United States: It is a well-known fact now that exposure to agricultural pesticides raises the chances of developing Parkinson’s disease multifold in a person
More about new genetics research
The latest research has showcased who might be the most vulnerable to developing the disease.
The study was conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which studied extensive data from 800 Parkinson’s patients living and working in that state’s agricultural heartland, the Central Valley.
The researchers stated that many of these people “had long-term exposure to 10 pesticides used on cotton crops for at least a decade prior to developing the disease, with some patients having been exposed as far back as 1974,” in a UCLA news release, as US News reported.
They centered on gene variants that have functional involvement around lysosomes, which are parts of the cell that are responsible for clearing the waste. As far back as the seventy-fifties, decreased lysosomal function was associated with Parkinson’s diagnoses, researchers led by Dr. Brent Fogel, a professor of Neurology and Human Genetics at UCLA, have revealed.
Among variants that are involved in proteins that work in lysosomes there was an increase in those who had come into contact with pesticides over protracted periods of time, according to the study.
The outcome was published on April 25 on NPJ Parkinson’s Disease.
What more have the researchers found?
As a result, they were able to identify particular lysosomal gene variants which instruct cells to produce intracellular waste degrading enzymes. This dysfunction of lysosomes was associated with the origin of Parkinson’s disease, which researchers headed by Dr. Brent Fogel, a professor of neurology and human genetics from UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles) had proved.
The time comes when some toxic substances like alpha-synuclein, which is known to be linked to Parkinson’s, accumulate in cells, mainly in the brain.
These substances form Lewy bodies throughout the affected tissues. The Parkinson’s disease in the brain exists so long as there is the occurrence of the deposits of Lewy bode, scientists mentioned.
Fogel said, “The study supports the hypothesis that the genetic predisposition comes from minor changes in genes that are associated with lysosomal function,” as US News reported.
Moreover, “On a day-to-day basis, these variants are not having much of an impact,” and “But under the right stress, such as exposure to certain pesticides, they can fail, and that could, over time, lead to the development of Parkinson’s disease. This is called a gene-environment interaction,” he said.
Additionally, Dr. Kimberly Paul, the study co-lead author, stated, “These patients were susceptible somehow, and if we can figure out why they were susceptible, maybe we can act on those pathways,” who is also an assistant professor of neurology at UCLA.
Fogel added, “There are data for a lot of common disorders suggesting that environmental influences impact the development of these diseases, but we don’t yet have a good way of measuring that impact or determining who is specifically at risk,” and “This is a step forward in that direction.”