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NEWS: Cells from testicles may help with Parkinson's disease

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Cells from testicles may help with Parkinson's disease
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WASHINGTON (September 30, 1997 01:39 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - Cells
from testicles may help repair the damage done in Parkinson's disease, U.S.
researchers said on Monday.

They said rats with symptoms of Parkinson's -- which causes uncontrollable
shaking and eventually dementia and death -- were helped when cells from
rat testicles were implanted into their brains.

Paul Sanberg and colleagues at the University of South Florida used Sertoli
cells from the testicles. These cells are involved in sperm production,
helping to nurture and protect the developing sperm cells.

They also found that nerve cells from embryonic rats grew better when
products of Sertoli cells were put into a test tube with them.

"The results suggest that Sertoli cells may help regrow the neural
connections to the brain lost in Parkinson's, or keep the remaining
dopamine-producing brain cells alive," Sanberg said in a statement.

The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature
Medicine, said perhaps human Sertoli cells could help people with
Parkinson's. All medical research starts on animals and does not
necessarily translate to humans.

In Parkinson's, the brain cells that produce dopamine gradually die off.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, or message-carrying chemical, important to
movement. Drugs try to mimic the effects of dopamine but do not last long
and efforts to transplant brain cells have not worked well either.

Copyright 1997 Nando.net
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/093097/health35_9369_noframes.html
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Mail converted by MHonArc 2.6.10

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