• Researchers have found Parkinson’s disease causes changes to the blood vessels in the brain.
• Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurological disease in Australia, affecting more than 150,000 people.
• These research findings shift understanding of the disease and may lead to new treatment options.

New research has revealed that Parkinson’s disease causes significant and progressive changes to blood vessels in the brain, changing our understanding of the disease which may lead to new treatment methods.

While Parkinson’s disease is characterised by alpha-synuclein protein deposits, this research from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), the University of NSW Sydney (UNSW), and the University of Sydney has shifted understanding of the disease. NeuRA postdoctoral student, Derya Dik, carried out the work, demonstrating that region-specific changes to blood vessels in the brain underly disease progression.

“Traditionally Parkinson’s researchers have focused on protein accumulation and neuronal loss, but we have shown the impacts on our cerebrovasculature – the blood vessels in our brain,” Ms Dik said.

“Our research identified region-specific changes in the brain’s blood vessels, including an increased presence of string vessels, which are non-functional remnants of capillaries.”

They also observed changes relating to how blood flows in the brain and how the blood brain barrier operates.

“By targeting these progressive, region-specific changes, we may be able to slow disease progression and improve outcomes for individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” Ms Dik said.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting more than 150,000 Australians. This study is one of the first to look at region-specific changes in the vasculature in post-mortem brain tissue from people with Parkinson’s disease and in relation to disease progression.

Exploring wider impact of these findings

In addition to exploring what these findings mean for people with Parkinson’s disease, researchers are considering impacts for other neurodegenerative disorders.

“We are now investigating whether similar cerebrovascular changes are present in post-mortem brain tissue from individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies tissue,” Ms Dik said.

“This study may lead to new treatment options for people with Parkinson’s disease, but we also want to better understand the contribution of vascular pathology in these other neurodegenerative disorders and explore whether this can reveal new targets for therapies and treatments for people with those conditions, also.”

The paper ​‘Region-specific variations in the cerebrovasculature underlie disease progression in Parkinson’s disease’ was published in Brain and is available here.