Pesticide tied to Parkinson's disease.Epidemiologists have long suspected that exposure to some pesticides promotes the development of Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. . Basic chemistry supports that view: The molecular structure of MPTP MPTP 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, analogs MTMP, PEPAP Neurology A potent neurotoxin–which has an effect much like Meperidine or Demerol—that acts on neuromelanin, producing parkinsonism Clinical Bradykinesia, muscular rigidity, resting , a toxic compound that in animals causes a condition similar to Parkinson's disease, is related to that of several pesticides. A study on rotenone rotenone (rō`tənōn'): see insecticide. , a plant-derived pesticide commonly used in organic gardening, now adds more evidence for the connection. Prolonged administration of rotenone into the jugular veins of rats produces tremors, an unsteady gait, and other symptoms comparable to those of Parkinson's disease, J. Timothy Greenamyre of Emory University Emory University (ĕm`ərē), near Atlanta, Ga.; coeducational; United Methodist; chartered as Emory College 1836, opened 1837 at Oxford. It became Emory Univ. in 1915 and in 1919 moved to Atlanta. in Atlanta and his colleagues reported in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded and in the December NATURE NEUROSCIENCE Nature Neuroscience is a scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group, the publisher of Nature. Its focus is original research papers relating specifically to neuroscience. . The researchers also found that the pesticide kills the same subgroup of brain cells that normally dies during the course of disease. Furthermore, brain cells of the rotenone-treated rats develop the same abnormal protein masses that mar the brain cells of people with Parkinson's disease. While people probably don't receive as massive an exposure to rotenone as the tested rats did, the research raises questions about the safety of that pesticide and others. "The new study will revitalize the search for environmental toxins, including other pesticides, that may contribute to the etiology of [Parkinson's] disease," Benoit I. Giasson and Virginia M.-Y. Lee note in a commentary in the December NATURE NEUROSCIENCE. --J. T. |
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