Gene therapy using mesenchymal stem cells for Huntington’s disease is showing promise in mouse studies, and preparations are underway to possibly move it into clinical testing. Before the technique might be ready for human trials, however, scientists need to master a few more steps, using larger animal models to investigate the therapy’s…
Monitoring respiratory function in Huntington’s disease (HD) from the middle stage of the disease may help prevent respiratory failure according to research. In addition, regular breathing exercises may improve the function of breathing muscles and cough effectiveness.
According to a recent study developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada, more people may have mutations linked to the development of Huntington’s disease (HD) than previously thought. However, the increase is only seen in people whose mutations are associated with a lower risk of developing the disease.
New data on an uncharted dark spot of the mouse brain map reveals how connections between brain cells form networks responsible for movement and motor learning — tasks that go awry in conditions such as Huntington’s disease. The findings, discovered during a larger comprehensive project by scientists at the University…
New research from University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière at Sorbonne University, France indicates that couples at risk of transmitting Huntington’s disease to their children need more psychological support before pre-natal testing of the embryo’s genetic status, and additional counseling should they choose to reproduce again. In practice, about 5-25% of men and women at risk…
Caregivers of  people with Huntington’s disease describe themselves as invisible patients in a healthcare system they are profoundly disappointed with, according to a study in the journal Psychiatra Polska. While the study was done in Poland, similar findings in both the U.S. and U.K. indicate that changes in…
Teva Pharmaceutical announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) answering the pharmaceutical’s New Drug Application (NDA) for SD-809 (deutetrabenazine) tablets, for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington’s disease (HD), a condition reported by nearly 90 percent of all Huntington’s…
Groundbreaking research from the University of Copenhagen showed that healthy glial cells, transplanted into the brains of mice in a Huntington’s disease model, improved symptoms and prolonged the animals’ lives, demonstrating that glial cells actively contribute to disease processes — a finding with potentially far-reaching implications for the research into, and treatment…
Korean researchers have demonstrated for the first time that transplanting cells from a patient with Huntington’s disease (HD) into mice leads to the development of the pathology in the animal through the propagation of mutated huntingtin (HTT). The study “Human-to-mouse prion-like propagation of mutant huntingtin protein,” was published in…
A multi-institutional study led by a team of biomedical researchers in the lab of Hui-Chen Lu at Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, has discovered evidence indicating that the enzyme nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyl transferase 2 (NMNAT2) may have protective qualities against debilitating effects of certain degenerative brain diseases called proteinopathies, that…
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