Use of the antioxidant urate to protect against the
neurodegeneration caused by Parkinson's disease appears to rely
on more than urate's ability to protect against oxidative
damage. In the May issue of the open-access journal PLoS One,
researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative
Diseases (MGH-MIND) describe experiments suggesting the
involvement of a novel mechanism in urate's protection of
cultured brain cells against Parkinson's-like damage. "Our
experiments showed, unexpectedly, that urate's ability to
protect neurons requires the presence of neighboring cells
called astrocytes," says Michael Schwarzschild, MD, PhD, of MGH-
MIND, the study's senior author. "The results suggest there may
be multiple ways that raising urate could help protect against
neurodegeneration in diseases like Parkinson's and further
support the development of treatments designed to elevate urate
in the brain." Schwarzschild and colleagues in the Parkinson's
Study Group currently are conducting a clinical trial in