Nitric oxide helps to treat Parkinson's disease

Xinhua news agency, Tokyo, July 16 - a new study by Japanese researchers has found that nitric oxide has the effect of preventing neural cell abnormalities leading to Parkinson's disease, which is expected to open up new methods for the treatment of Parkinson's disease   Parkinson's disease is a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in the middle-aged and old people, which is mainly manifested in tremor of hands and feet and rigidity of the body, with a high probability of cognitive impairment The cause of the disease is still unclear It is generally believed that it is caused by the failure of Parkin, which breaks down waste proteins, to reduce the number of nerve cells in the brain that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine Nitric oxide is a colorless gas with very active chemical properties It plays a role of messenger molecule in organism and plays an important role in blood, cardiovascular and nerve cells   A team led by researchers from Nara Medical University in Japan found that parkin protein became more active when it met nitric oxide In the experiment, nitric oxide was added to the protein continuously for 3 hours As a result, the function of the protein was enhanced, which promoted the decomposition of waste protein and played a role in protecting nerve cells Using no can alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, said researcher Kentaro Ozawa   The results of the research were published online in the British Journal of scientific reports on the 16th (reporter LAN Jianzhong)