News

A deficiency in energy metabolism in the cells of patients with Huntington’s disease can partly explain the variation in age of onset among individuals, a study shows. The study, “Bioenergetics in fibroblasts of patients with Huntington disease are associated with age at onset,” was published in the journal…

The juvenile form of Huntington’s disease, which affects patients younger than 20, is particularly aggressive and associated with an early onset of symptoms, a retrospective study has found. Based on the study’s findings, researchers have also suggested that a revision of the current classification of juvenile Huntington’s disease may…

With the U.S. midterm elections now less than two weeks away, patient advocacy groups are solidly focused on a range of hot-button issues, from the Orphan Drug Tax Credit and affordable health insurance to future funding for rare disease research. Yet “whether Democrats take over the House or Senate,…

Suppressing the expression of the defective huntingtin gene using antisense oligonucleotides lowered anxiety-like behavior in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, a study reports. These compounds were also efficiently delivered into the brains of nonhuman primates and targeted specific areas involved in cognition and psychiatric function. This study, “…

One-time delivery of Voyager Therapeutics’ lead candidate gene therapy, VY-HTT01, effectively reduced the levels of the faulty gene responsible for Huntington’s disease in important brain areas of non-human large primates. These positive preclinical results, together with other ongoing studies, are expected to support the submission of an investigational new…

Patients at advanced stages of Huntington’s disease have marked difficulties in controlling vehicles in a driving simulator compared to patients who are at a pre-symptomatic stage or healthy subjects, a study shows. The study’s authors think such driving simulators could be useful screening tools to aid clinicians in…

Signs of neurological dysfunction can start long before a clinical diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, a study shows. Early cognitive rehabilitation programs might be useful in the pre-manifest stage of the disease. The study, “Task-switching abilities in pre-manifest Huntington’s disease subjects” was published in Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. Although family history and DNA…

Two proteins present in the blood and brains of patients with Huntington’s disease may be used as biomarkers to detect the earliest changes caused by the disease, according to recent research. The study, “Evaluation of mutant huntingtin and neurofilament proteins as potential markers in Huntington’s disease,” was published…

Half a year has gone by since disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for securities and wire fraud while heading San Diego-based Retrophin. As founder and CEO of another company (then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals), in late 2015 Shkreli bought the rights…

The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has granted $12.6 million to Northwestern University to study the role of protein quality control mechanisms in human aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s. The five-year grant is one of the NIH’s Program Project Grants, designed to assemble…