Saturday, November 14, 2009

Simvastatin prevents progression of Parkinson's Disease ?


About Simvastin :
Simvastatin
, (marketed under the names Zocor, Simlup, Simcard, Simvacor) is a hypolipidemic drug belonging to the class of pharmaceuticals called "statins". It is used to control hypercholesterolemia and to prevent cardiovascular disease. Simvastatin is a synthetic derivate of a fermentation product of Aspergillus terreus. When I was working with Bangalore based company, the sister company was working on it and now its marketing too.

Recently researchers from the Rush University, have found an interesting fact that Simvastin, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. The authors have shown that the activity of one protein called p21Ras is increased very early in the midbrain of mice with Parkinson's pathology. Simvastatin enters into the brain and blocks the activity of the p21Ras protein and other associated toxic molecules, and goes on to protect the neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels, and improves the motor functions in the mice with Parkinson's.

If the researchers are able to replicate these results in Parkinson's patients in the clinical setting, it would be a remarkable advance in the treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease. Hope some relief to the sufferers of Parkinson disease....

Ref : http://www.rush.edu/webapps/MEDREL/servlet/NewsRelease?id=1304

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