News

With the support of Houston Astros pitcher Joe Smith and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), about 100 Huntington’s disease patients and their families got to relax for a few hours and take in a ballgame at Minute Maid Park. The tickets for…

Two new clinical studies of Roche’s investigational therapy RG6042 for Huntington’s disease (HD) are planned to start by the end of 2018 and will begin enrolling participants by early 2019. These studies will help researchers to understand Huntington’s progression and the therapeutic effectiveness of RG6042, which may “potentially be the…

More than 700 medical experts, pharmaceutical executives, patient advocates, and others are expected to converge on Washington, D.C., next month for the 2018 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. The Oct. 15-16 event, sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), takes place at the…

Researchers narrowing in on early neuronal functioning stages of development, well before Huntington’s disease symptoms appear, believe they have found a potentially important path to intervening with the diabetes medication metformin. Their research was conducted in a mouse model of the disease. Metformin, an oral medication normally prescribed to patients…

Short huntingtin (HTT) protein fibers precede the formation of larger deposits that accumulate in the brains of those affected by Huntington’s disease, preclinical results reveal. These findings one day may help researchers predict the onset and course of the disease. The study, “mHTT Seeding Activity: A Marker of…

Huntington’s disease begins early, before birth, but symptoms tend to appear much later in life. Now, researchers working with mice have found a way to reverse so-called “pre-Huntington’s symptoms,” including abnormal nerve cell differentiation, with early therapeutic intervention. This could have important implications for future treatment strategies. The study, “Early postnatal…

Active Biotech. has regained global development and commercialization rights of laquinimod, an investigational immunotherapy for neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease (HD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). The move came after Teva Pharmaceutical, the company that previously held laquinimod’s rights, decided not to continue its clinical development. After several years…

Time perception is impaired in patients with Huntington’s disease, even in pre- or early-symptomatic stages of the disease, and is correlated with disease severity and progression, Swiss researchers found. The study, “Auditory time perception in Huntington’s disease,” was published in Neuropsychologia. Huntington’s disease is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder…

Researchers have found a direct link between abnormal protein accumulation in nerve cells — a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s — and the regulation of gene activity in Huntington’s disease. According to researchers, both processes are influenced by autophagy, a mechanism used by cells to break…

Salivary uric acid is a valid biomarker for a wide range of potential conditions and disease states, including Huntington’s disease, according to a recent study. The study, “The validity, stability, and utility of measuring uric acid in saliva,” was published in the journal Biomarkers in Medicine. Technical…