Publications by authors named "Pamela Santamaria"
Article Synopsis
- The study assessed the long-term safety and tolerability of sargramostim (Leukine) in five patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) over a 33-month period, examining its effects on immune response and motor functions.
- Adverse effects noted included injection-site reactions, elevated white blood cell counts, and bone pain, but no significant side effects were found during blood analyses related to long-term use.
- Results indicated stable motor function scores and increased regulatory T cell activity, suggesting that sargramostim may provide immune benefits and maintain clinical stability in PD, warranting further investigation in larger trials.
The sequelae of Parkinson's disease (PD) includes both motor- and cognitive-related symptoms. Although traditionally considered a subcortical disease, there is increasing evidence that PD has a major impact on cortical function as well. Prior studies have reported alterations in cortical neural function in patients with PD during movement, but to date such studies have not examined whether the complexity of multicomponent movements modulate these alterations.
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- * A Phase 1b study involving five Parkinson's patients found that a reduced dosage of 3 μg/kg/day was safer and better tolerated than a higher dose, with positive effects on immune function and a decrease in adverse events.
- * Long-term treatment at the lower dose maintained stable Movement Disorder Society-United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores, indicating treatment effectiveness; however, further studies with more participants are necessary to confirm these findings.
Article Synopsis
- A study explored the potential therapeutic role of immune transformation for Parkinson's disease, building on over a decade of animal research showing that regulatory T cells (Tregs) could protect against neurodegeneration.
- A phase 1 trial involved 20 Parkinson's patients and 17 non-Parkinsonian controls to test the immune modulator sargramostim, revealing some modest improvements in symptoms and Treg function compared to the placebo group.
- While adverse events were reported in both groups (100% in sargramostim and 80% in placebo), the findings suggest that immune modulation may offer a new approach to treating Parkinson's disease, warranting further research with larger participant numbers.
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often present with unilateral motor symptoms that eventually spread to the other side. This symptom lateralization is diagnostically important, as it serves to distinguish PD from other motor disorders with overlapping symptom profiles. Further, recent studies have shown that the side of symptom onset is important for prognosis, as there are differences in the rate of disease progression and the incidence of secondary symptoms between right- and left-dominant (RD, LD) patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized primarily by motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, muscle rigidity, and resting tremor. It is now broadly accepted that these motor symptoms frequently co-occur with cognitive impairments, with deficits in working memory and attention being among the most common cognitive sequelae associated with PD. While these cognitive impairments are now recognized, the underlying neural dynamics and precise regions involved remain largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive debilitating neurodegenerative disorder clinically manifest by motor, posture and gait abnormalities. Human neurophysiological studies recording local field potentials within the subthalamic nucleus and scalp-based electroencephalography have shown pathological beta synchrony throughout the basal ganglia-thalamic-cortical motor network in PD. Notably, suppression of this pathological beta synchrony by dopamine replacement therapy or deep-brain stimulation has been associated with improved motor function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with debilitating motor, posture, and gait abnormalities. Human studies recording local field potentials within the subthalamic nucleus and scalp-based electroencephalography have shown pathological beta synchronization throughout the cortical-basal ganglia motor network in PD. Suppression of such pathological beta synchronization has been associated with improved motor function, which may explain the effectiveness of deep-brain stimulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal models and clinical studies have linked the innate and adaptive immune system to the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite such progress, the specific immune responses that influence disease progression have eluded investigators. Herein, we assessed relationships between T cell phenotype and function with PD progression.
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