Brain pump offers hope to Parkinson's patients

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found a new method to deliver medication to sufferers of neurological diseases which could revolutionize treatment of several life-restricting conditions.

The team at North Bristol NHS Trust, working with the backing of the Parkinson's UK charity, have devised a valve which can be screwed into the side of the skull allowing drugs to be pumped directly into the brain.

Once the implant is in place, all that is visible is a small port behind the ear. The medication is administered through a pipe which runs over the brain surface. Probes then ensure the affected areas are targeted for treatment.

In tests using the pump, patients with Parkinson's disease showed "moderate to large" improvements but there was little difference between those receiving the treatment, called Glial Cell Line Derived Neurotrophic Factor, or GDNF, and those who were treated with a placebo.

Although this means the tests are not conclusive, the inventor of the implant, neurosurgeon Steven Gill, said the technology could have a major impact in ushering in new treatment methods.

"This is a significant breakthrough in our ability to treat neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's, because most drugs that might work cannot cross from the blood stream into the brain due to a natural protective barrier," he said.

One of the patients who took part in the trial said that having the probe attached felt like the sound of someone "furiously sharpening a pencil inside my head", but that the actual pumping of drugs caused no feeling at all.

Further trials are now taking place to see if patients with incurable brain tumors could receive their chemotherapy in a similar way, reducing the risk to other parts of the brain.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological condition caused by failing production of dopamine, the chemical that deals with memory and coordination, in a part of the brain called the putamen.

The research team hopes that pumping GDNF, a chemical produced naturally in the body, into the putamen could help to regenerate neurons and fight off some of the effects of the disease.

Dr Alan Whone, who led the trial at Southmeads Hospital, said that further trials were necessary.

Roger Morris, professor of Molecular Neurobiology at King's College London, said the pump treatment's potential implications were huge.

"If intra-brain perfusion can be safely achieved for long-term drug delivery inside the brain, the range of medication that can be used to combat brain diseases - stroke and cancer as well as neurodegeneration - will be massively expanded," he said.

julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily 03/01/2019 page12)