we hearing more about israpidine I wonder.

[jeffreyn in reply to p-oui]

The previous post on the SoPD blog has some information on the Phase III STEADY-PD clinical trial.

scienceofparkinsons.com/201...

[p-oui in reply to jeffreyn]

I really like the post. Briefly, Calcium is critical to our ability to function. It plays a fundamental role in our central nervous system. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that calcium is somehow involved in Parkinson’s. From epidemiological research suggesting that people taking calcium channel blockers have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s to postmortem analysis of indicating changes in calcium in the brains of people with Parkinson’s.

Basically, the thinking is that over-active calcium channels could stress and potentially kill dopamine-producing cells. This is what the Clinical Trial: STEADY-PD III is investigating ‘Isradipine’ (tradenames DynaCirc, Prescal). can Isradipine slow the progression of PD by keeping the brain’s dopamine-producing cells healthy?

I can't wait for the study to complete so today I begin with a low dose of israpidine and will titrate up to the level in the study, 10 mg daily. Meanwhile I am keeping an eye on other calcium blockers to be trialed.