Drug found useful in Huntington's disease

Dallas -- A U.S. study suggested a drug used in some countries to treat Huntington's disease prevents brain cell death in mice bred to mimic the condition.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center researcher Ilya Bezprozvanny, an associate professor of physiology, led the research involving the drug tetrabenazine.

Bezprozvanny said the study shed light on the biochemical mechanisms involved in the disease and suggests new avenues of study for preventing brain-cell death in at-risk people before symptoms appear.

Tetrabenazine, commercially distributed as Xenazine or Nitoman, blocks the action of dopamine -- a compound that some nerve cells use to signal others. Tetrabenazine is approved for use in several nations, but not in the United States, to treat uncontrollable muscle movements in Huntington's and other neurological conditions.

The research that also involved Drs. Tie-Shan Tang, Xi Chen and Jing Liu appears in the July 25 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.