Study: Gene is behind coffee's protective effect for Parkinson's

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Researchers have found a gene that may explain why coffee may lower the risk

of Parkinson's disease for some people, and that might explain why some

experimental drugs do not appear to be working.

About a quarter of the population carries this version of the gene, and drug

developers may be more successful if they test people for it, Haydeh Payami

of the New York State Department of Health told the World Parkinson Congress

in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Only people with this particular version of the gene are likely to be helped

by an experimental class of drugs designed to mimic some of coffee's

benefits, Payami told the meeting.

" We are trying to explain why some people benefit from the effects of coffee

in terms of reducing the risk of getting Parkinson's disease and others

don't, " Payami said in a telephone interview.

" But by extension I am proposing that this translates into explaining why

drugs that are like caffeine that are in clinical trials are not

succeeding, " she added.

" The immediate application right now would be for people who already have

Parkinson's. "

Currently, Parkinson's patients with and without the specific gene are being

included in the trials.

Her team studied 4,000 people, half with Parkinson's, using an Illumina

" gene chip " to look at the entire genetic map of each volunteer, a technique

called a genome wide association study.

They identified a gene called GRIN2A that appeared to protect people who

drank coffee from developing Parkinson's.

" About 25 percent of the population has the variant that boosts the

protective effect of coffee, " Payami said.

This made sense to Payami, whose team's work is funded by the National

Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the nonprofit J. Fox

foundation and other groups.

GRIN2A is linked to glutamate, a compound that is suspected of killing the

brain cells that die off in Parkinson's patients. Glutamate can be affected

by another compound called adenosine, and coffee interferes with this

process.

AVOIDING JITTERS

Drugs called adenosine A2A receptor antagonists have been tested against

Parkinson's and other neurological diseases. Payami said her team's genetic

findings may help explain the disappointing results of those trials so far.

" If this gene really is interacting with coffee to boost neuroprotection, it

should work in these clinical trials, " she said.

rest of story here <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68S4ZC20100929>

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Ortiz, MS, RD

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