Cholesterol drug may halt Parkinson's

CHICAGO, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Simvastatin, a widely used cholesterol-reducing drug, may halt the progression of Parkinson's disease, researchers in Chicago said.

In a study using mice, researchers at Chicago's Rush Medical Center found simvastatin halted the advance of biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes seen in Parkinson's, said Kalipada Pahan, a Rush professor of neurological studies.

In the brains of mice, simvastatin blocked the activity of a toxic protein called p21Ras and improved motor functions, Pahan said Thursday in the Journal of Neurosciences.

"If we are able to replicate these results in Parkinson's patients in the clinical setting, it would be a remarkable advance in the treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease," Pahan said.

Pahan's work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Parkinson's is a progressive disease that slows movement, stiffens limbs, unbalances the body and produces tremors. An estimated 1.2 million residents of North Americans suffer from the disease.