Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves toxic protein buildup and energy failure in neurons. Continuously breathing low-oxygen air protected mice from PD-like neuronal loss and reversed symptoms, even after they began, suggesting that hypoxia may protect neurons.

Researchers have suspected for some time that the link between our gut and brain plays a role in the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

A recent study identified gut microbes likely to be involved and linked them with decreased riboflavin (vitamin B2) and biotin (vitamin B7), suggesting an unexpectedly simple treatment that may help: B vitamins.

“Supplementation therapy targeting riboflavin and biotin holds promise as a potential therapeutic avenue for alleviating PD symptoms and slowing disease progression,” Nagoya University medical researcher Hiroshi Nishiwaki said when the study was published in May 2024.

Ever since Biogen and Eisai’s Aduhelm (aducanemab) was approved in 2021 as the first antibody to treat Alzheimer’s disease by clearing amyloid plaques from the brain, the modality has been dogged by a serious side effect: brain bleeding called amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, or ARIA.

Now, researchers from Denali Therapeutics have debuted an antibody that can cross the blood-brain barrier and attack amyloid, but without triggering this potentially life-threatening complication.

Background: Chronic liver diseases such as hepatic tumors can affect the brain through the liver–brain axis, leading to neurotransmitter dysregulation and behavioral changes. Cancer patients suffer from fatigue, which can be associated with sleep disturbances. Sleep is regulated via two interlocked mechanisms: homeostatic regulation and the circadian system. In mammals, the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the key component of the circadian system. It generates circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior and controls their entrainment to the surrounding light/dark cycle. Neuron–glia interactions are crucial for the functional integrity of the SCN. Under pathological conditions, oxidative stress can compromise these interactions and thus circadian timekeeping and entrainment.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have grown a first-of-its-kind organoid mimicking an entire human brain, complete with rudimentary blood vessels and neural activity. This new “multi-region brain organoid” connects different brain parts, producing electrical signals and simulating early brain development. By watching these mini-brains evolve, researchers hope to uncover how conditions like autism or schizophrenia arise, and even test treatments in ways never before possible with animal models.