NAC may support Dopamine Neurons in Parkinson’s Disease

NAC a powerful Glutathione booster, and an antioxidant is often used in clinical practice as an adjunctive treatment to numerous neurodegenerative conditions from MS, Parkinson’s Disease, to Alzheimers and ALS.  This article reviews the potential role of NAC in Parkinson’s disease.

parkinsons

N-Acetyl Cysteine May Support Dopamine Neurons in Parkinson’s Disease: Preliminary Clinical and Cell Line Data.

RESULTS:

The cell line study showed that NAC exposure resulted in significantly more mDA neurons surviving after exposure to rotenone compared to no NAC, consistent with the protective effects of NAC previously observed. The clinical study showed significantly increased DAT binding in the caudate and putamen (mean increase ranging from 4.4% to 7.8%; p<0.05 for all values) in the PD group treated with NAC, and no measurable changes in the control group. UPDRS scores were also significantly improved in the NAC group (mean improvement of 12.9%, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS:

The results of this preliminary study demonstrate for the first time a potential direct effect of NAC on the dopamine system in PD patients, and this observation may be associated with positive clinical effects. A large-scale clinical trial to test the therapeutic efficacy of NAC in this population and to better elucidate the mechanism of action is warranted.

Reference: 

Monti DA, Zabrecky G, Kremens D, Liang TW, Wintering NA, Cai J, Wei X, Bazzan AJ, Zhong L, Bowen B, Intenzo CM, Iacovitti L, Newberg AB. N-Acetyl Cysteine May Support Dopamine Neurons in Parkinson’s Disease: Preliminary Clinical and Cell Line Data. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 16;11(6):e0157602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157602. PubMed PMID: 27309537; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4911055.

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