ARTICLE: Horse Virus Hope For Parkinson's

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

References:

Oxford Biomedica


Biomedica USA


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Horse & Hound Online, UK
Horse virus hope for Parkinson's
Emma Thomas
27 June 2003

Parkinson's sufferers may soon be offered a new treatment involving a 
genetically engineered horse virus

Scientists are currently working on a new treatment for Parkinson's sufferers 
using a genetically modified strain of an
equine virus.

Details of this new treatment were revealed earlier this week and human trials 
are expected to begin ea  rlynextyear.
The company behind the work is called Oxford Biomedica and was founded by 
British professors Alan and Susan Kingsman.

Parkinson's is a progressive disease affecting the brain and nervous system and 
occurs when the brain loses its ability
to produce dopamine- producing cells. Victims of the disease suffer from 
tremors, muscular rigidity and slow
uncoordinated movement.

Current treatment involves the use of synthesised dopamine but this can cause 
severe side-effects The company hopes
that by using a modified virus derived from equine infectious anaemia (EIA) it 
can deliver natural dopamine directly
into a patient's brain.

Scientists have engineered EIA to remove a large fraction of the virus so it is 
capable of delivering the therapeutic
gene without reproducing a replication of the virus.

EIA belongs to the group of viruses known as lentiviruses and trials have so 
far shown that modified strains of EIA
cause limited harm to humans. They are perfectly evolved to carry the dopamine 
into human brain cells, and because
nerve cells are long lasting, treatment may not need to be repeated.

SOURCE: Horse & Hound Online, UK


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